I adored this book. The Bathory of this novel is more human than any interpretation that I have seen or read. Her crimes are still moral and physically disgusting but there is a psychology around it it that no other author has been able to explain reasonably. This book made me feel for Elizabeth as a woman, rather than a monster. The book explores more of her earlier life rather than later years. It was simply fascinating and very well written. ( )

I thought this was a very interesting story. The notion of a woman being so cruel to other women intrigued me. I "found out" about the Countess from a History Channel show about vampires. I did a little research and came across this book. I found the story a lot less dramatic in the book than it was in the TV show! It was richly written but the flashforwards to the court hearing were a little *off*. I thought the end was pretty cheesey too. All in all I liked the book and would probably read it again. ( )

*may contain spoilers*

If I get a bit rambly in this review, I'm sorry, I'm going to try not to. But I loved this book SOOOO much that I just can't say enough about it!
First, let me say that I DO know that there is a very good chance that most of the "facts" in this book are completely untrue, and maybe Elizabeth Bathory didn't kill anyone at all. That mystery will most likely never be solved. Everyone, even the so-called experts, disagree on what really happened.
However, simply as a fiction book, this is awesome! At first the back-and-forth between Elizabeth's time and present time really confused me, but once I got used to it I liked it. I seriously have not felt this excited, been this interested, in a book for a loooong time... even after I finished reading it, I couldn't stop thinking about it!
This book chronicals Elizabeth's life from when she was a little girl, straight on through to the trial, so it shows how she grew up and what things she was exposed to when she was young, which very well could've spurred her insanity and murderous desires. The author mentions the blood fascination and her belief that blood made her look younger, but thankfully does not focus on that too much, instead focusing on bits and pieces of Elizabeth's life that really shaped who she was. There were some very graphic scenes, some sexual-torture scenes, and I have to admit I was a little squirmy reading those (although only because I was reading the book in public).
Whether or not this book protrays the real Countess in any way, I definitely think it is a WONDERFUL book! Definitely not for the faint of heart though. ( )

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1... ( )