Immortal Gifts is such a unique take on the vampire genre. It follows Abraham, a Jewish violinist in 19th-century Prussia, who hides his identity to study music, only to end up turned into a vampire. What starts as a dream quickly turns into a nightmare when an ancient enemy decides to hunt him down… for centuries. Now, living in modern-day New Jersey, Abraham just wants a quiet life with the woman he loves, but his past won’t let him go.

I really liked how the book balances historical fiction with contemporary fantasy. The dual timeline works so well, and the historical sections are especially immersive. If I had one small critique, it’s that the pacing in the present day sections slowed down a bit for me, but overall, the book kept me hooked.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this ARC.

Jewish vampire Abraham has a lovely life in New Jersey. He has a kind and beautiful wife named Destiny who doesn’t mind that he’s a vampire, in-laws who like him, pets that he adores, plenty of money, and the kind of skill at playing the violin that only hundreds of years of practice and special powers can give you. Unfortunately, those things can’t erase the grief that he feels for the people he has lost in his long life or the grief of knowing that his wife, who refuses to be turned, will die someday. They also can’t erase the fact that someone from his past – a ruthless, bloody, and antisemitic vampire priest - has been trying to catch up with him for the last 200 years. Abraham is doing his best to hide, but after a couple questionable decisions, things start to spin out of control, and it looks like the priest might find him after all.

This is an ambitious novel that deals with antisemitism, religious bigotry, homophobia, grief, violence, pluralism, inclusion, sex negativity, trust, family, marriage, and a number of other hard-hitting themes. It has moments of deep pain, such as when it meditates on mortality, and moments of joy and lightness, such as when the main characters pets do sweet and adorable things. However, I wonder if taking on so much made it difficult to handle everything in the book consistently well.

As someone who has lost a lot of both humans and pets, I found the discussion of death and grief to be excellently done. It read to me like it was written by someone who has experienced major loss and understands the way that grief can almost take on a life of its own, coming and going for the rest of your life, morphing as you change as a person, stacking up when you experience so many loses that you can’t deal with it effectively. It was lovely to feel that my experience was understood when I read this book.

I also really enjoyed learning about Judaism. I didn’t know much about it, so I found the explanations both enlightening and really helpful for understanding the characters, some of whom are shaped a great deal by their faith. I thought it was even more interesting, however, learning about how the writer imagined Judaism and vampirism might clash. The conflict between the main character, Abraham, believing in kosher rules, for example, but also needing to consume blood to survive created tension that drew me to the character with sympathy and curiosity.

For some reason that I can’t identify, I did find the female characters to be a bit flat though. This was frustrating when reading from the perspective of Destiny, the main character’s wife, who came across to me as more of a caricature of a woman than an actual woman.

I also had a hard time with the frequent forth wall breaks that seemed to serve no purpose. The characters address the reader directly with statements like, “by the way” and “Do I even have to explain…” as if we’re involved in the story, but nothing else in the book suggests that we should be. The book isn’t made up of letters, for example. These moments distracted me and pulled me out of the story.

There were also some distracting clarity issues. In particular, sometimes two ideas were presented as connected without an explanation of how they were connected. Though this typically happened with small ideas, it broke my trust in the story a bit, and made it difficult for me to relax and know that the story would give me what I needed to understand and enjoy larger plot elements, too.

Overall, I found the book engaging and will keep my eyes open for the sequel.

Thanks to the publisher, Flower Feather press, for providing an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley.


TW: death, child death, murder, rape, gun violence, antisemitism, suicidal ideation, genocide

Wow, that was so good. I have not read a book like that before. Who knew that vampires were just like the rest of us. The story of Abraham and his friends and family was so beautiful , the vampire theme never detracting from his humanity. I really need to read more, especially about destiny and Miriam. Loved this book.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very readable book. I enjoyed spending time with the characters, and learning about their backgrounds. Recommended.

A dual time line story that encompasses the 16th to the 21st centuries.
Abraham is a Vampire, a most unusual addition to that cause, he is Jewish and blood is not Kosher. He lied about his heritage in order to be accepted to a music academy, he plays the violin. His music is his personal delight and his refuge over the many tumultuous years of his everlasting life.
He is married to Destiny, she is a Vet and a Vegan, she has constantly refused his offer of everlasting life, Abraham has already suffered centuries of loss and loneliness, “ Eternity is boring without company””.
Ludwig is a close friend to Abraham, they have known each other since the 18th Century, Ludwig made him a vampire to save him from the consumption that was killing him.
Their common enemy is Father Thomas, a priest since the Spanish Inquisition, he wants to kill the Jewish Vampire, he and his henchmen chase Abraham and Ludwig throughout the centuries.
This is a most wonderful retelling of Jewish history, the rituals, beliefs, and ceremonies are discussed and fully explained. It is a story full of emotional loss, the fear of losing a much loved partner, the love and desires as seen by both sexes, and how the war time events impacted upon the Jewish population down the many centuries described, and the resilience shown despite all the years of suffering, which gives the reader pause to think about long held attitudes.
There is humour as well, Vampiric animals not withstanding, it is a wonderful novel without vampires, but that aspect does give it a certain “ bite”
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Flower Feather Press ( IBPA) for my ARC, freely given in exchange for my honest review. A five star rating. I will leave copies to Goodreads, Amazon UK, and my various book groups upon publication.

This book was too little all over the place for me the chapters would jump around three time periods and I did not always like the characters. I felt the characters were very one-level and did not grab my attention. I liked how the vampires were represented in this story and how they talked about how they dealt with children, and having children in this book. The idea that he was a good violinist got boring at some parts as well I wanted to hear more about the vampire stuff. I also did not like the whole way that Jews were represented in this novel until we got to the end then I understood why the main character was like that. If you can get past some of the aspects I would say the book was well written and interesting just not always my cup of tea.

When I started reading this book, I knew it was a vampire story, but I didn't expect to find the most original vampire story I've ever seen.
The story is told through three characters: Abraham, a Jewish vampire who loves animals; Ludwig, an asexual vampire friend; and Destiny, Abraham's wife, a human, vegetarian, and veterinarian. We follow their lives in the past and present.
I loved the story and especially the pets that participate in it. 🐱🐶

Ebook received through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I really enjoyed this story. The concept of a man who is both Jewish and a vampire making both work together despite his beliefs and needs conflicting was interesting to read, and very informative of traditions and rituals I had only ever heard of. The story also focuses a lot on death and grief, and how we cope with death, making this an emotional ride.
I enjoyed the three POV characters and I hope we get to learn more about them in future books. I will say though, that with three POVs, the writing sometimes was a little repetitive, especially when they talk about the same event.
The pacing had a few issues at times, but for the most part this book was engaging and quick to read.

I think this book had a lot of promise, but the tone and prose conflicted with the description and themes of the book. The sentence structure is very simplistic and modern which was jarring during the flashbacks to the past. Combined with the author "telling" more than "showing," it made it very difficult to feel immersed in the setting. Ultimately I had to DNF because the sentence structure felt choppy and I feel like it didn't hit the notes for "a complex tale woven through history."

Immortality has never been introduced in this way. I appreciated the heart, love, humor and tragedy that was swirled within the pages. The lengths one must go to to keep the gift a secret and the moral dilemma when you want to give it away. This stirring novel was all at once witty, gritty and surreal. I will be recommending this read to everyone!

Published on Goodreads 11/24/2024
Rating: 🤗/4
Review: This was such a unique book and genre mash up. Part romance, part horror, part historical fiction, part mystery. A literary vampire story with multiple times lines and POVs that tackle romance, grief, sadness/depression, love, acceptance, religion and even vampire pets. Pacing was a little off but the parts that dragged didn’t last long. This book made me chuckle out loud a few times but is also so much about grief and losing those you love deeply. Such an interesting way of looking at relationships when people are in different religions and how love and respect within those relationships can make it work. Probably one of the weirdest books I’ve read this year but also one I’ll think about for a while.
Format: 👩🏻‍💻
Source: #netgalley

This was a strong start to the Immortal Vampires series, it uses the vampire element in a way that worked with the overall storyline being told. The characters were everything that I was looking for and enjoyed how they worked in this world. I enjoyed how good Katherine Villyard’s writing was and was glad I got to read this start. I’m excited for more in this series and from Katherine Villyard.