Blood Countess (Lady Slayers)

December 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-When 16-year-old Anna Darvulia is offered the chance to work for the young and enchanting Countess Elizabeth Báthory, she leaps at the chance. Quickly rising from lowly scullery maid to Elizabeth's personal chambermaid, confidant, and eventual lover, Anna has the chance to provide for her family and learn from this woman who keeps her rapturously enthralled. As time progresses, however, Anna wonders if the darkness she sees in Elizabeth is more than she or their world can bear. This fast-paced historical novel is packed with political intrigue, self-discovery, and a whole lot of darkness. Though the denouement seems rather rushed, there is enough here to tantalize the imagination and make readers yearn to know more about the real Elizabeth Báthory and her exploits. VERDICT Hand to fans of dark historical fiction and powerful female characters.-India Winslow, Cary Memorial Library, Lexington, MA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2019
In 16th-century Hungary, 16-year-old Anna Darvulia, a talented healer, becomes a chambermaid to the notorious Countess Elizabeth of Bathory. After her father dies, providing for her family now falls to Anna; marriage is not an option and holds no appeal. Scullery work is backbreaking, but Anna seizes on the opportunity to prove her worth when the Countess falls ill. The vibrant, 19-year-old Elizabeth awakens something in Anna, and she eventually becomes Elizabeth's lover and pampered companion. But Elizabeth, who is obsessed with youth, beauty, and the healthy bloom that blood brings to the cheeks, has a dark side. Anna has difficulty reconciling the Countess' vicious treatment of her staff with the kind, generous Elizabeth she knows so intimately. However, as Elizabeth spirals into full-blown madness, Anna comes to her senses and plans her escape--but can Anna also escape her own complicity? Popovic (Fierce Like a Firestorm, 2018, etc.) masterfully conveys the genuine, visceral horror of Elizabeth's actions (and startling body count) without being gratuitous, though to remain true to the Bathory legend, there must be blood. It's difficult to humanize a legendary monster like Bathory, but Popovic gives it an admirable shot. She also touches on how a patriarchal society can drive women to extremes without letting the truly terrifying Bathory, or Anna, off the hook for their own actions. All characters seem to be white. A lush and bloody historical thriller. (Thriller. 14-adult)

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November 15, 2019
Grades 9-12 Popovic fictionalizes the fascinatingly lurid tale of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, the infamous sixteenth century Hungarian noblewoman and serial murderer, in this gothic tale of forbidden love and insatiable bloodlust. Sixteen-year-old Annacska is so deft with herbs that she's rumored a witch, but when her healing brings her to the attention of Lady Bathory, she sees a way to provide for her family while avoiding being shackled to a man. As Elizabeth's favored chambermaid, Anna relishes being the confidant?and finally lover?of such a magnetic, passionate woman, seeing no evidence of the cruel, capricious demon of which the other servants whisper. Yet even starry-eyed Anna cannot stay blinded forever. Ultimately complicit in shocking acts of torture and murder of girls like herself, Anna realizes she's been shackled after all?but to what end? Popovic balances lush, romantic language with gruesome imagery in this tale of innocence lost. While Anna's powerless passivity grows frustrating, her every interaction with Elizabeth is suffused with quiet menace. Readers will likely be inspired to do actual research into Lady Bathory's murderous misdeeds.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)