Krampus - Review

Author: Brom

Genre: Horror

Format: Paperback

Pages: 357

I wanted to like this book much more than I actually did. It started off with a bang and sucked me right in. While I didn't really like Jesse, I was curious to see how he fit into the story. The book is full of action and gore, and keep making a list of characters that needed to do horribly. In fact, I tore through the first half of Krampus pretty quickly. The last half, that's where I got stuck and had a hard time picking the story back up again. I am glad I stuck with it though because I apparent the ending.

Let's start with the positives!

I loved the artwork that accompanied the story at the start of each chapter, as well as the character portraits. There is no doubt that Brom is talented, and these were a wonderful added visual. Brom's artwork is stunning, and it's always an added bonus to see the characters through the author's eyes.

I do have to admit that I don't know much about the Krampus mythology, but I did enjoy the story that Brom weaved in this story. It was a great mix of the legend of Santa Claus and Norse Mythology. I lot of time and research went into it, and it felt flawless with a mix of characters I recognized. I thought he melded the two stories wonderfully.

Isobel and Vernon were probably my two favorites characters, even if they were side characters. Isobel because despite what she was, and everything she'd been made to do, she had this heart of gold. She seemed to be Krampus's compass when he was lost. And Vernon because of his snide comments and pure sass. Every time things went sideways I worried about them both. As for our main character Jesse, he was kind of the worst. I spent most of the book wanting to high five him in the face with a chair because he was hot-headed and just making things worse. A lot of white male rage... he tempers out toward the end, but he still wasn't my favorite.

As for the plot itself, like I said the first half is great. There's a ton of action and build-up to the showdown between Krampus and Santa. I was excited to see what kind of terrible things Krampus was going to do to the General and his boys. The book was hard to put down and the showdown with Santa was everything I wanted and the setup with the general was both gross and amazing. It was after that I started to drift away from the story. 

There were a couple of side plots that just seemed to drag the story along and I found myself reading the story less and skimming more. Sadly the book became easy to put down, eventually, I did pick it back up to see what to the Dillard because I was hoping for something terrible. I'm glad I finished because I did like how the book ended overall.

HAPPY READING!!