The Blood Confession by Alisa M. Libby is based on the legend of the Countess Erzebet Bathory, who reportedly killed young women and drained them of their blood in order to keep her looking younger and other twisted things.

Libby did an excellent job of making Erzebet a believable character, establishing curiosity and empathy about her situation in life within the first few pages of the book.

Readers learn that Erzebet’s mother rarely paid any attention to her because her mother was fixated on her appearance.

Erzebet’s father was rarely at home because he was frequently gathering beautiful things for his collection and cheating on his wife.

The entire book is a flashback through her life, narrated by Erzebet herself.

There are periods in the book where readers are drawn back to Erzebet’s current predicament where she is locked in a tower awaiting her trial for murdering innocent people.

Erzebet is obviously insane, or mad as they say in the book. Libby made a point of expressing that madness ran in Erzebet’s mother’s family, and readers see that Erzebet inherited the madness.

Overall, I give this book four out of five spurs.