Hospital for Immortal Creatures by Alexandrina Krusharska | Book Review

Plot Summary (spoiler-free)

Immortals live hidden among people, and when they need care they go to a hospital built for exactly that purpose, run inside supernatural walls. The place is more than a sanctuary. It is the centre of a web of political tension, mystery, and hidden agendas.

The story follows Mikhail, a necromancer and the hospital’s founder, and Amelia, a mortal doctor pulled into this world. When a powerful immortal is murdered, alliances start to unravel and the balance of power between immortals and mortals shifts. Mikhail is tired of centuries simply passing, Amelia is questioning where she belongs, and together they try to navigate an ancient conflict with consequences that reach well beyond the hospital walls.

Character Development

Mikhail Korovin is an intricate character whose real fight is with the weight of immortality. As the hospital’s founder he has taken on responsibility for the whole supernatural community, and his moral and existential struggle, how to stay human while leading creatures who think about life completely differently, is front and centre. His motivations are rooted in duty and in loss, and centuries of living have shaped his choices into something knotted and complicated.

Amelia Dragova is a mortal doctor with her own scars who gets drawn into the world of immortals, moving from unknowing bystander to the person who unravels the mystery. She is the book’s human anchor, tender in her own way but full of doubt and fear, and her relationship with Mikhail is the core of her arc, growing from trust into deeper emotional involvement while she wrestles with her identity and the moral dilemmas that keep arriving. Around them, Constantine is a necromancer of shadowy motives and Viktor is Mikhail’s loyal best friend, and the contrast between manipulation and loyalty enriches the story, as does the wider cast of immortals and hospital staff, each with their own powers, vulnerabilities, and histories.

Themes

The book is really about the cost of living forever, the psychological and emotional toll of eternity, from boredom to the accumulated weight of past misdeeds, worked out most fully through Mikhail. The hospital functions as a microcosm of power struggle, with different immortals competing for control and playing on weaker beings, mortals included, and the mortal-versus-immortal balance keeps shifting unpredictably. Identity runs alongside all of it: Amelia searching for her place in a world of immortal beings, and Mikhail asking what belonging even means when your life has no end.

Writing Style and Effectiveness

Krusharska’s prose is flowery and descriptive, and it puts the reader inside a gothic, atmospheric world thick with metaphor and image. The pacing is uneven, balancing reflective stretches against fast action, and while the book is serious given its subject, death and immortality, there are real moments of tenderness and hope, especially in how gently Mikhail and Amelia interact. The third-person narration often sits very close to the characters, sometimes almost uncomfortably so. The main weakness is the dense exposition, which drags the pace in places and may cost some readers their engagement.

Conclusion

Hospital for Immortal Creatures is an entertaining, intriguing supernatural thriller built around existential questions about life, power, and identity. The theme of immortality and its burdens comes through clearly, carried by rounded characters, Mikhail and Amelia in particular, and the fusion of medical intrigue with the supernatural gives dark fantasy a slightly different angle. The pacing wanders in places, but the fully built world and the complicated relationships make up for it. It is a good fit for readers who want dark fantasy with deep world-building, moral complexity, and a character-driven plot, and fans of Anne Rice and brooding supernatural fiction should find it satisfying.

Evaluation

• Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
• Writing Style: ★★★★☆ (4/5): rich and immersive, sometimes weighed down by heavy description.
• Characters: ★★★★★ (5/5)
• World-Building: ★★★★★ (5/5): the world of immortals is richly built, with its own rules and dynamics.
• Spice Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5): the romance is gentle and slow, more emotional than explicit.

Trigger warnings: murder and violence, death and mortality as central themes, existential dread, manipulation, a power imbalance between mortals and immortals.

Recommendation: for readers who want dark fantasy with deep world-building, moral complexity, and a slow, character-driven plot. Fans of Anne Rice and brooding, contemplative supernatural fiction who do not mind dense description will get the most from it.