SYNOSPIS

Kidan Adane committed murder and is on trial. She had her reasons, ones that people won’t believe, unless they suddenly believe in the existence of vampires. Luckily for the world, vampires can only drink from a specific bloodline. Unluckily, Kidan and her sister, June, are from one of those families.

When June disappears after discussing her fears of being watched and taken, Kidan will do anything to find her, including beginning the path to inherit her family’s home by enrolling at Uxlay, a university/community where vampires and humans live together. Even if it means sharing a house with the being she despises.

What could happen?

RECAP AND REVIEW

This is the first book in a trilogy series. The second is due to release some time in 2025. It’s told in the third perspective, following Kidan mostly, and is a dark academia book featuring vampires, morally grey characters, and a true enemies-to-lovers trope. This book is littered with mystery and has a secret society, and magical houses.

This isn’t a lighthearted story and though there is sexual tension, I wouldn’t read this solely for the romance because it’s really not the main aspect of the book in my opinion. It’s marketed as a YA, but it doesn’t read as YA to me. The tension is there and something kinda grows between them, but the story doesn’t revolve around that.

Kidan is impulsive, a little self-righteous and judgmental, fiercely loyal, both brave and scared, strong, hypocritical, and inconsiderate at times. She often doesn’t think about other people’s feelings, thoughts, the bigger picture, or the consequences of the decisions she makes. She is hurting, self-loathing, and experiences suicidal ideation. She forgives certain people’s actions, but struggles with her own similar ones.

I have conflicting feelings about Kidan because I appreciate the complexity of her character. Grief, self hatred, fear, possible depression can taint your outlook on life. While I feel for her sometimes, I also struggle with most of the blinded or uninformed decisions she makes. I struggle with her stubbornness, and inability to change her mind when presented with new information, inability to question her beliefs, and inability to see the world outside of herself. And I know that her mental health has a lot to do with this, but one’s mental health doesn’t absolve their actions, especially when they lead to harming others.

I also struggle with how she questions others so openly for decisions I feel like she would also make. She’s capable of doing what she claims evil beings do and I found her hypocritical throughout the book because of it. I really hated what happened with GK. I also didn’t like her discriminatory nature towards Susenyos, which I believe to be driven by her understandable fear of vampires.

Susenyos was extra at times, and he is also morally grey and in no way perfect, but I appreciate that he stands in his ruthlessness. He admits to his selfishness, and desires, even if he carries guilt about his actions. Although there are things he lies about, it was purely self-preservation and truly didn’t cause Kidan the type of harm she causes him. I would argue if Kidan wasn’t so one-tracked minded and self-destructive, if she believed she could be loved, she’d see that he wanted to let her in.

I have conflicting feelings about this book, so let’s break it down into what I enjoyed and what I enjoyed less.

I enjoyed:

1. Susenyos (the mmc) – Love him bad (though I don’t support all his wrongs). He’s clever, witty, self-assured, and always ready to fight. He’s secretly helpful and caring.
2. This is true enemies-to-lovers! They really hate each other, so much so that maybe it could turn to passion? Love? I mean, I personally think love and hate have similarities. Like it or not hating requires a level of investment, like love does, maybe because of the scars left behind, even if the hatred is deserved.
3. The final lesson from the Dranacti class- The conclusion of the class wrapped things up nicely, and I’m also looking at this university sideways. GK might’ve acted morally superior, but I think some of it was justified.
4. The short chapters- They helped keep me hooked and reading. It’s why once I really started reading it, I read it in like five or so days (fast for me).

What I enjoyed less:

1. What happens to GK at the end. The rest was on brand.
2. The “prank wars”, although Kidan’s final move was iconic and Susenyos didn’t give her a choice. I audible gasped and started laughing. He should’ve given her his jacket.
3. The third person narration- I’m not usually picky about whether or not a story is told in first or third person, but I think this book would’ve greatly benefited from being told in the first person. I think it aids to why it feels like contradictions were being made throughout the book about the world, because with third person I assumed information to be facts, which are later learned not to be. Feels like a trick vs. an undiscovered mystery. However, if you look at it through the lens of only knowing what Kidan knows, we’re learning alongside her, which is why I think first person would’ve been more beneficial.

I liked the side characters the four main side characters: Slen, Iniko, Rufael, and Taj. I didn’t think GK really fit and we will come to see why. I like that everyone is Black.

Half of twist at the end I saw coming, and the reveal makes the story even more tragic.

From this book, I learned about the harms of living for other people. That achieving of or the ending of what you feel your purpose is can be debilitating. That everyone has their reasons, and sometimes you’re not owed those reasons. Well-intentioned actions can still be flawed. Putting people on a pedestal actually devalues yourself. You never know what people are going through and how their experiences have shaped their internal world. People are the way they are for a reason.

OVERALL

Overall, I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. There are parts of it that I really liked and parts of it that I really couldn’t stand. However, even if Kidan isn’t my cup of tea, I really like how layered she and Susenyos are as characters. I appreciate the way it has caused me to think and reflect. I like how some of it played out in the end. I think it tied up nicely, even though it ended on a cliffhanger. I’m excited to see what’ll happen next with the way it ended.