ARC Review--Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma

 

The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House in this dangerously romantic dark academia fantasy, where a lost heiress must infiltrate an arcane society and live with the vampire she suspects killed her family and kidnapped her sister.

It began long before my time, but something has always hunted our family.

Orphaned heiress Kidan Adane grew up far from the arcane society she was born into, where human bloodlines gain power through vampire companionship. When her sister, June, disappears, Kidan is convinced a vampire stole her—the very vampire bound to their family, the cruel yet captivating Susenyos Sagad.

To find June, Kidan must infiltrate the elite Uxlay University—where students study to ensure peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires and inherit their family legacies. Kidan must survive living with Susenyos—even as he does everything he can to drive her away. It doesn’t matter that Susenyos’s wickedness speaks to Kidan’s own violent nature and tempts her to surrender to a life of darkness. She must find her sister and kill Susenyos at all costs.

When a murder mirroring June’s disappearance shakes Uxlay, Kidan sinks further into the ruthless underworld of vampires, risking her very soul. There she discovers a centuries-old threat—and June could be at the center of it. To save her sister, Kidan must bring Uxlay to its knees and either break free from the horrors of her own actions or embrace the dark entanglements of love—and the blood it requires.

 

I received this ARC from the publisher in a giveaway that I won. My review is completely honest and voluntary; I was not compensated for this review.

 

Tigest Girma's debut, Immortal Dark is a tale rich with culture, history, and vampires! A book that was screaming at me to read it and I was excited for the early opportunity to do so. Plus you can feel the revenge plot brewing and the absolutely delightful enemies to maybe something more romance going on!

Kidan Adane has had a rough go of things lately. Her sister, June, was kidnapped awhile back and Kidan has been doing everything in her power to find her...even when it meant killing someone. It was a fruitful labor though, as she received a name; Susenyos Sagad. He's a vampire taking residence at Adane House at Uxlay University. The university is meant to help teach students about vampires, while coexisting with them. There's a very intricate system built up between the humans and the vampires. Rule breaking, of course is strictly forbidden.

Kidan reluctantly agrees to attend the university, if only to get access to Susenyos. She has the unfortunate task of living with the vampire in the house that was named after her family, thus tying her to the university itself. Kidan knows he did something to her sister, she fears June might be dead, but has hope that she's not. But there's a rule written into the house's very bones, one that must be obeyed no matter what and it essentially keeps her from killing Susenyos outright. 

Kidan then begins her education process and trying to figure out ways to put an end to Susenyos and learning quite a bit about vampires in general during the process. I won't say that overtime Kidan and Sysenyos begin to fall in love and all that. Because they very much have the "I want to kill you, but maybe kiss you first" banter going on. There's more hate than love between these two, but interesting things begin to develop between them the more time passes.

Trying to solve the mystery of what happened to June kind of takes a backseat, but not for lack of trying. Kidan continues to hit wall after wall on that front, which does make things slow down a bit.

I was surprised by how heavy the book was, not physically, of course! The subject matter was very deep and very detailed. There was so much to learn about this world, the culture, the school, and the matter of vampires. It was just a lot of details to sift through. At times, I felt weighed down by some of it because it was just so overwhelming. There was a lot of information to absorb in this one and I felt like at times the pacing of the book even got bogged down a bit by this.

The book was a lot to comprehend. There was just a great deal of culture and history to understand before you can really move forward with the plot itself. This did make the pacing feel a little slower. Perhaps it was also the formatting of the book with small line spacing, small text, and a very, very full page of text. 

The ending did present a few interesting tidbits that make me curious as to where this story will go in the next installment. I'm on the fence of continuing it to be honest. I did enjoy it, but oh wow, did my brain hurt after finishing it. It's hard to describe why, I guess with the pacing and overload of information that was learned throughout the whole book just wore me out. It's definitely a book you must pay attention to in order to grasp certain concepts. 

But still, Immortal Dark was still a very intriguing and insightful read. I am definitely keeping an eye on this series despite my hesitance. As a vampire lover to my very core, I enjoyed this different take on the creatures of the night! It's a worthy read if you are looking for something different and exposure to a new culture.

Overall Rating 3/5 stars

Immortal Dark releases September 3, 2024