“The moon is beautiful. All it needs is a little star to keep it company.”
- S.M. Estrada, Isle of Immortal
☆☆☆☆
This was my first ARC review with BookSirens so thank you to the author and BookSriens for providing me with this read! I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This book was a great read, I did find it quite hard to get into but once it got going I was invested. It has vampires, faeries, mysteries and a nice touch of spice. If you liked From Blood and Ash and Shadow and Bone this is a nice merge between the two and is definitely up your alley.
I found the story quite literally threw you into it. There was not a lot of set-up before I was thrown into a completely new world. You really hit the ground running in this one. Some readers may like this, but for me, I like to get a good sense of who is who and I found in the first few chapters I wasn’t understanding the characters and relationships. Once we got going I was able to fall in love with the characters and the world. I’m keeping this review spoiler free so to keep it spoiler free I can’t get too much into the characters or else it will spoil the plot. Our heroine is Shai who is trying to save her brother by going to the Isle and cashing in a debt with the mysterious vampire king. During her travels, she meets up with Axton, a mysterious man who she had met in the mortal world. The two have fantastic banter and some nice tension. Most of Shai’s character focuses on her saving her brother and as more is revealed about her past she tries to discover what her mother might be hiding. Axton stays this mysterious bad through most of act 1 slowly revealing bits of his past to Shai. I did love these two characters they were written well and the relationship between the two seemed real and natural.
I loved the world of the story. The Isle of the Immortal must be charged by the vampire king to keep its magic alive but without a queen, the isle is stuck in darkness. It’s such a great concept that I haven’t really seen done before. We get to see how the vampire king can change the magic of the world around him like creating stars in the sky, which is an adorable scene. The only thing I wished was there was more of a setup in the earlier chapters but other than that great world set-up!
This book was a more character-driven story than a plot-driven story. The plot was focused on finding a cure for Shai’s brother and uncovering the mysteries of her family. Shai and Axton drove the story forward and it focused more on their romance than any action. I’d classify this book as a new adult fantasy romance rather than just a fantasy. But I’m here for it! The romance was well written with some nice spice throughout for good measure.
Again huge thanks to the author and BookSirens for this ARC! It was a great read. I was able to get through it quite quickly and it was great. The deeper I got into it the more I wanted to read. There are vampires, faeries, mysterious mothers, and some great tropes. This book is great for fantasy lovers and those who are looking to try out the fantasy genre.
Follow the author’s Instagram: smestradabooks
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Mild fantasy violence, kidnapping
RATING: 17+, new adult
SPICE: 2/5
Comments