Liz Kerin

I just finished @lizkerin’s NIGHT’S EDGE from @tornightfire, and this book is one hell of a wild ride.

Imagine vampirism (here called Saratov’s syndrome) treated as a pandemic, with the world’s health organizations stepping in to try to cure the “disease”, and how the world tries to move on with the every day. Mia’s mom, Izzy, is a Sara (someone suffering Saratov’s), and the two have kept this secret for years by keeping to themselves and sticking to their strict routine. show more However, when Izzy’s abusive boyfriend who turned her, Devon, shows up in town, and Mia meets the magnetic Jade, a rebellious musician performing at an underground music event nearby, both decide it’s time to rethink their lives, but to disastrous results.

There is a lot to unpack in this book. Beyond the stigma of people suffering from an illness they have no control over, Kerin deals with issues of abuse (physical, psychological, and manipulative), mental health, budding young queer romance, and trying to discover your own identity. Add in a dash of cultish behaviors and you’ve got a recipe for a book that is actually more psychological horror than physical horror, despite the book primarily being about vampires.

Some may ask why I’m including this in my #pridemonth reading: Mia’s story is a sapphic coming of age story with her feelings for Jade, as she finally understands the feelings of attraction she’s had for other women in her past. Night’s Edge wouldn’t be the book it is without this storyline.

While Kerin’s vampires adhere to many historic vampire tropes (need living blood to survive and can’t go out into daylight), she sidesteps some others (not being able to cast a reflection, for instance, I’d never discussed), and her vampires have an aversion to coffee instead of garlic. This definitely grounds them more in the “real world” than the supernatural, making Saratov’s syndrome feel more like an actual medical condition, and in some ways makes it that much more unsettling.

A huge thank you to @netgalley and #tornightfire for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review. Liz Kerin’s NIGHT’S EDGE releases June 20, 2033, with the follow up, FIRST LIGHT, dropping in 2024.

#netgalley #nightfire #horror #torbooks #horrorbookstagram #horrorbooks #vampires #lizkerin #booksbooksbooks #booknerd #frommybookshelf #frommybookshelfblog #bookstagram #books #bookstagrammer #bookreview #arc #vampire #bookworm #booklover show less

My new favorite vampire book! No sexy vampires here, it's a dark and brutal exploration of the not so sweet side of human relationships, lots of codependency and toxicity. The book swaps back and forth between after Izzy became infected and thirteen years later and I love Mia so so much as both as a ten year old and as 23 year old. The only thing I didn't like so much was the ending, it felt just a bit rushed but not ill fitting. I can't wait to read the sequel!

I received this eARC from Inkshares via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way.

DNF at 19%

I know I said I'd try to read a few more chapters (or even finish the chapter I was on tbh), but this book literally puts me to sleep, and I just can't lie to myself or to NetGalley any longer. I will not be finishing this.

This book feels like a mish-mash of everything that was popular in 2008-2011. It's got the demons from another realm from show more [b:Angelfall|15863832|Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1)|Susan Ee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464206558l/15863832._SY75_.jpg|16435765] and [b:City of Bones|256683|City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)|Cassandra Clare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432730315l/256683._SY75_.jpg|2267189]. It's got the postapocalypse from [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1447303603l/2767052._SX50_.jpg|2792775] and Angelfall again. It's got the girl searching for her sibling from Angelfall again. It's got the angsty love interest with a tortured past from every single Beauty and the Beast retelling ever, of which YA is currently saturated.

In other words, it was generic af and offered me nothing I hadn't seen before, done infinitely better or at least marginally entertaining. I couldn't stand the repetitive and passive writing. The action sequences were dull and the sentence structure lacked pretty much any variety until I felt like a literal robot wrote this book.

The inciting incident, if you can call it that, was so hokey that I was actually baffled that it was in the book at all. Basically, MC Seycia and her brother are at the ritual sacrifice thing and almost get robbed but, while the entire community is chanting the ritual thing around her, this girl beats the crap out of the would-be thief, and then is like "wow, I wOnDeR iF AnYOnE NoTIcEd?"

And I also couldn't stand literally any of the characters, except maybe the Missing Sibling™ Miko, and only really because I got his perspective right before I decided to drop the book and he didn't have a chance to bore me to death yet.

The villain is laughably black and white, with only a little bit of depth that's quickly overshadowed by his cartoonishly evil actions and appearance.

But what bothers me the most is that the average rating is so high, and that the parts I found to be the worst are many people's favorites. It really makes me wonder if we read the same book. show less

I received this eARC from Inkshares via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way.

DNF at 19%

I know I said I'd try to read a few more chapters (or even finish the chapter I was on tbh), but this book literally puts me to sleep, and I just can't lie to myself or to NetGalley any longer. I will not be finishing this.

This book feels like a mish-mash of everything that was popular in 2008-2011. It's got the demons from another realm from show more [b:Angelfall|15863832|Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1)|Susan Ee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464206558l/15863832._SY75_.jpg|16435765] and [b:City of Bones|256683|City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)|Cassandra Clare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432730315l/256683._SY75_.jpg|2267189]. It's got the postapocalypse from [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1447303603l/2767052._SX50_.jpg|2792775] and Angelfall again. It's got the girl searching for her sibling from Angelfall again. It's got the angsty love interest with a tortured past from every single Beauty and the Beast retelling ever, of which YA is currently saturated.

In other words, it was generic af and offered me nothing I hadn't seen before, done infinitely better or at least marginally entertaining. I couldn't stand the repetitive and passive writing. The action sequences were dull and the sentence structure lacked pretty much any variety until I felt like a literal robot wrote this book.

The inciting incident, if you can call it that, was so hokey that I was actually baffled that it was in the book at all. Basically, MC Seycia and her brother are at the ritual sacrifice thing and almost get robbed but, while the entire community is chanting the ritual thing around her, this girl beats the crap out of the would-be thief, and then is like "wow, I wOnDeR iF AnYOnE NoTIcEd?"

And I also couldn't stand literally any of the characters, except maybe the Missing Sibling™ Miko, and only really because I got his perspective right before I decided to drop the book and he didn't have a chance to bore me to death yet.

The villain is laughably black and white, with only a little bit of depth that's quickly overshadowed by his cartoonishly evil actions and appearance.

But what bothers me the most is that the average rating is so high, and that the parts I found to be the worst are many people's favorites. It really makes me wonder if we read the same book. show less