This was easily one of my top five favorite books from 2020. The premise is fun, the writing is funny and engaging, and the plot adds a unique spin to one of our favorite teen gets involved with an immortal vampire tropes. This one made me want to read all of Roehrig's other works and I'm so glad I did!

Caleb's books are a combination of dark and dreamy and romantic all while having great queer rep. Nothing else to add!

If you like gay characters who are possessed by a demon you will like this book. In my case it was not for me the book was a little slow for me and the story didn't intrigue me a lot.
3 stars for me
Thank you so much to Netgalley for this arc in exhange for an honest review.

My first exposure to Caleb Roehrig is an enjoyable book where vampires and destiny collide in the life of a young man. I found it to be enjoyable, fun read.

It works best when it's being ironic and tropey and poking fun at those tropes. Where it struggles is in the actual execution of the plot--it feels overworked to me?

have wanted to read this vampire novel for years and i really enjoyed it! it was really entertaining. some of the plot points were easy to see coming but the characterization and writing made it worth reading.

"You're so obsessed with 'directives' invented thousands of years ago that you can't even imagine there's a way to exist without them and not be evil. You're such a Virgo, Jude!"
I had a lot of mixed feelings while reading this book. When it began and continued through the beginning, I was so in. I mean, moody queer vampires with some witchy stuff thrown in? Hell yeah; the Buffy vibes were strong. It's funny and delivers, to me, a unique new lore for vampires, and it's fairly easy to get a strong connection with a favorite character (love you, Daphne). On the other hand, I found myself wishing for a romance, which I guess wasn't really the point of the book in the end, but there was a sort of love triangle built up that ended up going nowhere of consequence. I'm not sure if this was originally planned as a series so that we could see more of where the characters landed, but unfortunately, I don't see that happening. Also, what was with the constant mentioning of boners?? I get it happens to teenage boys a lot, but holy hell that was a lot of erections, and I'm not sure I needed to know every single time he was hard. It also got a little too convoluted in the last 1/3 of the book for me and probably could've used some editing of ideas or maybe 50 less pages. However, these are honestly pretty minor things in the grand scheme because I still did actually enjoy this book a lot, though I'd be pretty hesitant to recommend it to most readers.

This book is so wonderful! The perfect mix of contemporary and paranormal. It was sweet, funny, and just down right perfect!

This was not at all what I expected and the twists had me guessing and on edge til the end. Wow.

I went into this book expecting the usual mortal boy falls for vampire boy, things go to hell, but they all get a happily ever after once the world has been saved. Like... nothing what I descried happened!

There is a fantastic, realistic romance, but it isn't the main focus of the book -- which is the vampires over-running humans and the potential of the end of the world hanging over their heads. So, this is more action-y and horror than anticipated, but I ended up really liking it. The twists truly just kept coming. The ending is realistic and made sense even if I found it bittersweet.

All in all a great book that I keep recommending.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

3 stars! Some parts were awesome and some were a bit slow. Overall, vampires ia always a win! Young adult and LGBTQIA+ - definitely a new take on the genre.

The Fell of Dark was a fun read filled with gay vampires, a love triangle, and a prophecy.

It was the right amount of spooky without being a straight out horror novel. I appreciated the campiness of the story including the romance.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

I'd pretty much written off vampires in the post-Twilight world. But GAY vampires? I had to give that a shot!

This book was a lot of fun, which was really all I asked and expected of it. Yes, there were times when the narrator was a whiny teenager. Yes, there were inevitable information passages. But it's FUN.

If you at all like lgbtq + supernatural, definitely give this one a shot! It's reminiscent of Goosebumps, for the older crowd. And gay.

I have very mixed feelings about this one. There were parts of this that I enjoyed and the idea is really intriguing. Aside from that I just couldn't get into the tone of the book (boys are horny, I get it. I don't need an infinite supply of b**** references). The climatic battle at the end also seemed overly chaotic. It might be my distracted mood at the moment, but it was just difficult for me to follow.

In a town full of vampires, one human teen becomes the central figure in an ancient prophecy foretelling the return of a powerful being who could mean the end of the world as we know it. With humans and vampires alike out to get him, Auggie has to figure out who he can trust between the hot vampires vying for his attention--and maybe trying to save his life--and his former math tutor who turns out to be an immensely powerful fighter, taking down humans and vampires alike to keep Auggie safe.

I really loved this take on vampire lore, with competing factions of vampires with complicated loyalties and cult-like devotion to their leaders / causes, not to mention an ancient order of vampire hunters trying to keep them from taking over the world. Not to mention the witches. And the play on a love triangle, with Auggie at the center, but the other two not only both being guys--gay love triangle for the win!--but also exes made for a really interesting dynamic. The fact that the romance aspect, while earning a lot of page time, was framed as part of a journey rather than the one-true-love destination was also really great.

It's pretty much Buffy but gay, and really what more is there to say about it?

I have absolutely been terrible at reading my arcs this year. Or books in general. It's been a tough year for everyone. Book slumps have been inevitable. Even when books are supposed to be an escape from *gestures vaguely*.

I was super excited to be approved for an arc of the highly hyped The Fell of Dark. Honestly, Caleb had me at gay vampires. And I'm a bandwagon jumper. What can I say? Grabby hands for all the vampires 2020 will give me.

I started the arc a few times previously and never made it past the first couple of chapters. The story never really grabbed my attention. I very much considered it a DNF. But then, literally today, I decided to pick up the audiobook and I finished it. Today. I wasn't sure I would. I contemplated turning shutting it off a handful of times. It's very campy and a little cringy at parts. It's really info dumpy and confusion most of the rest of the time. In some ways, I feel like Fell was trying too hard to push the chosen one narrative and parallel itself with Buffy, of whom it is compared to. You can't force charm or chemistry. And that's another thing I never felt between anyone, was chemistry. I didn't really care how any of the relationships turned out. Especially with an unsatisfying ending. I think it ended well and realistically. I personally just don't like open endings. I know it sounds like I didn't enjoy it at all but I did. Otherwise, I wouldn't have finished it.

Things I did like:
The characters acted like teenagers. Even the ones who have been teenagers for awhile. They were impulsive and confused and indecisive. I liked that instead of complete triangle drama, polygamy was explored. I liked the use of the word 'pansexual'. I liked that no one called anyone 'bitch'. I liked that friendships were loyal.

All in all, The Fell of Dark does have some similar themes and a slight feel of Buffy but it lacked the charm for me. I would definitely read a sequel if one were to be published.

P.S. Michael Crouch is an amazing narrator.

Auggie lives in a town full of vampires, just outside of Chicago. But recently, they seem to be more interested in him for some reason, and he's been having random blackouts and weird dreams. Something called The Corrupter is awakening within Auggie and could, according to some, bring ultimate immortality to the vampires. But at what cost to Auggie and those he cares about?

This was tons of fun! Auggie's snarky commentary was refreshing for a vampire story, as well as the various LGBT representation. Auggie's helpless attitude and bumbling may have lasted a bit too long in the story, but with all the different characters being introduced and their stories that need to be explored, it worked. Definitely a recommended read, and it will definitely make you laugh!

Missing going to the movies this summer? Try reading this book instead.

It’s essentially an action flick, where our hero Auggie Pfeiffer has to survive being a target for vampire cultists and a knightly order that protects humanity while trying to find a way to avoid being possessed by an ancient entity who wants dominion over the earth. So, we’ve got wild fight scenes with hand-to-hand combat and swords (guns are boring), with vampires spectacularly decomposing at the moment of true death. (These are the kind of fight scenes where the ground shakes when people jump from a height, folks.) In true action movie fashion, the story also includes a hint of romance of the will-they-or-won’t-they variety, although with a slight twist, in that Auggie has two potential love interests in play. As if the poor kid doesn’t have enough to deal with already, going from no guys in his life to two of them is a real shock to his system.

I left out the magic. And its practitioners, including witches and sorcerers. No werewolves, though.

There IS a certain Russian mad monk, because why not.

If you get the impression there’s a lot going on in this book, you’d be correct. Readers who are willing to immerse themselves in the thrill ride will probably have a lot of fun with it, although I did find the ending a bit flat. The resolution of the romance aspect of the storyline, though . . . Just keep in mind that this is an action film in book form, not a love story.

I’d say if this book sounds like something you’d enjoy, go for it. It certainly kept me entertained!

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Vampires are back with this new teen fantasy that has vibes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Carry On. August Pfeiffer is a normal, or so he thinks, teen living in a town that just happens to be a nexus for supernatural activity. There are vampires, but Auggie is more concerned with passing Algebra than vampiric activity, until a mysterious vampire comes to town and reveals that Auggie is the vessel for a powerful destroyer that is reincarnated once a century in order to take over the world. It's up to Auggie and all the people around him who he thought were normal to prevent Auggie from turning into a human nuclear bomb, and Auggie handles it with style and humor. This book took me a bit to get into because it was kind of confusing, but I really enjoyed Auggie's humor and the complexity of the relationships between characters. I hope there's a sequel!

Auggie is your standard American teen: hates Algebra, loves hanging with his best friend, has a being of unspeakable power slowly incubating inside him and a quartet of rival factions fighting over who gets to have a say in its arrival.

This is an obvious and admitted homage to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, specifically "The Zeppo", and I did not mind that one bit. The story took itself just seriously enough, doing an excellent job of balancing the complex politics of the rival factions with the fact that the main character is a teenage boy just trying to figure out what the hell is going on - especially with his love life (and to that end, the queer dating drama? SO on point). Roehrig is as funny as ever, and I like that the ending was open enough for a sequel, but gave enough closure that one isn't necessary.

For me, this book walked the razor's edge between good and great until roughly the third act, when Roehrig did that thing a lot of mystery authors are also fond of doing: you know, where the narrator makes clear that they know what's about to happen next but deliberately - and clumsily - withhold that info from the reader. That diminished quite a bit of the ending for me and settled this book as just "good."

Up until that point this book had basically been a series of really enjoyable twists and turns, with snappy writing that was occasionally laugh out loud funny. Roehrig has a really good handle on the pacing of this story throughout: once the set-up is established there's barely a dull moment, save a few throat clearing paragraphs leading up to the final battle. (Although, to be frank, I'd trade in more throat clearing paragraphs to eliminate the several dozen boner references that straight up litter this book. Like, okay, we get it. Auggie is a sixteen-year-old boy. Perhaps a third of these are justifiable, but once a chapter? Really?)

All this to say, I don't think it's at all an exaggeration to compare this to Buffy - it has that same bloody fun vibe - and I think if you liked that show you'll find something to like here as well.