"Night's Edge" Is a tense slice of horrific life from the perspective of "what if vampirism were treated like a virus?". Coming off of the pandemic, there's a lot here that rings true - the paranoia, some treating it like no big deal, moral culture wars. But Kerin's focus is less on the world at large and more on a specific bond between mother and daughter. Mia and Izzy are hiding - Izzy was turned into a vampire years ago by an abusive boyfriend who has grandiose aspirations to "elevate" his people from living in fear. The narrative goes back and forth - from the early days, when Mia was ten, to modern-day, when Mia is twenty-three and there's a decisive crack between mother and daughter.

The relationship is carefully crafted. The co-dependency makes for some frustrating scenes - I spent a lot of commute time yelling at both characters while I listened to this audiobook. Those looking for an action-packed horror will not find it here; this book is more insistent on cultivating its nuanced relationships and dread. I really did enjoy it - caring a great deal for Mia's floundering friendships (and hey, there's a sapphic romance in here!) and rooting for her to break free of this self-imposed exile.

Unfortunately... it really did feel like the "first" book in a series. That dread I mentioned building built to a crescendo and then... the book ended, promising retribution in book two. Oh, I definitely want to read book two, but it definitely felt a little like a let-down of an ending. I wanted more from it. I was primed for more. Still, I'm very curious to see what happens to Mia and where Kerin is going. Recommended to horror fans who like domestic horror and have a high tolerance for blood.

Horror Audio.

Just what I was looking for! A coming of age story intertwined with a vampire-like story.

Mia’s mom needs her blood. She can’t tell anyone or she’ll be taken away & she’ll be alone.

Multi-timeline (hence coming of age) then & now. Mia learns to be responsible for someone else’s life at a very young age.

She doesn’t get to do any extracurricular activities. Friends can’t come to her house. She is isolated with a volatile blood drinker.

Mia meets and becomes entangled with a girl in a band while Mia’s mom looks for companionship elsewhere and the lies begin to pile up, pushing this co-dependent relationship towards a cliff.

I’d like to hear more about this infection and how the government is really handling it., maybe from a different POV.

There was so much emotion packed in to a small book. I was blown away how Kerin was about to have the world change in away that felt real and suffocating, but not info dumping. This book left me frustrated, but also understanding of the toxic, co-depending relationship between mother and daughter. The need to protect and stay together, but also that need leaving them stuck. Watching Mia slowly fight for her own place, not just in the darkness with her mother was painful and strong.

The Narrator did an amazing job, she brought so much life to Mia's voice.

I haven’t liked a main character as much as I liked Mia in some time. Her character development was spot on.
This book is so much more than a vampire novel. It is an exploration of love and decision making. It grabs ahold of you and makes you question what you would do in those situations.
Thanks to #NetGallery, Macmillan Audio, and the author for an ARC.

Night’s Edge delivers all the vampiric thrills you could wish for. But if you were raised by a single parent, or found yourself taking care of an ailing guardian, or just felt your blood pulling you towards an ever-complicating relationship of any kind, this book will captivate you, break your heart, and sing to you like an impossibly personal tribute.

A young woman struggles to take care of her mother who was infected with a vampire like virus. Sick of the constant stress and secrecy, she develops a crush on a local barista and starts to imagine another type of life. My issue with this book is that it's being marketed as an adult novel when it is 100 percent written like YA. Nothing wrong with that, but YA horror is just not for me.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book, the concept of vampirism being a virus. Everyone is aware of the vampires, and they had a curfew to prevent more attacks, they have scanners at the entrances of places, I really liked the concept. It was a different take on it, which I found interesting and thoroughly enjoyed. 

The characters on another note I had a hard time with. I didn't like the fact that Mia had to be the adult and take care of her mom, I mean she had to do everything, I found her mother Izzy to be extremely selfish, I had a hard time getting past that. The way she treats her daughter and acts with her is in no case a sign of motherly love, it was so toxic. The fact that she became an ongoing source of food for her mom… I struggled. Also, the romance that builds between Mia and Jade broke my heart, I hated the way she was played.

This book definitely felt more YA to me then adult even if the FMC is 23 years old. It is described as an adult horror, in my opinion it felt more YA. 

Overall, I did enjoy the book, there is a sequel, but I don't know if I will pick it up, I was disappointed by the ending.

✨️Thank you @netgalley, @torbooks, @macmillanaudio for my free ARC & ALC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Vampires in Tucson, Arizona? Say LESS! I rarely read books that take place in my state and was truly delighted to find that the setting was none other than the desert landscape I know all too well.

It was easy to go along with Mia throughout her day in a world that reminds you of post pandemic, but where the pandemic was a virus that turns you into a blood drinking, can only go out at night, variety of person. I think Mia is a character many will relate too. She's sweet, angry, confused, and complicated. We follow her as the safe world she's cultivated with her mom starts to breakdown. Her mother is keeping secrets, putting herself in danger and Mia meets Jade - a Starbucks barista by day, musician by night who forces Mia to wonder if there's more to life than she's let herself consider before.

The story is a slow-burn, my fave, which really lets you get to know Mia. While Mia is in her early twenties, the story has a coming-of-age feel as Mia realizes that living her life for someone else for all these years really hasn't gotten her anywhere.

Chase Sui Wonders does a phenomenal job narrating the story and bringing even more life to Mia. Her want, her nerves, her anger. It's just 🤌 As is the writing. I can't wait to see these already cinematic scenes play out on the big screen. I also cannot wait for the sequel.

This book is the epitome of Summerween and if it's not on your #tbr yet, it needs to be.

Vampire pandemic anyone?? Imagine if instead of Covid we had Saratov Syndrome with people out there biting each other (sometimes killing them, sometimes turning them) resulting in nightly curfews for 2 years, blood pricking scanners on every door, and black ambulances that take Sara patients to "recovery centers".
My heart broke for Mia, our MC, watching her navigate a new normal with her recently turned mom Izzy in 2010 when she was just 10 years old, to present day 2023 where she's now an adult. As soon as Izzy turned she started putting her own needs/health/happiness of herself before her daughter. This was the central theme/storyline in the book and the farther into the story we got, the harder it got to listen to. This was an (TW) extremely toxic, abusive and neglectful relationship that ruled by fear and not love. I did find that some of the early present day scenes dragged on a little, especially in the beginning as I was first trying to get into the story, but appreciated that it was for background building.
I was rooting for Mia this whole book, but her present day progression of finding her own needs in life (love, travel, college, staying out with friends after sunset) as well as seeing her mom's red flags for what they are - and and not an excuse of her syndrome, was the ultimate growth point! The ending was heart-pounding and I think the next book, "First Light" is going to have even higher stakes. I can't to see Mia step further into her own power.

An enthusiastic ★★★★★, this novel is a sure thing for being optioned for film.

When thinking about the setting within which to explore a co-dependent and increasingly toxic mother-daughter relationship, the struggle of a daughter to break free of a mother's suffocating need, you probably don't imagine a dystopian future where some of the population has been stricken with a mysterious illness that turns them into vampires. Well, that's the backdrop of Night's Edge, which I fully expected to be a fast-paced thriller about the fear, complications, adjustments and occasional unexpected deaths that would have to accompany such a turn of events. And it was. But it was so much more.

We're now all old hands at the kind of changes that come along with a rapidly spreading disease—the restriction of access to public spaces if you're suspected of being infected, the suspicion with which you might be greeted by strangers, the quarantines, the isolation. All of that makes the premise of this novel much easier to swallow, and to accept as being not at all far-fetched. Even the notion that a virus could cause vampirism seems a little less fantastical than it would have been just five years ago. In other words, we're all well-primed to almost accept the premise of this novel as being close to reality.

From the very first page, we find out that Mia's mom, Izzy is infected. She's been infected since Mia was 10, and since then Mia's life has been about helping her mother avoiding detection and manage her thirst for blood so they can have something like a normal life. And it is something like normal—they have a home, own a bar and Mia has a job at a bookstore. Except for the scanners set up around town to detect people like her mom, and but for the fact that Izzy can only come out after sundown, things are pretty good. As long as no one discovers their secret. If they're found out, Izzy would be sent to a government-run facility where rumor has it, the infected are experimented on.

So Mia and Izzy have rules, forming only loose attachments to other people, and trying to rely only on each other. East enough perhaps when Mia was only 10, but harder now that she is 23 and beginning to yearn for a bigger life; something she cannot have if she is to return home every day around sundown to feed her mother by opening a vein and giving her at least 4 oz. of fresh blood to drink from a cup.

All of that was fascinating as a backdrop and as the impetus for the dysfunctionally entangled mother-daughter relationship, but the relationship itself and how it was portrayed was the star of this book for me. Mia's mom need not have been a vampire; she could also have been an addict, an agoraphobic, a person suffering depression ... you name it. The portrayal of what it means to have someone else's needs swallow your whole, to love them at your own expense and then to try to break free was incredibly well-portrayed here. Take it from me, someone who rarely reads anything dystopian or horror, this book was sooo good on character development. It didn't rely on cheap thrills to turn the page and where there were thrills, they weren't 'cheap' but very vividly and convincingly portrayed. Especially strong in the parts where it shows a young woman struggling to find her own path and voice, and finding for the first time that attachments outside of the one she has with her mother just might be possible. I would be SHOCKED if this book didn't almost immediately get optioned for development as a film. Highly recommended for those open-minded about genre reading, and for those who enjoy near-future dystopian novels, thrillers and horror.

Audiobook Note: Read by Chase Sui Wonders, it was exceptionally well-voiced, although she read as younger than 23 (which the actress is not). I think that may have been a creative choice since Mia, although 23 in the book, is socially inept from having had very few people in her life, and almost none her age since she was 10.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio from Tor Nightfire for the audio-ARC

This is what I want in horror – character development and a deeper message beyond gore! We have a pandemic that creates vampires, a very innocent sapphic love tale, a deep dive into familial duty when chronic illness and abusive dynamics are at play.

Night’s Edge is a play on the vampire myth, but instead of a sexy young on the outside predatory older man on the inside love interest, we focus on the daughter of a woman turned when the protagonist was a child. Through Mia we see all the guilt and pain that accompanies caring for a loved who is draining her (figuratively and literally). Through Mia’s eyes we feel all the guilt that has led her to shut her life down to serve the needs of her mother, and the moment when she starts to wonder if there is life beyond keeping her mother safe.

Told in a dual timeline between when Izzy (the mother) was initially infected in 2010 and now in 2013. We are along for the ride of all the horror of violence expected around a vampire story as well as the gaslighting and guilt that have trapped and isolated Mia in her own personal hell.

The romance in this story is well done. A spark with a barista that goes both ways, and Mia’s initial resistance to her feelings out of duty. This little love story does not have a classic happy ending, but it is a satisfying one. Rare for a horror book.

Is this the best written book I’ve read? No. Is it an entertaining and solid read that has some important things to say? Yes. Does it still check the big horror boxes? Yes. Should you read it if you like vampire stories or dark family tales? Also, yes.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC audiobook!

Liz Kerin’s novel “Nights Edge” is a great take on the mythology on the vampire as well as a well written metaphor for a traumatic, abusive childhood. Mia is a 23 year old who has spent most of her life trying to hide her vampire mother from society and keep their lives together. As her mom starts falling back into old habits, Mia starts exploring her world and meets a girl named Jade that makes her want to take a risk for the first time. Mia is torn between wanting to protect her mom and having her own life.

Def recommend this to anyone into horror, specifically horror written by women.

The writing is great, as is the audio narration. I’m excited to see where this series goes when book 2 comes out.

3.5 stars

Overall, I enjoyed this read, but I had mixed reactions to specific aspects of it and will recommend it mindfully to certain folks and with caveats.

Mia lives with her mom, and this is a particularly tough situation because her mom's boyfriend gave her a semi-ubiquitous virus (on purpose - he's terrible) that made her into a vampire. She's not the sultry _True Blood_ kind either. Since Izzy does not have this virus and her mom is hungry all the time, well, let your imagination run wild. One becomes an ongoing food source for the other. Readers who are anything like me and basically start turning grey as soon as think about their own blood will find themselves hitting 2x more than once here. Some of the physical elements were a little too much for me.

In addition to the gross out scenes, one of the biggest challenges I had with this read was making sense of the genre. This reads SO much like YA that when Mia's age - 23! - was mentioned, I was sort of shocked. I had to do a little investigating after this and instantly discovered that the author addresses exactly this issue quite nicely in a Goodreads post, which includes the intended audience and genre: adult horror. Kerin does, however, also mention that readers of YA may find some common ground, and that pairing - adult horror that has a YA vibe even though the m.c. is 23 - very much describes my conundrum while reading.

This book is marked as the first in a series, and despite my minor issues, I am looking forward to spending more time with Mia and in this world. I'll just keep an ice pack and a comfy seat nearby.

Going to be as vague as possible to avoid spoilers. The synopsis on this book, is basically the entire book. There is a very toxic mother/daughter relationship, where you’re likely to despise the mother/ her actions, and feel bad for the daughter. I keep finding myself yelling “just leave her already” at the daughter every new scene. It reminds me of how a child has to grow up with a single parent that is an addict. The parent is very selfish, mainly has bad choices that hurt the pair. It is very difficult (for me) to read. I’m so angry all the time. However, the book is so well written. I love the metaphors, and the choice of words used. The story gives a new take on how it might be to live with vampires. (It sucks). Lol. Also, I was able to listen to the audiobook thank you Net Galley and MacMillan Audio. The narrator was perfect. All in all, this is a 3.5 stars for me because I don’t tend to love stories that just make me angry, but if you love the intricacies of mother / daughter relationships and learning to grow and leave those you love, this is a great choice. I definitely would read more from this author.

Immersive, engaging, and utterly original. Excellent narration. A recommended purchase for collections where horror is popular.

I was sold on this book because of the name that was attached to the first quote. “This one’s a killer” — Erica T. Wurth. Wurth is the author of one of my favorite books of last year, White Horse. Just getting her approval made me even more excited.

This book was an interesting and refreshing take on the overdone vampire genre. What made this work for me was a few things. First, I loved that we all know what a vampire is but that’s not what they were called here, they were called Sara. Not much was explained since we all know. I loved that. Second, I felt that the Sara’s were not the focal point. Third, I really liked the main character Mia and her struggles from both a child and an adult. The relationships or lack of relationships is the star in this novel.

Mia’s mom is turned into a Sara when she was young which caused Mia’s life to change drastically. They moved and kept to themselves never forging any relationships. Mia finally forms a bond with someone and it sets a lot of events in motion.

I was shocked at a lot of parts of this book. I was always guessing what I thought would happen and was wrong almost every time, I love when that happens. I loved how the book ended and I almost hope this will be a series. I would love to see Mia again and see what she is ready to do.

Ever since Mia‘s mom Icey got the Cordova virus from a guy named Devon Maya has been her emotional support and her life support giving her a dose of blood every day or whenever her hunger appears she also worked at a bookstore during the day and helps her mom at her bar and grill The Fair Shake every night they don’t bring others into their little family because when people find out someone is infected with the virus they tend to be shunned or sent the way never to be seen again and so although Meijer doesn’t have it she tries to stay on her own but when she starts her mom outside of the bar talking to a man all bets are off at least they will be. because when Mya‘s boss sent her to Starbucks to get a gift card she sees Jade a cute girl who works behind the counter but the first encounter Maya is too nervous to say anything and runs out the store but lucky for Maya she will see Jay again and eventually they will form a friendship but what will Jade think when she meets icy but a better question is why is icy talking to Devon again but ever so much to this book more than just girl meets girl mom is a bloodsucking vampire and so is her ex-boyfriend who looks like he’s going to be her current boyfriend there’s a lot more and so worth reading I thought this would be more horror then LGBTQ fiction into be honest I don’t know what category this falls under but OMG it should fall under my three because it is so good I love the Maria and even love her mom this is a great book with the great narrator and one I highly recommend. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I love love LOVED the voice! You really feel pulled into the story. It was so well done! Vampires are an absolute favorite of mine, so I really enjoyed the modern outbreak concept here. It's also a great exploration of the impact of abuse, addiction, and toxic relationships. I definitely didn't see that ending coming and I'm super excited for the next book!

The books represented by Tor Nightfire can do zero wrong, in my opinion. Liz Kerin's Night's Edge is a post-zombie virus work of art for jaded pandemic survivors, and I cannot wait for publication day.

I am so thankful to Tor Nightfire, Macmillan Audio, Liz Kerin, and NetGalley for granting me physical copies of the book and digital/audiobook access. Night's Edge is set to hit shelves on June 20th, and I'm just counting down the days.

Mia has been playing "Mom" for practically forever, especially after her Mom fell victim to the Saratova virus, which means she can no longer go out in the sunlight, and forever craves blood in a bag or directly from a human vein. Talk about being a lifeline for someone. Mia is tired of the bruised inner-elbows and looking after her ravenous, potentially murderous mother, and wants more for her life. That's when she meets alt-rocker/barista, Jade and her life takes on a new light.

Falling head-first, quickly, for Jade, Mia finds herself breaking curfew and interrupting feeding schedules to hang with Jade and ditch her caretaker abilities. When a cult leader-ex from her mother's past resurfaces, Mia has more problems than she can handle, and seeks to find rehabilitative care for her mother in a Sara-center, but are Horror/Sci-Fi books meant to have happy endings???

3.75 stars. For some reason, i don't know why i thought this was going to be a YA horror. I want to make everything clear. This is an adult novel.

I kind of went into this blind. And i enjoyed it. I didn't think it was going to have vampires in it. Because vampires aren't my thing when it comes to horror novels. I'm a haunt ed house girl all the way. This book jumps from present to past. It did confuse me the first it jump time frame, but once you get into the book, it goes smoothly. This book mostly centers around mia and her mother izzy who gets infected by her abusive boyfriend. So they go on the run for years. Nothing really happened for half the book it was a slow built-up. Thought it was lacking in a few areas