The Ottoman Empire's historical background and the paranormal aspects of vampires, werewolves, and other creatures are combined in the dark fantasy book The Court of the Undead. The plot centers on two sisters named Yara and Aylin, who are split up after Yara is taken captive by vampires and brought to their court, where she develops romantic ties with two rival brothers. While everything is going on, Aylin joins a team of hunters who are motivated to save Yara and eliminate the vampir.

The book has a fascinating backstory and a great premise, but it falls short of its potential. Instead of accurately portraying the historical and cultural features of the Ottoman Empire, the author makes use of inaccurate stereotypes. The vampir are also shallowly developed and devoid of any depth or originality. They are merely nasty, vicious, and lusty beings that lack all motivation and redeeming characteristics.

Additionally, the characters lack depth and are unlikeable. The passive and naive protagonist Yara experiences Stockholm syndrome and begins to harbor feelings for her captors. She uses her beauty and allure to sway the vampire rather than displaying any agency or intelligence. Aylin is a hot-tempered, careless hunter who frequently causes trouble and makes snap decisions. She doesn't change or develop during the course of the book; instead, she is a static character.

Overall, The Court of the Undead is a disappointing read that wastes its potential and fails to impress. It is not recommended for fans of dark fantasy or historical fiction, as it does not do justice to either genre.

An interesting and captivating gothic vampire tale! I enjoyed the characters and am interested to see where future books go, but it does have some content including violence and human trafficking that can throw readers off.

4.5 THIS IS ENEMIES TO LOVERS (hopefully) This book was absolutely amazing. This is morally black men. The character development? Absolutely delectable. Just an amazing book.

Disclaimer: I've received an ARC through Netgalley but all opinions are my own.

I have finished the book and I wanted to take a moment to think of it and process. The series has so much potential and I can’t wait to see where it goes but I will say it takes a moment to get into the story.

But I lived that it has different characters and the love triangle while suspected was done really well.

Thank you for the publishing house, the author and net galley!

Vampires? Gothic undertones? This was SUCH a fun read. It had me hooked from beginning to end. I liked the family relationships, and appreciated how the darker topics were handled with grace and compassion while keeping the story fast paced and entertaining. I am excited to see more from this author!

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Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this title. This review contains my honest and voluntary thoughts.

This book was absolutely amazing. The setting was my favorite thing, I have always been interested in Vlad Dracul and Wallachia, as well as the conflict between them and the Otroman empire. To see the context of that time period mixed with fantasy elements was extraordinary. I also liked Yara very much and was focused and riveted in her storyline. The plots and relationships in the court kept me at the edge of my seat. But I have to admit that I found the chapters about Aylin very boring; I wasn’t invested in her arc as I was with her sister

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing an e-arc of this book.
The Court of the Undead follows the story of two sisters. Yara and Aylin. There are vampires, and muslim references. Yara gets taken by vampires and somehow needs to navigate the politics in the vampire court. Aylin then goes on a journey to rescue her sister. The two sisters are involved in their own love triangle, which is a bit frustrating for me… since I keep switching ships up until the end. Lol. I very much enjoyed the last chapters, and i hope there is a sequel because I need to know what happens next.

The Court of the Undead is a captivating story filled with an abundance of tension. I was enthralled by the way the relationships between the characters evolved and transformed throughout the pages. Undoubtedly, I eagerly await the release of the second book, as I am genuinely curious about the fate of each and every character. Surprisingly, even the most detestable individuals managed to capture my interest.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This one was tough to get through. Not only content wise, but the writing just didn’t vibe with me. It almost felt like nothing good was going to happen ever to our main characters. I didn’t realize how dark this fantasy would be.

Unfortunately, not for me!

I did not manage to read this unfortunately, due to unforeseeable issues at home. I did not manage to read this unfortunately, due to unforeseeable issues at home.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing team for this ARC!

I was really intrigued by the concept of this book and while I think there were many interesting parts, overall, I struggled with the writing style. It was a lot of telling rather than showing so we're just told a lot of things were happening and what to think of the characters rather than discovering things as we go along. While I liked having a dual POV for the sisters, I was definitely more interested in Yara's side of things. I think it was a different spin on vampires, especially in this kind of setting but the story lacked passion and getting me to care about it.

The Court of the Undead is the epitome of a booktok hit! It seemed like it would be right up alot of people's ally's. Personally it wasn't my cup of tea, but I am able to recognize how it is a well written book with alot of intention and it is a great story. The pacing was what threw me for a loop, it was just very fast paced at times, and then very slow at other times. The love triangles were really fun to see!

This book had me in a chokehold. The blend of history and fantasy was just perfect. It was dark and alluring and it had me on the edge of my seat!
I loved this new character take on survival above all, even love and intrigue, and I was just always watching for more. I would have loved more angst but it was perfect for what the true element of this book was about, which was survival.
The family theme in this book was strong, in both the mortal sisters and the vampir brothers, and I loved seeing what it meant to be “family” and protect family looked like for the different dynamics.
This book deserves more hype and it was also such a quick read, it’s perfect.

The concept was great but not the execution.
This book needed to be longer. Everything throughout the book was told rather than shown.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I rate this book a solid 2/5 stars. "The Court of the Undead" is a story about two sisters, Yara and Aylin, who are raised in the heart of the Ottoman empire as dark-skinned African women. When Yara gets kidnapped and taken to the court of the undead - a place of gathering for vampires from all over the world, Aylin disguises herself as a man and joins an elite crusade of vampire hunters to retrieve her sister.

There were two main things I had issues with in this book:

1). The pacing

a. Yara going from hating Volkan to liking him in the same chapter after he saved her from Pomona. I understand why she became endeared to him but I think there should've been more hesitation.

b. Eldar developing an overwhelming obsession with Yara out of nowhere. I figured he most likely had a dormant attraction to her that he just kept forcing down in the beginning of the book but the way he began to express it was too sudden.

2). Yara

a. This is a personal nitpicky thing but I can't stand characters who go on and on about how beauty is a curse disguised as a blessing. It was especially unbearable in this novel since it was also mentioned that Yara often used her beauty to flirt with men and entice them into doing things she wanted.

b. Yara was advertised as someone who slowly becomes more evil and cunning but her "genius plan" to frame Eldar for murder was to... put his ring in the dead man's hand. And she genuinely thought it would work. I was disappointed to say the least.

c. She (and Volkan) would often do or encourage things without thinking of all the consequences, then get upset at others (see Eldar) for not wanting to take part in their games or help them clean up their messes. I totally get why Eldar is the "evil and heartless" twin (he was so mean throughout the whole book), but he was still more likeable than Yara and Volkan combined.

Gorgeous cover? TICK!
Vampire romance book? HUGE TICK!
Gothic setting and vibes? TICK TICK!
Dark secrets and forbidden love interests? ANOTHER HUGE TICK.

What I liked about this book: genuine slow burn, unique fantasy setting, diversity (so good), sinister dark vibes, the whole second half of this book, deliciously morally grey characters, villains, redemption, true legit enemies to lovers.. so much to love.

What I didn't like about the book:the slow, kind of clunky first half of the book and at times the pacing and writing threw me a little. Oh and the lack of spice.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the chance to read/review this book early. All thoughts are my own.

Overall: 3.5 stars

I am digging all the vampire-but-not-dracula stories that are coming out this year. It's fun to see the ways a monster we grew up knowing about gets reimagined.

This book started off slow for me, feeling more like a lecture of the history of the Ottoman (?) and it made me lose interest a few times in the beginning. As the world building was set up and we got moving on the plot (around 35/40%) things definitely picked up which was good.

I wish both sister's POVs captivated me the same, but I felt like I was rushing through Aylin's to get to Yara's - and so I wish that had been matched; but I could also see the next book having Aylin's being more interesting and Yara's a bit slower.

All in all, a great fun read with the potential to get even better.

The book absolutely delivered the castlevania vibes it promised . I love vampire stories and this definitely one of my top reads of the year !

thank you netgalley for the eArc .

Unfortunately I didn't finish this book. I was intrigued by the gothic vibe and thought it would probably be in a similar vein to books like A Curse So Dark and Lonely where you need to be a little more comfortable with dark romance, which is probably the case, but it was too sinister for me and I got the sense early on that it the relationship between Yara and the twins would be more abusive and she would be assaulted and I didn't want to go further. I also didn't gel with the writing as I felt it was somewhat bumpy and stilted which was making it hard to connect to the characters or the world building that was being initiated. I'm sure this will be a great read for someone else who likes a very dark story but I'm sorry to say I'm not that person.

The plot of The Court of the Undead was very unique, and made me excited to read it.

I did. like the characters and the alternating POV throughout the book. I liked the setting, and it was fun reading something set in a location I don’t typically read about.

I did struggle to get into the story, at first. The writing seemed a bit awkward and slow until the halfway point. Then the story started to become interesting.

The ending seemed very rushed, and I wish the ending was more drawn out and explained. The final battle and everything just seemed thrown together. And other parts at the beginning, like the training to be a vampire hunter, seemed to take forever and be so slow. The pacing was a bit off, and this made it not as enjoyable to read.

Overall, I had things I didn’t like, and things that I did like while reading.