Thank you, NetGalley for sending and allowing me to read this title. I loved the fantasy elements of this e-arc. Even though the author's writing style isn't what I usually go for I liked it.

I have been wanting to dive back into fantasy/romantasy books and this was a solid read to get back into these genres.

This story follows two sisters, one after being kidnapped by the vampir, and the other on the journey to save her sister. There is a third POV occasionally which is one of the vampirs, Eldar. Yara, the sister who is taken to the Court of the Undead, was my favorite storyline. It was full of vampires, a love triangle, political intrigue and spies. Aylin's story was less eventful and her love triangle wasn't of much interest to me. The reader is introduced to a slew of characters and although the character development isn't too deep, this book sets the scene for these characters to grow in the next book and for the reader to learn more moving forward.

If you love enemies-to-lovers, politics and love triangles you will really enjoy this book. There isn't any true spice besides a few steamy kisses but the tension in this book is incredible.

I didn't find the book difficult to follow as other reviewers did. There isn't a need for deep knowledge of the Ottoman Empire or Islamic culture. Without the historical knowledge you will still be able to enjoy the book.

I am eagerly awaiting book 2 because I NEED to know what happens with all these characters, specifically who ends up with whom. I need an alert set up for when the next book comes out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Northern Light Press for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

The Court of the Undead is the first in the Trueborn series. It shows us to what lengths two sisters will go to go be together. We follow Aylin the feisty older sister and Yara the beautiful younger sister as they make their way as Turks in the Ottoman Empire. Their father is one of the sultan's right hand men and the girls find they have a pretty good life now that he found them after their mother died in Africa and they were starving. One morning Yara is found to be missing and Aylin vows to find her. The sisters are not split and Yara has been taken by traders that give humans as blood slaves to vampir and now she must face the monsters that would prey on her. Aylin is pretending to be a boy and infiltrate a vampir hunting group. She is with her love interest that won't break his vows of celibacy but gives her confusing messages because he does have feelings for her. Each sister gets a love/hate triangle in this story. I liked the book and was rooting for the sisters. I'm looking forward to reading book 2 and seeing where Aden takes us.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I recently had the pleasure of delving into this book, and I am beyond impressed with the mesmerizing world that the author has crafted. From start to finish, the intricate plot weaves a tapestry of suspense, emotion, and unexpected twists that kept me eagerly turning the pages.

One of the standout features of this book is undoubtedly its characters. Each one is meticulously developed, breathing life into the narrative with their unique personalities, motivations, and flaws. The protagonists are not just names on paper; they are relatable, complex individuals with whom readers can form a genuine connection. The antagonist, too, is not a mere foil but a multi-dimensional force that adds depth to the story. The author's ability to create such well-rounded characters is a testament to their storytelling prowess.

The plot unfolds seamlessly, drawing the reader into a richly layered narrative that expertly balances tension, drama, and moments of poignant reflection. The pacing is impeccable, maintaining a perfect rhythm that keeps the reader engaged without sacrificing the depth of the story. The author skillfully navigates through various plot arcs, interweaving them with finesse to create a cohesive and satisfying whole.

What sets this book apart is its ability to tackle profound themes while maintaining an accessible and engaging narrative. The book seamlessly combines suspense and emotional depth, making it a truly immersive experience. The author's prose is both elegant and evocative, painting vivid imagery that lingers in the reader's mind long after the final page is turned.

As I reached the conclusion, I found myself yearning for more from this talented author. Their ability to craft a gripping plot and bring characters to life is truly commendable. I eagerly anticipate future works and would wholeheartedly recommend this book to any reader who appreciates a masterfully told tale. If you're searching for a book that seamlessly blends captivating characters with a compelling plot, this is a shining example. I can't wait to explore more literary worlds crafted by this exceptional storyteller.

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: cliffhanger
spice: several closed-door steamy scenes and suggestions
TWs: kidnapping, slavery, noncon blood drinking, SA (recounted, not MCs), murder, mentions of child death, attempted murder, torture, blackmail, cannibalism (kind of? I mean they’re vampires so does that still count?)
standalone: book 1 in the Trueborn Series
final thoughts: WOW this book was so good especially for being YA (with plenty of suggestive but ultimately fade to black scenes). This book follows the POVs of 2 sisters- 1 who has been kidnapped and is now “property” of 2 hot twin vampir brothers, and 1 who goes undercover with vampir hunters to find and rescue her sister. Both sisters are caught in a love triangle, and I can’t wait to see the story progress to see how these triangles play out 👀
I feel like I never knew what to expect from either POV and it kept me on my toes the whole time- an excellent and fast paced read with lots of intriguing characters and storylines.
Please note that while this is labelled as a YA novel, there are plenty of mature themes and triggers.

read this book if you love

🌀 plot twists
😬 angst
😳 forbidden lovers (human/vampire)
☠️ “touch her and die”
🖤 dark romance
🏝️ forced proximity
❓ mystery
🤜 enemies-to-lovers
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 great side characters
🌈 LGBT+ representation
🔮 supernatural creatures- vampires
💖 paranormal romance
🤜 rivals-to-lovers
🌍 world building
🤫 hidden secrets
💌 clean romance
🔼 love triangle

I cannot say enough about this book. I'm very tired of reading the same romantasy books. Which is no one's fault but my own because I read the synopsis' and then complain that everything is the same. Hello, you like it, therefore you're gonna keep wanting to read it. But it's ALL THE TIME. The Court of the Undead was completely different and so enjoyable. But hello, there's vampires, so can it realllly be bad at the end of the day? Yes, yes it can who am I kidding.

I really enjoy dual POV's, especially when I'm in the mood to focus on my story a little more than just reading simple, fluffy books to appeal to my ADHD.

Please, please read this book if you like romantasy and vampires, I can't wait for the next one.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing team for this ARC!
Unfortunately, I struggled a lot with the writing style and overall plot but the idea and concept are quite intriguing and others might like it more.

I havent read vampire books in a long time and was excited to read a book not only with vampires but also inspired by history - it was why I requested this ARC as the premise sounded so great.

Unfortunately, the execution was lacking. There was no character development, the plot was minimal and the romance was not my cup of tea.

With the new trend in fantasy romances tending towards almost abusive bullying male leads, the “romance” (at least on Tara’s story) were monstrous. It was very uncomfortable to read a story where the vampire brothers (who we are supposed to be swooning over I think?) were essentially abusive to one of the female leads who was a victim of human trafficking. I wouldn’t have an issue if the vampires were portrayed as horrible irredeemable monsters and it was about Tara’s escape from them; but instead its portrayed as a very toxic romance. I found it completely unbelievable that Yara would come to care for Volkan after one incident - given that he essentially wants to torture her in the beginning. And dont even get me started on Eldar, who is clearly going to be the “big bad” but also the main romance lead in the future books.

Aylin’s story held no interest for me at all - I skimmed a lot of her parts due to boredom.

I think many people will enjoy this book and I know there is an audience for “bad boy” male leads - I am just not that audience.

This is one of those books where all of the elements that make up the book are intriguing and is what initially drew me in the first place. However, the story itself and how it was written did not keep me compelled long enough to find this truly enjoyable. Here’s the thing, I liked it, but not enough to say that this was worth the read.

Some of the plot points felt rushed and the character development lacking. The world building was great though.

Absolutely not.

It's been a while since my last one-star rating, but it's also been a while since I dnf'ed a novel less than 10% into the story, so the decision feels justified. Besides being blatantly under-edited (I know I should get over repeating or misused words in indie-ish books, but I simply can't), the story practically opens with an off-page kidnapping. I've seen wattpad stories that did a better job.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of Court of the Undead by F. M. Aden

Actual 3.5
Rounded up to 4

I enjoyed the story, although I felt the beginning of the book was quite slow. Of course a book needs an introduction and time to set the scene, build the world, and introduce the characters- but I feel the story didn't pull me in until about half way through.

I loved the diversity in the characters, and loved the use of different ethnic descriptions, I learnt a lot!

Oh my goddddddd this was so good. Not in the way that people shrug and say “yeah it was good.” No. This was SO GOOD. First of all, how refreshing to read a vampire book where both of the women protagonists are African Muslims, historically accurate, and one of them is explicitly plus-size!!! I can count on one hand how many books I’ve read with these attributes: just this one.

The split focus between Aylin and her younger sister, Yara, didn’t detract from the storyline in the way I worried it would. I found myself equally invested in both Aylin’s warrior conquest and her romantic tension with Ilyas (and a surprising third party…), as well as Yara’s political court navigation and her odd love/hate triangle with the twins, Eldar and Volkan.

My detractors from the novel are minor. I found a handful of typos across the book, which happens with all books, but at times there were misplaced commas or apostrophes that entirely changed the structure of a sentence, and I would need to read it a few times to understand what was being said. But that’s something that could easily be fixed, and still didn’t take away from the overall intrigue of the story. The only other negative, which is more my fault than it is Aden’s, is that I didn’t know this was the first book in a series. I do not recall if it was marketed this way when I requested it on NetGalley, or if I knew it was part of a series when I began to read it. I only realized it wasn’t going to wrap up neatly with about 20 pages left in the book, which affected my stress levels immensely and, ya know, my reading experience lol.

Still, now knowing that this is a planned trilogy makes me excited to see what will come next with our great host of characters, all strong, all vulnerable, and all existing in the morally grey range that we as readers love so much. For all of the above reasons, this gets a strong 4⭐️!

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

There's potential in this story and I appreciated the world building. It's well plotted even if I found it a bit slow at time
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was very interesting but it fell flat in some ways. I did not like the two POVS. I was mostly interested in the vampire part of it and the whole rescue mission I just wasn't that interested in. At the end that POV got more interesting but by the time it got interesting I didn't know what was going on because I hadn't really payed attention to that side of the POV. It just felt a bit all over the place but it was okay.

Some always looking for a good sci-fi, fantasy book and a good Y a book. This is definitely one of the good ones. I love the Gothic fantasy. I love that you kind of had to build up a little bit to it. Morally Gray characters are always applies.

This book was great! I loved the setting and the overall concept, I found them very original. I was on the edge of my seat towards the end and I think I was so enthralled by this story it took me a whole of 2 days to read it.

1 ⭐️
DNF @ 43%
I was very excited for this book but unfortunately it missed the mark for me.
The story had a lot of potential, it was very intriguing and seemed very original to me. However the writing was hard to follow and not easy to read. Lots of foreign words with no explanation as to what they meant, lots of info dumps that were just telling you a lot of things instead of showing you. It’s just didn’t feel like it flowed very well.

This is one of those where I can see the elements that draw in other readers, but ultimately isn't for me. The world was interesting, especially the details of the Ottoman Empire, but not fleshed out enough to make the scenes come alive. The two sisters were differentiated to a painfully cliche extent--"Sevda knew that Aylin had never been the gentle doe her sister was." Just...pretty heavy-handed, and 300 pages of being told information like that really takes me out of the story.

Overall, it was an interesting premise that fell flat in the execution. It wasn't for me, but I would imagine that others would find places and elements to engage with that didn't work for me.

I had to DNF the book. A lot of clichè in this word that we already read on other story written by Armentrount or Maas. It was boring to see the same think…

Edward Cullen was my first vampire crush. While I’ve proudly moved on from those days, I can’t pass up a good vampire story and “Court of the Undead” by F.M. Aden sounded good just by the title.
What really sealed the deal for me was the comment that said it was good for fans of “From Blood and Ash” by Jennifer Armentrout, my favorite series.
Two sisters with a strong relationship, Aylin and Yara, are the daughters of a man who directly reports to the Sultan in Constantinople.
Yara is known to be pretty and delicate while Aylin would rather yield a weapon than to socialize and wear pretty dresses. When Yara disappears, Aylin knows she has to escape the palace, find her sister and bring her home.
While the sister had heard lore stories about vampires, they had no idea they were all too real. Forced into the land of the undead, Yara is subjected to the world of blood slaves, debauchery and violence. She meets twin brothers Volkan and Eldar and secures herself a safe position with one of the original bloodline families. She has to play a double agent as she is supposed to spy for Eldar and a relative of Dracula himself.
Aylin changes her identity to be able to safely travel with her long-time friend Ilyas and they band together with a group of vampire hunters to figure out where Yara is and how to fight the creatures.
What I immediately liked about the books was the different cultural setting; this is the first vampire book I’ve read that takes place in the Middle East and the Islamic faith is a theme throughout.
Aden switches between points of view, a style that is better suited to fantasy, especially fantasy romance. I didn’t care for the two love triangles and the constant wondering of who’s going to end up with who, but the characters were compelling enough that it didn’t bother me too much.
I’ve decided to get away from reviewing books that belong in a series for the purpose of review because it’s hard to provide feedback when the story is just beginning.
Having said that, “The Court of the Undead” was a good start and I am interested in reading the other books in the series as they come out. For anyone who loves vampires and fantasy romance, this one is worth checking out.