4.5/5 ✨️

I am really struggling to understand the hate that this book has been receiving. I absolutely DEVOURED this book and am very excited for the second book to come out.

• Vampires
• Love Triangles
• Morally Grey Characters

What else could you want?

We have a dual POV of two sisters, one is taken by vampires, the other fights to get her back. I found the book to be fast-paced, intriguing and absolutely loved the Islam/Muslim representation. I enjoyed the character development and the story lines. Was it a little predictable? Yes. Was it still throughly enjoyable? Yes.
Also, pretty sure our author has a spit kink....I'm not mad at it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this earc. This books was a lot of fun... VAMPIRES.. Love them. Such an entertaining read.

<i>I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.</i>

i thought this was marvelous! it went sooooo strong for pretty much 75% of the book and honestly reminded me of like an Afro-Turk version of Folk of the Air, meets something like a YA version of Game of Thrones.

is it perfect? No absolutely not. BUT neither were the two series i'd mentioned above, nor anything else setting fire to the shelves in teen/ya. what i most enjoyed in The Court of the Undead, is that it featured characters who were ethnically diverse, and had personality and dimension beyond the two-dimensional <i>"here be some courtesy BIPOC folk"</i> inclusivity sentences <i>stop-gap</i> that is pervasive in genre fiction.

so, that being said, it was awesome to read! but most importantly, FMA 's narrative didn't shy away from the fact that race relations are always complicated, and for a soft category such as this in general, i thought this rep supported the plot with energy, expansive characterization and enhanced character motivation. the end did succumb to that whole ott teen/ya romantasy vibe, but i expected it because it STILL IS what it is. just with African Turks and vampires.

i loved the writing style, and i would love to see more maturation in the characterizations moving forward, but on the whole i am extremely happy to have discovered this book/series, and storyteller, as FMA adds much needed representation and value to a saturated market whose readership can only benefit from the enrichment of fantasy fiction featuring more diversification.

I’m in two minds about The Court of the Undead. I really wanted to love it, and some parts ticked all the boxes while others fell flat.

The start was super slow and I found myself tripping over the unfamiliar words which just stopped the flow of the book.

The middle seems to go from zero to a hundred in a blink of an eye. I enjoyed Yara’s POV a lot more than Aylin which just didn’t interest me as much.

The brothers/love triangle vibe was interesting but Yara just felt very indecisive about what she actually wanted and who she was helping.

An interesting read, and a good start to the series overall.

The Court of the Undead is book one in the Trueborn series by F.M. Aden.
An outstanding romantasy story.
This fast-paced story kept me gripped right until the end.
I thought the character development was done so well and the world-building just outstanding.
Her writing technique has the story coming to life right off of the page creating vivid and captivating images.
This world is so imaginative, so immersive, you'll never want to leave it.
Action packed, with a hint of romance and entertaining characters.
I can’t wait to read book two The King of the Damned.

Thank You NetGalley and Northern Light Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Unfortunately, I did not have a great time reading this book. It started off well but I did not like the progression of the story. I do believe that this book will find a wide audience that will love it, I am just not a part of it. The plot had potential but I found it to be hollow. I wish the sisters’ relationship would have been more developed. And the weakest aspect of the book is in the guys, because they are all « alpha males » and I truly hate that. I found them really annoying and irritating. (I prefer softer guys.) They definitely took the enjoyment that I could have sometimes away.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

oh yes I highly enjoyed it and I think its because I love anything vampire. I highly recommend this book to everyone and I will be buying a physical copy once its released.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review voluntarily.

I did not finish this book.
I’m normally a sucker for fantasy with political intrigue, vampires and strong FMCs. The first part of the book did keep my attention well and I became more interested, however, about a third of the way through, I found the plot dragging quite slowly to the point I wasn’t as interested in what was happening.
I loved the writing style and found the descriptive language beautifully written. The setting was something new I hadn’t read before and this I enjoyed.
If the pace had maintained at the same pace as the start of this story, I think I would’ve been kept more interested in continuing the story.

In this captivating dark fantasy set against the rise of the Ottoman Empire, two sisters, Yara and Aylin, navigate a world of vampires, love triangles, and political intrigue. While the story starts slow, the second half is a riveting mix of suspense and forbidden romances. The sibling bond between Yara and Aylin stands out, adding depth to the story. The book expertly balances dual perspectives, offering diverse representations of Muslims and plus-size main characters. Despite the initial slow pace, the novel is an original, fast-paced read that hooked me until the end. Its richly layered plot, intricate world-building, and unpredictable character dynamics left me eagerly anticipating the next installment.

The Court of the Undead is about two polar opposite sisters. The beautiful Yara and the headstrong Aylin. Yara is kidnapped and sold to the vampire twins, and Aylin takes it upon herself to save her sister with the help of one particular soldier.

I saw so much potential even though I found the novel very simple. I understood what the author was aiming at but the writing didn’t quite take me very far. The characters were almost one dimensional, the dialogue wooden. Many of the choices made by the characters were confusing or frustrating.

Yet… I’m still curious to see where the sequel takes us because there were moments I enjoyed. Most of them were with Yara and one of the brothers.

The court games were good, with better writing I think they would have been excellent. I found the romance to be more of an obsession, in both cases. The author touches upon race, religion, sex and class. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoyed Belladonna.

We have a brand new vampire book coming to market and that is Court of the Undead. This is a gothic story set in the Ottoman Empire about two sisters. One of being taken by vampires and the other runs away to train with a group of vampire hunters to help rescue her sister. Simple enough plot but there are a ton of things to like here, it's filled to the brim with action and the historical setting is to die for so if you are craving a new vampire book to read this winter, check out Court of the Undead.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. This novel was so spellbinding and absorbing. I have always loved anything vampire-related and this was such a treat as a reader. The relationships, storyline, setting, and atmosphere were all exceptional. I really loved it. This was a perfect book for the winter season! 5 stars.

Damn, this is in no way what I was expecting! It's a VERY dark fantasy novel with some very questionable romances that I am very much rooting for. It was very different from a lot of formulaic fantasy romance - Muslim main characters, Byzantine setting - can't wait for book 2!!

Sexier than Bram Stoker's Dracula or the Cullen's of Twilight and with a delicious darkness like the Kate Beckinsdale Van Helsing movie! Highly enjoyed this foray into a vampire fantasy world again, since fae and shifter romances have become so popular these days!!

NOTES:
⭐⭐⭐.5/5
🌶️🌶️/5 - Love the tension!
Curvy heroine!!

**Thank you to Northern Light Press & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

I really really wanted this to be a five star book. It sounded so interesting but unfortunately it was incredibly flat.

There was a really slow start. I honestly was a bit bored until about a third of the way through when it did finally pick up but I wanted to dnf several times in that first 30% . It was a good pace once it picked up, though, and held my attention for the rest of the book.

The characters were flat and one dimensional. For me even if a book is really not my thing I'll still rate it highly if the characters are dynamic. I need to understand why characters do certain things and fall in love with their personalities but that just wasn't possible here.

I could definitely see where it was going it just didn't get there. I think if it was written a bit differently it could be a 5 star because the bones and guts are there essentially it just needs put together.

I got an arc through Netgalley, this in no way influenced my review.


I stopped at like 35%. I could immediately tell this book wasn’t going to be for me when I started reading it, but I gave it a chance. There are just way too many characters, the plot wasn’t going anywhere and I was just pushing myself to read it because I had the ARC.

Got the ARC from Netgalley.

A unique take on a vampire story starring two heroines who are POC. It is not every day that you see the Ottoman Empire and its culture depicted. The story is engrossing and keeps you invested all the way to the end.

While the juxtaposition between different POVs was done successfully, I wish that we would only have Aylin and Yara's POVs. Eldar's POV tagged on another storyline that took attention away from what Aylin and Yara were doing. Aylin was working toward finding her sister while Yara tried to survive politics of the vampire court. It would also make Eldar's character more intriguing as we tried to figure out his deal with Yara (much like Domenico's interactions with Aylin).

Obviously, this book is setting up for a sequel as it is clear that Aylin and Yara's story is far from over.

Spice scale (as defined by <a href= https://www.mystgalaxy.com/>Mysterious Galaxy</a>): 

🔥 [Sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G]

4.5

Oh, my word. I loved this book. I struggled putting it down. All I wanted to do was read it. The love triangles in this book!? Ahhhhh I was kicking and giggling the whole time. I love how similar and yet different the sisters are from each other. It was so nice to see two really full-bodied female characters in a fantasy novel like this one. I also just really enjoyed the Vampirs of this book. I’m not a huge Vampir girly but I was loving it. The tension and growth as the girls try to work their way back to each other was so well written. It’s also one of the few duo pov books where I was so happy reading each pov. There wasn’t one I liked more than the other. I was happy to see each sister while reading. This book is felt fast paced like a nice steady jog is that makes any sense. It never really slowed down, but it wasn’t a dead sprint either. I loved the pacing of this book. I am so thankful for this ARC read and cannot wait for the rest of the series and to share it with my friends. (Vampir loving and non)

The cover is absolutely beautiful and I cannot wait to buy a physical copy of this book, not only because of the cover, but because of the writing and the beautiful little artwork with the chapters inside. I was so happy to see that this is the first book of a series. While I thought that the beginning was a bit slow and dragged, it started picking up around a third of the way in and I really came to enjoy Yara’s point of view. I also loved the Muslim representation in the story. I think this is the perfect romantasy and nobody can convince me otherwise. 4 stars because I found the beginning a little slow and it took me a minute to get in to, but once I did, I couldn’t stop reading.

The Court Of The Undead is a book that unfortunately I just couldn’t get into (no one is more sorry than this than me as I hear that the romance is top tier). My main issue is the fact that at least once on every page there’s a word that I won’t know the meaning of and would have to look up, and as a mood reader the more I did this the more I couldn’t get into the book as I wanted to be immersed in it. From what I did read however, the book itself looked great so hopefully I’ll come back to this one day!
Thank you so much to NetGalley for an arc 💗