This book was just not for me. I was expecting something different but I am not the target audience for this one!

There are 2 groups in this book, the Wardens and the Vespertine. Everline is a Warden but breaks the rules and went to Vespertine territory. She meets Ravel and all the rules go out the window.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. 5 stars!

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I won't lie and say that this was very easy to get into... but it really wasn't. I had high hopes that it would pick up, but I couldn't connect to the MC. The angst was there and definitely on point. We have Everline, our MC who is doing everything she can to prove herself while feeling like an outsider among the wardens. I really wanted to love this book and while I did like it... I didn't love it. The plot failed to hit the mark for me and I wanted it to be more fleshed out. The world building really felt non-existent and that's a must for me in fantasy.

UNHOLY TERRORS surprised me because I went into it unsure after having to start it over a few times. I don't know if it was me having some lousy concentration days with my head or if the story's beginning takes a bit to click. I almost DNF the book, but I'm so glad I didn't because it was one of my favorites!

This is an interesting fantasy story. There are elements I've seen in other places, but I've never seen them weaved together like this. Plus, it's nice to have a solid standalone fantasy.

Everline is a character that I easily rooted for. I love strong FMCs. And Ravel... Oh, Ravel... He's a new book boyfriend, for sure!

I think my only complaint is the confusing start, but that could have been a me problem. And a little bit of pacing issues at times. But it was a great listen!

Kate Hanford was an exceptional narrator for the story. I can't wait to listen again.

Content Warnings: (per the author's website) body horror and eldritch horror, gore and blood (including description of wounds; a magic system which requires physical sacrifice), discussions of death and grief (including on-page deaths), emotional abuse by a parent, descriptions of blood, wounds, and bleeding, and self-injury (in the context of a magic system which requires physical sacrifice)

I think that my biggest issue with this book was that nothing was explained well. The author tried, don't get me wrong, but this book seriously lacked some decent world-building. I don't understand the magic system or how the society is laid out. I just found it lacking.

It took me awhile to get into the story but I did enjoy it. There was some enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers, lgbtq+ rep and necromancy with some vampire elements. The magic system felt unique.

The narrator did a good job as well.

Oh man, this was such a fantastic book! I loved this world with the Wardens, who keep the vespertine out, and the magic and the history were just so interesting to read about, especially as they intersected with Everline's past and what is currently going on!

Everline is in an unfortunate situation in this world. She's a produce of her father stepping outside the marital bed, her mom broke the Warden's vows, and Everline herself doesn't have the Warden's magic. That her father is the commander and doesn't acknowledge her...it's tough.

There were 3 main relationships that I really enjoyed seeing in this book. Obviously the one between her and Ravel, as they're traveling, as they're breaking these taboos. The second, between her an her sister, because they don't get along, but they both want to, they realize, after spending this time together. Finally her and her father, and the secrets about her mom that he's keeping from her.

This story goes in a direction that I wasn't expecting, and things kept going and going and it was an absolute thrill to read! Where we left things, yeah, that was really satisfying to read, and I love the idea of their future I have, because it looks so good and fitting for them!

Loved reading this book and I can't wait to read more by Lyndall Clipstone!

Young Adult Fantasy with a bit of enemies to lovers follows Everline a young woman whose mother died giving birth to her on the border of the Vespertine's magical border. The Vespertines are the mortal enemies of the wardens. Everline was raised by her father who had an affair with the deceased mother and never really treated Everline as his flesh and blood. As Everline finds a vespertine that looks human instead of a monster she decides to seek out the answers that she has been seeking her whole life. Why did her mother abandon the wardens, why do the verspitines have creatures that have human faces? During this quest to find answers her half-sister and best friend tag along and they run into another semi-human vespertine Ravel who helps along this quest which turns into a rescue mission.

I find this story quite interesting, particularly the dynamics between the characters. As expected in most YA novels, there are instances of indecisiveness and self-doubt, but it adds to the character's growth at this age. However, the constant back and forth between Ravel and Everline can be exhausting, making you want to shake them. It's also unclear whether Everline is in love with her best friend or is drawn to the new monster boy she met.

The world we find ourselves in has a religion that we can't fully comprehend. We only know that a woman died to defeat the ultimate antagonist, who was in charge of all darkness. Unfortunately, we don't have much more historical context beyond that. Moreover, the plot seems to be repetitive. Despite these shortcomings, I found myself engaged while reading the story, and I enjoyed seeing how Everline evolved as a character. I believe this tale would have been better served as an epic series with more details fleshed out, but it still managed to entertain me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for sending me an early copy of this audiobook! All opinions are my own!

This book was the perfect addition to spooky season, and I loved the way the atmosphere of the book felt like it could come to life right in front of me at any moment. This was such a unique world and it's one that definitely builds off of itself and the characters, allowing them to become their truest selves.

I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did, but as it was, I ended up getting into it by the end and wanting to know more. I'm not sure if it was the book itself or my current circumstances that kept me unable to focus, but I had to re-start this book twice because I wasn't getting the background. I'm still not sure I got everything entirely.

I think I would have loved the romance even more if I'd been able to get into it from the start, but having to start over after meeting Ravel because I didn't understand anything really killed the mood for me. But he is a classic bad boy who I think will definitely get the love he deserves from the readers. Some of his lines later in the book had me swooning for sure.

If you're looking for something chilling and atmospheric this autumn, look no further!

If you're looking for an enemies to lovers romance with plenty of ~vibes~, then this is the book for you. It's definitely focused a lot on blood and the consumption of blood, so probably not something for people who want to avoid that. I would not go into this if you're looking for exceptional world building or really multi dimensional characters. But if you're just looking for a vibe-y enemies to lovers ride with lots of purple prose, you'll enjoy it. This book really doesn't shy away from the monster-boy love interest, so monster lovers will get a kick out of this.

Unholy Terrors is heavy on vibes and light on plot. I'm sure there are folks who prefer that, but I found myself wishing for more-- more character development, more world building, more substance of any kind. I was literally hunting for anything substantial in the froofy prose. Overall, this wasn't for me, and I DNFed around 30%, but I do think this spooky, goth aesthetic will be right up the alley of many readers.

I'm a sucker for a book with a monster boy love interest and this was the perfect spooky season read for that!

This fell a bit flat for me mostly because the writing style wasn’t quite my vibe and it felt an off with the world building.

I’d call this fine. It was enjoyable. But I wouldn’t read it again.

The blood magic was cool, but also got a bit overdone.

Idk. Fine is really the only word that comes to mind. I wanted to love it. But I was left just eager to get it done, know what happens next, and move on to my next read.

Everline is a warden. So she's in charge of a jail? Not really. Basically, she protects her city from evil creatures known as vespertine. But then she meets Ravel, a sentient verspertine. When they make a deal that requires her blood, Everline will travel farther than she's ever been and learn horrible truths.

If you've come for the vibes (and not the plot) then you've come to the right place as that is basically what this book is. This book focuses more on making prose as purple as it can be, and the characters and the world suffer as a result. Now don't get me wrong, I don't NEED to have a fully-fleshed out world. I just need to have some bearings and to be honest, I had none. And why is there some much heather and gorse? That really doesn't tell me much about the world. Moreover, I couldn't tell you what vespertine even looked like. Why does everyone have chipped nail polish? Why is there so much blood stuff in this book? Why do I not care at all about Everline and Ravel and their "love" story? (Love is a stretch really. Mostly it was just sex stuff. So much so that I don't think we can classify this as YA, NA maybe but definitely not YA).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Kate Handford was a fine narrator. In the end, I wanted to like this but it just wasn't for me.

I liked this story a lot. Even though it was a little slow pace for my liking. It's the perfect Halloween Seasonal read.

Such a great book and perfect for spooky season for those who do not like super creepy or scary books! Great characters and phenomenal writing!!

3.75 ⭐️

I adore the setup of Clipstone's stories every single time. The world and the lore she uses combined together are immensely stunning, atmospheric, and transportive. They speak to my gothic heart. Unholy Terrors might be my favorite from her. The were a few elements in the story though, that I found underdeveloped or wished she utilized more. But the simplicity of the story is understandable given that it is mainly directed toward younger readers. The story also mainly focuses on the romance between the main characters. I had qualms about how instant the connection felt especially with how the story was set up. I wish we were given more time for it to organically grow. To be honest, I enjoyed reading about Everline's friendship and her complicated relationship with her family more than the romance between Evie and Ravel. Overall, Unholy Terrors was a good dark, gothic story with many wonderful fantasy elements.

Angsty, gothic ya fantasy romance…It goes a little long and really could have been shortened a bit…and there was a fair amount of repetition (I may now have a permanent eye twitch when hearing the word “treacle” used as a descriptor…) but overall I enjoyed it, it hit the spot for moody, spooky season vibes.

The narration was good, the narrators voice I felt didn’t *quite* fit the vibe of the book but it wasn’t distracting or anything…just didn’t add to the listening experience.

I DNFed this book about 20% into it. I just couldn’t get with the spooky vibes after awhile and I just wasn’t enjoying the story. No real fault of the book.

I had a hard time staying interested throughout this book: too much felt recycled, too much of a focus on an instaluv, and a lot of really stupid people. Stop me if you have heard this before: feisty girl with unique snowflake power that makes her an outcast, no one tells her how to use it so she has to go through 'power up' scenes, all the adults are corrupt or useless and who could have saved her a lot of time and danger if they had just told her key facts, girl meets hot emo boy from 'the other side', has to go on a journey to save a loved one, add in secret birth mystery for the girl that makes her super powerful...and yeah, every YA fantasy of the last five years.

Story: Everline wants to be a good warden doing her job of protecting their enclave from the vicious monsters of the night, known as verspertine. But she is an outcast - born of a mother who dishonored her vows and helped the vespertine weak havoc on their town. Her father barely acknowledges her and worst of all, she has no magic power like everyone else. But an action of hers results in her best friend being kidnapped by the vespertine and so she goes out to find her friend and bring her home before it is too late. Along the way, she meets the mysterious vespertine hot emo boy Ravel - who looks human despite having vespertine qualities. Will he help her or kill her?

So, our heroine isn't that bright and this is one of those stories where the heroine will walk into a gunfight with a butter knife and everything will work out for her in the end. Most of the book is a long journey of the hot emo boy protecting her while she slowly discovers shocking (to no one) twists about emo boy and herself. Not a lot happens except for emo boy making snarky comebacks, smirking, or snarling and our heroine deciding to make yet another incredibly foolish action.

The premise and worldbuilding are very recycled. Narrow claustrophobic world, monsters that are an uninspiring vampire/werewolf hybrid (even with glowing skin), and the setting is the typical European medieval monastery/cloister/gothic village. I imagine we would get more info on how the world became like this but for this first book, the author was too busy repeating the same lore info and same scenes over and over. Reading/listening to this book was like watching your kid brother play the Dark Souls games - it's dreary, monochromatic, and not very exciting.

I listened to the audio version and the narrator was fine - she couldn't elevate the material but she didn't make it worse, either. It's about what I would expect from this type of YA fantasy romance. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.