"Better I fail then never try at all" I liked the premise of this book but it just wasn't for me I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters and I felt the storyline between the main MMC and FMC was quite obvious. I had a lot of hope for this book but I just don't think I was the right audience for it sadly. It was very insta love and the pacing of the book was good. I liked the twist at the end but unfortunately not one for me.

⭐️⭐️.5

I really wanted to love this book. The description really sold it to me. Unfortunately, the book just didn't deliver.

Emilia is a vampire born human and heir to the vampire throne. The story had a lot of potential for world building, but it just fell a bit flat. They are based in the UK driving cars with mobile phones so seem to be quite technology advanced as if it could easily be our world now, but then in other parts of the story felt like it was based in an older time with no technology so it was a bit disjointed.
As for the forbidden romance, it was all very superficial, and nothing made me want to root for them and spent the whole time waiting for the other shoe to drop, and eventually, it did.
The ending left me feeling so confused as well. It just felt so abrupt with no explanation. I just felt no connection to the characters in this book.

Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the arc of this book for my honest review.

Three and a half
I think this is trying to jump on the current romantasy trend but with a nod to Twilight because our heroine is human in a world run by vampires. Oh and oddly she has vampire parents and is shortly to inherit her kingdom which just totally bamboozled me as to why ? Emilia has been extremely sheltered in the hope of protecting her from vampires who might see her as food and not their future ruler. She sees the humans who serve her family almost in a blinkered way and just doesn't seem to realise that they are essentially treated like cattle ! A new guard Kyle, is assigned to Emilia in the hope that she will embrace her vampire heritage and finally want to step up and rule when the time comes. Yup you've guessed it he is the love interest in play here . Through Kyle Emilia begins to see that the society of humans that she's desperate to join do not have the safe, protected lives she imagined and that there are plots and plans that will change her world. Vampires are predators and sadly humans are always prey !
If you want a happy ending you will not find it here nor is there a happy for now . Instead the ending offers new possibilities if the reader chooses to buy the next book.
I found Emilia naive, spoilt and perhaps a little gullible. However she's seventeen and is truly innocent about the way her kingdom treats humans and I realise that it's only through experience that we grow and learn. Her mother clearly loves her but her father is cold and pretty distant and sadly I'm left scratching my head as to why hundreds of years old vampires would hand over the kingdom to an untried teen when they turn eighteen ! Perhaps more world building would have helped but it's not a terrible book just not perfect although I have no doubt that many will enjoy it.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

This book caught my attention from the beginning. Forced proximity and vampires? Sign me up. This was a fun read but the insta-love vibe is not something I usually enjoy. The author developed an interesting backstory and plot but the world needed more context and expansion to truly immerse the reader.

As someone who struggles to find vampire themed fantasy reads that I actually enjoy, Helen Glynn Jones had me in a chokehold with The Last Raven.

Set in an almost dystopian timeline where the world is run by vampires, and humans exist for little more than food, one of the more powerful ruling families, Raven, have their own little secret.

The daughter to two powerful vampires, Emelia is an anomaly. Set to take over as the heir and continue to rule over Raven jurisdiction. Except, Emelia is a rare case of a human born to vampires who has been hidden away her entire life out of fear for her safety. But now as the time approaches for her to take her role, it’s time she makes an appearance in this unfamiliar world.

But how can Emelia rule a world she has no idea about? After being assigned a new bodyguard, Kyle, she enlists him to help her find out about the secrets that have been kept from her. The ruling of vampires is not as it appears. Humans aren’t living as contently as she was led to believe in the Safe Zones and there's a rebellion on the rise.

This story gripped me. Emelia has strong morals and becomes more of a powerful character as the book progresses. Adventures, near-death experiences and an eye-opening perspective into her future reality has Emelia fighting for what is right, no matter what the cost.

It’s not very often that I don’t see a plot twist coming, and I won’t give any spoilers but the BETRAYAL in this book ruined me. I was rooting for who I thought were the good guys. I couldn’t have been more wrong. To me, that’s a sign of good writing.

I can’t wait for another installment of Emelia’s story!

Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter at HarperCollins for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC!

Oh dear. That's the main thing I felt reading this...oh dear.

I was super excited about this book, as the cover looked beautiful, and the blurb sounded intriguing. A human born to vampires in a world ruled by vampires? A forbidden romance with her vampire guard? Sign me up!

There are glimpses of something fantastic here—the world was interesting, and I wanted to find out more, but it wasn't fleshed out. I wanted to know more about the world and the vampires, their history and culture. Emelia is a human born to vampire parents, but they're also the rulers of a whole vampire kingdom, basically. Which means that she's the heir. There are plenty of issues here, obviously - how can a human rule vampires when they consider humans 'stock'?

Unfortunately, a lot of this book ends up being Emelia whining about...well, everything, really. She's very sheltered, for obvious reasons, and pretty naive about the world. Though she is right in one thing - they're probably never going to accept her as a ruler. Not when she's going to die before them! But Emelia...didn't work for me, unfortunately.

I didn't particularly care about her or her plight. Not only that, but I didn't even care much for the romance with Kyle. Firstly, I got massive weird vibes from him from the beginning - everything progressed far too quickly for my liking. Lots of stuff had me side-eyeing him.

My other issue was that I had no idea what this book was aiming for. I think it's meant to be New Adult, but it read Young Adult with sex (not even good sex, sorry, not sorry). Emelia was very immature, as mentioned, which made her read even younger than her age. As well as that, I couldn't get my head around the world. I thought it was a fantasy world, yet they're using cars and mobile phones. It's our world but with vampires and a weird pseudo-fantasy setting, which I just couldn't understand.

Apparently, in this world, there was a vampire uprising 50 years ago that led to vampires becoming the ruling class and humans becoming stock/feed or whatever. I just...couldn't get behind this because it seemed so absurd. I'm really expected to believe that vampires managed to subdue all of humanity like that. And somehow, the vampires still manage to make tech stuff because humans have to live in 'Safe Zones'? There were frequent mentions of the UK, which kept making me laugh because...well, it can't be called the United Kingdom if vampires now rule it and Emelia's parents rule over that area. Not only that, but I had no sense of what I was meant to be imagining. Do they live in the US? In Germany? In Italy? Where?

My reasoning for finding this all hilarious is that vampires in this world burst into flame in sunlight. So...yeah, apparently they managed to take over the world even though they can only go outside at night. Figure that out.

Also, I just hated the ending. That's all I'm saying for that.

Worth a read if you want a quick and cute vampire palette cleanser! I was on for a 5* feel until about 40% in, however I am actually pretty gutted by the turn this took!😂

The FMC ended up being carried everywhere and crying a bit too much for me, she’s very spoiled, and her relationship with her parents was really intense and borderline Stockholm syndrome. I found myself really devastated by something that happened and would have preferred a redemption arc.

The first half was beautiful and exciting, but the second half everything just happened too quickly and we didn’t get enough back story to characters in the rebellion for my liking.

Definitely still worth a read if you like vampire romances but prepare for a pretty frustrating section! The ending turned nice in the end but I’m not sure anything actually changed within the plot or at least the future of their world.

Also to believe the worlds strictest parents would suddenly allow her to move out is bit of a stretch. They were both very unlikeable and the FMC became quite simpering in their presence.

The time period was also a bit confusing? Mobile phones, skinny jeans and websites but there’s tonnes of guards and they don’t seem to have cctv?

So much potential here but it should have been a longer story, it was also suspicious from the start how fast the romance started, but that was beautiful whilst reading and I thoroughly enjoyed those chapters.

I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately it just was not for me. The premise sounded really promising but the execution felt rather messy. Whilst the overall atmosphere and writing style was really good, I simply did not gel with any of the characters and I failed to understand their motives.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

If you’re in the mood for hoa hoa hoa hoa season - if you’ve recently rewatched twilight; this book is for you.
It has those same vibes, it just skewed a little younger.

We follow a human girl, born to a vampiric royal family, the next heir to take over. This has all the hallmarks of a vampire romance, including a moody bad boy that the MC falls in insta-love with. (She’ll say to herself that she doesn’t like him, but you can tell.)

I like do the plot of this leading to a human rebellion, diving into the way the ruling vampires abuse their human servants.
I did find the dialogue a little awkward and juvenile at times; especially with older characters sounding like teenagers.

Perfect for the season if you want something you don’t really have to think about!

🩸THE LAST RAVEN REVIEW🩸

FANS OF TWILIGHT, you need to read this one! For me, the story leans more on the YA audience side of things as opposed to NA - I think if the forbidden romance aspect had more time to develop (alongside its characters) it would compliment the story so much more! This is why I’d recommend this book to those new to reading romantasy! ✨🩸

🐦‍⬛ Vampires 🧛‍♂️
🐦‍⬛ Romantasy (insta-love)
🐦‍⬛ Forced Proximity
🐦‍⬛ Forbidden Romance 😍

Thank you for the ARC @netgalley & @harpercollinsuk @onemorechapterhc 🫶

✶✶✶✶ / 5 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔰 ꔫ

ℑ’𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔠𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔯𝔬𝔴𝔫, 𝔰𝔦𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔶 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔪𝔶 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔢. 𝔑𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔪𝔶 𝔰𝔨𝔦𝔫, 𝔪𝔶 𝔢𝔶𝔢𝔰, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔶 ℑ 𝔪𝔬𝔳𝔢, 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔶 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℑ 𝔞𝔪.

ℌ𝔲𝔪𝔞𝔫.

ℑ𝔫 𝔞 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔩𝔡 𝔯𝔲𝔩𝔢𝔡 𝔟𝔶 𝔳𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔰.

⊹₊ ˚‧︵‿₊୨୧₊‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹

I want to start off by saying thank you to NetGalley for letting me have the ARC copy of this book. I am also even more happy to say that it did not disappoint.

Starting off this was such a quick, easy and enjoyable read. I got through this book very quickly and I was not expecting that. The cover first drew me in, but I was a bit concerned it might disappoint me like Divine Rivals did (though they’re not similar at all). This really serves as a reminder not to judge a book by its cover—literally!

Being born human to two vampires is incredibly rare, which leads to discrimination against Emilia and causes her parents to keep her locked away and sheltered. This dynamic shifts when her parents decide she needs to start engaging in social settings to assert her role as heir, especially with her eighteenth birthday approaching.

At the beginning of the book, I felt the world-building was somewhat lacking; I struggled to see the direction of the story, as there seemed to be countless possibilities for its evolution. I wasn't entirely sure where the story was set, and the descriptions of passing characters were minimal. It was also unclear what time period we were in, though it felt like a somewhat modern dystopian world. Europe is mentioned, but there's no specific location given. However, I see these as minor issues that could be easily addressed in the next book.

Despite those concerns, the book was fast-paced, easy to follow, and featured short chapters—every book lover's dream! I am looking forward to the next book!

⊹₊ ˚‧︵‿₊୨୧₊‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹

જ⁀➴ᡣ𐭩 𝔈𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔞

Emilia is a highly relatable character who feels lost in her world, struggling to fit in on either side. Despite being born into privilege, she faces discrimination and feels a strong responsibility to advocate for marginalized groups. Her strong moral compass is truly admirable.

While there are many positives to Emilia's character, she can come off as a bit too weepy at times. I understand her feelings, but as the heir to the Raven House, with powerful vampire parents and a unique bloodline, I wanted to see her exhibit more strength. It would be great to witness her grow not just mentally, which we do see toward the end as she becomes more assertive and aware of her role, but also physically.

She needs to learn to stop being prey; yes, she’s at a disadvantage as a human, but come on—think Vampire Diaries! A wooden stake or a special knife would be fantastic! There’s so much potential for her character development, and if handled well, it could really elevate this series.


જ⁀➴ᡣ𐭩 𝔎𝔶𝔩𝔢

I'm not sure if I should dedicate a paragraph to Kyle given how the book ends, but here we go. From his first appearance, I was hooked; he embodies the typical morally gray romantic lead. I appreciated that, even in a short book, he was much more emotionally complex than most male main characters. I won't say any more, read for yourself as it will not disappoint.

⊹₊ ˚‧︵‿₊୨୧₊‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹

Last but certainly not least, let’s talk about the ending! While there were moments when the plot felt unclear, the author definitely pulled me in. I didn't see that plot twist coming at all! There were moments of foreshadowing that made me think I had it figured out, but I was completely wrong—and I loved it. This really set the book apart from other fantasy series. Not only was there one twist, but it also ended on a cliffhanger! It was so shocking that I’m left wondering what comes next. How can we finally get a glimpse of where this foreshadowing leads, and then just have the book end like that?

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for something that captures the vibe without being overly spooky. If you’re craving a story that scratches that vampire itch, this is the perfect choice!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc.

I DNF’d this book unfortunately as the main character was was wining at everything, she seemed very childish and couldn’t hold her own. She was always looking for an argument and I could tell it was the start of enemies to lovers but I didn’t like her attitude at all.

Emilia's story has an intriguing premise: she’s a human born to vampire parents and heir to half the nation. Having been sheltered her whole life, Emilia starts the book at 17, preparing to take over as Raven Heir. Her new bodyguard, Kyle, introduces some tension, especially with hints he might side with the brewing rebellion.

While the concept held a lot of promise, the execution didn’t quite land for me. The writing and dialogue are straightforward—though there were times it pulled me out of the story. This is very much an insta-love situation, but I struggled to feel any real chemistry between Emilia and Kyle. Their relationship felt rushed and uneven, with Kyle coming off as condescending at times. I also found myself wishing Emilia was a bit stronger and more self-assured. Her emotional reactions—while understandable—leaned too heavily into the damsel-in-distress trope for my taste.

The world-building felt a bit inconsistent as well. The mix of modern elements (laptops, jeans) with castles and velvet gowns was interesting but left me a little confused about the setting’s tone and rules.

I went into this book excited for a vampire story, but unfortunately, it just didn’t click for me. Maybe I wasn’t the right audience for it, or perhaps I was hoping for something with more depth or edge. It’s worth noting that while this reads like a YA/NA novel, there are explicit scenes, which some readers may want to be aware of going in.

I made it to the halfway point before deciding to set it aside. The plot may pick up in the latter half, but I didn’t feel invested enough to stick around and find out. That said, everyone’s reading preferences are different, so this might still resonate with someone looking for a lighter vampire romance.

⭐⭐
🌶️

I’m calling it at 48%
I wanted to like this book so much but I’m finding every character is completely intolerable.
From stubborn to the point of being evil- mom
Spoiled, idealistic, whiny and delusional-face
A awkward and yet creepy instant love interest with noooo chemistry-mmc
A Humbert Humbert advisor with the hots for her mom and by extension her I guess-moms bestie
And a dad who wanted to kill her when she was born, loves her now I guess, but doesn’t really seem to do much for the plot….

Basically, there’s nobody to empathize or sympathize with this entire book for me.

Blurb on NetGalley to sign up, had me hitting my request and I just feel let down.

The writing is ok, the world building isn’t great. It’s set in our world but changed to have vampires in charge.
If you’re expecting romantasy, this is gonna let you down.

It’s more like murdery twilight smashed with days of our lives.

However, if you like political fantasy and you like urban fantasy where those two things take center stage, then this book might be for you. Those were the two themes that really jumped out for me. So I think part of the problem is this book is marketed towards romance, and that didn’t shine enough for me to even finish the book.


********Editing to add********
I just went and read the last five chapters
And I standby everything I said, but would definitely implore those who like urban and political fantasy books to read this.
If you loved, the following, the last raven will be your kinda book!
the poppy war, the queen’s thief series, the folding knife, reign and ruin, lightbringer, red rising, etc

DNF at 21% because I felt nothing. There’s like insta-hate-love between the MCs and it doesn’t make sense. There’s basically no world building. We get told a few things, but certain details are just repeated over and over again.

It felt like it was trying to do too many things at one time and instead it was achieving absolutely nothing.

The premise sounded really interesting, but it felt like it didn’t match what I was reading. I gave 2 stars because I don’t think 1 is fair for something I didn’t finish. This was not for me, but it might be just what someone else is looking for.

Also, I know this is an urban setting, but I can’t take a MMC named Kyle seriously 🙃 (that’s a me thing though, so do with that what you want)

First I would like to thank NetGalley and One More Chapter for the chance to read the ARC!

I wanted to love this book I read the summary and I really really wanted this to be a five star read. Now don’t get me wrong I throughly enjoyed The Last Raven but the entire time I wished we could have some more world building.

Super quick read and if this turns into a series will definitely be getting the sequel.

I liked the premise of the book, but I unfortunately did not like the writing style. The book is advertised as new adult but it reads as very young adult. It also claims to be the “hottest forced proximity x vampire romance” but the FMC is only 17…. Which to me is a hard no. All of the above made this one a DNF for me.

Rating: 2.5 🌟

I read this book in one day and while I definitely didn’t hate it I don’t have many positive things to say unfortunately :/

I was very excited to get into this because the premise reminded me of The Serpent & The Wings of Night (which I LOVED) but honestly this book disappointed me. The world-building is pretty much nonexistent and I feel like I was deceived in the synopsis after going into the book expecting the thrilling ‘rebellion and dark forces’ that it describes when really it’s just a couple rebel threats here and there and little detail into everything behind the supposed main storyline of The Last Raven.

The romance was also not it because it was insta-love. The author tried to have some semblance of a hate-to-love romance but if I remember correctly by the 60th page they were both already good with each other :/ I wasn’t a huge fan of Emilia, our main character, either. There wasn’t anything especially bad about her but I felt that her character lacked personality - there wasn’t anything to her other than her inner debate of whether she should stay in her royal house or flee.

The plot twist at the end was also predictable and I feel like instead of blowing my mind at how crazy-good it was, it just spoiled the book and everything we had read up until that point, in my opinion. 😕

But I’m also giving this book 2.5 stars because I don’t give lower than that to books I didn’t feel a strong wave of dislike towards. And also this isn’t horrible just…missing some things. It is a very bingeable book though :)

Regardless of my thoughts on this though, thank you so much to NetGalley, One More Chapter/HarperCollins UK and to Helen Glynn Jones for an e-ARC copy of this in exchange for my honest opinion 🫶

Well I have to say this book is not what I was expecting. It is even better.

I jumped straight into the world of vampires and humans where the Raven vampires rule. I didn’t need the back story because it was explained very quickly as to what happened in the world.

You could just immerse yourself in the storyline and feel sorry for Emelia, a human born to the reigning vampire family and protected from all the nasties that go along with vampires and staying alive. The intrigue and power play drew me in. There was always a feeling of something bad about to happen but I wasn't sure from which direction. And it was such a surprise when it did.

The romance between Kyle and Emelia started slowly. An attraction that grew into more. Yes Emelia is young but she certainly grew up fast and wanted to make changes. She started as a frightened and naive teenager wanting to know more of the world beyond the walls of her safe vampire world.

I really enjoyed reading the Last Raven. I like a book that is not just insta love and fall into bed. There has to be a great story to go with it. This book delivered it.

The story centers on Emelia, the sole heir to the House of Raven. Caught in the relentless expectations of her lineage, Emelia is forced to confront her unique position in a society that values power and bloodline above all else. The reader instantly connects with her internal struggle—torn between the lavish life and responsibilities inherent in her title and her own yearning for authenticity and freedom. Jones's portrayal of Emelia is both relatable and poignant, as she grapples with feelings of confinement while navigating the treacherous waters of being human in a vampire world.
The arrival of Kyle is a game-changer for Emelia, serving as more than just a romantic interest; he becomes her beacon of hope and rebellion. Their chemistry crackles with intensity, fueled by the tension of their different worlds. Jones does an exceptional job of weaving the “forced proximity” trope into the narrative, as Kyle’s mysterious demeanor and hidden agendas draw Emelia into a whirlwind of passion and peril. Their relationship is both thrilling and delicately layered, as Emelia must not only confront the potential of love but also the danger it brings.
One of the most enthralling aspects of "The Last Raven" is how it challenges the norm of vampire literature by placing a human heroine at its core. Emelia’s perspective offers a refreshing departure from the traditional vampire narrative, and as she uncovers her own strength, the reader is taken on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment. The themes of choice and sacrifice resonate deeply, especially as Emelia grapples with the idea of leaving behind those she loves for a chance at true freedom.
Overall, this book is a hauntingly beautiful tale, perfect for anyone seeking a fresh take on vampire romance.