If *The Cruel Prince* and *Ninth House* had a dark, romantic love child, it would be this book. *Close* is a thrilling dark academia fantasy that pulls you into a world of vampire intrigue, dangerous power dynamics, and morally grey characters. Kidan Adane, orphaned heiress, is on a mission to infiltrate the arcane Uxlay University and find her kidnapped sister, June—who she believes was taken by the very vampire bound to her family, the captivatingly cruel Susenyos Sagad.

What unfolds is a tense, twist-filled plot, where Kidan must live with the vampire she suspects killed her family while navigating a society where humans gain power through blood ties with vampires. The slow-burn tension between Kidan and Susenyos, their dark, violent natures mirroring each other, is a highlight—tempting Kidan to give in to her own thirst for vengeance, while also pulling her deeper into the morally murky world she must now navigate.

I absolutely loved how deep the story delves into vampire lore and the dark underworld of the Uxlay society. The suspense builds steadily, as Kidan uncovers secrets, faces betrayal, and risks everything to save her sister. The writing is rich, atmospheric, and compelling, with morally ambiguous characters that are impossible to resist. This book is a perfect blend of dark romance, mystery, and fantasy, earning a solid four stars from me. If you're into morally grey vampires and dark academia, this one's for you!

4.5✩ This was incredible! It had a unique magic system and it was written in such a captivating way! If you like a fmc with extreme feminine rage this will be right up your alley!
ALSO this was a perfect representation of enemies to lovers I LOVED IT!!

'Immortal Dark' unfolds as a Gothic narrative filled with dark magic, politics, and family drama, centered around Kidan, whose journey through Uxlay University showcases her growth and introspection. The romance likeable but the rich world-building is where Grima comes to life.

Some issues I had were the book's convoluted plot and some inconsistencies, particularly regarding character choices and the handling of main plot points. The main characters are seen as overly dramatic, often leading to eye-rolling frustrations. Despite these shortcomings, the book still provides entertainment and deserves recognition for its representation and inclusiveness.

literal perfection, no notes

dark academia is such a fun vibe to build stories around, and Tigest has crafted such a perfect amalgamation of paranomal elements, inspired by her own culture, built the best balance of morally grey characters ive read in a while and the dynamic between Kidan’s and Susenyos is UGH

I need more, I cant wait for it, absolutely no notes

Sadly this was a DNF for me. I enjoyed the world building and lore but I wasn't a huge fan of the main character to the point where I stopped reading.

I am feeling like I am very much in the minority here and its most likely a case of its me, not the book.

Thank you to Hachette and Netgalley for the eARC - my opinions are most definitely my own.

I tried really hard to push through this one but I ended up DNFing at 30% cause I just couldn’t take it anymore.
The premise of this book sounded so cool and amazing but it just didn’t deliver. By 30% I should know who the characters are and be able to see them but I couldn’t. I had no idea the difference between characters. I had no idea what purpose they served. Even the main characters. They all felt 2 dimensional. Flat. I couldn’t even tell you apart from being dark skinned what each of them looked like.
The plot was so utterly confusing I couldn’t keep up with it. I’ve read a bunch of fantasy style book, some really heavy in lore but this one was just so hard to follow. Nothing of the school or magic system or the lore was explained in useful detail. I found myself feeling like I was attending a university and going to class more than I was actually reading the story.
It got so frustrating to read because I had no idea what was going on. The big moments seemed to be glossed over and moved on from so quickly where the nonessential sections were given pages and pages of boring over description. I wanted so desperately to push through but I shouldn’t have to force myself to.
I think this could have benefitted from a lot of editing refocusing cause as I said the premise sounded great but the execution was off.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for provided me with an ARC of this book ✨

Immortal Dark is The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House in this enemies-to-lovers and dark academia fantasy, that follows Kidan Adane as she must infiltrate an arcane society and live with the vampire she suspects killed her family and kidnapped her sister.

Unfortunately, I did struggle with the pacing of the book for the first half but after that, I really do think it picked up quite a bit to the point where I was struggling to put it down. I found myself unsure of whom I should believe or trust because the book's mystery element was so good and had so many unexpected turns. There were many points where I was truly taken aback by what I had just read and had to continue reading to find out how it all turned out. There were also many things to love about this novel from the tensions between Kidan and Susenyos, the morally grey characters, the sentient house and the perfect dark academia vibes.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Hachette Australia for an ARC of Immortal Dark

Thanks to @netgalley and @hachetteaus for a review copy of this book, in the end I went and bought a copy because I really enjoyed it. I’ll be definitely reading the next book as like all good stories, this one is left on a cliffhanger.

I enjoyed immersing myself into Kidan’s world and leaving about the lore between Acti and Draniacs. This one is dark academia so there is a school element and classes though it’s not the whole plot but does add to what we need to know to understand the world. I enjoyed getting to understand the quest and how that played into the bigger story. The vampire element was also interesting as I haven’t read a book where they are portrayed this way before. This really added to my interest and I know of you like reading vampire stories then you’ll enjoy this one too. Overall, it’s a great read and I’m looking forward to where it goes next.

This book will forever hold a special place in my heart, as it was my first author/publisher mail 🥹 so, I thought it was time to give you all my thoughts on this brilliant novel.

Wow. Wow. Wow. I was completely captivated and enthralled in Immortal Dark! The tension, the drama, the world building, lore and rules were all so incredibly unique with wonderful dimension.

The tension between our FMC and MMC was unmatched, you hated him, you loved him, you hated him…

I loved how our FMC Kidan wouldn’t be afraid to straight up ask when something doesn’t feel right. Questions you had as a reader, she also had, and you bet with knife in hand she would get to the bottom of it!

The twists and turns kept you gripped and NEEDING to know more, making it difficult to put down!

This book reminded me of why I fell in love with reading, especially fantasy! It evoked feelings and emotions that I once felt when I first picked up novels of this sort.

A dark and lustrous novel filled with black vampires, desire, rage and secrets that has left me wanting more!

**REVIEWED BY COLLEAGUE (STAFF MEMBER) AS A BUDDY READ.

Loved this one so much. There was so much tension between the characters and I was hooked by the storyline.

⭐️ 3.9
🌶 1.75

Thank you NetGalley, Hachette Australia and Tigest Girma for the free review copy 💙

What a debut! Tigest Girma's prose is deliciously haunting, evocative, angtsy and intense - perfect for FMC Kidan's vengeful state of mind and mental health struggles, which were portrayed with sensitivity, authenticity and brutal honesty.

The worldbuilding was phenomenal! Set in an alternate modern day Ethiopia, Uxlay University is full of lush, gothic architecture, idyllic gardens, secret academic and political societies, plus sentient magical houses that both haunt and protect their occupants, all while surrounded by a spooky, atmospheric forest.

Immortal Dark is a brilliant combination of Ethiopian mythology, East African history, a unique vampire lore, truly dark academia, an all-African morally grey to charcoal cast, and political intrigue, with feminine rage in spades.

Truly, no character - human or vampire - is innocent. In fact, embracing your darkness is the only way to survive in this story. Seriously, check trigger warnings for this one - Kidan's headspace is a dark place to be. At times, you're left wondering who the real monsters are.

The romances and friendships are all toxic in a decadently dark way. The very slow burn romance (which has yet to truly start by the end) is the epitome of "there's a fine line between love/lust and hate". In fact, the only person allowed to torment the MCs is each other. Also, friends are more like frenemies here and they encourage each other's worst impulses.

It's because of all these factors that I strongly disagree with the YA rating - this should definitely be rated New Adult, especially considering the level of open door physical intimacy. I wasn't quite prepared for just *how* dark this story would be because of the YA rating.

The persistent mystery of Kidan's kidnapped twin sister June seems to haunt the plot as much as the FMC (in the best way). This and other mysteries slowly unfold and reveal themselves throughout the plot, making for riveting twists and turns. The fact that there are 2 cliffhangers at the end is epically mean of Girma.

One critique would be that there were some pacing issues where the story felt too slow. This mostly happened when Girma glossed over the study group sessions or time passing without incident at Uxlay. Ultimately, I don't believe the book needed to be quite as long as it was.

Overall, if you like dark fantasy, dark academia and/or dark paranormal romance, you'll probably love this, as long as you're good with a little-to-no morals, burn the world down, I will succeed or happily die trying kind of revenge story.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an eARC for my honest opinion.

This book was so masterfully done. It had me questioning everything. I went through such a wide range of emotions, 'do I like this? Yes I do, do I really? YES I DO.' was some of the thoughts on repeat in my head.

I have thought about this book every day since I finished reading it. It was so thought provoking, in so many different ways. What is good, what is evil. What is life, what is death?

The world, the mystery and the characters were phenomenal.

I am so very picky with rage filled characters, as I always find there is a fine line that can be missed by a lot of authors. But, i was glad that there was nothing to worry about, as Tigest is a master and while Kidans rage, was so hyper-focused and sometimes misdirected, I could admire and understand exactly why she was so angry. I could feel her rage. Hell, I think I could even smell it.

I dont want to go too into detail as I think this is a book everyone needs to experience. I will eagerly be awaiting book 2's release and anything else Tigest Girma writes in the future.

ONE OF MY BEST BOOKS OF 2024!

I cannot stop recommending this book to everyone, It ticks the nostalgia box of vampires with all my Dark Academia dreams.

The characters are perfectly flawed, the banter is top notch, enemies to lovers relationships and there is a massive hint towards future romance1

Waiting for book 2 will truely be a test because I need to know what happens after that ending.

Immortal Dark was a wild ride—dark, gritty, and richly atmospheric. It took me some time to connect with the main character, Kidan, but eventually, I found myself rooting for her triumph. I loved the setting and can’t wait to continue the series to see where the story unfolds. However, the arc copy had some choppy formatting that made it a bit confusing until I reached about 40%. I ended up buying a physical copy to finish reading.

I will forever be in my vampire Era 🙌🏾 🧛🏿‍♀️ 🩸.

But not only is this just your normal vampire book but we have BLACK VAMPIRES. The joy this brought me to finally read a book with diverse characters and also written by a black woman. I want to see more of this in publishing! People don’t realise how difficult it was growing up and never seeing yourself represented in literature or media. But the industry is finally improving 👏🏾.

“Your hatred burns like ocean ice. And it’s entirely…mine”

One thing I loved about this book is that it was a TRUE enemies to lovers. I loved that they genuinely despised each other. And oooooh that tension and banter was just *chefs kiss*. Had me literally kicking my feet in the air.

I loved the dark atmosphere of this book and that all the characters were morally grey. Even Kidan who was such a bad bitch was willing to spill blood to get her sister.

One thing I will say is that this book reads more NA than YA. Some of the themes and content are on the darker side but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Follow me on bookstagram for more reviews: @bookalicious.delights

Full review coming soon! Full review coming soon! Full review coming soon! Full review coming soon! Full review coming soon! Full review coming soon!

I DNF this book.
The writing was good, however the parts i could read i really struggled with the character relationships and the magical system.

Immortal Dark is the first instalment in a trilogy. Kidan is a human searching for her abducted sister. In order to do this she must join Uxlay University where students study to ensure peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires and inherit their family legacies. The problem here is the vampire she believes killed her parents and abducted her sister lives there as well. Thus ensues a classic tale of enemies to lovers.

The book presents some good ideas - all black characters, dark academia, magical houses. However, for YA it is pretty dark dealing with some heavy topics including self harm, suicide and a heroine who is very angry and only interested in revenge. If you're a fan of dark academia and romance fantasy, then give Immortal Dark a go.


“I fought for my immortality. It has cost me more than you could ever imagine. You hope to ask nicely and receive it.”

Okay, give me a second to catch my breath…

This book was everything. It had everything. It WILL be everything. I don’t think someone could’ve pried my kindle from my hands if they tried to. I may have growled at them, that’s how obsessed I was with this book.

For a debut novel, Tigest Girma truly couldn’t have done better, and she will no doubt go very, VERY far after a book like this.

The vibes were immaculate, the characters fully fledged and well developed, and I was gripped from the first chapter. A lot of YA books struggle to hold my attention as they can fall short in a lot of areas like world building and character development, but Girma truly said “hold my pen” and delivered a knock out book.

I couldn’t recommend this more.

*4.5
I love a good vampire book and this one got me hooked!

This is how you write the enemies to (?)lovers trope - you could feel the sexual tension and pure hatred between Kidan and Susenyos. Each page I was filled with anticipation just waiting for them to finally get it on 😩 I initially wasn’t attracted to Susenyos but halfway throughout the story my attraction to morally grey characters just couldn’t resist. I loved the Black/African representation throughout the book. The politics and laws surrounding the humans/vampires did get a bit overwhelming to the point where I couldn’t remember them and eventually stopped caring too much about them.

I cannot wait for the next book, this is the perfect cosy spooky read for lovers of dark academia!