3.5 stars, rounded up. The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House meets Crave in this dangerously romantic dark academia fantasy, where a lost heiress must infiltrate an arcane society humans and vampires coexist and live with the vampire she suspects killed her family and kidnapped her sister.

“He had the striking beauty of an eclipse, a form to be studied and admired even if it burned the eyes.”

This was a unique book to say the least! The mysterious and gothic setting piques your interest from the start as the details unfold, as do the morally grey characters.

“The world loves to punish girls who dream in the dark. I plan to worship them.”

This story was filled with dark magic, rich Ethiopian culture, family secrets, brooding vampires and cutthroat politics. I loved the idea of the magical houses and the interesting laws of the society and vampires.

“Your hatred burns like ocean ice. And it’s entirely.. mine. I’ve never owned something so completely?”

Kiden was such a complex character, ruthless and a little unhinged - it was difficult to understand and connect with her at times.

“Perhaps the key was to realize that peace lay in survival, past the scars and pinches and among righteous revenge, not surrender. What a dangerous, dangerous thought.”

I found most of the characters very unlikable and the writing and dialogue was so different that at times it was difficult to follow. Unfortunately this made the book not flow so well for me and it took extra effort to push through. But I did enjoy my time in this interesting world.

“You have such vile expectations of me… I look forward to proving them true.”

If you like a slow burn dark academia, gothic style vampire fantasy with a very unique twist then give this a read, it’s out now!

Thank you @hachetteaus for this Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review. 🙏🏽

*Thank you to NetGalley & Hachette Australia & New Zealand for sending me a digital copy to review*

Dark Academia & fantasy are two of my favourite genres. Mix them together along with vampires and enemies to lovers and you’ve got one amazing book.

Kidan is investigating the disappearance of her twin sister and her main suspect is the vampire bound to her family, Susenyos Sagad. Kidan is forced to attend Uxlay University where students study to ensure peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires and inherit their family legacies. While Kidan tries to survive living with Susenyos a murder that mirrors her sister’s disappearance leads Kidan to discover threats that are centuries old.

I could not stop reading this book. Usually, I try to pace myself but with this one, I had to know what would happen next. Uxlay University had the perfect dark academia vibes, with classes on humans & vampires coexisting to frequent deaths/murders happening at the school. The world-building was amazing, there are layers of history that you discover as you read this book.

The enemies to lovers is perfection!!! When you start to think that they will actually kill each other then you know it’s good. Kidan & Susenyos hate each other with a burning passion and having them need to reside in the same house just adds to the tension, which is so good! Both do not hold back in trying to get rid of each other and I was shocked at every decision they made. The payoff at the end is once again amazing,

As soon as I finished I just needed the second book immediately. It can’t come soon enough.

Dark, unique and beautiful written. If you love vampires and dark academia vibes, this is for you.
This book starts off with some heavy world building and took until about the 20% mark for me to get into it (and understand what was happening lol).
Our female main character, Kidan Adane, is certainly dark and twisty as the title would suggest and our male main character, Susenyos Sagad, brings the immortality of the title in a story unlike anything l've read.
One element I really loved was in a world of immortality, the discourse around what it means to be human and how we grapple with our sense of identity.
"There are many grotesque evils in this world. Trust me, l have encountered them all. Yet the most frightening of all is the one of the mind. If you can't bear the sound of your own voice, the look of your eyes, the soul of your body, I ask you to do the most difficult thing of all-wait."
Thank you NetGalley, Hachette Australia and Tigest Girma for an ARC of Immortal Dark.

⭐️4/5
🌶2/5

“𝑺𝒐, 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒅, 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆?

Where do I even start?! I was very pleasantly surprised by this dark academia, bully/enemies to lovers book.

This is an actual enemies scenario, and he loves to torment her for sure! Susenyos definitely gets a kick out of publicly embarrassing Kidan. But Kidan isn't innocent by any means... she loves to carry around a cute item (the only thing that can kill him, of course 🤣).

“𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚.” 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅, 𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒎𝒐𝒌𝒆. “𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆? 𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒂𝒑 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆? 𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒅?”

The plot was intruiging, but I found the romance more palatable

“𝑨𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒂𝒑, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒕. 𝑯𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚.”

The tension, bickering, and bullying were on point and made me want to throw something at a wall just so they could say what they really thought. This gives Cardan and Jude vibes 100%, but make them dark academic vampires and stabby humans.

“𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅? 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆.”
“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉.”

I really enjoyed both the book and the audiobook. Although the audiobook would have been better with a second narrator.

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉.

🩸Enemies to lovers (true enemies)
🩸Dark academia
🩸Human FMC who wants to 💀
🩸Vampire MMC, who loves life
🩸Forced proximity
🩸Suspense
🩸Tension
🩸Morally grey
🩸Cliffhanger
🩸Closed door romance
🩸Do anything for the one you love...

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy through NetGalley and I was so happy I was able to get through this one without any spoilers! The book started off slow and I found that I wasn’t picking it up as much as I liked but once I got into it, I was obsessed. It was such a vivid read and I could picture it clearly in my head, the fmc and mmc’s tension was to die for (pun intended) and I’m back into my vampire era.

The story follows Kidan Adane on her journey to find her kidnapped sister June. This leads her to Uxlay Academy the setting for our dark academia - where she must live with the vampire suspected to have taken her sister.

Whilst I was intrigued by the beginning of the book I personally found it to be a bit clunky and abrupt. The more I got into it the more it found a flow. I did get engrossed in the story but it took a while to get there, maybe halfway.

The enemies to lovers trope in the book is very much enemies, but didn’t really get to lovers. It was very back and forth and sometimes didn’t seem to make sense after the work and build up of their relationship. It kinda gave me whiplash.

All together though a lot did happen in the second half of the book that had me on the edge of my seat and questioning characters motives. The world building felt unique and I love the African influences subtly placed into the storyline. The growth and journey of self love and acceptance of our FMC throughout the book was also a joy to see. I am keen to see where the story goes in book 2!

Thank you to Hachette ANZ and NetGalley for an ARC for review!

I don’t often read anything quite like this book. It was rather interesting and a very welcome change from my usual reading habits.
I would 10/10 recommend and will definitely continue reading once the following books are released.

Thank you for letting me try this book. I hope it finds the people that will enjoy it.

I tried to but I couldn’t get into it. The FMC drove me nuts and I found the writing quite jumpy and choppy. This just wasn’t the book for me and that’s ok, I’m sure many others with like it.

I did share a release day post on my socials

This book is a top tier vampire book! I am completely obsessed! Best vampire book iv read since twilight and true blood! I love the characters in this book! The enemies to lover aspect, the dark academia! I cannot wait for the next one Literally need it now!!!!

Immortal Dark is a Dark Academia fantasy novel rich with compelling characters who navigate a web of power and betrayal.
We are introduced to Kiran Adane who is adamant on finding her sister, who she believes was taken by a cruel vampire named Susenyos Sagad.
I really wanted to love their story as it was a true enemies to lovers tale, but unfortunately it fell flat for me.
While the plot can feel rushed at times, and some character motivations may lack depth, the book’s gripping atmosphere and unpredictable twists make it an enjoyable read for fans of dark fantasy. It's a solid debut that leaves readers curious for more.

Thank you Netgalley, Hachette Australia and Tigest Girma for the arc.

Kian’s sister has gone missing and she will go to any lengths to get her back from the vampire bound to her family who she suspects has taken her sister or worse. In order to do this, Kidan must infiltrate Uxlay Academy and live with her target if she wants to inherit her birthright. Kidan must immerse herself in a life she doesn’t understand even if that means making unlikely alliances and a love connection that might kill her.

The concept behind this book had my hopes very high. Black vampires in an enemies-to-lovers dark academia? I’m there. I love authors sharing the culture with readers in the fantasy genre and I loved the way Grima wove her Ethiopian heritage into vampire lore to create something original.

I had a lot of issues while reading this book (I really slogg Nl mLMK ed through and it took me almost a mont Rech to finish) and I think the core of all those problems was that this book felt like a draft. Not in the sense of needing a proofread but the storytelling itself is rough. There was a lack of transition between scenes and I was constantly feeling dunked in the middle of an interaction without even knowing who was present or where the scene was taking place. I also found it lacking a bit in the academia department and I wasn’t invested in the mystery because it took me so long to read.

I do recommend trying out Immortal Dark if the premise excites you because it does feel fresh and I will always celebrate authors doing something different. I just wish it had been worked on a lot more and I don’t plan to continue the series.

Immortal Dark met my expectations - and then some. This was exciting, titlating, hot, and steamy (in more ways than one). A superb debut novel and a fantastic start to a new YA trilogy. This story gave me everything I wanted and more - The tension, the banter, the visceral hate exuded from the two MCs and the turmoil that insued? I adored this; ate this up. I want more, please Tigest 🥺🙏

A deliciously dark vampiric tale that had me enthralled. I adored the vampires of this series and we love morally grey MCs too! And when it says enemies to lovers this story delivers actual enemies to lovers.

This got me out of a reading slump. Once I got past the initial world building I put down everything else I was reading until this was completed.

If I had to describe this using two words I’d use: Delicious and devastating! This kept me on the edge of my seat with all the wonderful (and sometimes heartbreaking) twists and turns. This was incredible and had me laughing out loud at some parts too! Can someone in Hollywood adapt this into a TV show or film please because Tigest’s storytelling was immersive, vivid, and beautifully transformative that I could visualise this as a great book to screen adaptation.

This was stellar - a phenomenal start to a new series. I genuinely cannot believe this was a debut!

The spooky, dark academia vibes are perfect for the upcoming fall/spooky season. An easy recommendation from me. I will try my best to wait patiently for book 2 😬

I’m so grateful to both netgalley and Hachette for the opportunity to read this early. All opinions in this review are my own.

Highly recommend!

Yours eternally ♡

♡ Enemies to lovers (where they’re actually enemies)
♡ Dark academia vibes
♡ Forced Proximity
♡ Vampires
♡ Secret societies
♡ Author’s debut novel
♡ First book in a trilogy

Final rating: 4.5☆

"The world loves to punish girls who dream in the dark. I plan to worship them."

THIS IS WHAT ENEMIES TO LOVERS SHOULD BE.

The yearning, the lust, the tension, the anger. This had it all and so much more.

Real talk though, I did struggle at the beginning for this book, but I think that was all on me. When I first started this I wasn't feeling it and didn't really even dedicate the time to get into the book. But once Kidan got to Uxlay and everything started, I was hooked.

This is peak dark academia and changes everything you know about vampires. We've got the mystery of Kidan's missing sister June, people being murdered on campus, secret society's and groups and hot black vampires. This book has a full cast of black characters, both humans and vampires alike. The history in this book was so rich and unlike other books I've read before, I'm so glad I picked it up.

One of my favourite parts of Immortal Dark was Kidan and Susenyos relationship. That joint hatred for each other was so much fun to read, I was obsessed with the way their relationship grew. I thoroughly enjoyed the comparison between them and a fictional couple in a book they both read, although it does make me nervous for where the rest of the series is going.

This book really shows the brutality of humans, and how sometimes the true monsters are people.

I am very impatiently awaiting book two and cannot wait to see where it goes.

Honestly, you had me at Dark Academia and Vampires. This book captures so much of what I look for in a novel. If you've read any of my reviews by now, you might know that vampires are my weakness. When you combine this with moody, atmospheric settings and enemies-to-lovers vibes, I'm all yours, and that's exactly how I felt with Immortal Dark.

Note: A 3-star rating means="I liked it."

If you thought Jude and Cardan’s enemy dynamic in The Cruel Prince was ruthless, buckle up because Immortal Dark takes the enemies-to-lovers trope to a whole new level. The passionate hatred between FMC Kidan and MMC Susenyos makes The Cruel Prince look like a cute rom-com.
I really wanted to fall head over heels for this one because I’m all about fantasies with representation. Immortal Dark really drew me in with its premise: a sentient house, rich Ethiopian culture and history, a broody vampire who’s part of the real estate deal, and searing tension that could be hatred or something more. But while the premise was golden, the execution had me trying to get my head around a sea of intricate world rules and plot threads for the first 45%. Some may perceive the execution as an info dump.

With a fragile peace treaty between humans and vampires, ancient artifacts that could cause chaos, the binds placed on vampires, twelve houses with their own rules, a complex power hierarchy, an abduction mystery, a murder mystery and more, there’s a lot to unpack. Honestly, if this story and some of the exposition were trimmed by 100 pages, I think it would make for a more impactful read. But that's just me, art is subjective.
Once I finally got the hang of the world, the plot did eventually keep me curious enough and yes, I traded some beauty sleep for this. The slow-burn enemies-to-not-quite-enemies dynamic was mesmerising and pretty sexy. While this is YA and doesn’t venture into explicit territory, it still manages to keep things pretty steamy somehow.

Spice level: 0.5 🌶

Interestingly, FMC Kidan is a whirlwind—brutal, violent, and downright cruel when we first meet her. She wants to burn the world down to rescue her abducted twin sister and she doesn’t care if she takes herself with it. Initially, I struggled to connect with her and thought her brash and insufferable, but as her backstory unfolded, I saw the layers beneath her rage. Still, her extreme grudge against Susenyos and vampires, in general, felt a bit too close to real-world bigotry. But hey, fiction is supposed to challenge us, and this book certainly made me question who the real monsters are.
Before diving into this one, it’d be a good idea to be mindful of some of the trigger and content warnings, as it’s quite a dark, gritty and heavy read: Blood drinking, death, gore, murder, violence, suicidal ideation, strong language, one animal death, and parental abuse.

All in all, while Immortal Dark doesn’t gift us with glittering vampires, it does serve up a platter of fabulously unique vampire traits unique to this world that I'm sure Edward Cullen would be envious of. I recommend this one for dark academia, dark romance and paranormal fantasy genre enthusiasts who like true enemies-to-lovers tropes with a bit of bite.

Congratulations to Tigest Girma for a dazzling debut—I'm left both satisfied and curious to see what happens in the next book of the trilogy.
My heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So well written! I loved every second of this book! It’s fun and unique and I was hooked from page one, and the characters are some of the best I’ve read !!

Vampires. Dark Acedemia. Enemies to (maybe?) Lovers. So much mystery and so many twists you won't know what's coming next!

I had so much fun with this book.
I kept saying that I had no idea what was going on or why while i was reading it. Just when I thought I had a grip on why things were happening I was wrong and some other wild moment would happen.

Enemies to lovers taken to a whole new level. You spend the whole book wondering if they actually will murder each other with sprinkles of crazy tension throughout the book. And by the end, you still don't really know if they'll become lovers.

I am definitely excited to see where things head in book 2.

This was an amazing debut fantasy from an Australian author. I was lucky enough to review it early. Vampires x Dark Academia? Say less. Had a great time. Can’t wait to continue the series!

"The world loves to punish girls who dream in the dark. I plan to worship them."

I will absolutely be screaming about this book from the rooftops to anyone who will listen. An intricately woven dark academia story that has a vampire x human academy as the main setting, a morally grey (one might even argue dark grey) MMC and FMC, this was truly a book that I devoured.

This is a stunning debut, and truly filled my need for a complex plot-line that had deeply layered characters, intriguing lore (I would read a whole book on the backstory of Uxley and the Last Sages and the dranaics). I liked that this author wrote lore & backstory that required me to re-read certain sections to truly understand it, as it made me feel that much more engaged as a reader and lent a deeper appreciation for the plots being woven together.

Overall, I genuinely enjoyed this, and will absolutely be purchasing the physical copy as a book trophy so that I can recommend it to everyone.

Enemies to lovers is such a messy trope and this book pulled it off nicely.

As usual with a 3 star rating from me it means I liked the book. I had a great time and I’d still recommend it.

I enjoyed most of the book but some parts left me wanting more. I needed more about the school, do the people living in these ‘houses’ have jobs? Do they leave the grounds for work? Did I miss part of the book that explained that? What else does this school teach? Are they all teens? Is the school just teaching them how to be blood bags? Why am I so obsessed with the school? Because it seems so cool and could honestly be cooler.

Most importantly. Where are the queer vampires? We can’t have a vampire book with all straight assuming characters. I WANT to imagine that some of the characters are queer but this book didn't give me anyone to root for.

LOVED that the Kidan (the mc) was just a trash human trying to save her sister. She even destroys historic artefacts to prove that she's a monster, leaving the vampire looking like the actual good guy, which he definitely is not. There is no actual good person in sight. Everyone is dodgy as fuck.

Will I continue the series? Fucking yes. As this is a debut novel, I can’t wait to see what this author gets up to next.

eBook/Audiobook supplied by Hachette via NetGalley All opinions are my own.