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.

Immortal Dark has easily made its way into one of my favourite books for 2024, and easily one of my favourite dark academia books that I have ever read. A deeply atmospheric, seductive, and gritty world where humans and vampires have found a way to coexist - but not without danger.

We follow our FMC Kidan, an extremely complex, morally grey, strong and interesting mortal who is in a desperate hunt for her sister who was taken during the night. She proceeds to receive an invitation to Uxley University where we meet our MMC Susenyos, a vampire belonging to her family House who wants nothing more than for Kidan to leave and never return so that he can claim ownership of the Adane House.

The dynamic between Kidan and Susenyos has easily been one of the most dark, juicy, and tension filled relationships I have read about in such a long time. Their hate for one another was so unbelievably thick, their desire to kill one another just as palpable and it made any chemistry between them simply to die for.

The plot pacing, world building and characters included were phenomenal. I never felt lost, or bored, or like anything was rushed. The ending of this book has me so impatiently waiting for the next book to come out as I think this series is going to be up there with one of my favourites. Anyone who loves dark academia and fantasy should give this a read, its truly incredible.

Immortal Dark
Tigest Girma

“If you want to play the game of ruins, let’s play. I’ve never lost it.”

This has been likened to The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House in this dangerously romantic dark academia fantasy, where a lost heiress must infiltrate an arcane society and live with the vampire she suspects killed her family and kidnapped her sister. In order to find her sister June, Kidan infiltrates the elite Uxlay University - where students study to ensure peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires.

“I guess I need to make it clearer just how unwelcome you are in this house.”

Thoughts; oh yes I loved it. The world was so unique. I originally thought it was like University sorority houses but with vampires as the houses have a House Vampire. And don’t get me started on mastering the house, loved it all. But my true star was Susenyos Sagad, her house vampire. He was incredibly captivating and had me addicted. His friends were likewise very entertaining and absolutely overshadowed her friends in my opinion of them. Kidan was for the whole rather a unlikeable character, so consumed by vengeance.

“What would that be like? To fill your mouth with toxin and spit it out instead of swallowing?”

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

‘But she was a monster of her own making.’

We have a morally grey lead.

“Your lack of self-preservation, as always, is breathtaking. Let’s see if we can wake it.”

“This house needs a master that’s true to themselves, peaceful. You two are pulling it in different directions, so it’ll never surrender itself to either of you.”

“You made me your nightmare the moment you heard my name. And nightmares aren’t allowed to have likes or dislikes. We’re only allowed to haunt.”

Immortal Dark is released 11th September!
Massive thank you to @hachetteaus and @tigestgirma

“But if you break my rule, I will break you into a thousand souls and punish each reincarnation a thousand ways.”

Hands up if you’re keen for this one? 🙋🏻‍♀️

(Review posted 7th September 2024.)

Kidan needs to find her lost sister - a sister she fears has been kidnapped by the same vampire that she suspects killed her family. But to find June, Kidan needs to survive her infiltration into the elite Uxlay University, where she must live with the same vampire she is suspicious of.

Kidan wants to burn the world down to find and save her sister, and will take risks to do so. She delves into the dark and gritty world of vampires and ancient secrets (just a stop here to say please check the trigger/content warnings in this one). The vampire lore is interesting and doesn't shy away from the bloody nature of it all.

There's a true enemies to lovers to arc (it makes all other 'enemies' to lovers look weak), historical family secret, politics and dark magic. For those who like:

🩸 Dark academia
✨ Enemies to lovers
🗡️ Family secrets
🩸 Morally grey characters
✨ Fueding families
🗡️ Slow burn

Thank you to Netgalley & Hachette Australia for an e-arc of Immortal Dark, all opinions are my own.

I really wanted to love this book but unfortunate can’t say that I did. I think the overwhelming secrets between characters became dull after a while as you couldn’t trust anyone. I wanted to love the story between Kidan and Susenyos and there were definitely parts I enjoyed. The rest of the characters fell flat for me and I didn’t find myself caring of their outcomes.
I was confused for a lot of the book, as to why the house feels their emotions and why it’s trying to kill him in one room.
Overall, the book isn’t bad, just needed clarity for a lot of things and feel like I still don’t understand the magic system of Uxley and the Lore of the overall story.

Autumn is for Dark Academia; and Immortal Dark couldn’t have got me more in the mood.

Filled with haunting secrets, blood, betrayal, violence and everything else that makes a vampire- Uxley’s rainy campus has stood for thousands of years protecting draniacs, and the chosen few who’s bloodline can sustain them.

Lost Heiress Kidan Adane arrives in search of her kidnapped sister, and there’s is nothing she wouldn’t do to get her back; even if that means living with her suspect number one, the darkly beautiful Susenyos Sagad, the single remaining Adane house draniac.

It’s a slow burn to start with, but you know me, the tension between me and what’s going to happen just gets stronger when that happens. I devoured the last half mile of the book in a single day.

This a stunning novel full of beautiful prose and a unique take on the vampire myth. I'm so excited to read about vampires with African roots and histories. It's so refreshing and the story is so much richer for it.

Immortal Dark is blood-soaked gothic perfection.

And with all the pieces of the chessboard in motion, all the secrets breathed into after/life- I can’t wait to see what happens in book two.

3.5
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

I am here for the vampire renaissance!

Immortal Dark is the story of Kidan, a troubled young woman who is facing murder charges when the Dean of Uxlay, a mysterious university, asks her to lay claim to her family's home on the grounds. If Kidan doesn't go, the resident vampire, Susenyos, will inherit the house. Kidan accepts the offer. She doesn't care about the house, but getting into Uxlay will get her one step closer to finding and punishing the vampire who took her sister.

A blend of dark academia and vampire fantasy, Immortal Dark is a deliciously dark YA fantasy. Girma doesn't shy away from heavy themes as Kidan deals with PTSD, overwhelming grief and self-loathing, and a stunning capacity for violence. Kidan is not an especially likable character in the beginning, but she's interesting, and the world around her is equally intriguing, which will keep you reading until your heart starts to ache for this girl who has been failed by everyone who was meant to protect her.

The pacing was slightly off for me, particularly in the second half of Act 2 and into Act 3. Act 2 began to drag, while Act 3 felt a little rushed. It's difficult to write an investigation and keep it intriguing, and Grima's world provides a few opportunities to break up the arc. However, it did feel a little long as I got towards the end. At the beginning of the story, Kidan is on bail awaiting her murder trial. This seems like a big deal to me and is treated as such by the narrative until it's swept away and mostly forgotten. Perhaps I missed something, but at a certain point, she just stopped thinking about it altogether.

The relationship between Kidan and Susenyos is interesting. They feel like two moths dancing around a flame, just waiting for the other to dive in. At first, they are bitter enemies. Kidan hates Susenyos for what he is and his suspected involvement in her sister's disappearance. For Susenyos, Kidan could take everything he worked for away from him. They slowly, carefully build a strange relationship, which seems based on appreciating the worst in each other. For the most part, I think this was well done, however there are some shifts in the dynamic which felt sudden and a bit unbelievable to me. That said, the characters are well drawn, so it was easy to breeze past this.

Overall, this is an accomplished debut. Grima is pushing the boundaries of YA fantasy and vampire stories, and I look forward to the next installment in this series.

𝓘𝓶𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓪𝓵 𝓓𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓫𝔂 𝓣𝓲𝓰𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓖𝓲𝓻𝓶𝓪

1⭐️

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ DNF at 25%

: ̗̀➛ Enemies to lovers
: ̗̀➛ Dark academia setting
: ̗̀➛ Ethipopian vampire lore
: ̗̀➛ Sentient houses
: ̗̀➛ Morally grey characters

╰┈➤ 𝒮𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓅𝓈𝒾𝓈

Kidian attends a secret historic academy for vampires, where she has to live with her mortal enemy Suseynos, whom she suspects of abducting her sister, to claim her families inheritance.

⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺

Sentient houses x Ethiopian vampire lore x dark academia vibes...I wanted to love this so much and I tried so hard to stick it through but I found myself literally dreading picking this up.

While the ideas in this book are unique, the magic system was muddled and poorly explained, and the world building was utterly confusing. I read the first 15% of this book and then re-read that 15% again to make it make sense.

The amount of info-dumping at the beginning might not have been a problem if the writing wasn't trying so hard to be poetic, but what I read was totally lacking clarity. I felt as though this book was too ambitious and the author tried to include way too many elements to excecute thoughtfully and clearly in a book this size. It needed to be fleshed out more, the timeline needed to be linear.

The characters spoke in riddles, and what was said lacked substance. I found the FMC irrational and annoying and the MMC boring. Unfortunately nothing about this worked for me and I just couldn't bring myself to continue reading into a slump.

⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺

Kindly thanking NetGalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand for the advanced e-ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. ₊˚⊹♡ ౨ৎ*˖