The blurb says Cruel Prince meets Ninth House and while I get why these two were chosen, I also don't think they're the best comps. I think people are going to crack this bad boy open and expect something else than what we're given.

I enjoyed this listen for the most part. It's a bit long, but it didn't feel long to me while reading. And by that I mean I was never dreading picking it up and trying to make progress. It flowed.

However, as we approached the end of the book, I started to realize this was not a standalone and we were going to get left on a cliffhanger. Okay, fair, except nothing gets wrapped up in book 1. It feels like we end in the middle of the book. Like instead of this being the end of the book, it's just the end of a chapter and that's not great from a reader perspective. This felt too long to NOT be a standalone and it didn't give me enough plot to really want to pick up book 2.

I also feel like there's a lot of really cool history that's being leveraged for this story but we don't really learn much about it and I wish we did. Susenyos of Ethiopa was an entirely new character to me and I would have loved to learn more about him...since I think the current Susenyos is actually the same one from the 1500s? If you're going to tell me a young girl and a hundreds of years old immortal are falling in love, I need to know WHY and what that substance between them is. Right now it's just rage and desire that pulls them together and I'm not getting any deeper feelings as to why they keep coming back to each other to team up.

Thanks to Hachette Audio | Little, Brown Young Readers for the gifted copy of this book.

Dark academia is absolutely my favorite genre, and mixed with Ethiopian vampires, I was so excited to read this one! While the premise was great, it was really, really slow... and almost made me not want to continue picking it up.

Jordan Cobb was a fantastic narrtor for this one and I think she did a great job with the general vibe of the book.

This book is genuinely the next best thing I have read in a while. It has everything I love: an angry, traumatized FMC, vampires, murder, and the writing and narration made it so incredibly great to listen to that I could not put it down, and read it in two days. It was just that good, and now I need to go and find myself a hardback copy because hot damn!!!

⭐️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...

What an absolutely heart-wrenching, mind-bending read. If you like to read about angst, vampires, and/or enjoy great writing, this book is for you. I was a little worried going into this that it would be a generic romantasy, but it absolutely blew me away.

Girma has an engaging and unique writing style that prioritises plot while still giving us insight into the personality and motivations of her characters, which is a difficult line to toe, but she does it remarkably well.

I found the plot of this book original and genuinely interesting, and I loved the way Girma incorporated African culture into her story. I do wish that we had some more general background though, as I found myself a little disconnected from the main character at times, struggling to understand her point of view a little. However, I do acknowledge that this is the first in a trilogy, so we may well gather some more information over the next two books.

I also really enjoyed the way she wrote complex and largely undefined relationships. I think that attempting this can often end up with a murky and unreliable end result, but I think that the relationship between the two main characters in this book worked really well and was built up nicely.

Considering that this is a debut novel, I’m incredibly impressed and can definitely see the potential for a really strong trilogy. While I think a tiny bit more development would have really made this book, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to all fantasy readers. Make sure to check TWs before reading. 4/5

Tigest Girma, you have written the Black vampire novel of my inner Black teenage girl dreams!

I'm a lifelong lover of vampire media—they've always been my favorite monster, and I truly think it's because of how much they can relate to humans and humanity, no matter how long they've been undead. Girma's unique take on vampires, them being tethered to specific families, and there always, in theory, being a specific number of vampires at a time was so fascinating. The threat of them banding together and breaking the rules felt very real, so I do wish we had seen more activity between the vampires who belong to other houses or vampires who exist outside of Uxlay before the little bit we got toward the end, but it seems like the next book will have so much of what I felt was missing here.

Kidan is unlike any FMC in any fantasy I've read so far. She is not meek or unsure of herself, she is filled with rage, has blood on her hands, agendas of her own, and loyalties she holds firm to that make her seem so completely unique and interesting. This is YA, and I did feel like she read as quite immature and impulsive, but I also feel like she became less so as the story progressed. I loved Susenyos and found him to be confusing and mysterious yet somewhat gentle and kind and surprisingly understanding. Their friends-to-mysteriously-unnamed-thing was natural and I adored the pacing of their relationship as well as the constant shift in power. I do wish that some things surrounding the…contact they made were less ambiguous, but due to the genre restrictions, I didn't count that as a flaw, just a preference. The magical, sentient house and the way it lived off of the energy they gave out or kept trapped inside was hilarious, scary, charming, and sometimes sad.

I think most, if not all fantasy novels, especially those with a lot of houses/families and politics and locations and cultures, would benefit greatly from a glossary of terms and pronunciation guide. Immortal Dark needed these aids quite badly, and it is easy to become overwhelmed and disassociate in the beginning—but I am really glad I pushed through that. I ended up switching to a physical copy once I got a grasp on the pronunciation of terms in the audiobook simply because this book is expansive and I was even getting lost in the audiobook without being able to read the words with my eyes. However, I loved the audiobook narrator and felt the translated Kidan's sarcasm and humor extremely well.

The set up for book 2 made me SCREAM in the best way! All I can say is Kidan is better than me because I would have started fighting on sight LOL. This is a very compelling and fun debut novel, and I am so overjoyed that young adults and young adult genre lovers get to experience such a gem.

5 ⭐️s
.5 🌶️

Thank you to Hachette Audio, Little, Brown Young Readers, and NetGalley for providing an ALC!

What a strong debut! I will definitely tune into the rest of this trilogy.

What I loved:
The dark academia setting was an alluring and enchanting escape - lots of mystery, lore, and intrigue in the world building to keep at the edge of your seat. African noble houses hold the power here, and with each house comes its own set of traditions and rules. I really enjoyed the rituals of Uxlay and how they intertwined with Kiden's own mystery/revenge plot. I also really enjoyed the genuine hatred between her and Susenyos - those two have a degradation kink!

What I liked:
The entire band of characters are burdened by their actions and consumed by them. It's quite a bit to take on, and I think it was done really well. Kiden strikes me as a woman who is searching for sister because she MUST. It doesn't go farther then her compulsion to be valuable in this world. Her sister June is a pretty flat character - at times I was hoping there would be a flashback depicting their relationship a little more. But I believe this might have been intentional now, with Kiden's state of mind and June's lack of narrative presence, it feels that Kiden was consumed more than she was motivated.

What was alright:
The pacing of the audiobook really got to me (although I feel the narrator did a fantastic job). I felt that it really picked up speed, and after that had a bit of a stop and go type of pacing. Some scenes felt like they could be placed anywhere. For the next book, I'm going to read a physical copy instead.

Overall, I recommend this first in series!

This book had the makings to be great - dark academia vibes, vampires, and all the morally grey characters. This story centers around a “how far would you go” question and the answer here is…far. I found the story to be unique and interesting. Vampires have paired up with human family houses, a school that only has one student pass each term, a sentient house, conspiracies, secrets, and political plots all weave together this storyline. I thought we would get a delicious enemies to lovers with steamy spice, but we don’t. Maybe in the next book but this would have been icing on the cake.

This is a really good dark academia mystery with VAMPIRES! The mystery kept me hooked, the characters kept me feeling alll the emotions, and I never knew what was going to happen. Definitely recommend this for people who are fans of fantasy but like some mystery in there.

The narrator, Jordan Cobb, was excellent. She gave each character distinct vocalization so they were easy to tell apart and her performance of them matched their personalities nicely. The story is engaging and the vampire lore was unique and interesting. I did enjoy Susenyos more as a character than Kidan.

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma was a new take on the dark academia (with vampires!) novels that readers have been privy to recently. Although I did enjoy the premise, I felt that the pacing of the plot was too tedious. I felt as if I had been listening to the audiobook for soooooo long and never actually GOT anywhere. I will say a highlight of this audiobook was the narrator.

this was so good! loved the portrayal of vampires and vampirism as a lifestyle in this book it was so refreshing and gothic

This book has its merits, and I think it could be something great, but it missed the mark for me. There was too much packed into a too-short story, and there were so many major events or story points that were mentioned and then never explained. The narrator was great but the world-building and plot absolutely needed a bit more building.

Thank you so much for the opportunity. This was so much fun. I always love reading about dark academia and vampires.

Immortal Dark was a book that I recently saw all over IG so I was delighted to have the opportunity to read the book before it was released. This dark, weirdly romantic broody academia based book did not disappoint. I found myself finding space in my day to pick this book back up to figure out how Kidan was going to sort everything out epecially with Susenyos.

This book was worth all of the hype and more.

____

It began long before my time, but something has always hunted our family.

Orphaned heiress Kidan Adane grew up far from the arcane society she was born into, where human bloodlines gain power through vampire companionship. When her sister, June, disappears, Kidan is convinced a vampire stole her—the very vampire bound to their family, the cruel yet captivating Susenyos Sagad.

To find June, Kidan must infiltrate the elite Uxlay University—where students study to ensure peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires and inherit their family legacies. Kidan must survive living with Susenyos—even as he does everything he can to drive her away. It doesn’t matter that Susenyos’s wickedness speaks to Kidan’s own violent nature and tempts her to surrender to a life of darkness. She must find her sister and kill Susenyos at all costs.

When a murder mirroring June’s disappearance shakes Uxlay, Kidan sinks further into the ruthless underworld of vampires, risking her very soul. There she discovers a centuries-old threat—and June could be at the center of it. To save her sister, Kidan must bring Uxlay to its knees and either break free from the horrors of her own actions or embrace the dark entanglements of love—and the blood it requires.

DNF at 50%

Underwhelming. I'm surprised that this was pitched with a Ninth House tag, because this book was nothing even remotely similar to it. The first couple of chapters definitely draw you in, but as I got to know the characters and the world, I was confused and really questioning what this book was supposed to actually be about. A lot of the "conflict" - dry and forced as it was - was entirely due to the FMC being narrow minded and seemingly incapable of any type of perception abilities. The characters were one dimensional, the world building was weak (possibly nonexistent) and the conversations didn't seem to add any value to progression, plot, or anything really. I would say the bones "seemed" to be there, but the book really needed some serious editing to propel it into some type of direction because it was very scattered. Overall, the execution just wasn't accomplishing what it needed to for me to enjoy it for what it was.

Thank you Hachette Audio for providing the ARC via NetGalley.

I stumbled on this title a week or two before its release and was fortunate enough to gain an ARC of the audiobook. To say this book was wonderful is an understatement.

At times it reminded me of Underworld and House of Night. One scene in particular gave me Van Helsing vibes. And yet it was entirely unique and brand new. Immortal Dark is nostalgic and familiar while being its own story. I absolutely adored it!

Since I had the audiobook I am terrified of misspelling things. I ordered a physical copy about half way through listening so I’ll perhaps up date my review with proper names once it comes in.

The FMC was cold, determined, and opinionated without being annoying. Driven to find her sister in the heart of Uxlay comes with a price…. Living with the vampire who she believes to be her sister’s kidnapper or worse, murderer. The MMC, Yos, was everything I needed in a vampire antagonist and potential love interest. That being said I would not label this as a romance. There is so much depth, character development and plot development I did not expect in a debut author. Tigest is a phenomenal writer and is now an autobuy author. I am excited to learn more about the world she has created and for all of her future works. She came out the gate hard and has set raised the bar for not only gothic books but those with vampires specifically.

I loved Kidan for how driven and sharp she was. Yos was my favorite though.

The take on the house and house laws was incredibly fascinating.

I could ramble on and on about this book. Readers if you’re curious, yes you should read it. Go ahead and buy a physical copy- don’t wait!

I have to say, I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. I was expecting more dark academia, which I tend to not enjoy. However, this was more about revenge and finding allies. I had a difficult time settling into the writing style but once I did, I devoured every word. I really enjoyed the vampire aspect of this story and the companion storyline. Everything came together so well in the end. I am almost sad that I got an ARC from NetGalley, ad it means a longer wait for the next one because I need it now. 😆

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.

The audiobook narrator was top notch and deserves so much praise. There's so many characters in this book the narrator made it really easy to distinguish between them all. Not sure if I could have done that with a non audio copy.

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

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for a copy to review!

My feelings are mixed for this book: on the one hand I enjoyed the characters and worldbuilding, but the prose was a bit too purple for me and the narrative was all over the place. I wish that the author would have given more time for us to connect with the characters instead of having so many plot points. But the narrator was really good and made it easier to follow!