Kidan will do anything to find her sister, including agreeing to attend Uxlay University, the place where students learn their family histories and their connection to vampires. The one she’s been told is responsible for her sister’s disappearance also happens to be connected to her family. Susenyos is the most dangerous and disliked of all the vampires at Uxlay. In order to find her sister, Koran must live with him and attempt to build companionship with him in order to extend her family’s legacy.

This book is categorized as a young adult/fantasy/romance. I think the content is pretty strong for some young adults. However, I also see it as less of a romance. There were few scenes that I would consider to have been romantic between the characters, and much more violence and fighting among both the humans and vampires. Overall, I liked the book and found the story to be a unique combination of vampire tale and dark academia. I look forward to reading the next book when it comes out!

THIS IS GOING TO BE THE FANTASY BOOK OF THE YEAR, MARK MY WORDS!!! Vampires, enemies to lovers (where they are REALLY enemies)—this book was everything to me. I absolutely devoured it; I love how the characters' relationship grew throughout the book. Kidan's character is oh so complex, and I adored her. I'm here for morally grey main characters. Susenyos? The man that you are! He's a vampire, and Kidan thinks he has to do with the disappearance of her sister, so of course she HATES HIM, and he hates her. But they have to live together (iykyk). This book was so complex, fun, and beautiful. I can't wait for everyone to read it, and the audiobook was excellent.

Tropes:
- Dark academia
- Enemies to lovers
- Morally gray characters
- SLOWWWW burn

thank you so so much netgalley and hachette audio for sending this my way!

Kaiden will do anything to find her kidnapped sister, June. Although she was purposefully kept out of the secret society she was born into, where human bloodlines gain power from vampire companions, she must now infiltrate that society to try to find her sister. Kaiden will live with the vampire bound to her family, who she suspects in June's disappearance, and infiltrate Uxlay University to bring it down. This wonderfully dark and atmospheric novel is full of morally gray characters. A major trigger warning for the book is suicidal ideation.

This was a mixed bag in many respects, so let me break it down.

What I liked:
- A new take on tired vampire lore. ”Holy” water and silver? Whatev!
- Houses that are alive(ish)
- Black and African leads and culture
- The narration

What I didn’t like (and maybe left me with a festering thread id annoyance in my beating heart):
- Nearly everything else

There’s a way of writing modern YA that I just … despise. Everything is perfunctory and overwrought. Everything is described ad nauseum. This really dragged for me, and not in the desired dragula way. And we’ve got to have a romance with a mean dude, a million and one characters (mostly related in a familial sense), hidden info that would take two seconds to share and prevent the conflict carrying the plot forward from happening, and … a school. And! An old ass vampire lusting after a young’un. One of the only saving graces among all these missteps was that the dude’s name sounds like “Susan,” at least in the audiobook, which got me imagining a butch in the role. Ha!

This one made me yearn for the YA of old …

Immortal dark was delicious and delectable. Full of suspense and mystery as Kidan Adane finds her way back into the life of the arcane that her aunt so desperately tried to save her from. when her little sister goes missing Kidan has no choice but to embrace the evil within her and tread into the dark hidden recesses of the mysterious Uxley.
Uxley is hidden from the rest of the world, bound by the laws that bind 12 powerful families to their vampires, Uxley cannot be found by anyone who is not a member of these 12 houses.
Upon the death of her aunt, Kidan receives an invitation to take her rightful place as Heiress to the Adane house where she can finally investigate the disappearance of her sister and the vampire that she believes took her; Susenyos Sagad.
Will Kidan be able to unravel the knots of this long kept secret society of families and vampires?
All Kidan wants to do is save her sister and then she can die with a clear conscience, however the Adane house’s magic is beginning to blur the lines of her will and morality. She is not expecting to make friends and she is definitely not expecting to form any type of relationship with Susenyos apart from killing him. I absolutely adored the ever changing relationship between Kidan and Susenyos. The ebb and flow of hatred and passion become as blurred as my vision before I put in my contacts, which is to say absolutely nothing is clear. The twists are jagged and the turns are as sharp as a razor blade.
Will she survive this undertaking or will she sacrifice herself to stop the evil that haunts Uxley and the attempts to unbind the laws that prevent Vampires from hunting and bleeding any human that they please?

A person going into the unknown to save a sibling from the clutches of the dark, but immediately getting tangled in danger, mystery, riddles and darkness. This plotline - not unknown in fantasy books - enriched with really unique vampire lore, is right up my alley.

However, throughout the narration, I could not get a grip on either the characters or the plot. While the worldbuilding is so imaginative and complex, I had trouble following along, getting confused by the rules. Maybe it's because the writing style was just not as immersive as I had needed it, maybe this book is just not meant to be consumed as an audiobook.

The way humans and vampires are entangled is something I've never read before, and I was very into it and eager to learn more. However, I think at some point I had just given up, and when the plot finally picked up pace, I was too far gone to enjoy it.

Despite the a audiobook adding to my confusion, as I could not go back to certain passages for a better grasp on what's going on, the production and narration is very good. It transports the dark and danger really well. Only the 'male voice' the narrator is doing I found a bit off.

All in all 3/5 stars for the uniqueness of this story.

Thank you @netgalley and @hachetteaudio for the eARC!

#ImmortalDark #Netgalley #Bookstagram

THIS is what I want when I'm looking for enemies to lovers in fantasy. Wow, wow, wow. The anger and hatred and tension between these two was INSANE and the slow burn is perfectly paced.

This is a dark and twisty story with an entire cast of morally gray characters. And while I may not have always followed the worldbuilding, I was able to look past that because the characters were SO compelling that I just needed to know what they were going to do next. I'm appalled that I'll have to wait WHO KNOWS HOW LONG for the next book in the series.

I really enjoyed the audiobook but I wish I had the e-book/physical for annotating purposes because there were SO many quotable moments between Kidan and Susenyos.

Please take this with a grain of salt that I think this was a book best read physically/digitally than in audiobook format for me. I had a hard time focusing and following the many characters. Sometimes a book just needs the ability to look back at other parts and see the words on the page. The audiobook narrator and production were really good though!

This is a YA Dark academia Romantasy with all your favorite things vampires, villainous/morally grey characters, and enemies to lover (although I would argue it was light on the romance). Kidan is the orphaned heiress to a human bloodline that is part of a society tied to vampires. Her sister, June, has gone missing and Kidan believes the particular vampire bound to their family, Susenoys, took her. To find her sister, Kidan must attend Uxlay University and survive living with Susenoys.

Again, I think my own issue focusing on the audiobook hurt my understanding and appreciation of the plot so I may try a re-read someday.

When I say I want enemies to lovers, THIS is what I mean. Two absolutely unhinged main characters living in a violent & bloody world, surrounded by morally grey side characters. The worldbuilding doesn’t make a huge amount of sense to me—there’s a lot of, “this is how things are” hand waving. A few plot elements start to get a bit out there as the book goes on. But, I don’t really mind it so much.

This feels very character-focused; the shape of Kidan and Susenyos start out as blurry & two dimensional but as the book goes on, both slowly come into focus and fill out around the edges. The plot twists are definitely dramatic and I was surprised by a few of them, which I appreciated. I also laughed out loud at a few moments; even though this is NOT a comedy, there are a handful of decent one liners.

This is YA but in the sense that the main character is a teenager and sometimes doesn’t have the best judgment (like a teenager), not in the sense that the writing is simplistic. There is light spice, not overly explicit but more vibey. ends on a bit of a cliffhanger—most of the initial mysteries have been resolved but there are so many more that have been uncovered for book two.

I really enjoyed the performance of this narrator. Lots of emotion evident during the tense moments, and a distinct cadence for Kidan that really fit the character.

Thanks to NetGalley, Little, Brown Publishing and Tigest Girma for an ARC of Immortal Dark. Immortal Dark marks the start of a new young adult fantasy series (hint: this one ends on a cliffhanger) that is great for fans of Ninth House, If We Were Villains, and Catherine House.

The first half of the book had me eagerly following along, curious to see where the next path would go and pleasantly surprised by the way this dark academia tale gripped me. It started with an abduction mystery, a unique take on vampires and the “laws” that bind them, as well as an effort to pull in pieces of African folk lore and culture.

However, the second half was where I started to lose steam. The pacing kept me on the edge of my seat, but I felt more and more confused as the story continued. I think additional background and depth for characters thoughts, actions and back stories would’ve really taken this to the next level. I’m not sure if we’re supposed to be unraveling alongside Kidan as she learns more and is more greatly affected by the house, or if it was an unintentional side of effect of a plot that was starting to lose a sense of direction. Girma pulls it mostly back together at the end, with a cliffhanger that is fully expected by the time it arrives, but the ending also had a lackluster quality. This book had the potential to really leave the reader desperately searching for more pages to turn but it just didn’t get there.

Oh my! I was so excited to read this book! Believe me, you’re going to want to sink your teeth into Tigest Girma’s first book in this dark academia trilogy. Immortal Dark offers a tantalizing dip into a world where humans and vampires walk a thin line of codependency with everyone having their own agenda. Kidan Adane, orphan heiress to one of Uxlay University’s founding families will stop at nothing to find her missing sister, June. Morally gray Susenyos Sagad, is a brooding vampire sworn to House Adane, with his own driving desires. Both have a reason to see the other fail.

This series is set up to be an instant reader fav! I was immediately drawn in to the story and the author did a great job of keeping me engaged as more and more secrets were divulged. Expect lots of #BookTok excited posts about this trilogy.

(This book is fantastic as an audiobook! The narrator was a perfect choice and made a great read even better.)
*I received an ARC of this audiobook from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

Immoral Dark is probably the most hyped book i've gotten a chance to early access in awhile! This is a young adult vampire book that in many ways, lives up to the massive enthusiasm placed on it. Tigest Girma is a really talented debut!

Kidan Adane's sister has gone missing, and she knows who took her. Susenyos -The vampire associated her now dead family's great house, sworn to protect them. Kidan has lived her entire life away from a world of vampires and magic, but is willing to brave anything to get her sister back. Even enter the mysterious Uxlay University and rise through the ranks of the vampire world. Even if she has to live with the monster who stole her only family.

The Immortal Dark is very much 1/2 romance and 1/2 dark academia. It's clear the author is a dark academia fan and manages to really bring what fans like from the genre: mysterious universities, secret societies, fucked up rich kids, and tons of studying of course. The setting of Uxlay is extremely well represented and plays a significant role in the story. It mixes African mythologies with various new and old fashioned vampire lore and blends it with traditional academic settings.
At times, the rules and function of the university can feel a little flimsy and silly- but I find that this is the case with a lot of magical dark academia and magic competition stuff, so its pretty easy to ignore.

The story takes up a Secret History style vibe with a complicated outsider joining a group of angry and complicated kids, reading a ton of books, and doing fucked up shit with them.

The plot was the low point for me, but I think others will walk out absolutely loving it. I was extremely engaged with the Vampire academy storyline in the beginning, and Susenyos VS Kidan absolutely SHINES. If you are a Cruel Prince fan, you will immediately be brought back to June VS Carden, only its much more violent and brutal.

Theres two primary antagonist arcs in this book. Immortal Dark is comped to The Cruel Prince and Ninth House, and without spoiling anything, the first leg of the book is much more like TCP, while arc two is much more like Ninth House. After this shift I started getting bored and my enjoyment waned, but I am also a little less into secret society stuff, and that is really important to the story's second act. It felt a little convoluted like it was trying to push too many things into one book.

This book promised morally grey characters and I can't say we were misinformed at all. Kidan is introduced immediately as a murderer, and shes pretty damn cold about it. Her love interest Susenyos is equally cold and cruel when he feels threatened. her new university friends are all willing to do pretty terrible things to succeed in their goals as well. There are truly no real "heroes" in this book dedicated to preserving good morals- kindness is a luxury. Each "main" character is given a specific set of motivations for the horrible things they do, and while this is a single POV book, I did feel well informed about the motivations of all of the characters as they all made each other's lives hell.

While I loved the moral complexity of the characters, I did struggle to connect with anyone besides Kidan and Susenyos, but I do feel like that is something that may evolve as the series does.

The romance was described as a no nonsense enemies to lovers and I think it does shine in that department. Overall the tone of this relationship is on fire. Kidan and Susenyos truly hate each other at the start of the book, and while they are not allowed to kill each other, they make multiple efforts to give each other fates worse than death. Something I respect about Tigest Girma is that she doesn't waste any time with awkward banter: when these two are coming for each other, its for the jugular.

Very minimal moments, especially in the beginning where they have secret little butterflies or accidentally can't help but wanting to PROTECT each other...on no. If anything, its the opposite. Both characters need to bite down the urge to kill and betray each other when forced to work together for various reasons.

Tigest Girma also does a great job transitioning the relationship through the book. I will say, some of their tension is resolved in some extremely silly ways that annoyed me, but the tone of their connection remains consistent through the book- just two assholes looking at each other and saying "I see you". The mind games. The cruelty. The recognition that there is something dark within them both. Its delightful. Even as tensions lower, this tone is maintained, which I did like.

I recall hearing this book was pitched as new adult but was picked up as YA which affects how graphic it is. Sex and violence have clearly fade to black moments, but the overall tone of the book is much better suited to a young adult VS a teenager. Anyone who loved These Violent Delights (the DA one), The Secret History, Ninth House, and The Cruel Prince will probably really like this. If you are bored of enemies ti lovers being a bunch of silly oppsies and both characters actually being super nice people, The Immortal Dark is a much welcome change of pace! Despite my issues with the books second half and occasional use of corny Romantasy e2l tropes, I am extremely jazzed for book 2.

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VE EVER READ, literally since 15% I knew this is going to be new fav

Tigest Girma understood the assignment, the enemies were ENEMYING, the tension was so palpable and the plot was genius

main girl is UNHINGED MASTERMIND, I love her, she's so Jude Duarte coded

"- You're dangerously becoming irresistible."
"- You're not contributing to our discussion."
"- I'm distracted by how your dark mind works"

ahhhhhh screaming

and Susenyos oh.my.god. he was so well written, if I were supposed to live with him under one roof I'd immidiately fold like a lawn chair

the plot was enthralling and captivating, left me staring at the wall open-mouthed so many times, I needed to pause the audiobook and process what happened. we have vampires, dark academia, mystery, secret societies, murders, complex characters and so much more

"- Don't judge me." Her tights contracted when he grazed along the muscles with his fangs.
"- I'll always judge you. The day I don't, I want you to kill me."
He smiled against her skin.
"- The day you don't, I want you in my bed."

THE PTERODACTYL SCREECH I JUST LET OUT

bye, this is going to be my personality now, won't hear any criticism about this book

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

I really enjoyed this book however I did feel that it was a bit slow paced at times. I personally feel that the book could benefit from a bit more character development and maybe a bit more depth during the time leading up to the bigger moments within the story. When it comes to dark academia, I found this to be relatively mild when it came to the darkness. There are a lot of vampire books out there, and some of them are downright gruesome. This is not like that at all. I’d also like to hear more about the academic side of things. The book focused more on the importance of Kidan passing the courses more than what those courses actually were.

I did listen to this on audio, and thought the narrator did a great job. Diction, pacing, and delivery were all great.

Overall, I’d give this a 4 star rating. I look forward to reading the next book especially since this one had a cliffhanger. Maybe more magic in the next one?

🧚🏻A huge thank you goes out to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and author Tigest Girma for providing me with a free audio version of this book in exchange for my honest review.

as someone who is an avid lover of ninth house, the pitch of this book made me equally excited and apprehensive. i have had less than pleasant experiences with books that were deemed similar to ninth house, but failed in that aspect. but wow, this book delivers while also having its own charm. the vampire aspect, the history, the characters, they're all so perfectly done. I love how no one is a morally good person. everyone has a dark history and scars and is incredibly flawed, but they were trying their best (except for a few examples, of course, they deserve the worst kind of death). the story itself was a bit slow at first, but the atmosphere and the build-up were fantastic and i didn't mind going through some of the slower parts. the romance was definitely the aspect that was inspired by the cruel prince, and strangely, i thoroughly enjoyed that. at first, kidan and susenyos' dynamic made me grit my teeth, but seeing their back and forth full of unresolved tension made me giggle, especially when they begrudgingly formed a truce. but the highlight, to me, is our main character, kidan. she reminds me so much of alex stern that i can't help but root for her, and i feel every single emotion that she felt so viscerally. all in all, this book is a solid, fantastic start to a new series and i can't wait to read the sequel

the narration for this book is amazing. i absolutely love how the narrator brings the story to life and i love that i can feel the distinct voices of each major characters in this book. they truly made me immerse myself in the story so much that sometimes i forgot i was reading, and it made me feel so much more for what's happening to the characters. i highly, highly recommend listening to the audiobook once this book is out

This cover? 100 stars. So creepy and creative and drew me right in.
Such an interesting and new take within this genre, and one of the few times that I actually liked how unlikable the characters were. Excited to read more from this series.

I appreciate what Girma has created with this story. But for me, I cannot abide an MC that approaches their goal without a proper plan that has been backed by reconnaissance and research. Kidan is making all her moves through rage and that is a recipe for failure. It takes her too long to wise up and start to see the benefits of moving towards her end goal with the proper tools and knowledge.

I do want to see where this story goes, but I need Kidan to mature.

"You want to kill me for my darkness, you just haven't accepted yours"

I am blown away by this cast of morally gray characters. A Ninth House meets Silver Under Nightfall mash up with gothic, dark academia, and cruel vampires. The tension is top notch and the story is filled with plot twists you don't see coming. I am already eager to see Kidan's story continue as this book is just the beginning.

As an audiobook lover, I was very impressed by Jordan Cobb. The performance was top tier and really brought these characters to life. I felt the pacing was perfect and the range was impressive, each character, feeling distant and unique.

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

This is such an absolutely unique vampire story - and by far the darkest academia book I have ever read.

I think it will be an easy five stars for a lot of readers, however, for my personal rating, it was a bit graphic. However, the world-building and complex magic system had me hooked and I objectively cannot deny the talent and story crafting of Tigest Girma.

Orphaned heiress Kidan 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. To save her sister, she must infiltrate the elite Uxlay University (where students study and live amongst vampires to ensure peaceful coexistence). She soon learns her only hope of finding June is living in her families old sentient house - with the vampire she suspects killed her family and took her sister…

Featuring:
🩸 Enemies to Lovers
🧛🏻 Vampires
📓 Dark Academia
🖤 Morally Grey Characters
✨ Ethiopian Mythology
📚 Book One in a Trilogy

I will say, these characters take morally grey to the extreme. They. Are. Absolutely. Unhinged. Prepare to have your morals and ethics tested. 👀

From a marketing perspective; I would ignore the YA categorization of this book. I’m not sure how that decision was reached - but this is not at all YA in my opinion. So don’t let that scare you off (or maybe do depending on your tolerance for blood and violence). Immortal Dark is extremely graphic, gritty, gorey, dramatic, poignant and a bit spicy 🔥.

Thank you to Hachette Audio, NetGalley, and Tigest Girma for an advanced audio copy (with the absolutely beautiful narration by Jordan Cobb) in exchange for my honest review. Immortal Dark comes out on September 3rd - just in time for spooky season! 🔪

As always - check TW before reading (quite a few with this one). Be kind to yourself. ♥️

I haven't listened to a GOOD vampire book in quite awhile. The writing was phenomenal. I felt so many things while listening and part of that was due to the writing and part due to the amazing narration. Kidan's character was *muah* chef's kiss. Susenyos - amazing. The chemistry between the two's interactions was off the charts. Definitely can't wait for book 2.