I cannot express why I love this so much. It was incredible! It was not at all like my vampire smut. It was sensual and creepy and full of intrigue and terror. I loved every character. I loved the setting. I loved the culture and the fictional history too. The author built an entire world and I was completely immersed in it.
Will there be more? I feel like I need more.
The narration was perfect.

Many thanks to Hachette Audio, Little, Brown Young Readers, and author Tigest Girma, for providing me the ALC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Publication Date: Sept. 3, 2024

2.75 STARS

Tigest Girma kicked off the book with an intriguing plot hook. Kidan Adane must go to the mysterious, dangerous Uxlay University in order to find out what happened to her missing sister June. Once there, she must navigate the complexities of human-vampire culture and traditions and the seductive lure of her enemy and housemate Susenyos Sagad.

I loved the gothic vibes and dark academia setting. I also enjoyed the unique feeling take on vampires.

Unfortunately, I felt the book was too long. When you boil down the plot and important character development, much of the book was filler. Perhaps the author was too in love with the world-building details and playing with the political dynamics to properly balance the scenes? We spend every scene following around Kidan, the protagonist, but I came out of the book seeing her as a two-dimensional angry, selfish girl. My intense dislike of her and inability to empathize partially contributed to me inability to buy into the "romance." So much of the enemies to lovers romance was truly enemies--including Kidan's incredibly narrow-minded prejudice and spewed vitriol. The result was that to me the main couple coming together just seemed like a huge dose of lust.

Aside from my complaints, the author had so many brilliant and compelling ideas. The vampires and the school as a foreboding setting do truly feel dangerous. The mystery plot keeps you guessing. I would recommend you physically read the book (if possible).

AUDIOBOOK: The sound production and quality was solid. Jordan Cobb as the narrator did an adequate job. I didn't love all the voices picked to distinguish characters.

Kidan Adane and her sister June are orphans who were raised by a foster parent, far away from the arcane society they were born into. In that society humans gain power through companionship with vampires. When June disappears, Kidan suspects those vampires are to blame, and feels she has no choice other than to claim her family heritage, which is bound to the cruel vampire Susenyos Sagad. To do this, Kidan must herself into the culture at Uxlay University where students study vampire lore and earn their inherited houses.

Overall this book is a great tale of vampire lore with cultural twists. Although the story dragged at some parts for me, in general I would call this a medium paced book and think that will appeal to many readers. Susenyos is the perfect MMC for an enemies to lovers story - he is broody, a little full of himself at times, mysterious, and intimidating. It took me a little longer than usual to connect with Kidan as the FMC but I did eventually come to understand her and her sometimes erratic choices. This book has a very unique dark academia vibe that I very much appreciated. I enjoyed the audio narrator for this book and think it was well executed without a full cast.

What you’re getting:
🩸true moral grayness in both main characters
🩸unique dark academia
🩸arcane society
🩸BIPOC vampires
🩸fresh vampire lore
🩸artifacts
🩸betrayal

I listen to this audiobook through NetGalley. I think I would have enjoyed it a little better. Had I physically read the book as it was hard for me to concentrate. The audiobook was good, but I would like to see it in dual narration as well. YA dark academia with vampires. Perfect for spooky season perfect for the month of September. Some notable quotes were: “Hate me for an eternity” and “Susenyos dismembered every hand that dared to touch her.”

I have been excited for Immortal Dark I first heard about it. I was even more excited when I got approved for an ARC of it on Net Galley! That being said, I did enjoy this book quite a bit, but holy moly did I have zero idea what was going on through my read. I loved the dynamic between Susenyo and Kidan, both morally gray and totally unable to be truthful with each other even if their lives depended on it (and it does). The atmosphere is also fantastic, with the similar dark academia vibes as Ninth House. The world building, however, is where this book fell short for me. When I tell you I have absolutely no idea how anything in this world works, I mean that wholeheartedly. The houses, the vampires, the school/classes, and the laws of the world? No idea. I have a very basic understanding, enough to enjoy the story, but don’t ask me about it because I just don’t know. It was muddy at best, and I think if the author had taken explanations just one step further it would have made a huge difference. Regardless, I had a great ride for the vibes and characters alone! AND THE REVEAL NEAR THE END THAT RECONTEXTUALIZES EVERYTHING? TIGEST, GIRL, WHAT THE HECK?

I’m already dying for the next book and this one isn’t even released yet!

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette audio for this ALC.

I enjoyed the story, the characters and the narrator in the audio version. It gave dark academia vibes, the characters are not that likeable but for me it only added to the experience. The relationships between the characters were rather complex and I liked the morally grey areas discovered here. The lore weaved into this world is fascinating, I loved how the vampires are depicted here as well.
The romance might fall a bit flat,but it being YA it was adequate enough. The cliff hanger in the end of the book is a gentle one, I actually enjoyed it and am looking forward for the continuation of this series.

Synopsis:

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.

Perfect for fans of:
Romantasy
Vampires
Morally Gray Characters
Enemies to Lovers
Villainous Romantic Leads
Dark Academia

My Take:
Ideal for teens and adults, "Immortal Dark" serves as an excellent entry point to a multi-book series featuring Black Immortals. Listening through ALC, I found narrator Jordan Cobb outstanding. Cobb's ability to give unique voices to each character seamlessly drew listeners into Girma's narrative, eliciting a range of emotions from annoyance to shock, making the occasional slow or repetitive parts bearable. I highly recommend this book for group discussions and particularly in its audiobook form. On the whole, the story was engaging, and I am eager to see how it unfolds.

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma is a breathtaking blend of dark academia, fantasy, and dangerously seductive romance that grips you from the first page and doesn’t let go.
Kidan Adane is a brilliantly complex protagonist—fiercely protective, driven by a deep love for her sister, and harboring a darkness within herself that mirrors the world she’s thrust into. The stakes are high from the start as Kidan infiltrates Uxlay University, a place where power, privilege, and vampiric alliances collide in a deadly dance. Girma’s world-building is nothing short of mesmerising, with Uxlay University serving as a dark and atmospheric backdrop where every corner seems to hold a secret or a threat.
The tension between Kidan and Susenyos Sagad, the vampire she believes responsible for her family’s suffering, is electric. Girma masterfully crafts their relationship, filled with a tantalising mix of hostility, attraction, and danger. As the plot unfolds, Girma weaves in layers of mystery, intrigue, and a deepening sense of dread. The stakes continue to rise as Kidan uncovers the truth about her sister’s disappearance and the dark legacy that haunts her family. The twists and turns keep you guessing until the very end, and the exploration of Kidan’s own capacity for darkness adds a rich, psychological depth to the story. The cliffhanger end almost had me throwing my phone across the room. Anxiously anticipating the next book.

I don’t think I’ve disliked a main character the way I disliked this FMC… Kidan is insufferable, selfish, manipulative, and honestly , I can't stand any of the characters in this book. Kidan, in particular, is unhinged in the worst way possible But, I do like the story; it’s unique, and given that dark academia is usually A miss for me, I am genuinely impressed..

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for an advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review!

3.5!

There’s a lot to love in Immortal Dark and I think for the most part, it did work well for me, even if I wasn’t totally engrossed throughout the experience. I thought this was well-paced and snappy, and I really loved the mythology and lore that Girma wove into the novel. Kidan’s relationships with other students felt well developed and I think the world itself is quite interesting. The romance is a slow burn and honestly took the backseat for me, even if I did like the two characters separately.

Part of why this didn’t perfectly click for me is in part because YA doesn’t always work for me anymore. I do feel like this is very solidly an upper YA/NA book, and while I thought a lot of Kidan’s concerns were compelling, the way she approached them doesn’t interest me much anymore. I also went long stretches feeling like the vampire thing fell to the wayside. While I think Girma’s world is cool, especially the lore and history, the world building was a little more muddled. I hope future installments flesh out the magic and fantasy elements, but for now I just sort of… accepted what I was told but didn’t really understand why things are that way.

I thought the narrator, Jordan Cobb, did a wonderful job, especially at giving each character a unique voice. There were definitely times I wanted to be able to flip back and reference other passages, but I do recommend the audiobook.

While I didn’t love this one as much as I thought I was going to, it’s a solid older YA debut and I’m really curious to see where Girma takes the story.

Truly one of the most brilliant books I ever read.
The characters were some of the most intricate and well written characters I ever read. They felt like real people that I could interact with.
The drive of the main character is revenge, which makes sense and is done in such a well thought out way that everything just makes sense, her character development, her motives, her actions....

3.5 Stars

Thank you Hachette Audio and Netgalley for the #gifted ALC.

Synopsis:
Orphaned heiress Kidan Adane infiltrates an elite university to find her missing sister. Living with the vampire she suspects of the crime, Kidan uncovers dark secrets that challenge her very soul. As she navigates a world of power and blood, she must decide—save her sister, or surrender to the darkness within.

The audio team did a great job and enhanced the story. I was engaged in the story because of the audio reader.

The story had some good elements to it. I loved the mystery of trying to find her sister and the mystery of the house. I loved Susenyos and the partnership he ended up building with Kidan. I'm sure this is just a me thing, but I really struggled with Kidan, the FMC, especially in the book's first half. I love a strong FMC, but Kidan was so vengeful it just took away from the story and didn't sit well with me. I'm sure other people will love it!

Audiobook production/narration rating: 2-3 ⭐️
Book rating: 3.5⭐️

There were many things I enjoyed about this audiobook, and some things I did not. I'll start with the narration/audiobook production. Firstly, I'm known to be a bit picky about audiobook narrators, so what bothers me may not bother others. This narrator does something that usually really puts me off, they put on different voices for different characters. Sometimes, if done well, this is fine. But I did not love it in this one. They dropped their voice for the male characters (specifically Susenyos) in an over-exaggerated way and it sounded like they were straining to achieve it. It sounded like they were putting on a mocking voice rather than speaking as the leading man. There were some instances of the reverse as well, where they raised their voice in pitch for dialogue from certain female characters. It felt too disjointed and comical for this book. That being said, when the narrator used their regular voice for Kidan's dialogue and the prose, I liked it.

Onto the book itself. I loved the vibes here. Dark academia, vampires, enemies-to-allies-to-sorta-lovers. Good stuff. I wanted more of the atmosphere, more descriptive writing about setting and mood. There was some of that, and what we got was great. But I wanted just a bit more. I think the plot and concept of the book were great. However I also found myself wanting a bit more from the execution. I'm not sure if it's because I listened to the audiobook rather than reading the text, but I felt very confused very often. How did we get here, why is this happening, why is this character acting this way, how does this part of the magic system work, etc. There is a lot of information, a lot of world-building, and maybe that's where I got lost in the audiobook. There was also a book given to Kidan by her aunt with information on Uxlay, the houses, etc. that we got snippets of at the beginning of every/every other chapter near the beginning of the book, and then somewhere around or past halfway, that just stopped. And I don't recall an explanation for why. I have mixed feelings about that form of world-building, where instead of telling and showing the reader things in the story, there's a helpful book that the main character has to introduce them into the world that the reader also gets snippets of to read like a textbook at the beginning of chapters (think, Fourth Wing). On one hand, sometimes when there's *so* much information, it can be helpful. On the other it feels like an overly easy way to get the information across. Aside from that, I felt like the magic system, how the houses work, and the vampire lore really confusing and not explained super clearly. The execution of the world-building and the pacing in the beginning was a bit disorientating.

The characters had good bones, but again something was missing in order for me to fall in love with them. I think they were going for a band of unlikely friends, misfits who you can't help but love and be sad at the end when the most innocent and well-meaning one gets hurt. Something like the main cast in Legendborn or Six of Crows. Again, not sure if this was due to the format I read this book in, but I had trouble connecting to the characters fully. I liked all of them, and I think they all have excellent bones to build from. Maybe in the next book we'll get a bit more depth that'll fully win my heart over to them. I was also not completely won over by the romance. I know it's enemies-to-lovers, but I didn't find the lovers aspect completely convincing. Usually I feel the opposite, authors so often give in to the romance too quickly and don't let the characters be enemies for long enough. Maybe it's because Susenyos is *******spoiler********* a centuries old emperor, and I have a hard time seeing why he's interested in a teenage/20-something girl romantically. But again, this age gap thing is a huge trend in a lot of fantasy books, so this is probably just a me thing.

The plot was definitely interesting and had me engaged. I was interested in unravelling the mystery of what happened to June, and curious about Uxlay and their motivations/intentions. I'm excited to explore that more in the next book. I enjoyed the academic parts, the characters attending classes and studying. I hope we get to see more of that in book 2 when they embark on the next class.

Overall, despite my issues with it, I would recommend this to people looking to scratch that dark-academia/vampire itch. I'm really happy this book has gotten so much hype online & I hope this author continues to be successful! I will definitely be reading the next book & other books by this author.

🎧 Audiobook 🎧

"Immortal Dark" had a lot of potential, especially with its unique East African-inspired lore and dark academia setting. Jordan Cobb really stood out as the narrator, bringing each character to life with distinct voices and a level of emotion that made the listening experience more engaging. Her performance was definitely a highlight, and she made the complex story easier to follow.

However, the story itself left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. The world-building was interesting, but it sometimes felt more like a backdrop than an integral part of the plot. There were moments where the lore seemed to be used as a convenient tool rather than a fully fleshed-out element of the story. Kidan, the main character, was frustrating at times—quick to anger and often making rash decisions without much depth to her motivations.

The pacing was uneven, and while there were some intriguing moments, the story often felt drawn out and overly complex. I think I might have gotten more out of this book if I had read it instead of listening to the audiobook, as some of the details were hard to keep track of. Overall, it’s an okay listen if you’re into dark academia/fantasy, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I would still be interested in picking up the next book in this trilogy to see if it fits my taste more. 🖤

Thank you Netgally and Hachette Audio for allowing me to review this arc. Overall I really loved the story and also enjoyed the audiobook as well. I am really excited for the next book to come out. I loved that the book was inspired by Ethiopia. I also loved all the representation in the book as well. I thought that Kidan was so unhinged the first half of the book and I understand that people do unhinged things things when they are in grief so I let it slide and continued the book and I'mso glad that I did. If you are halfway through the book and are thinking of DNF'ing, DON'T, I think that this is one of those books that the ending really adds a few stars to the rating! Also there's a lot of mystery around the house they are living in and also around Kidan parents and I loved that as well.

This was everything I needed in a dark academia vampire romance!! The setting, the African cultural influences, the school for humans and vampires to partner together and keep their beliefs strong, oh yeah and the tension between our MMC and FMC!

I binged the entire audiobook in less than 24 hours and now have no idea what to do with my life. I can absolutely seeing this be a huge hit for fans of Vampire Academy, Crave, and Children of Blood and Bone. There are some significant CW’s so please make sure you check them before diving in, but I promise this tale was nothing short of delicious!

This is kinda dark academia I guess? And kinda Romance? And kinda Fantasy? But also not really -fully- any one of those.

Dark Academia:
So they do have classes and they do have assignments, but from dancing to conversations-- all of the "assignments" feel like writing prompts to force the two protagonists closer together when they don't want to be, and possibly even in risque or suggestive or bonding situations. Which makes it not really feel like academia at all. I don't feel like there's a pursuit of knowledge at all.

Fantasy/World-building:
The Fantasy elements could be interesting, but I think they constantly take a backseat to the Romance. For example: I don't really understand why drinking blood from different body parts causes them to share different types of memories. It just feels like a way to build tension in their romantic relationship but isn't supported by the world-building.

Another example: the way the house changes in how it affects both of them. It again doesn't really make sense or get explained, and mostly feels like a way to further force them to interact with each other and work together, rather than developing the world in natural and internally-consistent ways.

Romance:
I'm a hard sell on Romance, so I'm definitely not the authority on this element. But personally I think it was too YA and surface level for me so I didn't really buy into it. There was one moment (when she needs to have him give her a personal item of his) when I perked up and thought things were getting interesting! Unfortunately I don't think anything before or after that moment ever held my attention.

Audiobook Notes:
The narrator does a good job and differentiates the voices. I think she made it easy to listen to and it took me a long time to realize I was actually quite bored by the story.

It was an interesting read. Loved the world and found the characters to be very interesting and intriguing. The mythology was thought out and a new take on the vampire lore. Can’t wait for book 2!

There is a lot going on in this book. And I mean a lot. It was a really cool concept and I loved what I did understand from the plot. I just feel like I would have to read it a minimum of 3 times to really understand what’s going on in every aspect. But at the same time I would be willing to reread this that many times.

5 dark and delicious stars! I can't stop thinking about this book and instantly pre-ordered the gorgeous first run copy.

Gothic Dark Academia vibes that gives you the best enemies to lovers. Secret societies lurking in the dark, a mystery you need to solve. This was so deliciously dark and gave me the gothicky vibes. The world was so lush and vibrant from the details. I need to be in this world. Vampires at their finest where they are vicious, the killer that they are and the romance wasn't the main plot but was so amazing woven into the story.

The Audio is absolutely fantastic. It brings you into the story and the narrator did an amazing job.

**I received an Audio ARC from netgalley in exchange for my honest review**