This was an interesting and unique fantasy that started off really strong! I liked the world building and character development and found myself really intrigued for the first half but then it slowed down in the second half to the point where it made me feel less invested in the story and characters. There just seemed to be a lot going on with vampires, magicians and werewolves that it made it hard to follow the story.

Oh Boy..this was a fail for me. When I read the snyopis I was very excited but I SLOGGED through this..I mean it took me 45 days to get through it. Oh my.
I truly don't know why this was such a fail for me - it really had everything I normally love. It had vampire society, it had intrigue, it had assassins, and mysteries and tons of action scenes but I just couldn't get invested in this book. I truly think the switching of POV's was a tough thing for me. I kept going back to see how I was reading. I think the only character I truly liked was Sam. She was complex and exciting to read about as she had the most potential for Arcs but all the other characters seemed very set.
I also struggled a lot with the world. I kept getting the words, and places confused. It flipped from almost old timey historical but then threw in made up words that just didn't flow - LIike Bloodflute..I am sorry..why couldn't we just call it a glass - every time I came to these types of words it pulled me right out of the story again.
I also felt a lot of the places and wording was too similar - Light fall, Last Fal New Fall ...we all fall I still am clueless of where this was taking place. There were too many wars, too many time lines that I was trying to keep track of...I felt like a needed a cheat sheet - Twin War, Grey fall, last light.
Ok that is what I didn't like...what I did like, what made me want to actually finish was the mystery - I am always a sucker for a good "lets get the gang altogether and solve the problems" type story and as the story moved along we were getting there. I actually think the next book is set up really.
I also really really think this would make an amazing TV series. I just feel like the descriptions of the characters, and costumes and imagery of the city with the vampires and all the action scenes would play out amazing on screen. The different POV's work well with that type of story telling and I could really see this story working well in that medium.
So while this is not for me I think a lot of people would really really like it. It had tons of good qualities.

I feel this story has potential, but I had a hard time following the plot, even as things were explained. The ending was not surprising to me. I am not interested enough to continue the series.

Lightfall is the first book in a trilogy and I will definitely be reading the next two books.

This book is about immortals- vampires, sorcerers, and werewolves- and all of the secrets that come with years of immortals existing. I wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did, but it had such great characters all wrapped up in an excellent story.

Fantasy fans and horror fans will find something to love in this book.

Just couldn't get into this book. It sounded so good, but it didn't hold my interest. Didn't connect with the characters.

A beautiful story that includes all of my favourite creatures from folklore, and told in the best way, from multiple perspectives.

It’s part murder mystery and part critique on society, and how we’re all better off when we play the long game.

I thought it was a bit rushed at the beginning- but the pace mellowed out towards the end and I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would.

I’m surprised I didn’t enjoy this, because it started off so promising. I found the cast of characters to be extremely flat, the mystery at the heart of the story to be uninteresting, and overall, I was just bored.

I like this novel because of the intricate world building as well as the rich characters and dynamic plot. The author manages to convey a multitude of parallels and metaphors while keeping the propulsive plot interesting and engaging. I can’t wait to read the sequel!

Vampires and politics. What's not to love!? The storyline was unique, and unlike any other vampire story I've personally read or seem before, and that makes for an exciting read from the beginning. The way of life for the characters in this story is highly interesting, and you are drawn in from the beginning. I definitely recommend this fantastic read!

Thank you to St Martins Press for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for Lightfall, but it just wasn't for me. The story had a lot of potential with its unique vampire lore and politics, but I found it hard to follow and the characters didn't really grab me.

I don't think I'm the right reader for this book as I really struggled with it. However, I think any fan of epic fantasy, Lord of the Rings, or magical creatures will find a lot to love with this one.

I think Lightfall sets up the trilogy nicely! A lot of the politics and norms are estab,ished from the beginning tihout dumping too much lore at once on the reader. At times, it could be difficult to keep the different characters straight, but that's what makes this book as complex and interesting as other successful novels such as Game of Thrones. I think it's very innovative for the world to completely eliminate the role of humans in the vampire lore and gave readers a refreshing twist to the typical vampire story with them being hunted by the Greys.

This started out promising, but it was just not for me. The characters fell flat, and I was bored.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I saw in the description that this novel was compared to Jay Kristoff's Empire of the Vampire. This had me really excited as I had just finished that novel and adored it. Unfortunately, this book was by far the less enjoyable of the two.

While the concept was amazing (particularly the idea of strengths of blood and the different classes being allowed certain bloods to consume. And the Blood Market?? Amazing), the execution suffered from too many storylines all told in first person. This could have been excused if the characters' voices were distinct enough, but they lacked those unique qualities and all melded together in my brain. This was not helped by some of the cringeworthy dialogue and vast quantities of info-dumping that plagued each character.

SPOILER HERE: The big reveal of the real deal with the Grays also fell really flat because Saxe felt like a caricature of a villain, which immediately made him suspicious. I suspected his involvement the entire time, and was not pleased to have guessed that so early on. END SPOILER.

All in all, a fantastic idea and some shining pieces in there, but just a little clunky in the outcome. I will not be continuing with the series because I did not really enjoy my trudge through this first entry.

I really wanted to like this book. Vampires and Werewolves have always been a favorite genre. It started off promising and I liked the character, Sam, but it wasn't enough. Most of the characters were boring or too over the top. And the endless, room descriptions.... This book had so much potential and an intense edit would maybe save it, but the bulk of it was boring. I'm being generous with three stars - for the parts I liked and for what it could have been.

Thank you to St Martin's Press for providing an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Such an exciting and well written story! The characters were intriguing and the plot kept my attention the entire book. Definately would recommend to friends and fellow readers.

Thank you to SMP and NetGalley for a chance to read and review Lightfall by Ed Crocker!

I think this had a lot of promise, but overall it was just kind of hard to follow along with. There were massive sections of info dumping that didn’t feel smooth within the story. It was more like a character mentions something and then the book says “Oh hey, here’s the history of the thing I just mentioned.” The history and world building could have been incorporated better.

I also didn’t live that there were so many POVs. It’s definitely a personal preference. It’s rare for me to like more than two POVs in a book.

I love the idea behind this book, but it just needed a little tweaking with the flow of it.

Sadly, I was unable to finish this book.

It started off with promise - it's marketed as "for fans Empire of the Vampire" (one of my all time favorites), and the world was intriguing! I loved the concept of a vampire city, the different sorcerer/magick types, and the kinds of blood having different strengths - there was a hierarchy of blood, with the higher tiers granting better abilities (like seeing in the dark). It was so cool!

Unfortunately, my enjoyment was violently derailed rather quickly, when the FMC and her friend referred to each other by name CONSTANTLY. Every. Single. Sentence. NO ONE TALKS LIKE THAT!! It drove me absolutely bat shit crazy within a matter of pages, ripping me out of the story every time it happened, until that was all I could focus on and I ended up rage quitting. I highlighted them for a while, until it got to be too much, and you should see my highlights. They said each other's name every time they addressed the other person. It was ridiculous. I read an eARC, so I'm hoping this issue will be fixed in final publication.

Despite that, I still attempted to continue the story one more time, because of the strong start and interesting world. Then I got to the chapter through Sage’s point of view. It was long, boring, and pretentious AF, and it single-handedly obliterated any interest I had left in the book, so I gave up entirely.

Maybe one day I'll try to push past those issues via audio, because the narrator sounded great in the sample I listened to, and I really was interested in the world.

This book kept its melancholy feel from start to finish and I ate it up like my favorite meal. This book unforgivingly explored grief and memory. A truly cosmic read with a great deal of depth that keeps you within this thin veil of unknown where loss means a great deal.

This was an eerie book that definitely sticks with you.

Ed Crocker’s 'Lightfall' is a luminous yet harrowing exploration of grief, memory, and the thin veil between reality and the unknown. With haunting prose and an atmosphere steeped in melancholy, the novel weaves a tale that is both intimate and cosmic, pulling readers into a world where loss reshapes everything. Equal parts eerie and poetic, 'Lightfall' lingers like a half-remembered dream. Unsettling, beautiful, and impossible to forget.