A dark fantastical world, where humans are myth and vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers are the norm, a mystery, with many characters’ PoV’s and a highly interesting plot.

Did I find this a little slow? Did I find this a bit clunky in parts? I did.
But, did I also find this very fun and intriguing? Did I appreciate the world building? Did I enjoy the characters? Would I read the next title? Absolutely yes.

A very fun debut, and one I recommend.



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

This book was so much fun to read and here's why:

1. There's no mortal characters. They're all dead, and all we get to see are supernatural creatures and how they live in this world.
2. In the same breath, we have werewolves, sorcerers, vampires -- all of them with their own motives and morals.
3. A conspiracy we unravel with the main characters
4. Multiple POVs
5. Dark fantasy murder mystery

It had a lot of fun elements and kept me engaged. I do think some things were solved too easily, but maybe that's other fantasy books making me paranoid and untrusting. Either way, it's a fun and good read for anyone who likes a combination of fantasy and mystery!

Big thanks to the publisher for the e-arc!

This is more of a high fantasy than a true vampire novel, and if that’s your bag you’ll probably like this more than I did.

I’m pretty picky about high fantasy and struggle with it when the story doesn’t have much of a sense of humor. I also need really strong world building to stay interested. This book doesn’t have much humor (something I find especially important in a brutal/violent environment), and while the magical system is well rendered, the world building and visual descriptions are pretty thin.

It’s more of a character study mixed with epic saga, which is fine, but not my preference. I’m not sure it’s accurate to compare this to Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire books (terrific stuff if you haven’t read them, by the way), as those have very little in common with this except that they both have vampires in them.

I probably won’t continue this series,though if you love character-driven high fantasy and want to see a unique twist on the roles of monsters vs humans (Surprise! There are no humans in this one!), I expect you’ll enjoy this one a lot.

Lightfall by Ed Crocker is the gripping first book in an epic fantasy series brimming with a world without humans. This is a world of only vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, and political intrigue. At its heart is Sam, a book-loving vampire at the lowest rung of her society's hierarchy. Her quest to access the oldest, most forbidden section of the library pulls her into a dangerous conspiracy that sets the stage for an unforgettable adventure.

Told through multiple points of view, Lightfall builds a rich and complex world filled with shifting alliances, dark secrets, and deadly power struggles. Though the world-building takes time to sink into, it rewards patience with its depth and creativity. Sam’s ragtag band of companions are mysterious, daring, and brimming with humor that adds layers of intrigue, bravery, and moral complexity as they navigate what justice means in their shadowy world.

This dark, character-driven epic left me eager to see where the story goes next. It took a bit to fully immerse in the plot, but once I did, I enjoyed it immensely.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing a copy of this book.

This was such an interesting world. I think the way the book was separated into parts, and went between POVs, made this a really fast-paced and compelling read. This plot was one I really enjoyed--I love an unlikely protagonist uncovering clues to some huge conspiracy. All the characters were fleshed out really well, and I enjoyed the way the group of investigators really all felt like different people. This was just a solid and interesting read, and I would love more in this world and from this author. Also, the US cover is really cool and I dig it a lot.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press for a digital copy of this novel. This was a very fun read. It is separated into four parts and goes back and forth between different POVs. We see a world shared by vampires, sorcerers and werewolves. Our protagonist and unlikely heroine Samantha is a maid in Vampire city First Light. She finds herself in the middle of a broad conspiracy when she discovers key clues in the investigation of the assassination of the First Lord's son. I enjoyed the contrasting abilities and personalities of Samantha's group of investigators. The book really picked up for me about 3/5 of the way through. The revelations were well done and the ending sets up a sequel quite nicely. I'm really looking forward to the follow up.

Lightfall is a high-stakes adventure with a rich, complex world that will captivate readers from start to finish.
An epic fantasy novel set in a world of vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers, where centuries of vampire power are shattered by a new enemy, the Grays. The survivors are forced into the last vampire city, First Light, where class divides are enforced by blood. Sam, a palace maid, takes an opportunity to climb the social ladder after discovering a pieces of an important murder.
Teaming up with a group of rebels, Sam uncovers a conspiracy that could destroy the city.

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

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a unique take on supernatural beings in a world full of vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers. The novel takes place within the last city of the vampires where outside this city there is the threat known as the Grays, a mysterious group, that are feared as they have weapons that can destroy all immortals, which was demonstrated in the far past when the Grays appeared and massacred half of the immortal population in an event known as Grayfall, an event leading many of the immortals to scatter to different places from the great city.

The story begins with a mystery. The First Lord of the vampires, Azzuri, is with his son that was fatally attacked outside the city walls. Azzuri wants to know who would kill a vampire of the ruling class and why would his son be outside the city walls where it is not safe for vampires?

This vampiric society is governed within a class system with the lowest class known as Worns, a middle class, and the nobility. The major difference is the Worns are suppressed by only being able to drink the weakest blood- cow blood, where partaking of a higher animal quality or magically enhance blood can lead to a punishment of death by sunlight. The Worns’ place in this world is to serve the other classes and not be able to drink special blood like that from a werewolf, which gives extraordinary powers of strength, sensory overload, slows down the physical appearance of aging and gives vampires wings for flight.

In this world, we have Sam, a maid for the First lord of the vampires. She is known as part of the Worn, but unlike many she is willing to take chances and opportunities to break the rules that she doesn’t feel are fair in this society of vampires. She doesn’t believe she should be a Worn. She is even willing to read forbidden texts in the library, something a Worn is forbidden to do. She also is willing to steal and take blood that is above her station, even though if found out it could lead to her death. After Sam learns of Azzuri’s son’s death, because of her inquisitive nature and knowing this may be her way to get above her station, she starts to look into his death and comes across something that will set herself on a journey that will lead to a possible conspiracy and change her life forever.

The story is told through the usage of multiple POVs, including Sam and Azzuri. All of the POVs are intriguing to where I was invested in all of the different story arcs. A minor complaint would be not being familiar with having multiple POVs in first person. It took a little bit of time to get comfortable with the amount of jumping from POV to POV within these pages. Also, there are limits with first person narratives, not to get into spoilers, but there are limitations and rules that need to be followed to where at times I felt these rules were broken. But on the plus side the first-person narrative really pushed the reader to getting to know these non-human characters on an emotional level. I could go into more detail about the other POVs, but one of the joys I found is the discovery of all the interesting characters that are within this novel.

The actions sequences were exciting and bloody, and most importantly I was emotionally invested in their outcomes. These sequences really pulled me through the novel. There is also a lot of wit and deadpan humor throughout the novel. I especially like the interactions between Azzuri and his friend Redgrave.

The ending was satisfying and has me looking forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC!

I love a good vampires and werewolves rivalry book. Lightfall is a slow burn in a whole new world. I got Underground vibes at the beginning. The story is fairly slow paced but there are no missing details. The characters are unique in my opinion but the story line fell a little flat for me. It took me a little longer than I expected to read this book but overall I enjoyed it. Slow burn is just very hard for me.

This book is a slow read primarily because there are dozens of characters and too many kingdoms all introduced in the early pages of this book. There are also set-ups for the rest of the book that make little sense in the beginning of the book. While the author’s world building skills are on full display, he needed to spend more time on developing his primary characters instead of having a cast of dozens - none of whom are developed significantly enough for readers to care about them. There are no humans in this world, every character is a vampire and the entire population is supplied with blood - from the societal elites who get the best blood down the ladder to maids who get the lowest grade of blood which is just barely life sustaining.

Crocker’s world is fascinating, if very dark. The book would have been outstanding if the author had spent as much time creating his characters as he did in creating the world in which the book is set.

My thanks to St. Martins and NetGalley for an eArc.


My thanks to NetGalley for an eARC.

Have you ever dreamed of a world where your favorite monsters rule the realm and mere mortals are just a myth?

Full disclosure: I almost tapped out on this one. Crocker must’ve graduated from the Tolkien Academy of Over-Description. The first 45% of the book? Whew. It was like wading through a sea of verbose world-building. My guy wrote two paragraphs on someone pouring a drink. TWO. Meanwhile, his cities, buildings, and landscapes were described with such epic detail I started skimming out of self-preservation. The kicker? When it came to the characters, we got maybe two sentences, tops, on what they actually looked like. Make it make sense, Crocker.

But here’s the thing: I stuck with it, and once the action started rolling, I was hooked. And let me just say, Crocker gets serious props for how he writes women. None of that male-gazey nonsense here. Raven, Sam, Alanna, and Daphnee? Ruthless, brilliant, and each bringing something unique to the table. These ladies were fierce enough to make Aelin and The 13 sit up, take notice, and maybe even sweat a little. BRAVO, Crocker.

Will I be diving into the next installment? Absolutely. Will I also be praying he reins in the 50-page diatribes about city architecture? Please and thank you.
This is a 3.5 for me and thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Not quite what I was expecting but entertaining nonetheless. I just wish there was more continuity. It seemed like this book was just trying to shoehorn way too many things and themes and at times the story suffered. But I still liked it and will be interested to read the next book.

It saddens me to say, but I had higher hopes for this book. I ended up DNFing at 34%. I unfortunately could not get into this story at all, no matter how much I tried. The dialogue and the way we were flipping back and forth between these characters, was another thing I struggled with as well. In addition, I felt this was way too almost “info-dumpey” in the beginning, and that the pacing was way too slow for it as well. I unfortunately found myself bored by the 34% mark, and decided I needed to be done.

The concept behind this story has so much potential, but unfortunately for what I did read fell flat for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC, in exchange for an honest review.

This is the start of a new fantasy series. It's kind of all over the place because there is so much material to cover before the author can get down to storytelling. There are too many characters and the narration is shifted from one to another in a fairly random manner. The characters are interesting and fairly well-drawn. The story ends in a cliffhanger-ish way with a bunch of new people to follow going forward. There's lots of action and the plot moves forward quickly. It will be interesting to find out where Crocker goes in the next 2 books.

There is a LOT packed in these pages, so you have to be ready for a long and occasionally bumpy ride. Overall my impressions are this is enjoyable, but it takes quite a bit to get into and then you suddenly change to a different POV and it feels a bit like starting over. The atmosphere is great, the setting feeling transported is great - but there just is a lot to keep track of and understand it at times feels like a bit much. I did find myself looking forward to seeing what was coming and how some things would resolve or progress, so I’d continue to the Trilogy to see if perhaps the plot and pacing improves in subsequent books. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

Nightfall is a multi POV paranormal epic fantasy novel. The story takes place in a world where mortals are a myth, and vampires, sorcerers, and werewolves roam the land. Or at least they did before Greyfall, a war that left the immortals secluded in their respective cities as the greys took over much of the land…. So we have our “bad guys”. The magic system for Lightfall is species specific and seems to be a hard magic system. The vampires have different abilities based on the blood they drink; the sorcerers are divided into sects that have differing abilities (or lack thereof), and the werewolves can shift as they please.

The story follows members from each species, but is primarily focused on the vampires. As, the heart of the story is a murder mystery of the death of a vampire.

The story contains some mutual pining, a sprinkle of LGBTQIA relationships, but no spice.

Lightfall has political intrigue, action, and a mystery that drives the plot.


Our main characters are: Sam, a lower class vampire in search of a better life, Sage, a sorcerer from the sect with no magic that wants the prove the existence of mortals, and Raven, and badass werewolf assassin.

I appreciated the twists in the book, the character growth, and the casual LGBTQIA rep. Lightfall gets 4 stars from me.


Thank you to St. Martins press for providing me with an ARC of Lightfall, in exchange for an honest review.

I was so intrigued by this book - I've been on a quest for excellent vampire books. The story IS interesting, I liked the premise, and I tend to like multiple POV, but the writing felt clunky to me, and I just never found myself drawn to any of the main or side characters.

Thank you to @netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Lightfall is a unique and fast paced adventure with vampires, sorcerers, and werewolves.

After the fall of the great vampire cities, the remaining vampires fled to First Light. The Greys have taken over the area outside of the city, keeping most of the vampires trapped inside, and everyone else out. When the younger son of the First Lord is killed outside the city, the hunt is on to uncover the truth. A palace maid has discovered evidence in the young lord’s room tying him to a much bigger conspiracy that can upend everything for the immortals.

I really enjoyed this unique book. The book is well written with multiple POVs to keep things interesting and engaging. There’s complex lore, a murder to solve, a vast conspiracy of the elite immortals, a rebel group of lower class maids, and the mysterious Grays who are becoming increasingly bold in their attacks on the last vampire city. This is a really rich fantasy and I enjoyed it very much. I look forward to more in this series.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Full disclosure - I did not finish this book. I really tried. The first chapter was absolutely amazing and I couldn't wait to turn the digital page for chapter two, and it was like hitting a wall. The world building felt very tedious and clunky, and the writing style did not hold my interest. I could see potential, but just not enough to force myself through another estimated 9 hours of reading. While I do not have to have likeable characters, I need to not dread being in the mind of a POV character, and within the first quarter of the book, I hated Sam. Absolutely, if you are looking for something to really take your time with, and you enjoy slow intros to new worlds, this might be for you. If you can tolerate unlikeable POV characters, this might work for you. It just didn't work for me.

4.5 rounded up

This debut novel, the first in a trilogy, has an intriguing cast of immortal characters. The book is told from multiple points of view and I enjoyed seeing the situation from each perspective. There is quite the world building in this story but it was doled out at a good pace and kept me reading to find out what was happening.

Lightfall is part fantasy, part mystery, and has some political drama. I found myself rooting for a number of the characters and look forward to seeing where they go in the next installment.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.