Emelia, the sole heir to the House of Raven in a world dominated by vampires. Despite her human nature, Emelia is destined to inherit the crown due to her lineage, setting the stage for a compelling exploration of identity and destiny. The novel delves into themes of forced proximity and forbidden love, presenting a modern twist on traditional vampire engaging drama and unexpected plot. Overall, the novel offers a fresh perspective on vampire narratives, delving in young adult and new adult romance genres. 

Imagine you’re in a fantasy world with vampires and your love interest is named Kyle.

I am not a fan of insta love, and this is being marketed as enemies to lovers when it is absolutely not the case. It’s also a forced proximity/forbidden romance, and I felt as if the author could’ve taken that and made it more compelling and appealing. Unfortunately, it fell super flat on its face and did not deliver. This felt very tropes — like it was trying to tick off popular trope boxes on an imaginary list to make it seem appealing to readers.

Emelia’s character was flat, boring, and didn’t line up with what I could tell the author wanted her to be — headstrong and fierce. Being the unwilling heir to the House of Raven, a family comprised of vampires, you would expect the stakes to be a lot higher and to be delivered that way as well. It wasn’t, and nothing really saved it or made it enjoyable.

Unfortunately, the plot was incredibly predictable and there was absolutely no chemistry between Emelia and Kyle — just banter passed off as an enemy to lovers trope.

I still can’t get over the name Kyle in a fantasy romance novel.

I really really tried to read this one. I just had such a hard time with the bland and corny plot line. I felt there was just no connection to the characters, the writing was stiff and awkward, and I just couldn’t find myself enjoying it.

Emelia Raven is set to take the crown as the ruler of Raven, one of the top families in the vampire kingdom. Both of her parents are vampires, yet she was born human and has spent her entire life in isolation in the family castle, with little to no contact with actual humans—except for those employed by her family as servants or as food. Emelia's eyes are finally opened to the disparities between humans and vampires when an uprising begins, forcing her to confront what has been happening right under her nose her entire life. Aided by her bodyguard, Kyle, who encourages her schemes, she eventually learns that you can’t trust everyone, no matter how convincing they might seem.

This was a good read with a promising new fantasy world. While I enjoyed the general plot and where things went by the end of the book I found myself putting this book down several times because homegirl was just annoying in how she was acting. Maybe it was because she is 17 and it's been awhile since I was that young and dumb but maybe a younger reader would have liked and related more. I think there was a lot of potential for this new fantasy world that wasn't quite reached even though it was easy to tune out I wanted more.
As a YA novel (because of the age of the characters) I think a younger reader would enjoy this book. I think around 17 I wasn't quite invested in world development and was gaga for insta love.

Thanks to neutrally for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Sadly, this was a DNF for me. I tried to read it multiple times, but I just couldn’t get into the writing style. I absolutely love the premise though! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc e-book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed on my own.

I loved loved loved this book.
The premise was beautiful, the writing was lovely. The scene set up felt so elegant and gothic.

I loved the world building and the characterization.

This book had me on a roller coaster and the twist at the end made my jaw drop . Definitely recommend this book if you like:
-Vampires
-forbidden romance
-Royalty
-bodyguard romance
-vampire/human relationships
-political intrigue
Cons:
-very little world building like there is only like 4 countries but that’s all we get
-insta-love

Synopsis:

The hottest forced proximity x forbidden romance vampire story to sink your fangs into this autumn! Perfect for fans of Twilight!

I'll be forced to take the crown, simply because of who my parents are. Never mind that my skin, my eyes, the way I move, everything will give me away for what l am.

Human - In a world ruled by vampires.

As sole heir to the House of Raven, there is nothing Emelia can't have. The only problem is, she doesn't want it.
But when the mysterious Kyle enters her closed-off existence, she sees a way out. As rebellion and dark forces swirl around her, Emelia has a choice to make - leave everyone she loves behind, or stay and accept her destiny...

————————————————————————————————


Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.4 (rounding down to 3)
Spice: 1/2 🌶️


While this book is billed as a “Romantasy”, I was a little disappointed to discover that it was an urban fantasy instead. Which WAIT, does not mean I don’t like urban fantasy because I absolutely love it - it’s just not what I was expecting when I dove into this.

So if you’re a fan of paranormal dystopia, political intrigue, and urban fantasy - this may be just the book for you.

It has ——

🩸Vampires
🩸Court Intrigue
🩸Political drama
🩸Dystopian Modern Society
🩸Bodyguard romance
🩸Rebellion trope

While this story has a lot of elements I enjoy, the writing style and I just didn’t vibe. It came off as a bit too YA for my personal taste and I admit I had the urge to DNF (but I didn’t, I kept on) but again that is just my personal thing. Not everyone’s style is your cup of tea, yanno?


Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this finished digital copy to NetGalley and Harper360 - given in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars.

This book is good for a quick, light read while the world building did not make sense at times for a fantasy book.

There was absolutely nothing really going on in this book.. very anticlimactic.i had very high hopes for this one and it fell way flat.

I went into this book very excited but was turned off by the insta love. The book was very easy to get through, but I didn’t love it. It didn’t feel like they were actually enemies to lovers, and the plot felt very rushed. I may not be the correct audience for this book though.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc. Beautifully written and great for fans of A Dowry of Blood.
She is a human born the 2 vampire rulers, and as she grows she watches how humans are treated as cattle. After humans attack her parents at a party and they take action and attack the human uprises, she decides to run away with her love/vampire guard he takes her to a human section to hide to that they can escape her parents search.

"The Last Raven" by Helen Glynn Jones is a fast-paced young adult romance with a touch of fantasy and paranormal elements, reminding me a lot of the 2010s YA paranormal romance wave. It's a quick and easy read, perfect for when you need something light and entertaining.

I think the pacing could have benefited from slowing down a bit, especially before Emelia meets the male lead. Given her sheltered upbringing, a more gradual unfolding of their romance would have added a touch more depth. I also think the book's marketing as an adult paranormal romance might have contributed to some of the harsher reviews. I believe it would have been more accurately positioned as a young adult novel.

Despite these minor observations, I enjoyed it. It felt more like a prequel, leaving me eager to see where the story goes next.

Thank you to the Helen Glynn Jones, Harper360, and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

It had a lot of potential, and I enjoyed the banter, but it was a DNF for me about 40% into the book. I wasn't a fan of the FMC, and her internal monologue wasn't my thing. I did enjoy Kyle, though! I would have loved to hear more of his thoughts, and the book often felt like it was telling more than showing.

I’m just love the human-in-a-vampire-world trope!

Emelia, heir to the powerful House of Raven, seems to have it all except her freedom. She’s stuck in a life she doesn’t want, but everything changes when a new guard shows up.

The twists in this story totally caught me off guard, I couldn’t predict it!

It gave me major Twilight vibes.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper 360 for the ARC!

emelia raven is a human born to vampires. if not for her important family name, her human status would have subjected her to a very different fate. still, hidden away from others, she can’t help but want more. when a new bodyguard is assigned to her, she believes she’s finally found her way out. she has to decide, though, if leaving everyone she loves behind is worth being able to live her own life.

i was interested in this book because i always love reading about vampires. i also thought it was interesting that this book made the vampires/humans dynamic different than normal. in this world, vampires are the dominant group. when emelia’s vampire parents realized she was a human upon her birth, her own father almost killed her. this is just the first of many reasons emelia wants to get out of the vampire sphere. she begins to wonder, where would she be had she not been born a raven? i liked how this was explored throughout the book.

the romance aspect was interesting, but don’t go in expecting it to be a typical romance. i don’t want to spoil anything, so i’ll leave it at that for now!

overall, this was a quick and interesting vampire book. i’d be interested in reading book two!

No attractive MMC is named KYLE


In all seriousness, great and fun concept that just needed to go back to the editing and plotting board.

The plot absolutely sold me on this, and I couldn't wait to dive in. But it didn't work for me. I didn't mind that the FMC was only 17 years old, but it just didn't work for a book marketed as an adult book. And seeing what's transpiring between Emelia and Kyle, it just wasn't feeling right to me. It did read like a young adult fantasy.

I wished this one worked out for me, thank you for the opportunity to read!

The whole premise of this book was really interesting. A human child born to vampires and will one day be the one to rule them all.