An engaging supernatural tale with a delightful, audacious, and evolving protagonist.
A “half-vampire” confronts daunting foes to help rescue an immortal being with whom she bonded in this second installment of Belasco’s series.
It’s no surprise that Noosh is still adjusting to her life as an “am’r-nafsh”—a vampire who hasn’t yet died a “mortal death.” She’s in love with her “patar,” Sandu (formerly known as Vlad the Impaler), the am’r (vampire) who turned her. However, she also bonds closely with Sandu’s patar, Bagamil, who, for a time, becomes the third in their threesomes. After Bagamil leaves to hide from enemies who believe he’s truly dead, Sandu and Noosh settle into their home caves in Romania. However, it’s not long before both are plagued with dark, vivid dreams, sent by a captive Bagamil. Clues in the dreams point to the existence of am’r in Argentina, so Sandu and Noosh quickly catch a flight. Noosh may not be as strong as immortal am’r, but she won’t hesitate to face them if it means saving Bagamil. As in Belasco’s series starter, Blood Ex Libris (2023), Noosh learns lots of details about the history of am’r and their way of undead life; after all, she’s the am’r’s new digital archivist and collections specialist. However, their story contains ample suspense, as well, as Noosh and Sandu put themselves in as much peril as Bagamil is in. The overall story is a balanced and effective blend of the am’r’s persistent stoicism and Noosh’s often buoyant narration; she frequently lightens the mood, as when she notes that she’s not ready to be a “realio, trulio vampire” and when, after training in combat, names her leaf-shaped bladed weapon “Terry Smatchet”—in apparent tribute to the late comic-fantasy author Terry Pratchett. The pacing remains largely slow and deliberate, with bursts of action and a few explicit sex scenes.
An engaging supernatural tale with a delightful, audacious, and evolving protagonist.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781960942104
Page Count: 428
Publisher: Immoral Influence Publications
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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