I was so excited to get my hands on this one - especially as it is a suspected Fairyloot pick! I really enjoyed this one - there were bits where I felt more could be explained and parts where less would have been more. However, overall I really enjoyed the characters and their development. Ava was as badass as I wanted to be (sometimes a tad indecisive mind) but obviously that was just how she was. The magic system was really interesting and overall I definitely want more!

Amazon summary
Ever since a vampire murdered her mother, Ava has been determined to get revenge. This all-encompassing drive has given her the fuel she needed to survive foster home after foster home.

But it's been ten years since anyone's seen a vampire, and Ava has lost hope that she'll ever find one . . . until she stumbles across a hidden magic show where she witnesses impossible illusions. The magicians may not be the bloodsuckers she's hunting, but Ava is convinced something supernatural is at play, so she sneaks backstage and catches them in acts they can't explain.

But they've been waiting for her.

The magicians reveal they're part of an ancient secret society with true magic, and Ava has the same power in her blood that they do. If she joins them, they promise to teach her the skills she needs to hunt vampires and avenge her mother. But there's a catch: if she wants to keep the power they offer, she needs to prove she's worthy of it. And to do so, she must put on the performance of her life in a sinister and dangerous competition where illusion and reality blur, and the stakes are deadly.

My Review

I loved this book and am kinda sad it’s a stand alone. 5 stars from me!

The world building is good but could be better but I loved the characters,

Ava has been through a lot of heart ache but I think she wants to trust and love freely but can’t seem to let down her guard, in walks the good looking boy who I think your supposed to like but he annoyed me from the start! There are a lot more diverse characters but I don’t want to spoil anything. .

The story line is great, really interesting and a fresh spin on magic which was great to read.

I would really recommend this book.

{AD|GIFTED} I'm not quite sure how to rate this book as there were moments I loved and then there were pages that dragged. I loved the magic element, especially learning how it works alongside the main character, Ava. Vampires then enter the mix but it's quite a simplistic portrayal of them and nothing new is added to the genre. It's reminiscent of older YA books and a lot felt familiar.

The deadly competition where Ava and a number of other Apprentices compete to become the next immortal magician in a series of trials was particularly engaging. Still, it felt like the first half of the book was simply a prelude to this and to the meatiest part of the plot.

Ava was an interesting character and the author explored childhood trauma and the foster system in a nuanced manner. Some of the most thought-provoking parts of the book were simply Ava processing her past. There's also a romance and a (sort of) love triangle which is just fine. It's nothing new or special but it's not the worst romance I've read either.

Overall, I enjoyed this book enough to finish it and some elements were fascinating and fresh enough to impress. Magic meets vampires in this sinister book.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 40%

I have to admit I wasn't interested in this read at first but decided to give it a chance anyway. And sadly it didn't work out for me -- although I have to admit the magic system was very unique, and I did enjoy the opening to the story, the main part being the competition felt just chaotic and too boring to be invested. When it comes to relationships between the characters, I could say they were similar to any other ya book I read, without anything spectacular about them. I can't say what exactly made me abandon this read, I just felt that I don't want to waste my time any more on the competition I'm not interested in following. Skipped all the way to the end, and guess what. I hate where the book went. So let's say I'm saving this time for something that I'll actually enjoy reading 😅

So recently I found a wonderful book called Vampires, Hearts and Other Dead Things so as you do when you love a book, you immediately look up what else the author has done... and I was so pleased to find another new book coming, and quite soon.

When I seen said book described as Caraval meets Buffy I was over the moon. Buffy is something I have loved for a long, long time now and I also have fallen in love with Stephanie Garbers Caraval series since reading it as well.

So big boots to fill, right... well this book fills them for sure!

Here we have Ava, who had been moved about foster home to foster home (with her brother Parker) since the death of their parents, who were stage Magicians. Parker seems to have found his place in their newest home but Ava isn't sure where, or if, she fits in there too.

Since a reveal 10 years prior, and then swift disappearance, Ava has always believed in Vampires and also the existence of real magic, even though her mother always told her there was no such thing.

One night, Ava happens across a magic show, and is drawn to charismatic Xander and his card tricks and from there is lead into a world of magic, vampires and secret societies. Xander and his troupe promise to help teach Ava to hunt Vampires but in turn she has to join them and take part in a high stakes (no pun intended) magical competion. We also have a rival troupe lead by Roman, who tries to scare Ava away from this dangerous world right from the get go.

This book had me hooked, I read it over a few days and I really didn't want to put it down. It's a roller coaster ride into a dark sinister world where you constantly question what is real magic and what is just an illusion. The plot just keeps you guessing and the characters are so rich and interesting. In addition to that, we have a lot of heart and self discovery in this book, I felt similar when I read the authors first book and the heartstrings really get tugged on at points, in happy, sad and sometimes bittersweet ways.

If you're still here now reading this, thank you, and I have one last thing to say, please go and get this book. Not long until release now as it is out 01 November. Big thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this one early, will definitely be thinking about this one for a while!

I love trying books that are similar to Caraval and this one checked a lot of boxes for me and a bonus is it was magic and vampires which are my favourites!

Super excited to dive into this one, I'd been stalking NetGalley waiting for it to drop and dived into it asap!

Loved the story and the plot, the characters were well written and I fell in love with some of them!

A girl, who's out to get revenge for her month dying at the hands of a vampire, is approached by a traveling performance group (that has ✨magic✨) asking her to join them and the ancient secret society group they're a part of promising her they can help her... but the secret society has a lot of secrets and nothing is like it seems.

I feel like this book wanted to do so much and it all ended up a bit chaotic, but not necessarily in a good way. The comparison to Buffy and Caraval isn't exactly correct, other than we have a girl who wants to kill vampires (she's not chosen or trained to do so) and there's a traveling show that has illusion magic, but that's about it.

A quick run-down of the good and the bad:
➕Much appreciated twists
➕Magic competition
➕Found family vibes - but
➕Different magic system - although can be a bit confusing to start out with
➕Vampire comeback? - I'm biased
➖Love triangle - I'm also biased
➖Lead girl is very indecisive to a point where sometimes it feels like she doesn't decide on anything but is just dragged along for the plot
➖Repetitive at times which also contributes to it feeling very long-drawn from 20%-75%

Overall this is feels like a very typical YA fantasy although a bit too long-drawn and even though on paper, with this including magic AND vampires, I should love it, I didn't fully feel it unfortunately.

3.6/5⭐

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I like well written fantasy, that stretches my emotional strings, and this book certainly gave me both. Perfect for YA and everyone who enjoys a good story. Interesting slant - vampires are real and their favourite blood comes from magicians; magicians perform real magic hidden in their public performance to harvest the audience’s appreciation so that they can hunt vampires. Into this comes Ava and her brother who have been left orphans by tragic deaths. Since then the system has taught her to trust no one, give nothing and take nothing. She longs for her brother to have a family life. Can she trust others enough to find a family for herself? Can she find the revenge she longs for without losing herself? Twists and turns abound. This is fantasy, and love story, and a young girl’s searching for family and redemption. Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Ava and her brother ended up in the Foster system after their Father was killed on the street and their Mother murdered two years later by what looks like a vampire. Ever since, Ava has been training to get revenge on the supernatural creatures, but she has to find one first ...

This book is an interesting mix of vampires and magic, and I liked the mystery element. However, there was nothing really unique about it and I wasn't totally gripped. Could just be a personal preference though!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review