My hopes were so high for THE LAST RAVEN - it's summary and PR team hit all of my favorite romantasy buzzwords. However, I feel like this book was written for the intention of making a splash on the "booktok" community and lacked a level of genuineness and effort. It felt quickly thrown together, and could have used some more edits. Knowing how much time authors devote to their projects, I don't say that lightly.

Unfortunate this wasn’t a book I really connected with. I can see the potential, and another reader would likely really like this one. But I got stuck at the first hurdle where we learnt that an 1 year old has to rule in a world of vampires.

The intersections between the FMC and MMC were fun! Again, I see the potential. Just not for me.

From the blurb of this book I really thought that this book would be perfect for me, however I didn't love it.

While the plot weas intriguing and kept me reading there were many things that I didn't enjoy. I felt that the FMC was overly naive and kind of annoying, while her love interest was pretty bland. While he clearly had some secrets which added an air of mystery, the development of the characters was lacking and the relationship between the pair felt forced and slightly unnatural.

The pacing of this book was a bit off, with certain elements moving slowly while others quickly, making the plot a little confusing and the realisations the characters come to less impactful.

I do think that the idea for the story was fun and interesting and I am intrigued to see how the story would develop in further books, but I'm not desperate to jump back in.

In The Last Raven by Helen Glynn Jones, I see a lot of untapped potential. The author had me hooked within the first few pages and going back for more, although I was not left satisfied and had a lot of questions overall. If you enjoy YA Fantasy or are perhaps new to the genre, this is a good start.

Emelia Raven is the sole heir to the House of Raven in a world of vampires and humans. She is a rare human born of vampires, and with that comes a slew of problems. In order to get her prepared for her coronation, her parents assign her a hot bodyguard and well, you can guess what happens (this is all good, by the way). Kyle shows her bit by bit what is truly going on in their world, with the biggest threat to her family's existence being a human rebellion. The more she learns about her family's role in how the kingdom is run, she has a decision to make on whether or not she accepts her fated role.

The world building is not too complicated, but I wanted a lot more. I was able to find some plot holes and I was frustrated by the limited knowledge we are given, but I do understand that Emelia is beyond sheltered and as we are reading from her POV, it makes sense why we don't completely get what/where/why/when. The chemistry between Emelia and Kyle was forced, but again - sheltered heroine not having any experience ... it makes sense. I did not connect with either main, but I did grow to love a secondary character named Bertrand. More Bertrand in book two please!

Overall, I give this one three stars out of five. I liked it and I look forward to book two - I want MORE!

Thank you to the team at HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Last Raven with my honest thoughts and opinions.

Anytime there is vampires and enemies to lover’s, you can count me in! Helen Glynn Jones did a great job at keeping me entertained with the pacing and unexpected twists in this book. I wish there had been some more world building with the vampire society. But other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this, and look forward to the next one!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the ARC!

This book was a very quick and easy read for me but I felt it lacking something, it was just OK.
I think the fact it was quick and easy to read was it needed a bit more depth and worldbuilding to really immerse you into the fantasy/vampiric read of the world. I felt you were somewhat thrown in the deep end and it lacked that extra layer of explanation .
I liked the general concept of the plot however, and that is what kept me reading through, even if it kind of predictable it was still an enjoyable concept.
The characters individually I didnt mind, but I didn’t vibe with their relationship. That being said I think a lot of romantasy readers would like it and would enjoy reading this, but for me they just didn’t click sadly, Which made the spicy scene a bit out of place for me.

The ending though, very very good and makes me want to continue reading the series and it was as powerful and iconic as you wanted.

The Last Raven by Helen Glynn Jones
4 stars

I think we can all agree, we grabbed this based on the cover alone because it is absolutely gorgeous.

I absolutely love the dystopian theme happening in this book, but with some vampires thrown in as well. There were elements to this book that were completely obvious and you could see what's coming, BUT if you hold out, after the halfway point you are left absolutely mind blown. After the halfway point, the story really picked up and that’s why I rated 4 stars.

If the beginning was a little less obvious, then I definitely would of gone 4.5/5 stars.

✨My Thoughts✨
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ll be honest and say it was the cover that had me wanting to read this book, how nice is it?.

I was intrigued straight away and was desperate to know more about the world of The Ravens and Emelia, you get to learn more and more about the Vampires and the world they created along with Emelia who knew hardly anything and was very sheltered.

The book really picked up the pace at the half way point and then I was obsessed and totally immersed in this Vampire World. What I wasn’t expecting was the ultimate shock that turned everything on its head!.

I’m really excited for book 2 and to see what happens to Emelia and the Ravens going forward.

Unfortunately, by the end of the book, I just stopped caring what happened and rushed to finish. The plot, predictable and lackluster, failed to grab my attention, and I never found myself invested in the characters or the supposed chemistry between them. And if the romance in a romantasy isn’t there… I have a hard time staying invested. The FMC, in particular, was a struggle for me—I couldn’t connect with her at all, and her actions often frustrated me. I will say, some of the side characters had an interesting set up, but it wasn’t enough to redeem the overall experience. While the writing style didn’t resonate with me, I might have overlooked it if the story had been more compelling, but in the end, both the plot and prose made it feel more like a chore rather than an adventure.

This book was a typical fantasy romance, I didn't hate it but I didn't entirely love it! I did finish it and was pretty happy with the story line, I just got a little tired of the characters throughout!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc copy.

This was a sweet short read, with a very easy to follow and obvious premise. Insta love, insta hate, with a dash of human vs vampire and being scared of our responsibilities which is incredibly relatable.

I did like Kyle but think he just need a little more fleshing out to make me see a lot more of what the FMC was seeing. Overall, a really enjoyable quick read.

In the end I really enjoyed this book. The vampire dystopia setting is pretty unique and I really enjoyed the world and the concept of a human vampire throwback for our main character. I was struggling with the narrative for a while, I was thinking about putting the book down because the main character felt very young (she is, absolutely fair enough) and the twists felt obvious, but I am really glad that I stuck with it because (desperately avoiding spoilers) the ending was superb and absolutely changed my outlook on the whole book. I would definitely recommend.

I thought the concept and world were great, the danger the main character is put in from being a vulnerable human living in a vampire’s world where they are the dominant species running the politics. I found the love interest to be very obvious from the beginning which meant I didn’t feel invested in it.

I liked the idea of the story but the writing was just too inexperienced. Everything was too fast paced and Kyle just gave me the ick by putting hands on her l after what feel like 3 days?? 20% and they kiss. And she’s sooooooo into him but also is irritated by him- but there’s no reason as to why??? And then she just lets him paw her and bite her like he owns her??? ICK

The perfect read for Halloween

The perfect vampire book with enemies to lovers I love that those are on trend again

The human heir to a vampire kingdom finds herself falling for her new bodyguard all the while discovering secrets, rebellions, and betrayals as she gets ready to take her place on the throne. Princess to the Raven family and next in line to inherit the vampire throne, Emilia is a human and has a secret, she is unable to be turned into a vampire. Both of her parents are vampires and in a world ruled by vampires, being a human is risky. Emilia does not want to inherit the kingdom and she does not want to partake in any of the family duties. Yet when she is assigned a hot new vampire guard she begins to find herself questioning everything.... but with the humans getting ready to rebel and someone in her own family looking to overthrow them, who can Emilia trust? Her new bodyguard with secrets that could threaten to destroy the love growing between them or her parents who have done atrocious things to humans.... where will she stand and who will she be when all the secrets are revealed. This is the first book in a series and honestly the protagonist is yet another "I don't want to do my duty to my family, and it's so hard being me" while being naive and extremely sheltered. The romance was insta love and honestly it just didn't really feel believable. The protagonist felt immature and annoying and I can say with my whole heart I will not be continuing this series. The way this book ends and how the story progresses really has you going: really? To say its a miracle I made it to the end of the book is putting it lightly, I forced myself to get to the end of the book hoping it might turn around but sadly this was definitely not for me. I love vampire and bodyguard romances but this was just a complete miss for me. While it didn't work for me if you like vampire bodyguard romances and younger feeling protagonists. I'd say give it a try, maybe it'll be better for you than it was for me,

*Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter | One More Chapter for providing me with this ebook in exchange for an honest review*

I liked this book a lot. Even though the love was insta and I hate insta-love, the plot hooked me up right away. Can't wait for book number 2.

I wanted to like this book. I really, really wanted to like it, but...

It was not for me. Starting with entitled FMC and insta love, and ending with obvious plotline and lack of logic in times. Like, how 17 year old human girl notices something painfully obvious, but vampires who have been alive for hundreds of years do not.

I couldn't connect with characters, I found many of them utterly annoying. And yes, some of them supposed to be "villains", but the bad guys weren't the only ones getting on my nerves.

I wanted more of world building, deeper character exploration and more complex plotline. Even tho, it did got a tad more interesting towards the end. I don't think I would pick up second book if there's gonna be one.

Looking for a new vampire read? Check this out. The FMC doesn't want to be the Heir. Her family, hiding her true identity to protect her within the human world. This is a forbidden romance (Vampire x Human), forced proximity, and body guard.

The writing style was a little different for me to fully enjoy, but this is still a good paranormal read.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review!!

I was honestly so excited for this when I read the blurb! I love human x vampire books so this was right up my alley. The first sentence of this book had me so hooked.

I will say that while this was a really fun read, I didn’t connect to the main character like I hoped :/ the plot felt really rushed as well. I was intrigued but it didn’t go as in depth as I wanted. I wanted more world building and plot. And I feel like the characters weren’t really fleshed out. But maybe that will be explored in future books!