I’m always going to eat up a queer vampire romance and I absolutely loved Jonathan and Dacian’s story, as soon as I finished it I wanted more! As someone who grew up going to Vermont, I loved the setting and it was nice to be able to visualize a lot of the places described in the story as I’ve visited them (or surrounding areas). The bleak and dreary imagery of the campus and the rainy fall worked perfectly with the off-putting dark academia vibes of the story. While I think the mystery elements of the story are quite predictable, it is still a very captivating read and I really enjoyed the slow burn pacing. Jonathan’s backstory with Clay and how it haunts him and Dacian’s morally grey history make them both very intriguing characters that you just want to learn more about. I will say the villains of the story were very one dimensional and there were a few things that made me feel like it was set in modern day rather than the 1980s but I still really liked this book. Kit Vincent’s works have been on my radar a lot recently and Us Et Cetera definitely will be going higher up on my TBR.

Reviews posted on Instagram and Twitter (X) on 10/21/24

"Then it is best to make friends with the shadows, Mr. Evergreen. For if you're shrouded in darkness so complete, so all-consuming, that there's no telling the skies above from the grown below, then what is the difference between falling and flying?"

Set in the 1980s, Love Immortal by @KitVincentBooks follows Jonathan Evergreen as he enters his sophomore year at the prestigious Camden University, where bloody cults and mysterious professors carve a new, unexpected path in his life. A web of supernatural intrigue navigates the dark corridors of academia, delivering a tense and entertaining story that intertwines desire, danger, and secrets in a young adult love story as intense as it is unforgettable.

This book was such a comfort to read! I was immediately drawn to the brooding, cold and stuffy academic atmosphere, Dacian Bathory's love for fantasy reads (Reading Earthsea? Swoons), Jonathan's mysterious past, and every conversation around the importance of Gothic Romance in queer culture. As secrets were revealed, Jonathan's journey continually pulled at my heartstrings like a tense and modern fairy tale. The discussion around gothic romance, monsters, and the emotional crescendo during Poe's The Raven scene perfectly captured Dark Academia's eerie and intellectual allure. I loved how the book highlighted the contrast between preserving books, especially those written by marginalized voices, and modern queer narratives of exclusion perpetrated by our communities. I also appreciated how the themes of desire and love evolved through the story in memorable and impactful scenes.

The wait for this gem was well worth it, and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves gay vampires, movies such as Renfield or Fright Night or is simply looking for a comfortable fall read with bloody bits and a lot of sexual tension.

I have read and enjoyed Kit Vincent’s books in the past, so I was super excited for this vampire romance/mystery just in time for the spooky season! I really enjoyed it, definitely was a bit on the darker side, but still an enjoyable fall read.

Jonathan has not had it easy. Being queer in the 80’s is a struggle especially when your parents kick you out of the house because of it. Now his only shining light is Camden, a secluded college in the mountains of Vermont. Here is where Jonathan works to achieve his dreams: being a book conservationist. But suddenly this sanctuary is under attack. People are turning up dead, drained of all the blood in their body, plus, a mysterious professor, Dacien Bathory, appears. Jonathon immediately feels drawn to him, but Dacien has some secrets of his own. Jonathan and Dacien must work together to find a killer, save Camden, and maybe even true love along the way.

I adored Jonathon as a character. He had been through so much in his life already, but still worked so hard to achieve his dreams. Dacien was a little more unknown to me. Even by the end I just never really felt like I connected with his character. Therefore, the romance felt a little forced at times for me. Still, I did overall enjoy this book and I continue to look forward to what Vincent writes next!

This novel is perfect for fans of Twilight, of dark gothic vibes and of fast pace reads!
The novel starts off a bit slow plot-wise, introducing us to Jonathan and his college. Vincent sets up a believable remote and gothic institution that is also well known for its parties, because after all, what is there to do in the middle of nowhere if not party and hook up? However, it is clear from the beginning that Jonathan is different from the majority of his classmates. It is 1987, and queer people are not seen favourably at all, despite higher education showing a bit more acceptance. Jonathan's gay, and he's nursing his broken heart after his high-school boyfriend took his life, as a consequence of being outed.
This sophomore year of college is supposed to improve Jonathan's future prospects, he's adamant he will be able to get a job as a curator if he can only get an internship at the library. Little does he know that his old advisor has been replaced by a most enigmatic (and attractive) figure.

Jonathan's fate is sealed the moment his eyes lands on Dacian, and the two will connect in inexplicable and mysterious ways.

I quite enjoyed the atmosphere of the novel, Kit Vincent did their research on the academic setting and it definitely shows. Jonathan is an incredibly relatable character, his choices can be criticised but totally understood given the really confusing circumstances he's in. As I said at the beginning, this novel reminded me a lot of Twilight, and Jonathan of Bella. There's a lot of impulsive decisions being made (even dangerous one) in the name of attraction and love. Not to mention the final battle, but I will let you read it for yourselves!

Review will be up on my blog on the 22nd of October!

At this point, anything Kit Vincent writes is an almost automatic five stars from me. Obsessed might be a good word for it.

The Good: I am such a fan of a slow burn, and this was a delicious one. I feel like we get ample time to get to know Johnathan and get invested in his story. His friendship with Fiona felt more than just surface level, and I liked that she was more than just a two-dimensional board for his story to bounce off of. Kit Vincent just has this way of making me care about these characters that I can't quite put my finger on. It happened with Us, Et Cetera as well - there's something so desperately human about Vincent's characterizations even when writing non-human characters. Even the "legacies" felt fleshed out and not just rote bad guys with no motives but to be bad guys.

The Not as Good: I do really wish that we got more of the relationship between Johnathan and Dacian. It felt like we danced around and slow burn-ed for so long (loved that), but then when they finally got together, we get to see so little of them together before the plot really ramps up and the climax to the legacies conflict hits. I would have loved to see a little more of Dacian and Johnathan having to sort out the mystery of who stole the diary together. I had some issues with the pacing at the end of Vincent's last book but in the opposite direction (the ending seemed too prolonged), so this seems like an over correction.

Overall: Like I said, Kit Vincent's books are always at the top of my favourites list and this one is no exception.

4.5⭐️

Love Immortal was instantly engrossing and endearing- Jonathan is super lovable, Dacian is everything a hot vampire teacher should be. I loved the way that Vincent brought in lore from gothic vampire lit, while blending the sex appeal and almost-fated-mates quality of contemporary vampire fiction.

The dark academia aspect of this worked really well (although admittedly I am not a connoisseur!) The combination of Jonathan’s work in the rare book archives, Dacian’s gothic literature class, and the mysterious deaths and disappearances, all contributed to the perfect dark yet cozily academic atmosphere.

Admittedly this book was a bit tropey, and honestly I’m getting pretty bored of ~shadow tendrils~. But, I loved Dacian and Jonathan’s development, and would have liked it to be even a bit longer just to really flesh it out more. We get some delicious moments of intimacy to balance the tension and mystery, but I would have loved a really juicy payoff.

Overall, a delicious bit of queer vampire romance blended with dark academia.

“Help me, great shadows, for today i met my own ruin and invited him in.” 🖤

Rating : 4/5 ⭐️
This was such a great read! Perfect for autumn. It had all the vibes and the horror was pretty great, especially towards the end. I’m not giving it a 5 stars because i wish our main character and his love interest had more scenes together, especially in that first 60%, it would have made their relationship a little more impactful in my opinion. I love Jonathan, he was a sweet character to follow around and i just needed him to be happy and okay 🥲🩷Writing was beautiful, this was my first book by this author but i’m super excited to read more. There was so many beautiful quotes. <3
Extra points for all the references to some of my favorite gothic literature. I swear this book was written for me, it had everything i love.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

This was a captivating read from start to finish.

The prose was easy to read and engaging, and the pacing was perfect; from the gradual build-up to the climax, everything was flawlessly executed.

The romance was more of a slow burn than I had anticipated, but when it finally got there, it was SO worth it! The characters have great chemistry. I do not typically like brooding love interests (sometimes they veer too far into edgelord territory), but I found Dacian to be just the right amount of cold and mysterious.

For readers who may be worried about the age gap/teacher-student relationship, I feel that their relationship is as respectful and consensual as it could possibly be, although there are some bits that are, somewhat dubious.

I also found Jonathan to be a compelling main character. I appreciate how his (tragic) backstory ties into his desire to preserve texts, as well as the narrative about the importance of preserving history.

I appreciate how the author dissects class privilege in the narrative in regards to academia; I find that a lot of "dark academia" novels tend to focus more on the aesthetic than on critiquing academia. Privilege is one of the overarching themes in this book; whose stories are valued enough to be preserved and who gets to have their voices heard?

Not gonna lie, vampire romances/dark academia books are not really my thing, especially when combining the two. However, I think this book pretty much nails the balance between the academia aspect as well as the romance, with both elements being sufficiently well-developed.

Overall, a compelling, well-written dark academia romance.

4/5 stars
Recommended if you like: dark academia, LGBTQ+, historical fiction, vampires

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 10/19.

TW mentions of suicide, period-typical homophobia

This is a queer dark academia set in the 1980s, with lots of vampire creepiness to go around. Honestly, it didn't really feel too much like the '80s except for in some odd instances (and yes, the inevitable conversation of "imagine lightweight personal computers" did come up).

In terms of dark academia, there book mainly focuses on the idea of legacies and the way money can help you get away with pretty much anything. So, there is a critique of systemic powers, but I wish it had been woven in more elegantly. I wanted a more thorough critique and wished the antagonists had come off less like goonish villains. Especially since our MC is a queer college student at the height of the AIDS epidemic. Dacian provides a lovely lecture about queerness and literature and Johnathan has a heartbreaking reason for wanting to be in book conservation, but then I feel like these topics fall to the wayside in favor of the more fantastical elements of the novel. I want my dark academia to explore power imbalances, and frankly the choice to go for legacy admissions as the main 'point' over the very real erasure of queerness from literature is kind of baffling -- skip the cartoonishly villainous legacy kids and go straight to the larger power imbalances, both in literature and beyond, thankyouverymuch.

That being said, the vampire aspect was very strong throughout the book. It's pretty obvious that's where it's going from early on in the story, and once it arrives it arrives in full force. I liked how the author tied the modern vampire(s) back to older traditions. It was also interesting how the author dovetailed Dracula into the vampires of the story. At first glance it's kind of like "yeah okay," but Jonathan is into literature, the majority of the 'academia' in this book is from other books, and so I really liked how the fantastical elements tied back to that core theme.

Jonathan has some ghosts in his past. He's cautious around others since he's wary of getting hurt again, and even his closest friend at college doesn't know the whole story. His beef with the legacy kids isn't just that they flaunt their privilege, he has personal experience with how assholish they are. His passion for restoring books comes through clearly and it's clear that he really does love books and want to help prevent the erasure of voices from history. That being said, I had a hard time connecting with him at times and wish he had more....personality.

Dacian is set up to be the mysterious new professor that everyone has the hots for. It's clear immediately that there's some kind of connection between him and Jonathan, but there's a bit of hot-and-cold going on with them at first. Dacian definitely lives up to the 'mysterious' persona, though some of that is from the ghosts in his own past. He has very strong opinions about certain things, but it seems like once your in, he's willing to do a lot to protect you.

I'll be honest, I like enemies-to-lovers and paranormal stuff as much as the next person, but I definitely felt there were some uneven power dynamics going on here between Jonathan and Dacian (and not even because Dacian is his professor). For one, there's some borderline abusive behavior that occurs toward the end and it's just...never talked about again. For another, the whole 'hypnotic draw' that Jonathan feels toward Dacian is kind of hard to overlook. Like, is this man just so hot you lose your mind, or is he actually confounding you in some way? Because if it's the latter then there are 100% some consent issues. Then thirdly, Johnathan himself needs to probably get therapy because he's afraid of losing someone he loves so much that he's willing to essentially betray them in order to prevent the possibility of them leaving. That's also not okay. So, while I wanted to like the romance, and at times I did, I overall had an uncomfortable feeling while reading the two of them together.

There are some things in this book that require explaining still, I think. Like, why did Dr. Kowalski go AWOL over the summer? Who gave him the money Dacian says he received? And was that a bribe to retire or just luck? If it was a bribe, why? I just have so many questions over why Jonathan's advisor and beloved literature professor suddenly up and vanished, and the 'explanation' we got really just raised more questions than answers. It would've made more sense if he'd been killed, at least then we'd know why he vanished without word and never came back.

Another thing is that this book is very predictable. I guessed the 'mystery' pretty much as soon as it was mentioned, and not in the fun way where I'm excited to see how it all works. Rather, it got to the point where the characters were still wondering and I'm rolling my eyes with how obvious it is.

Overall this is an enjoyable, quick read. It doesn't quite offer the critique on power structures I prefer from dark academia and the romance was at times uncomfortable. But if you're looking for a quick Halloween read, this should suffice.

REVIEW: Love Immortal

I've been in a spooky mood in anticipation of Halloween, so I thought Love Immortal would be perfect. It is a mix of dark academia and romantic fantasy.

It's 1980, and Jonathan is a college sophomore who loves books so much that he wants to be a book conservationist. He's very introverted and is pretty quiet about being gay due to trauma in high school. Dacian is a new Gothic literature professor at school the university. He is mysterious and keeps to himself, but Jonathan cannot deny the strong connection he feels to him.

I liked how, even though this book referenced many gothic book classics, such as Dracula, it still had its unique take on vampires. The lore and fantasy elements are exciting and made me want to know more. I also loved how, even though this is a fantasy, the vampire lore was grounded in history to make it more believable.

The connection between Jonathan and Dacian is intense, deep, and steamy. Although this is more of a slow-burn romance, it hits when it gets there. They both have darkness in their pasts that they are working through, and it seems to connect them even more.

Love Immortal is full of romance and tropes such as professor and student. It also has murderous mysteries and some very violent parts. It even covers some pretty heavy topics.

The only thing I wished for was a slightly longer story. After it ended, I still had many questions and wanted to see more. Maybe I'm just a bit greedy.

Overall, I loved Love Immortal. It was a great dark academic novel with vampires, mysteries, murder, and romance. I couldn't stop reading once I reached a certain point in the book.

Thank you, Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, for the free advanced copy for my honest review!

As a child of Buffy and Twilight, I'll always be here for sexy vampires and boy do we have a sexy vampire on our hands here.

I really, really enjoyed myself and the time I spent with the book. There was a cozy darkness to it that I can only describe as a retro wood panel room in an old house. The setting, a sleepy little secluded university, was primed for the genera horror that the book was going for and I was able to picture it perfectly in my head as I was going along.

The characters are great, and the romance and satisfying. It does feel like the book is a little oddly paced at times, but it gets you to the end with enough excitement and a good (surprisingly action filled) conclusion.

My biggest gripe would probably be that it doesn't feel like it really uses its time period to its advantage. I guess it's a bit easier to do that through a visual medium than a written one but it's supposed to be set in the late 80s, with the obvious Lost Boys inspiration, but it didn't really feel like it played enough with it and ultimately just felt like it was set in the modern day and using modern day slang/terms. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the term "ghosting" when it comes to relationships wasn't around in the 80s.

Overall, it's a fun, spooky October read that anyone who loves a good sexy vampire will enjoy.

Gothic fiction, and vampire stories in particular, have fascinated me for a long time. After visiting Whitby as a teenager when I was on an exchange year, I read Dracula, and then devoured the gothic classics in short order. And I haven't stopped reading the genre since. So when I saw that Kit Vincent was working on a novel for fans of vampires, romance and dark academia, I knew I'd want to pick it up.

Love Immortal is set in a small university town in Vermont in the 1980s. Jonathan Evergreen was disowned by his family after he was caught with another boy. Having worked a deadbeat job over the summer to keep afloat, he returns for his sophomore year at Camden University to find that his advisor has been replaced by a new and enigmatic professor. While Jonathan is instantly drawn to Dacian Bathory, the new professor at first seems to dislike him for no apparent reason. 

After Jonathan shares his dream of a career in book conservation and his struggles to break into this niche career, Dacian helps him secure a job at the college's library, which boasts an impressive collection of rare texts. Jonathan learns that a handwritten journal, which Dacian seems to have an interest in, recently went missing. And a hiker also went missing in the local mountains...

In Love Immortal, Vincent draws on lots of the classic gothic themes: nightmares and madness, mystery, isolation, death, and vampires. They skilfully strike a balance between Gothic horror and romance. I loved the gradual build-up of tension and mystery, the traditional take on vampire lore, and the  frat horror elements. 
Any reader will easily relate to Jonathan's love for old books and his dream of a career in book conservation. Despite the novel being set in the 1980s, Jonathan's motivation for his career choice, which stemmed from a desire to preserve all sides of every story, not just that of the privileged, felt like a commentary on current society, where book censorship and media bias are prevalent.

Love Immortal is out next week and will be available in paperback, ebook and on KU. Thanks to Kit Vincent and NetGalley for the eARC!

This was my first of Kit Vincent's books I'd read and it definitely lived up to the hype! His writing is absolutely beautiful and I found myself highlighting entire passages of a page or two at a time.

I was instantly pulled into the story, the characters, the academic setting and, course, queerness of it all. The characters, while, few, were so well done it felt like there were more of them, and none of the side characters read as superfluous. The scenes between Jonathan and Dacian had me absolutely enraptured, heart borne bare, in love with their love.

It's always hardest for me to write about and dissect the best books, but I can say I knew easily by the halfway mark this would be a 5-star read and it didn't disappoint.

𝚁𝙴𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝙳𝙰𝚃𝙴: October 22, 2024
𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝙼𝚈 𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃𝚂:
Love Immortal is set in the 1980s (yessssss!) and is about a college sophomore and the enigmatic new professor with cold skin and an undeniable pull.

“𝔏𝔢𝔱 𝔪𝔢 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔨𝔢𝔢𝔭𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔶. ℑ 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔦𝔰𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔣𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔪𝔢.”

Jonathan Evergreen is a sad, lonely young man with nobody in his life after a bully exposed his sexuality in high school and his parents disowned him.
Oh yea, his world literally crumbled.
He broke my heart, y’all.
I cried so hard for what happened to this sweet boy (and the boy he used to love).

Dacian Bathory is the new Gothic Lit professor and a complete mystery.
From the moment Jonathan sees him, a dark pull tethers them together.
The PASSION between these two was immense.
Some good push/pull too!

Gothic literature is a huge part of this story.
If you know gothic literature and the DEEP, DARK LOVE within, then you’ll feel a companionship in this story.
The twist on Dracula was SPECTACULAR.
I’m a huge gothic literature fan and this book did it justice.
The plot fit as well. Rituals and murder and dark shadows, oh my!

Phenomenal storytelling once again, Kit Vincent!
The romantic scenes are rated “R” but not wide open.
I really enjoyed that aspect.
And oh man.
The love was so beautiful and raw and powerful.

I’m obsessed.
Can you tell?

𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣. 𝙌𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣.

Perfect dark academia vampire read for fall!

This book captured my attention in a way that it hasn't been in a long while. The premise was very appealing, and I found myself easily swept away into the story. Jonathan and Dacian were magnetic! I felt the pull between them, and I couldn't help but feel drawn into their world and their story. I wanted more of them and their love story! Jonathan's character arc was beautifully written, and Dacian captured my heart from the first time he was on the page.

Like I said I wanted more of their love story! It felt so short at times and almost rushed in a sense. I will say the pacing at times was a little off-kilter, but not too bad. The writing at times also felt more modern than the timeframe of which the story was occurring which did impact the flow and connectivity throughout the book.

Overall, I couldn't put this one done! I didn't want it to end, and I wish there was going to be a sequel because I would read it in a heartbeat. 100% would recommend to anyone looking for an amazing fall vampire read.

I would like to give a huge thanks to the author, the publisher, and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. All thoughts and feelings are my own.

Rating: 4.7/5

A nice blend of bookish academia with a vampire mystery? This book managed to balance these two topics really well and was an engaging read.
As a library science student myself, I was really pleased by the tidbits and facts about book conservation, even though it's not the main thing I study. But it's close enough to make me feel excited and I was really happy that the author managed to put so many interesting facts about old manuscripts and old prints into the story while not making it feel like infodumping. It was also clear that Jonathan had really passion for the subject and that's something I always like about characters. Jonathan himself was also interesting. His past, desires and overall personality made his point of view so engaging!
I really loved how he fell for Dacian, too. I sometimes struggle with books when the romance is not completely developed, but I can say that I enjoyed this one a lot. Their chemistry, especially Jonathan's feelings surrounding his fear and desire, felt nicely written and the progress of the romance was great too.
The mystery was a bit predictable in some places, but in the end really surprised me with the final gory action.
Overall I really enjoyed this book!

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Vampires are so back - and this one feels like a classic of the genre. The atmosphere in this is perfect for the season, and it being a queer story only made me more hyped to pick this one up!

I liked a lot of this; we follow Jonathan as he deals with the suicide of his boyfriend, as he struggles to be treated as an equal to his fellow students; and most importantly, as a mysterious new guy comes into his life.
Now, I’ll be honest; I didn’t love that the vampire love interest was his teacher. I wish maybe Jonathan had been a teachers assistant instead of the student?

Overall the writing was very smooth, the plot felt straightforward but well constructed - I just wish the love story was a little bit more well developed; given a little more time to breathe and grow.

It’s a perfect read for the season, almost enough to make me want to reread twilight!

This book was hard for me because there were things I really loved and things that just missed the mark for me. For start, I loved the vampire lore and the fact that Damian did seem genuinely scary. It was hard for Jonathan and the reader to tell what was his scary vamp mind powers and compulsion and what was all Jonathan. The history and the idea was really cool- the concept was what kept me reading. Unfortunately the first half of the book dragged a bit for me, and I felt like there was a bit too much monologue moralizing- themes and concepts that could have been exhibited instead of ranted or really just blatantly stated by Jonathan who seemed to vacillate between extremely self aware/introspective and the confused traumatized boy he seemed to be at other times. I had fun though and it wasn't enough to stop me from reading the whole thing. I'd probably rate it like 3.5 stars if I could. Good but not great, better for an audience that's just not me I guess.

3.5 Stars ✨

This book was really hard to rate. Honestly, I loved the gothic vibe—it had that perfect mix of dark aesthetics and supernatural feels that just hits differently. But let's chat about some things that left me a little... 🤔

First off, I hated the first half of the book. I think the MMCs only interacted like three times in the first 50%, which made the book really boring for me. I LOVE a good slow burn, but this was not it.

And then there's Dacian. In the beginning, he was super mysterious, but maybe a bit too much? Yeah, we got to know him later, but it was a bit too late for me; I was already disconnected from his character by then.

Now, let’s talk about the mystery. It was VERY predictable. I figured it out the moment I realized there was a mystery to solve. I wanted some twists that kept me guessing, but it was pretty straightforward.

Despite these quirks, I have to say the writing had some serious potential. However, I did catch a lot of telling instead of showing, which kinda pulled me out of the story. It would’ve been nice to feel the emotions and tension more organically, you know?

In the end, though, I still enjoyed the journey, and I think if you’re into a mix of mystery and gothic romance, this one’s worth a shot!

An enjoyable book, the dark academia, gloomy vampire theme was well worth reading for, but I felt like I didn't connect to the MMCs very well. I was very excited for the promised age gap, student x teacher, vampire romance and it did deliver.

I wish we had a bit more fleshing out for Dacian, there are a few little plot holes, and I also wish that Jonathan had a bit more personality. I will definitely read more from Kit Vincent, I just felt that overall this one fell a bit flat for me.