A review by forever_undone_fables
The Court of the Undead by F.M. Aden

dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

Okay but I think this book deserves some more hype! I just spent the last four hours reading it, and finished it within just over two days. Thank you to NetGalley for a digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book is DEFINITELY for the Damon girlies. If you need to know more, please continue. But I think that alone says enough!

You have two sisters, who are opposites in many ways aside from their unrelenting bravery. When one is kidnapped by vampirs to be a blood slave, the other and her childhood friend run off to save her.

The morally (dark) grey men in this book really have me questioning myself… (I had written “sexy in a Stockholm Syndrome way” in my notes) and there are more than a couple of them. LOTS of tension in here. Enemies/rivals to.. enemies? Lovers? Idk… but for a book without any *actual* spice (if you know what I mean) it was still VERY spicy. I think it would have been nice to give the readers a little more somethin somethin as far as you knowwww goes just because it’s so tensiony.. but it’s okay, because the vibes.. the *essence* of the spice, was still scrumptious. 

I mean dayum- we are given MULTIPLE “he’s obsessed with her”s.. “you’re mine” “if you hurt her again I’ll k— you” AND “Good girl” moments. 🥵 for a book that didn’t have anyone getting freaky, it was still very much so giving for the girlies. I shouldn’t be feeling this way about these bad-bad men, and yet! 🫣

Oh and you have a morally good guy, he cute too.

Aside from that, you have high stakes, bipoc representation- the main characters are women of color and in general there is a lot of blending of other cultures/some discussion on prejudice, Muslim representation, body representation both for a curvy thick character and a more “boyish” one (if you read the book you’ll get it),  deception, enemies/friends with tension, love triangles, bravery, court life/politics, jealousy, spies, and of course.. vampires. 

I’m not a fan of “dark romance” as it has come to be known on social media, but this definitely edges along there just enough to be like adjacent to that vibe, without fully going there. I’m down with that.

I’ll be reading the next one!

I will say I had a hard time finding the author on social media, and I think they’re putting out a well written and entertaining story, it would be beneficial to be more active on there to help build more of that hype! 
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