I would have given this a two star but I am feeling generous. I have not been into fantasy as much lately but this was advertised as a twilight type plot so I was drawn in. This was NOT that.

Honestly, in an attempt to be nice I will keep this short. The world building was not only lacking but was in all honesty boring and tacky. There were a ton of things that did not make sense and should have been talked about during the editing process. The romance was very insta love and in fantasy I don't enjoy that. This book needs some work.

What a book. This was definitely a 5 star book for me.

Its not your typical romantasy book and thats what i overal loved about this book. I would definitely recommend this too friends that enjoy fantasy and romance in a modern world. So much happens in this book the ending is a bit of a plottwist i did not expect

I can’t wait to read more from this autor and learn more about the ravens

Ideal para obsesionados de Crepusculo pero han existido una seria de cosas que han fallado bastante, la trama no ha tenido mucho sentido en general, los personajes no se encuentra demasiado bien interconectados y el final te deja un poco desconcertada.

Como idea está muy bien pero el después en estructura es un tanto (????)

What the heck did I just read! I thought I was reading a romantasy book and then my heart just got stomped on… I’m honestly shocked at the ending. This book had so much potential for me but I feel like the ending was not what I was expecting and I felt betrayed as a reader especially getting that far into the book!

Thank you to Netgally, HarperCollins UK and One More Chapter for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This YA vampire romantasy(?) was full of surprises. I was intrigued by vampires (always) and the forbidden romance aspect. It was well written, and didn’t require much worldbuilding so the plot was quick to unfold.

The book follows Emillia, a human who is born to two vampires, and is set to inherit their powerful dystopian empire. However, in a world that is now run by vampires and humans are little but a food source, she is vulnerable in more ways than one. Enter Kyle, her assigned vampire bodyguard to protect her as she adjusts into society.

I would say that this book is entertaining more than anything. It initially feels similar to twilight, and there is a bit of instant attraction between the two MC’s. But if it feels a little off, there is a reason for it. There were some parts where I felt a bit confused, but by the end I felt that all threads were tied up nicely and explained. Even though it is a YA book through and through, there is a bit of spice to be aware of.

It is set on earth, but vampires are in control hence the minimal need for worldbuilding. The pace is pretty fast, and while the first two thirds are focussed on character development, there is enough action (and twists) to make up for it at the end.

Narration: single character first person POV
Similar titles: serpent & wings, FBAA, twilight, a fate inked in blood

Tropes:
Bodyguard
Dystopian
Forbidden romance
Rebellion
Teen angst
Forced proximity

The romance and banter in this book was everything to me! I love love the vampire aspect of this book, I like the main character and her personality. The MMC was also very enjoyable.

Read from October 28th, 2024 to November 1st, 2024. Written on November 2nd, 2024.

~4.5~

Happy (belated) Halloween release day!

What a great way to finish my October reads and start my November!

The story feels like it's from an ancient time but also incredibly modern (seriously, when I read about a black Mercedes and cellphones, whilst discovering hidden passageways and velvet gowns, my mind couldn't commute). There's a great mix of characters, both human and vampire, that enrich the story so deeply. Hidden secrets waiting to be revealed and worlds ready to be explored and rules definitely meant to be broken.

The plot twist near the end, about the love interest? Yup, I definitely called it. Can't say I was shocked, to be honest. But was I expecting the main character's reaction? NOT. AT. ALL. Wow. That was deep. Still stuck on that moment.

I do wish their relationship had taken a bit longer, more slowburn, more forbiddenness, more angst. It felt too soon for me. But I guess it fits the MC and her naivety.

The difficult relationship between the MC and her family was incredibly described, the struggles and the evolution give me a lot of hope for much more development in a future story.

It was definitely not what I expected, and I am pleased to say that I am very interested in seeing what will come out of the second book.

Congratulations to the author and thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

(Free ARC from NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter | One More Chapter that I chose to review after reading - Cross-posted on Goodreads on November 2nd, 2024))

Emelia is a human who was born into a world ruled by vampires. She is the sole daughter of vampire parents, who are also the rulers of the house of Raven and half of the planet. As heir to the Raven throne, she was protected and sheltered her whole life from the violent world she lives in. As it gets closer to her coronation, her parents decide it’s time for her to start taking on more of the role of Raven and assign her a personal bodyguard to escort her to parties. Kyle is a vampire who’s hired to protect Emelia. Emelia doesn’t want to inherit the House of Raven and, in the middle of a rebellion, starts to think more about leaving behind her family or accepting her fate as the next Raven.

I am in love with this fantasy romance! I really enjoyed Emelia’s journey to discover more about how humans live and are treated in her world. I loved the world-building through the eyes of Emelia. Her discoveries about what it really means to be human, rather than the fantasies she imagines it is based on old movies are both interesting and heartbreaking. I felt so connected to her and felt her heart break as she discovered the world and human life are not the fantasy she imagined. I also loved Emelia’s relationships with her parents, other vampires, and Kyle. I could not put this book down, and I will be anxiously awaiting the next one! I can't wait to dive back into this world and see more of Emelia. This is a perfect fall fantasy that sweeps you into the world of vampires, rebellions, and a journey of what it means to be a human caught between two opposing worlds.

Thank you Netgalley and Helen Glynn Jones for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was really excited to read a vampire romantasy and I really liked the concept: vampires are ruling the continents and our FMC Emelia poised to take over her parent's rule. She lives in a world where humans are kept in safe zones to ensure there's a feeding supply for vampires but there's one small problem - she's human. Because of this Emelia leads a sheltered life but when she secretly ventures out into the world, she discovers she knows nothing about the people she has to lead.

I did like the concept of the human safe zones and the divide between humans and vampires - it did feel more dystopian than fantasy but I liked it.

However, I didn't connect with the FMC Emelia, she was very indecisive and I just found it frustrating. I also felt like the romance was quite rushed and I didn't connect with them as a couple either.

It was a good premise but I think there could have been more depth to the world building and the plot, and more complexity in the characters too.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter for an arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Last Raven is the first in Helen Glynn Jones’ The Ravens series, and promises vampires, forbidden romance, forced proximity. Our protagonist is the heir to a hugely powerful vampiric ruling house, and ‘there’s nothing she can’t have’ - the curveball? She’s been born human.

After the way a similarly introduced book has taken us by storm *cough* serpent and wings* I was excited to read more vampire/human shenanigans this spooky season.

Unfortunately this book didn’t quite hit any of the key notes I was hoping for.
Forced proximity was between Emelia and her brand new vampire bodyguard, except at any time she could’ve had him replaced (and in fact fought hard for him not to be, lying and covering for him with no reason to at all within hours of meeting him). There really was no enemies to lovers, but vague disgruntlement at having a new guard while needing guarding because she couldn’t navigate going to a bathroom without feeling in danger, to catching obsessive feelings and suddenly being ‘in love’ with no real development of the relationship at all.

As for her being the heir to a super powerful family - she appears to have been so successfully cloistered that she is the most naive character I’ve come across in a while. For a while I assumed her parents had kept her clueless for some malevolent purpose we’d uncover, but no. Her peak main character moment was knowing where secret tunnels were to give her access around the castle away from her 24/7 guards. Except the first time her friendly old vampire uncle type guard came and found her there within moments, and the second tunnel she couldn’t reach the lever to go further anyway. At least she tried I guess?

None of the characters were fleshed out well at all and it was impossible to connect with or understand their motivations. We are told many times that Emelia does not want to be heir, that she has a ‘plan’ to escape - yet she’s apparently completely unaware of what she’ll be going into, nor has she made any real concrete decisions about how she’ll get away or even acknowledging that she’d need to ditch her phone to not be tracked, not keep contact with her parents (who rule ‘half the world’ so I imagine have the means to get her fetched home again…)

There was practically no world building or explanation of how anyone other than Emelia lives, other characters exist in a very two dimensional sense, existing either in relation to Emelia or to suddenly appear on page as a pawn piece for a ‘dramatic event’ (see James, whose doom was sealed by being given a name).

So much promise! I do think, in part, that I am not the audience this book has been written for, however other mature readers looking for scary vampire with rebellions and humans fighting for survival, this might not be what you were expecting - pass it to the teens it’s written for instead.

I loved it! Romance, fantasy, vampires and more. I cant wait for the next book. If you enjoy this genre you will love it and if you've never tried this genre before then prepare for a treat.

This story was reminiscent of the ya fantasy books of days gone, vampire academy, city of bones etc. Whilst not the same, it filled me with a sense of nostalgia that a lot of stories seem to be missing these days

I can see some great elements in this but it didn't hit for me. It felt flat and I could not get into the story or characters. It's just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

This was my first book by this author. I have to say I was a little confused because I thought it was marketed as a romantasy but it felt like it was written very much like a YA.

I feel like Insta love happened so quickly in this. We were given zero context for either character and then boom they’re in love.

I also feel like there was zero world building in this and I really had no idea what was going on.
This book had so much potential and it could’ve been so good if we have been given more background for the characters, if it hadn’t been Insta love and they hadn’t rushed it so much, and if there had been more depth to the female main character.

I couldn’t relate to the female main character at all. I felt like she had no depth to her character whatsoever. I also didn’t understand how she was only 17 and was supposed to take over for her dad who was over 500 years old. I didn’t really understand how that was gonna work .

All in all I really wanted to like this book because it sounded very much like The Serpent and The Wings of Night, but those were not the vibes I was getting once I read it.

All in all maybe I just wasn’t the right target audience for this book. However I felt that the synopsis of this book was very misleading and the book didn’t really match it.

2/5 stars for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC

I was intrigued by the concept, but unfortunately the book didn't live up to my expectations. I felt that the characters lacked depth and chemistry. I didn't feel a connection to the characters nor the story and felt it was written pretty juvenile.

DNF @ 30%

I was really looking forward to this book. I'm a vampire girl through and through and romantasy is created for me. I therefore had the book pre-ordered and when I saw it on Netgalley I requested a copy. Luckily One More Chapter granted me one.

However, after 30% I'm absolutely not feeling anything while reading. I'm almost at 1/3rd of the book and there is actually nothing about it that interests me. The characters don't feel very interesting. Our heroine seems naive and her place in society seems really unclear. Are her parents that stupid and naive too? Or are they just willfully blind that the future they want for their daughter is for sure not gonna happen? Speaking about that society. I still don't understand a thing of this world and what happened. There have been some info dumps, but the explanation seems extremely colored through our heroine's lack of knowledge. I understand not wanting to give everything away too soon, but the girl grew up in this world! She shouldn't be THIS lost. And we neither. I also have issues with the writing. I can't exactly pinpoint why it doesn't work for me, but it really doesn't. It makes the book an easy and quick read, but it also lacks life. It's as if the story is written like a newspaper article instead of a gripping novel.

So, the pre-order is cancelled and I'm gonna look for another book that hopefully fits me better. I'm sure there are readers for this book, there always are, but for me nothing in this book stood out.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book.

Unfortunately my frontal lobe is too developed to enjoy and of this book. I read the entire book for the integrity of this rating and I liked none of it. Just went I thought it could not get worse it did. I did not enjoy I’m sorry I tried.

Oh my god, this book was everything I expected and more. Honestly so good. Can’t wait for the next one

The premise of this book was incredible, I was instantly intrigued and excited to read it.
However, I felt the actual book didn’t live up to my expectations. It’s marketed as young adult I believe, but this reminds me of something I would have read as a pre-teen, just with a spice scene. The writing tells rather than shows, and does so very quickly. I felt no real attachment to any of the characters, and I feel this was due to the pacing of the story. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me, but it may be perfect for others, I definitely recommend reading a variety of reviews before deciding for yourself.

While I enjoy fantasy/romantasy novels, I've never been a huge fan of vampire themed stories - for me, it's Buffy for nothing. So, I was a little wary of diving into The Last Raven. It did take me a while to settle into the storyline with immediate mentions of The Red Rising and Safe Zones. Once a little background was provided, then it was easy to follow and understand the world building, which to be fair, is kept nice and simple.
Our protagonist is Emelia Raven, the sole heir to the Raven dynasty of vampires, who control a large portion of the globe. However, Emelia is actually human and has very different views to those of her parents. I did struggle a little with the depth of naviety displayed by the character, but this is explained by the protectiveness of her family and her lack of contact with anyone else.
The storyline does move rapidly and is enjoyable, even though I could unfortunately guess the twists and turns ahead. But I am a lot longer than the age group for this book and that probably helps me to guess.
All in all, a fun and quick paced storyline with plenty of action and little spice that would definitely be popular with YA group.