Gripping plot, vampire politics, a TON of seggsual tension and tropes like found family/betrayal. LOVEEEEEEEEEEE

I love books set in schools/colleges (and vampire books) so this was always going to be a hit. It had way more romance than I expected, which is always welcome.

This was an absolute page turner and I was sucked IN (pun absolutely intended). Thank you for the e-arc and I’m sorry it took me so long to get round to it!!!

Stars: 4.5 Stars
Start Date: 8/04/24
Ending Date:  08/17/24
Genre:  Dark Academica Fantasy
Form:  E-ARC/ Audiobook
Page Count: 432 pg.
Publishing Date: 09/03/24
Point of View:  3rd Person
Setting: Uxlay University
Content Warning: Violence, Blood , Death, Sexual

Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for the E-ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This review is way overdue but life gets in the way so here it goes.

Since it was overdue, I'm just going to say a few things and keep it going.

First of all, I love this book to bits and it was one of my favorite reads of last year,2024.

Second of all I recommend this book if you love the following things.

Real Enemies to Lovers- like they were actively trying to kill each other until they finally got a mutual understanding of each other. It's still nowhere near to lovers. Almost Friends but a lot of sexual tension.

Dark Academia- Will question your morals and ethics.

Muder Mystery Plot

Vampires- They are so interesting how they work in the world. How they interact with humans. I am writing this review at the perfect time since the Movie Sinners with Michael B Jordan just came out.

World Building- The world that is the school, the different houses and the lore between Vampires and the humans and why it's a pact between them. Girma did an excellent job on her world building so far.

The Story itself- It feels a fresh take on Vampires and Dark Academica woven together. Even though for some reason it gave me the show Wednesday Vibes. I do have to say around the 70% mark of the book it does start to drag and feel like it needs to start wrapping up.

Badass Female Main Character- Kidan is a really good female character but just bare with her until she finally gets some sense and character Development but she is good. She does make you say " Kidan No!", " WTF Kidan?" " Leave that Man alone Kidan!" a whole bunch of times but she does finally get it together somewhat. She has a complexity to her and she has inner turmoil that makes a good leading character. All she is trying to do is find out who has her sister and she has to navigate through a university that she didn't know even existed.

Badass Male Main Character- I love me some Susenyos! There were a couple times in the book where I was like " I know you are tired of Kidan but just bare with her. Don't kill her yet!" I wonder if he got grey hair in his locs because of her.

Awesome Side Characters- I need to spin off books with each one.

Black Black Blackity Black- I'm rooting for everyone that is black.

After that ending, I need the next book like right now! Like shit is going to hit the fan next book.

Which I would like an arc copy of the second book please?? lol

I was so excited to read this book especially with the way it was being promoted! I was lucky enough to receive an arc and a super cute pin!
I thought I’d posted my review for this one and unfortunately i missed it! I read the arc last year and loved it.
I absolutely love a Vampire book and this one did not disappoint. It’s a dark romance with an amazing plot which at times got a little lost but it picked right back up again fairly quickly.
The characters were all well written and had a good depth to them, I loved that they most were willing to be ruthless if they needed to be.
The world building was fantastic and I loved the authors writing style. For a debut novel this was amazing.
This book was filled with so many different tropes and I loved it.
I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future.
If you enjoy a Dark Romance book with Vampires and Dark Academia vibes then I definitely recommend this book.

I’m really looking forward to the next book in this amazing series.

So this is a 3.5 stars rating but I had serious mixed thoughts about this.

What I liked - it’s dark and gritty. Like dark dark. I love enemies to lovers and this feels like they are really enemies. I like the dark academia aspect. I like that this is a different take on vampire lore - didn’t think it would be possible to do something new with that but the author surprised me. I love the Ethiopian slant - go diversity! I love the main characters - Kidan is loveably demented (like Jinx in Arcane) and Yos is yummy in every sense. That fight scene on the Cossi night .., amazing!

What I didn’t love - the pacing. Parts of it bored me to tears and nearly turned me off but I reread and pushed through and it got good again. I hate a miscommunication trope - the absolute worst. I get trust issues etc but sooo freaking much could have been avoided if people just spoke to each other. It made for an overcomplicated plot. There is a thin line between complicated and convoluted- unfortunately this tips over the edge.

This has a good balance of all the elements - world building, character development and plot. If anything a bit too heavy handed on the plot but for the first book in a series, a very good balance. I can’t wait to read the next book.

Oh and oddly this book is equally steamy (almost literally hahaha - there are some bath scenes) and not spicy at all at the same time. I can’t actually tell if the characters had sex or not but I don’t care. I loved it anyway. Can’t wait to see where things go in the next book.

This book was so much darker than I thought it was going to be. It’s definitely a dark academia, vampire fantasy romance!

For a girl that doesn’t like dark academia I definitely enjoyed this one; there was so much romance. And when I say romance I mean sexually suggestive scenes and a LOT of sexual tension.

Some of the scenes where it got to blood drinking were very heated ❤️‍🔥

Aside from the romance the plot was very gripping as there was murders, mystery, betrayal, found family, lost family, vampire politics and fighting. I think this is why it was so gripping - there was so much action I needed to know what was going to happen next!

Another thing I loved about this book was the short chapters and the letters from the main characters aunt - I love a good letter in a book.

The only 2 downfalls for me were:
That it was dark academia I do prefer a lot of the fluff and romance when it comes to a vampire story.
And some of the characters I found really difficult to pronounce so I’m not going to lie I gave them different names in my head

I’ve been excited for this book ever since I saw the author first talking about it online. Were well overdue a vampire comeback and this was IT! Immediately I was invested in Kidan’s journey and the prose was lush.

I was really looking forward to reading this and it had a good premise and loved that the lead was from Ethiopian heritage. I could understand Kidan's anguish and doing anything in her power to get her sister June back as it must have been an awful shock. The hatred and anguish between Susenyos and herself is understandable as both have strong reasons behind their behaviour towards each other, especially with the rules at Uxley and you could feel the rising animosity between them until it reached its peak. I was also shocked with what happened to Ramyn. I thought it was an enjoyable read with a good premise but I did feel as though (in my own personal opinion) that it was a bit repetitive throughout with Kidan strong feeling to just want to kill everyone and Susenyos playing childish games however looking at the characters individually their actions are to be expected based on the circumstances that have led up to the point of the book and what they have to lose/gain but my personal reading experience fell a little bit short of my own desired expectations. This is not a reflection on what other people will take from reading it and I would definitely recommend to other people to read. I am still looking forward to reading the second book in the trilogy!

I really tried to get into this story but it just wasn't clicking for me. I have to review every book I get or I won't hit 100%, sorry!

Unfortunately it wasn’t what I was expecting. I didn’t engage with any of the characters & found the world building a little confusing

Was a tricky ready, some bit were great and gripping but some elements were long and drawn out making it really hard work to stick too, some bits were overly confusing or over written. Had a great theory just didn’t meet my expectations.

I had to slow down and savour this book, hence the late review, but it was so worth savouring.

This book had a very shocking start, I had to process the beginnings of Kidan's decent into Uxlay because bloody hell it was so brutal. You slowly come to understand her decisions and I will say I support her rights and wrongs.

I cannot wait for book 2 because that ending left my jaw hanging on the FLOOR!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Hodder and Stoughton for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review. 


TW: death, gore, murder, parental abuse, torture, suicidal ideation, violence, fire

This is such an atmospheric book and one of the most original takes on vampires that I’ve read, with vampires originating in Ethiopia. However I struggled with the main character of Kidan and found the other characters to be inconsistent and a little underdeveloped. I had really high hopes for this because it started so well but it was ultimately not for me.

A delicious and dark read spilling over with vampires and mystery.

Kidan Adane is suddenly pulled into the thrilling world of Uxlay University on her mission to find her missing sister June. Kidan is sure that the house vampire of the house belonging to her family is behind it all, Susenyos. To keep her place at Uxlay Kidan must graduate her classes in order to claim her house and not let it go to the scary yet alluring Susenyos. But when a murder takes place on campus Kidan realises that it seems to mirror June's disappearance. Soon she is completely swept up with trying to find her sister and really get to the bottom of what is happening.

Whilst I found a few parts slightly too long I felt that the overall pace was good! I was intrigued and wanted to find out more. Also black vampires? YES PLEASE! This world of Immortal Dark has such a rich history and lore that I can't wait to explore it even more in the next book. I enjoyed this and I will be looking forward to the sequel!

This may be the most misleadingly marketed book of the year. If you're reading this for the dark academia label, don't.

First off, one of the things I did like: I loved that we had a completely unhinged, angry female MC. Kidan was ready to do anything to save her sister and I found it admirable that the author didn't soften Kidan's anger or her mental health struggles. Her inner monologue read like that of a sociopath at times which was a ballsy choice for a YA book. I also liked the exploration of literal and inner demons and the posed question of what evil truly is.

Speaking of hatred and evil, this could qualify as true enemies to lovers. Kidan and Susenyos truly loathed each other for the majority of the book and tried to murder each other multiple times. We love to see it. However, thinking back on it, the romance did feel a bit lackluster to me. This was mainly due to the fact that we did not truly get to know the love interest until the middle of the book and both of them were far too guarded and distrusting to truly work together. By the end, it felt more like enemies to lust to begrudging trust (maybe). As a result, the emotional scenes didn't catch me and I wasn't buying into them truly having feelings for each other.

Moreover, as I already hinted at, my main gripe with this book was the dark academia label. The structure of the vampire university was nebulous at best and there was barely any academic pursuit. We see Kidan meet up for study groups, which usually get interrupted, and attend "vampire philosophy" classes which she needs to solve riddles for which end up as vehicles to push the romance. Since the book failed to resemble actual academia, it also failed to criticise academia in any meaningful way. There was some influence from Donna Tartt's The Secret History, mainly the unhinged murder friend group, but that was all the academia I could parse. The murder friend group shtick was also pushed to ridiculous dimensions to the point where I felt like it may have been satire. Similarly, the setting felt more like a theatre backdrop than a real place. If the book had been set in, say, a Gothic vampire castle à la Dracula, not much would have changed. Reminiscent of Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, there were some secret societies on campus. Sadly, they had really low stakes goals, which was a shame. Like the campus itself, its secret societies were a bit nebulous and I couldn't quite grasp what their goals were or how they were organised.

What I did like was when the book veered into the thriller genre. Kidan trying to solve her sister's disappearance and possible murder was easily the most engaging part of the book and also I felt like when Kidan's character came truly into her own. The female rage was raging and I was eating it up, thank you very much. Delicious, give me ten more. Still, it appeared as if the book couldn't decide what genre it wanted to be - thriller, fantasy romance or dark academia? Adult or YA? As a result, it ended up in a weird in-between space.

The quality of the prose varied - some turns of phrase I found really beautiful, others made me cringe. The dialogue was a similar case. There were some phrases I knew the author included to have quotes for marketing or social media, or ones that were supposed to be "deep" but didn't work. As Girma is a debut author, I'm cutting her some slack. Prose is usually the area that authors most improve in after writing a few books, so we're turning a blind eye to the prose here. I definitely saw potential in her writing.

The ending felt really convoluted to me and around three quarters in, I lost all motivation to continue. Since this was an ARC, I felt obligated to finish and review it, but had I bought it, I would have likely DNFed.

Now, I have already seen many positive reviews and I'm truly happy there's a crowd who loves this. This will probably be big with the TVD Klaus Mikaelson girlies. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me and I probably won't continue the series.

Immortal Dark is an absolutely captivating masterpiece that breathes new life into the dark academia subgenre. It is the sort of book that grips you from the very beginning and leaves you entirely consumed by every little detail. If there's one new novel that must be on your reading list this autumn and winter, it needs to be this one!

Kidan is such a compelling and multi-layered character. I adored her moral ambiguity and just how unhinged she could be. True enemies to lovers is at its finest here. Other reviewers have mentioned this but Immortal Dark reminded me a lot of Ninth House and The Cruel Prince. Combine both of those novels' strongest elements and you get Immortal Dark.

The setting felt so real and atmospheric and I was deeply impressed with how creative the story was, particularly to its nods to East African folklore. I am desperately in need of book two and I cannot wait to see how this series develops. Tigest Girma has an exciting career ahead of her.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

- Vampires
- Enemies to lovers ish
- Family
- Friends
- Dark academia
- Violence
- Magic

This book I've been looking forward to all year and omg did it not disappoint. This was amazing.

The lore in this is detailed and deep and had me gripped. The rules within this world is very cool and unique( to me anyway)

The main characters are indeed enemies from the start and it's so deep. The sarcasm and feelings between the characters is so gripping and really grabs you.

Honestly can't recommend this enough if you like vampires, dark academia and the darker side of books think of the level of the Scholomance trilogy.

I would say this is on the darker side of YA I wouldn't recommend this to anyone on the younger side, it reads more adult that YA with the main character being in the YA age range.

I cannot wait for the next one in this trilogy.

Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Children's Group for an arc in exchange for an honest review

Amazing, absolutely loved this. A great mix of dark acamdei and vampires. The world and the structure of the school and houses is unique and keeps you interested in the characters and what their motives are. Will definitely be continuing the series.

An amazingly unique take on a vampiric world that will bring any vampire lover to want to read every book this debut author will write

This was such a deliciously dark, mysterious and brilliant book. I couldn’t help but be swept up by the history and complex ways of Uxlay University - and its inhabitants - and the writing style was just incredible. There’s nothing I love more than a woman hellbent on revenge, and Kidan was just that. Her trauma and sisterly loyalty was intoxicating, as was her angry, inquisitive and relentless nature. I loved her!!!!

Susenyos - I wanted to hate him but it was impossible. There were so many points in this book that I wanted to knock Susenyos and Kidan’s heads together!

The action? Immaculate. The tension? Continuous thrilling. The complex world building and lore? Incredibly done. The twists? My head is still spinning. The dark academia vibes? PERFECT for this time of year. I actually can’t believe it’s over and can’t wait to return to Uxlay…

Let me know if you’ll be reading this one, or if you’ve already fallen right into the grasp of these complex and bloody incredible characters. I certainly have.

How wonderful to see another new author coming through with such a superb first book? A story full of adventure, romance, tension and magic - my students are going to adore this!