I was really excited to dive into this one, after loving the series Kingdom of Lies, anything new from Stacia Stark is an automatic addition to my TBR!
We Who Will Die kicks off a new romantasy trilogy inspired by Ancient Rome, with a unique magical twist involving sigilmarked humans and vampires. The concept is bold and imaginative, and as always, Stacia Stark’s writing is incredibly engaging. Her world-building, especially early on, is rich, immersive, and full of vivid detail that pulled me in right away.

That said, I’ll admit the mix of vampires, Roman influences, mythical creatures, vengeful gods, and an entirely new magic system felt a little overwhelming at times. There was just a lot going on, and my brain struggled to keep up with it all at times!

The core plot does follow some familiar romantasy tropes, but it still hits all the right beats for an enjoyable read. I was entertained throughout, and I’m completely hooked on Rorrik, he’s hands down the standout character for me. I have to know what “he saw her first” really means! I’ll definitely be picking up the second book, if only to find out where his story goes.

Thank you NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for the ARC.

We Who Will Die is fast paced and full of drama. The magic system was unique and interesting, although the world building itself was a bit more difficult to grasp.
I found some elements of the setting harder to believe, it impacted my rating a lot.
I think this would appeal to fans of Blood of Hercules and also perhaps Quicksilver.