Absolutely amazing!! I'd shout from the hills about this book. Reminded me of buffy but in its own way. I love Amy's work and this was just another brilliant novel. Great characters and brill plot!

While this book showed potential, it ultimately fell short in terms of plot development. The storyline felt predictable and lacked originality, giving the impression that it has been done before. Additionally, the characters appeared inconsistent, which made it difficult to stay engaged.
Overall, while the effort is appreciated, the execution didn’t quite meet expectations.

They Own The Night is a young adult novel set in the 1980s about two siblings whose serial killer father was the main drama in their lives until they discover that vampires are real. Mia and Johnny's dad is in prison, having been revealed to be a serial killer, and they are both now at university near Edinburgh, trying to make their own way. Mia loves horror and has a true crime radio show, whereas Johnny is a budding music journalist with an invite to interview a reclusive rock star. As Mia uncovers secrets close to home and Johnny finds himself falling for the bad boy musician, they both discover that horror might be more relevant than they expected.

This is a Dracula retelling that has a good balance between being a retelling and actually having its own plot and character arcs. Having read the first book in McCaw's Mina and the Undead series previously, I was interested to see what this one would be like. The narrative is told through Mia being interviewed in the 'present' by a police detective as well as snippets from 'then' from the perspectives of both siblings. There's also bits of Mia's radio show mixed in, and this combination has a flavour of the format of Dracula without being too epistolary in nature (it is more similar to Interview with the Vampire really in terms of format).

Having both siblings' perspectives and stories makes the book feel a lot more complex and vivid, especially as Johnny's story is more ill-advised queer romance and Mia's is more group of friends become monster hunters. Sometimes plot points feel a bit forced to make the Dracula retelling and multiple narrative arcs work (the radio show, for example, is plot-relevant, but feels like it could've been a bit more). The 80s setting is fun, though it does rely a bit on modern teenagers liking The Lost Boys (saying that, but as a 2000s teenager I would've loved this book, which feels like a great follow on from 2000s children's vampire series like The Saga of Darren Shan).

As an adult who likes trashy vampire media and who particularly loved trashy vampire media as a teenager, from my perspective They Own The Night is a fun way of retelling Dracula. I like that it plays on the tension between Jonathan and Dracula in other versions of the story and doesn't feel the need to stick too close to the original narrative whilst still having a lot of the same plot beats.

This met every expectation for my horror loving heart! I had an absolute ball reading this book! Perfect for the upcoming spooky (or all year for me) season! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for granting me an e-arc of this one! I loved Amy’s previous series the Mina and the undead series so I was so excited that she was bringing out a new book and I had such a fun time with this one, I loved the 80’s vibe in this book it always gives me stranger things vibes and I really liked the whole true crime radio station I would listen to that! Our main character Mia deals with anxiety and panic attacks which is important to discuss and I liked the multi pov’s between Mia and Johnny and their dad we find out in in prison for murdering 13 people which was interesting it then turns into a mystery when 2 boys are killed which I really liked that. I am really into books with vampires at the minute and this one was a fun time and we have our other main character Vlad and I thought he was really interesting. This was a really fun time and I hope we get more from these characters and I will deffo continue! 4.5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Loved everything about this book, took me completely by surprise, the story was well write, the characters were amazing and the pace was quick. Amazing read!

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

I love Dracula and this was an interesting retelling from a true crime lens. This is in a modern setting but it’s very clear where the original has influenced this book and the author has made parallels. I thought the author had blended in their references and influences beautifully. There’s a clear love for the original book here, but also the deep affection for pre-2000 horror. I found the author had merged these things together really well giving us a book that was clear in its influences but also feeling new and unique.

We follow two main characters, Johnny and Mia. Johnny who is taken in by the vampires, seeing the romantic side, and Mia, the feisty investigator, unwilling to be brainwashed and challenging what she sees. Her investigation into events on her university campus throw new light on events from her past and force her to reexamine her relationships in light of what she has learned.

This was my second book from this author and definitely my favourite of theirs. I thought it was well constructed. The book is told through police interviews, journals and recollections as well as interspersed radio snippets. I didn’t think the radio stuff was explored thoroughly enough and it didn’t really feel like it added anything, but it didn’t detract from the book either. I would have just preferred it to have felt a bit more integral to the story.

A good vampire novel, nostalgic and refreshing at the same time.

I really like Amy's writing but if I'm honest this isn't the strongest sadly

The pacing was good, the character developed was also done well

I loved this book so much. I read most of it in one sitting on a Sunday, but it took me three days total to read which shows how much I loved it because for me that's a quick read.
I love how nostalgic this authors writing makes me feel. I'm instantly transported to the books I read as a teen due to the style and setting. I got slight Interview with a Vampire/Queen of the Damned vibes from the story which I adored as I was obsessed with those films.
It's been a long time since I read the original Dracula, but I can remember that I found it a difficult read and that I wasn't absorbed by it, but this story I followed along perfectly even with a large number of characters and a mix of then and now timelines.
I appreciated the small snippets of memos/diary entries too, it was a nice addition to build the story without being too much (I've seen other authors lean into the mixed media aspect a bit too much for me so this was a nice balance).
Admittedly I can't remember much of the original Dracula but throughout this story there were a good few moments when something I didn't expect happened which made it an exciting read for me.
Overall a fab read, I love this authors writing and I think I will always read anything she writes.