My first five star of the year and my only regret is not reading this sooner. But, now I have to wait in agony for the next in the series.

A rich world that builds mystery, intrigue, and is filled with many wonders and legacy and gods and vampires and combat and fun characters and a couple of plot twists along the way; this together created a perfect blend of what my little fantasy heart desires. Arvelle is barely keeping it together. Working as a hired guard, she strives each and every day to care for her brothers while also continually bottling off and running from her grief. Grieving her childhood and the mother she wished would have chosen her and grieving the death of her best friend, Kassia. A fateful encounter with a powerful vampire Bran turns her world upside down as she is bonded with him until she can complete one specific task - kill the emperor.

There was so much to grasp and learn in the initial first quarter of the novel. Lots of character names, world building, political structure and power dynamics, and grasping a rich history that felt too much to understand at first. However, I felt we were learning about all this alongside Arvelle, who mostly has stayed out of some of the intricate details of the empire and focused on her survival in the Thorn. What first felt overwhelming slides into place the further along we were taken through the plot. I felt that it really deepened the story being told and made the universe in We Who Will Die feel vast and I appreciated the little details and comments characters would make that expounded upon a particular topic. What seemed insignificant before played a role in something later on. Oh, and did I mention that that there seems to be a love triangle forming between two vampire brothers?

Speaking of the romance, while it is there and continued to unfold more prominently in the narrative, it didn't overrun other key plot points. It didn't feel like the action and world building were pushed aside for a more favorable push in the romance and its place in the story felt natural and not forced to move along. In fact, by the end of the story, you are left more curious as to how things will play out moving forward and not locked in to one specific trope. Kudos to that because as much as I love romantasy (don't get me wrong!), I love it even more when it is a blended balance of action, strength and character build, magic, and interesting companion characters that get their moments.

What I loved:

• Rorrick
• Interesting world of characters, creatures, political power, and mystery
• Rorrick
• Strong scene building and ability to keep readers interest despite lots of information with twists/turns in the story
• Rorrick

May be biased because We Who Will Die contains all my favorite things (Vampires, magic, a brooding angsty melancholic character that I want to fix, and a bad ass best friend that I hope we get to see shine further as the story continues) but highly recommend reading this if you are in a fantasy/romantasy slump. Ms. Stark has me in a chokehold until the next in the series and I couldn't be happier.

I would describe what it felt like to finish this book like a shrug. I am unsure how to really describe this one.

You follow the story mostly through Michael's POV as the adopted (more like kidnapped) son of the Morrow family. The Morrow's are not your typical family. They are all suffering from some level of mental illness and obsession with inflicting pain. Michael has always accepted his life as is before, but it all changes when he gets a taste of freedom and potential romance when he meets a girl named Alice.

The horror elements are not as gory or out there, so this is a good read for someone new to the genre. This also focuses more on drama/psychological horror and the plot is heavily focused on confusing and distressing the reader. The problem I have with this one is that for a good portion of the story, nothing happens. It is a slow trudge through the plot and with all that slowed down pacing, the twists were very predictable. What kept me going to see the way things would wrap up is the author's ability to really pull you into the story. I was easily able to follow along with the characters and visualize their feelings and the scenes throughout. Any author that makes imagining of the characters easy to do has my vote, so I pushed on through. The ending was like hitting a brick wall after all that adrenaline and I am unsure how to feel about the way the events wrapped up.

I came in with high expectations, because I adored Freya's past work I have read. The style of writing and romance that I anticipated was ever abundant, but the problem for me is that I couldn't get past the world that she staged.

Matti, heir to a prestigious family name and legacy, has found himself in a bind due to a secret the Jay family has been harboring - they're broke. So what typically happens when prestigious families make deals with other prestigious families? Why, they bind their heir's to a marriage! Matti has accepted this, albeit grudingly, as he has already sacrified his own interests for the sake of the family. That all collapses as he intertwines himself with Luca, a mysterious self proclaimed con artists of whom Matti hires to be his dueling best man. All in all, the story was unique and interesting to start, but I found it to become repetitive consistently. Just when I was hoping to delve deeper into the world these characters are navigating in, I left with more questions and disinterest. I powered through simply due to the authors charm, witty humor, and lustful yearning romance I came to love. I felt the ratio of that enjoyment versus the content I was absorbing to be quite off, much to my dismay.

I do admire the amount of research and work this author put in to describing the wool trade industry and mapping out the complexities of these character's struggles. They were very real and well though out but the issue was that I am not sure if the reader is still as locked in by the halfway point of more and more info dumping.

All in all, if this is your introction to this author PLEASE don't give in if you find yourself underwhelmed with this one. Give her Last Binding series a try!