god I love a good arc!!!!!!

let me just tell you everything I think. -I really enjoyed our characters in this one. Especially the side characters who felt really fleshed out to me (Harlow!!) -the setting of them all on the road in a caravan is so fun and easy to imagine! The river and the snow. The destroyed town. The cities -always a fan of dual pov and I like that it was still mostly prom Inana’s perspective -Dominic’s shades. I fear I’m obsessed -THE LAST 30% HELLO!?!? the plot twists, the way everything was coming together, perfection. -the way the shadows were written was really cool and I loved that they were like sentient. -this world felt very fresh and cool. I was thinking this was gonna be like a vampire thing almost but I love that it was completely its own.

a quick synopsis: In this world, there are shadows constantly on the hunt and causing violence. People and and cities are given protection from these shadows, in part, by the immortals known as Sinless. As a trade, the mortals give their blood since that’s what the Sinless consume. Shadows are attracted to any creative activity so naturally art is outlawed and labeled a sin. But our main character, Inana has always felt connected to sewing and storytelling, resulting in her being an outlaw. The story starts when Inana is approached by Dominic, a half-sinless, who knows she has a bounty in her head. He offers her a job and says her other option is to let him collect her bounty. She agrees to help him hunt shadows for the next 6 months in exchange for safe passage across the sea.

something about a lesbian vampire just make me such a simp!

I really enjoyed this book a lot. It wasn’t perfect but I had a lot of fun! Our main vampire hunter, Rebecca, is pretty bigoted at first but as the story unfolds we see why that is and then we also see her grow. I also loved out main vampire, Aliz <3 like she’s so baby girl while also being the boss.

Besides the characters, I really enjoyed the school setting and the tunnels and such. The plot overall was enjoyable though the epilogue felt more like a final chapter than anything else. The way it “wrapped up” the happy ending was a little rushed so I’m excited to see feeling in the second book. I LOVE A DUOLOGY

Thank you to publishers Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore and author Annie Summerlee for the arc through NetGalley

This one really felt reminiscent of sci-fi’s I read a lot in middle school which tracks since this is a ya book. While the characters aren’t anything ground breaking, the plot was very engaging and the pace was on point.

The topic of “clone rights” is actually super interesting in the context of the book. Like I would say, in real life, I’m against cloning bc that’s a slippery slope to eugenics/racism but, in the context of the book where there are clones just out and about already, I’m def against them being dehumanized. In the book is a pretty polarizing political topic and I just want to yell at them all

I thought the ending of this one was good! I’m shocked that I didn’t see it coming. It definitely helped increase my curiosity about the second one.

Thanks for picking this one out, dad!