Immortal Dark Review
Release Date: September 3, 2024 | 432 Pages
Buy From: Amazon, Barnes & Noble
Synopsis/Summary
Dark academia. The undead. An orphaned heiress. An irresistible vampire tale steeped in mystery rooted in Ethiopian lore ensues. Brimming with enemies-to-lovers tension, family secrets and dark magic, it’s a sharp-edged story that packs bite.
The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House in this dangerously romantic dark academia fantasy, where a lost heiress must infiltrate an arcane society and live with the vampire she suspects killed her family and kidnapped her sister.
It began long before my time, but something has always hunted our family.
Orphaned heiress Kidan Adane grew up far from the elusive society of vampires she was born into, where human bloodlines gain power through vampire companionship. She is obsessively protective, mildly nihilistic, and willing to do anything to save her loved ones. When her sister, June, disappears, Kidan is convinced a vampire stole her—the same vampire bound to her family bloodline, the cruel yet captivating Susenyos Sagad.
To find June, Kidan must infiltrate the elite Uxlay University—where students study to inherit their family fortune and select vampire companions. Kidan must study an arcane philosophy, work with four enigmatic students, and survive living with Susenyos—even as he does everything to drive her away. It doesn’t matter that Susenyos’s wickedness speaks to Kidan's own violent nature and tempts her to surrender to a life of darkness. She must find her sister and kill Susenyos at all costs. When a murder mirroring June’s disappearance shakes Uxlay, Kidan sinks further into the ruthless underworld of vampires, risking her very soul. There she discovers a centuries-old threat. And June could be at the center of it. To save her sister, Kidan must bring Uxlay to its knees and either break free from the horrors of her own actions or embrace the dark entanglements of love—and the blood it requires.
My Review
I have to start this review by admitting that I was captivated by the cover art and the sprayed edges of the pages on the Barnes and Noble edition. The hardcover of this book is gorgeous! It contains art that references things later revealed in the story, a map of Uxlay University’s campus, and some of the pages throughout the book are artistically designed. It’s a beautiful add to your collection.
Now, let’s get into my review of the book. The MC, Kidane Adane, is not your typical morally good character. From the synopsis, you would think she’s going to be the hero of the tale. If you do not like morally gray characters, this book may not be for you. As Kidan finds herself navigating through this elusive vampire society, she makes decisions that some may deem wrong or…right. Kidan meets and must live with Susenyos Sagad, her family’s vampire companion, who she suspects is June’s kidnapper. I can’t say that I suspected Susenyos from the beginning. That would have been too easy and, frankly, lazy. Kidan and Susenyos go through the song and dance of hating each other since Kidan has disrupted his world and she thinks he’s evil. It was very entertaining to read their interactions as they try to make one another’s lives hell. They each have their moments where I was annoyed by them, but by the end of the book, I loved them both. Susenyos seems like such a mysterious and complex character that I found myself wanting to know more about him than Kidan. It may have been because of my obsession with vampires. Especially African vampires.
Let’s get into Uxlay University. The worldbuilding to help us visualize the campus and its inhabitants is excellent! To me the university is described as this beautiful, Gothic land filled with African vampires and humans. It’s filled with magic, deadly secret societies and complex philosophies that Kidan must infiltrate and understand to find her sister. The magic and philosophy around using it really makes the wheels turn. I found myself critically thinking about a lot of the ideas Uxlay followed. While taking classes, Kidan makes connections with people that she wouldn’t normally since she was isolated after the disappearance of his sister. The connections have you questioning if they’re trustworthy or not based on the nature of the society. Through it all, this is a dark academia tale, with a little romantasy, that kept me up late nights to read. It was slow at times but the pace didn’t bother me too much. By the end, I couldn’t wait to get into book 2, Eternal Ruin. As a vampire lore lover, I give this book 4.5 wigs. Give it a read!
