BLOOD TORN

To win the ongoing war between different kinds of vampires, Emma must defeat her worst enemy: her sister.

Following the events of Blood Born (2023), Emma, a Dhampir born of vampire and human parents, has continued to hone her special vampire skills that she’ll need if she and her friends and found family—her nest of half-bloods—are to stop the original vampire families called the Immortals from killing them all. Emma’s evil twin sister, however, is on the side of the Immortals, and torturing Emma is her primary objective. Emma seeks out the assistance of the Astley brothers, Immortals who have appeared to remain neutral—but the Astley estate harbors dark secrets that Emma could never have imagined. As the death toll climbs, Emma must decide who to trust and embrace who she was meant to be so she can stop her sister once and for all. What should be a twisty and exciting tale is let down by unpolished writing that repeatedly regurgitates the same plot points. Violence and evil seem to exist just for shock value, without much-needed depth or examination. The romance subplots unfortunately do not fit well into the overall narrative and feel baffling. Fans of the first book may be pleased with the optimistic ending, but it’s a chore to get there. Most characters read white.

A frustrating slog.