We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark – Book Review

Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Series: Empire of Blood (Book 3)

Genre: Adult Fantasy Romance

Spice: Hot

Summary:

Growing up in the poor Thorne district, Arvelle and her younger brothers are used to making what little she brings home as a hired bodyguard stretch. But one day she comes home to find a Vampire outside her home with a deal she can’t refuse; he will help heal her terminally ill brother and give them enough money to leave the Thorne. In exchange, Arvelle will kill the emperor, a powerful, ancient vampire bent on expanding his power. Before she can process what she’s agreed to, she’s whisked to the Arena to prepare for the Sundering, a brutal series of fights to become a royal bodyguard.

As Arvelle trains for the Sundering, she butts heads with the Primus, the head of the most elite royal guards, and Rorrick, the Emperor’s son. Both powerful vampires, Arvelle can’t tell whether they’re goal is to help her or kill her. She’s also haunted by her past in another arena, and the man who abandoned her. She’ll have to overcome her ghosts and someone murdering Sundering participants to survive and impress the Primus enough to become a royal bodyguard and gain the access she needs to kill the emperor. Because her brothers' lives are on the line, and Arvelle will kill the emperor or die trying.

Reaction:

I really enjoyed reading We Who Will Die! It hit all the things I’m craving in a romantic fantasy: great plot twists, character growth, an interesting world, and just enough scheming and politics to keep my interest. I really connected to Arvelle and her motivations and loved how some of the themes were woven into the plot. And the romance was unique and made me excited for the next book in the series!

I thought the plot was good. There were moments when it stalled a bit, but overall, it moved fast enough to keep my interest, and plenty of twists I didn’t see coming. There seemed like there were two levels of plot. There was the surface plot focused on the trials and character growth to keep the reader engaged. Then there were a lot of events that were kind of in the background that I believe were setting up for the longer series. I do wish the two purposes had seemed more intertwined. There were some events I didn’t think twice about that now after finishing the book seem like they will be major plot points for the series moving forward.

I enjoyed how themes of grief and loss were interspersed throughout the novel. It didn’t interfere with the pace but was brought up consistently in a way that made it important and believable. Too often, I think grief feels like something the main character must get past quickly to continue their journey, but this representation was more illustrative of how grief can have a real continuous impact on one’s life.

I thought the setting was unique and interesting. A Rome-like city where vampires are in power is something I’ve never read before. The vampire lore was in some ways typical, but in others distinctive; the idea behind the vampire’s creation was religious, but with a pantheon of gods more reminiscent of ancient Rome. The contrasts between the Thorne, the training grounds, and Arvelle’s occasional exposure to wealth and power really provided insight into the disparities between various groups. I appreciated that since the FMC was from a very poor upbringing, the reader’s view of the country’s politics is very narrow and basic; an understanding of the common people and their motivations, but no clue into the more complicated machinations of those in power. I’m excited to potentially learn more about those machinations in the next books. I also liked how various creatures were included in the story such as Griffons and Kelpies. They brough a wrinkle that made the world feel expansive even if the FMC is not, and I hope the creatures will be explored more in the future books.

Where this book really shone was the main character. Arvelle has so much character growth in this book. She starts out with very simple needs and goals and is haunted by the deaths and betrayals she experienced. Her character is stuck in time with her life not having a direction until she realizes she must learn to trust and rely on others again. Once she has this realization, her character really seems to expand in a way that makes me excited to see what she does next. I thought Rorrick was such an intriguing character, and I’m itching to learn his secrets. Meanwhile, the other MMC seems more tortured and two-faced since he refuses to break the mold prepared for him in a meaningful way. I did have a problem with some of the very minor supporting characters. They seemed to be randomly referenced with little to no characterization for me to remember them, and that made it hard to keep track of who’s who.

The romance was incredibly variable! This book has a main love interest from Arvelle’s past that I both resented and rooted for because that’s what Arvelle was feeling. But, when I looked past what was happening on the surface, these two don’t really know each other, even if they think they do. This made some of the romance scenes read bittersweet, almost catatonic to me. There is also a second man that I think could be a rival love interest. The scenes between Arvelle and this man made me feel vivid, alive, and on edge in the way I crave from romantasy books. Honestly, I think this book put me through the gambit when it comes to romance, and I am all in, sign me up for the next chapter!

Overall, this book is one that has me antsy to read the next in the series, despite my critiques. I thought it was so balanced between the characters and world building while still having plenty of surprising twists. If you love vampire romances, bad-ass FMCs able to fight their own battles, and imperfect characters growing into themselves this book is for you!

What I enjoyed:

·       The twists! I went into this book thinking it’s going in one direction, telling a specific story, it’s all laid out. But by the end, it’s telling a completely different story, with a different focus, and I’m amazed to look back and see how they folded into each other.

·       I appreciated that while Arvelle had so much character growth in this first book, she still has so much room to keep improving. This author seems to be really good at writing characters that appear perfectly in control at first glance, but they are still trying to figure themselves out underneath.

·       I do like a bit of politics in my fantasy books, and while the main politics was “emperor bad” in this book, there were just enough hints of something more nuanced to make me excited for the next book.

What I didn't enjoy:

·       Random introductions of supporting characters without any meaningful characterization or relationships to other characters. There were some instances that made me question “Am I supposed to know who this is?”