Vampires are usually 100% up my alley. Doesn't matter if they are silly or far fetched, it's vampires who cares. But for some reason I just could not get into this book the way I should have. Maybe it was the dystopian aspect? I don't really love dystopian narratives, though vampires and dystopia aren't an unlikely duo. It happens quite frequently and I haven't been much bothered by it before. I am going to chalk it up to my mood just wasn't there.

That being said, the writing was good, the characters were interesting and likeable, and the plot moved relatively smoothly. And the world building was really well done, though there were pieces and bits of history that I wished were a little more fleshed out. These didn't really take away from the story overall. I was really slow to finish this and even slower to write my review. This is something that I aim to be better about as I move on in the future.

An enjoyable read and a different take on vampires mixed with some scifi which should have been for me, but I just found it a bit slow and not really for me, I’m sure others will enjoy this however not this reader sadly

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I had never heard of this title or author until I saw it available here and the synopsis definitely had me interested.

I am reluctant to post this review on Goodreads because it has few enough reviews that I hate to leave negative feedback that could potentially sway readers away from a lesser known novel. So what I will say is this, I think that this set up nicely what could be a really interesting series. For me personally, the world building was slow, the character development was less about deep diving and more about introducing a cast, and the pacing dragged a bit. With that being said, often times first books that DON'T do these things, I dislike for the opposite. So I think that this was just a case of not being my own taste, and I definitely hope others enjoy this book.

This is not like other vampire books.
I did not enjoy the first 20% of the book and I wa considering giving up at this point and wow! I'm so glad I didn't because this was brilliant. Vampires have eradicated humans above ground and now clone them in their labs for blood and sport. In a vampire utopia of simpering vamps and rulers underground, it takes one curious vampire who wants to know the inner workings of their underground world called Aeterna. What he discovers isn't all a bed of roses and the lower working levels are planning a revolution. Plenty of vampire deaths and gore all round! Brilliant. I would even go as far to say it's a vampire book for people who think they don't like vampire books

Very, very slow to get going. Over 100 pages and a third of the way into the book, we finally see the surface and the dystopian world we are promised. But by that time, all my enthusiasm and attention span has dried up.

DNF at this time.

3 stars. An original take on vampires, but the story just fell a bit flat for me. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Aeterna is an underground city where the vampires live after "cleansing" the world of humanity. They survive off of the blood of grown clones and every 100 years their is a bloodlet where the founding 9 families go to the surface to hunt clones. The family with the most kills will rule Aeterna for the next 100 years. Marcus is a member of the current ruling family and is excited for his first Bloodlet. When his master announces that their family will not take place in the Bloodlet, how far will Marcus go to participate? And what will he find waiting from his past?

Aeterna was a fresh take on vampires. It had a really great world building base, but I didn't really care for Marcus as a character. The other nine families were sooooo cool that I was bummed the novel didn't share their story instead. The clones were an interesting take, but not enough to keep me entertained by their storyline. The pacing had a hard time finding it's footing in the beginning, but by the 40% mark it had picked up. The writer has a really great way with words, and the descriptions they produced of the surroundings in Aeterna made you feel like you were there.

3 stars for what I found as overall Meh, but vampire lovers will devour this fresh take on a vampire love story. Recommended for readers 14+, nothing too graphic and no trigger warnings.

Keeping it short and sweet because I have better things to do than waffle!

Pros
Enjoyed the POV that humans were simply blood bags, it felt very Soylent Green but vampires

Sibyl is an absolute crackpot but also she's honest so 🤷‍♀️

The doctor is great despite being in it very little

That Drauger dude was just a horrible being but also I love him for being so straight to the point

Cons
Bo was just kinda annoying

Marcus was super whiny and honestly I wanted to punch him for half the book

It was SO. DAMN. SLOW. to get to anything interesting

That ending was just meh


It was the averagest of average but got a bonus for Sibyl and Diaz

This was a genuinely fun vampire book. I read a lot of vampire lit as a teen, so this was a nice, more mature, vampire read. There was a lot happening here with it somehow encompassing both the paranormal genre and dystopian (and others to some extent) but I thought it was done nicely without becoming just a cacophony of words. I loved Marcus and thought his growth as a character was lovely to read.

This book was a really pleasant surprise and a break from normal vampire romances.

I was drawn to the rather unique take on dystopia, with vampires being the ones living in the new world. They world building here is quite good. I found it easy to imagine such a place and also understand the politics of this type of world.

The characters were interesting and I found both Marcus and Bo likeable. Although you don't learn a great deal about the other families in the Glorious Nine, I found I did have an image of them all and I even found myself associating voices and a way of walking to each.

The plot is really good. For me, it's unique. So Marcus is a vampire, desperate to know his past, and Bo is a clone created for the blodlet, which is a day when all the vampires go above ground and hunt the cloned humans. This was a really clever idea as it allows the reader to like the vampires as they are not technically hurting humans. Well they shouldn't be, but Bo has sentience.

So we have Marcus with no memories and Bo with a load she doesn't want or understand.

I don't want to say too much as there is so much that happens and it is a really clever book. Not so much YA, more adult fantasy, but other than a sex scene, it's not a romance. It's much more clever than that.

Well written, engaging and mostly pacey. I will be reading the next installment.

Amazing Book! Loved every second, was everything I could ask for in a book! The detailing is immaculate and I loved the world building involved. Will for sure read more from this author!

Did someone say vampires ? Well that's what made me interested in this story and I wasn't disappointed at all. I got what I wanted, Marcus - the last vampire created, finding/navigating his way through the city of Aeterna.

There was a lot of worldbuilding and some interesting concepts such as the bloodlet mentioned but I wished this part of the story was more fleshed out.

The part with Bo and her remebering her past life was great to follow along, overall an interesting read with a great twist on the usual vampire story !

It's vampires, how could it go wrong?
This story was great, the characters were believable and the plot had a nice pace to it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a arc in exchange for a honest review.

4 stars.

This was excellent. Dystopia and vampires. How can you possibly go wrong? I'll be on the lookout for more from this author in the future.

A great new take on vampires/post apocalyptic novel. Vampires have taken over and live underground (reminds me of the Dark Elves of RA Salvatore) and now romance and secrets can bring everything down.

I read plenty of vampire stories and this was one of the most original I read.
It's a mix of dystopia and fantasy, a coming of age of a vampire in a post-apocalyptic world.
It's fast paced, action packed. Good world building and character development.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Aeterna by Kim Bannerman, not a bad read, simply failed to hold my interest repeatedly. I do think others will enjoy it, and thank you for giving me a chance with this book.

Tengo sentimientos encontrados con Aeterna, porque por momentos me enganchaba pero por otros, como todo el principio, me perdía de lo que pasaba. Si bien es una buena novela sobre vampiros, hay momentos en los que no me gusto como fue llevado a cabo.
Empecemos por las cosas que celebro. La idea fue muy buena, un mundo en donde los humanos técnicamente no existen y los vampiros son los que gobiernan pero bajo tierra, bastante original. El crecimiento de los personajes, especialmente Bo, ella me pareció la mas intrigante de todos. EL PLOT TWIST.
Ahora, las cosas que no me gustaron. El romance que se genero entre los protagonistas, era predecible pero sucedió muy rápido, demasiado diría yo. En la pelea "final" fácil podrían haberlo matado o mismo haberla matado a ella antes pero no lo hicieron. Creo que podría haber sido un buen libro auto conclusivo pero decidieron continuarlo y no me gusta hacia donde quieren llevarlo.
Pero, después de todo, creo que es un libro que tendría en mi biblioteca.

*Thank you NetGalley for a copy of Aeterna*
While reading the description, you had me at vampires. I love all things vampire. Ive read so many vampire books that it is hard to keep them separate. I struggle sometimes with all of the different liberties taken when writing a vampire novel. Not this one! I loved the premise behind this from the beginning. Aeterna still followed the basic rules of vampirism, but in a whole different way. I was absolutely enamored with the world building of this story! I enjoyed the character development. The story moved at a pretty steady pace. There were unexpected twists that came out of nowhere. While reading this book I went through most all of the emotions. I found myself smiling, laughing, gasping in shock, crying and even a few fearful shivers and cringes. All ingredients for a solid winner in my eyes. I definitely recommend this book if for no other reason, it's unique spin on the undead. I am also looking forward to the next installment(which after the open ending, there had better be one!)

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I haven’t really read any books about vampires lately, Twilight kind of ruined them for me. But the description of this book intrigued me.

I liked the characters. It was nice seeing the development. I liked Marcus from the beginning. I liked the storyline. I liked it enough that I will definitely read the next one in the series.

Honestly I'm a sucker for vampire novels, throw in some science-fiction to really get the party started! I recommend this one for fans Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden series.

This book started off really quick and continues in a fast pace. The story gives a fresh new take on the vampire-theme in dystopian world. Sometimes the pacing got a bit to quick in the action scenes, but that didn't diminish the story. There is a clear case of instant-love. Luckily to constant changes in viewing point, it's prevented of being awkward.

Overall the worldbuilding was amazing and we got to discover an interesting new take on the vampire-theme. I really loved following Marcus and Bo and can't wait to see what the future has in store for them!