Vampires, cults, and moms that suck, oh my! 
 
Quoted as “a sun-drenched novel about the darkest secrets we hide, and how monstrous we can be to the ones we love most”, Night’s Edge was all of that and then some. The alternating timelines built a fast paced story that had me turning page after page. As the momentum builds, we are left with a quite shocking ending.  
 
Twisted and emotional with a blood bag amount of gore and horror, you’ll want to add this to your TBR! 
 
Come on 2024.. I’m ready for First Light.

I just finished @lizkerin’s NIGHT’S EDGE from @tornightfire, and this book is one hell of a wild ride.

Imagine vampirism (here called Saratov’s syndrome) treated as a pandemic, with the world’s health organizations stepping in to try to cure the “disease”, and how the world tries to move on with the every day. Mia’s mom, Izzy, is a Sara (someone suffering Saratov’s), and the two have kept this secret for years by keeping to themselves and sticking to their strict routine. However, when Izzy’s abusive boyfriend who turned her, Devon, shows up in town, and Mia meets the magnetic Jade, a rebellious musician performing at an underground music event nearby, both decide it’s time to rethink their lives, but to disastrous results.

There is a lot to unpack in this book. Beyond the stigma of people suffering from an illness they have no control over, Kerin deals with issues of abuse (physical, psychological, and manipulative), mental health, budding young queer romance, and trying to discover your own identity. Add in a dash of cultish behaviors and you’ve got a recipe for a book that is actually more psychological horror than physical horror, despite the book primarily being about vampires.

Some may ask why I’m including this in my #pridemonth reading: Mia’s story is a sapphic coming of age story with her feelings for Jade, as she finally understands the feelings of attraction she’s had for other women in her past. Night’s Edge wouldn’t be the book it is without this storyline.

While Kerin’s vampires adhere to many historic vampire tropes (need living blood to survive and can’t go out into daylight), she sidesteps some others (not being able to cast a reflection, for instance, I’d never discussed), and her vampires have an aversion to coffee instead of garlic. This definitely grounds them more in the “real world” than the supernatural, making Saratov’s syndrome feel more like an actual medical condition, and in some ways makes it that much more unsettling.

A huge thank you to @netgalley and #tornightfire for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review. Liz Kerin’s NIGHT’S EDGE releases June 20, 2033, with the follow up, FIRST LIGHT, dropping in 2024.

It’s been a while since I enjoyed a vampire book this much! Night’s Edge is more than just a story of about vampires. It’s a coming of age story about Mia who has to take care of her vampire mom Lizzie since she was 10 all the way to an adult.
I was not expecting how emotional this book was. The author did an amazing job of portraying an abusive relationship. It felt so real since it starts off so gradual and it keeps escalating. Additionally how hard it is to confront them. My heart really felt how Mia who was the child had to be the caretaker instead of her mother taking care of her.
The world felt very real since it felt a lot like the early days of Covid-19 with the temperature checks and not being able to do social gatherings.
I’m very excited for the upcoming sequel and so excited to see that it’s in early development for a tv series by Jac Schaefer of WandaVision!!! 🤩
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

This book caught me off guard and was not what I was expecting!

The story follows twenty-three year old Mia, whose mom, Izzy, becomes infected with Saratov Syndrome when Mia is 10, and basically becomes a vampire. (Although this word is never used in the book.) The story is told in dual timelines, 2010 (when Mia is 10 and Izzy first becomes infected) and present time.

There were so many different elements and themes in this novel. There were elements of horror, coming of age, toxic family dynamics, and codependency with a teeny tiny bit of romance mixed in.

Liz created a unique novel that was so captivating, I couldn’t put it down. I rated it 4.5/5 stars and I can’t wait to read the sequel! If you like horror, vampires, and LGBTQ+ representation, this is a MUST read! ♡

Thanks so much to Liz Kerin, Tor Nightfire, and NetGalley for the ARC to read and review!

⚠️ Trigger Warnings: Codependency, Emotional and Physical Abuse, Child Abuse

A 5 🌟 rating for me is very rare. It requires an author to take me into the story, to feel something for their characters, and to touch my soul. Liz Kerin touched on concepts of child abuse, codependency and narcissistic parenting in such a unique way.

Mia and her mother, Izzy, find themselves in a pandemic where vampirism is spreading throughout the world. From Mia's point of view, we see how the evolution of their past leads to the outcomes in her future. But there is one question I am left with... was their relationship always destined to be toxic? Or did the vampirism intensify the Izzy's tendencies towards codependency and narcissistic behavior?

There was one thing that bugged me, and that was how abruptly it ended, leaving me with so many unanswered questions. I felt frustrated and then I saw that it's a duology.

What a heart wrenching and hauntingly beautiful look at relationships. In a world overrun by a terrifying pandemic protagonist Mia attempts to navigate a normal life in this horrifying tale of love and betrayal.

Liz Kerin gives new life to the "vampire" genre with this shocking new horror novel.

This novel is a thrilling and terrifying exploration of the abuse, psychological and physical, that a child endures from a parent under the guise of love and loyalty. The premise is original and the plot is interesting and fast paced. I enjoyed the character development and evolution as well as the relationships and dynamics.

Night's Edge really came for my throat, so to speak.

It resonated so strongly with me. Mia is the sort of protagonist I wanted to watch tear the world apart and rebuild it. I ached for her. I wanted to step in and hold her. Her budding queerness, her anger, her love... all of it really struck me. To tell a vampire story that mirrors the way a parent can drain a child was a brilliant choice and felt like it called back to the early gothic vampire tales. Basic, but effective. The horror is less the monster and more of what they represent - all the fears and anxities.

The few kinks I had with the work (some plot threads felt weak) pale in comparison to the emotional blow each chapter dealt. And the ending really solidified this as one of my new favourite vampire stories.

I think if you want a vampire story that's willing to throw the hard punch, Night's Edge is the perfect novel for you. If you want the catharsis of a young woman working through her toxic relationship with a dependant mother, you will not be disappointed.

Sure, this is a vampire story, and it is often times horror-y, but it is also... really nice? Heartfelt? Coming of age? There are a lot of genre-defying terms I could likely use here, but know that it isn't all of any one thing. It isn't your straight up blood-drinking horror, nor is it a typical story of a young woman trying to figure out her life. It's... a pretty awesome mix of those, basically.

We meet Mia, who is having a pretty rough time. I mean, first of all, she is literally her mom's meal source, after her mom was turned into a vampire thirteen years ago. Imagine having to drain your own blood on the nightly, so your own mom can consume it? That is what Mia's got going on. And, she's trying to live a somewhat normal life while this goes on. She works at a bookstore, but for reasons you can imagine, she doesn't have anyone close to her outside her mom. It's been her and her mom, and only her and her mom, for more than a decade. And when Mia learns that her mom has been in contact with the awful dude who turned her... well you can see how Mia would be questioning everything.

When Mia meets Jade, she feels drawn to her in ways that are new and exciting. Jade is... well Jade has problems of her own, and she's kind of a mess, but Mia should be able to make her own typical young adult mistakes, right? And not have to worry about who her mom is going to have for dinner. But alas. So Mia has some difficult choices to make: either she keeps on living, quite literally, for her mom, or she has to finally muster the courage to make her own choices. It isn't easy, especially because she has been so sheltered and closed off from the rest of the world. But I loved that we get to take this journey with Mia- all while enjoying some very cool vampire culture and mythology! I was so excited when I found out that this book was going to have a sequel, because I cannot wait for more!

Bottom Line: Growing up is hard, especially when your only parent doesn't want to chat at the dinner table, but feast on you at it.

Night’s Edge is a fresh and addictive coming-of-age story about a girl whose mother is a literal monster: a woman affected by Saratov’s Syndrome, which comes with a need to drink blood and stay out of the sunlight.

Telling a vampire story from the perspective of her human daughter is such an inspired, fascinating choice. I loved this book.

The story goes back and forth between Mia at 10 years old, when her mother first changed, and Mia at 23, when she begins to pull away from her mother and towards a young woman she has a crush on.  

I read Night’s Edge in a single evening.  It’s fast-paced but character driven and completely sucked me in.  Mia is a smart and resourceful character, and her story is heartbreaking. 

I also loved the vampire lore in this book.  The word “vampire” is never actually used, and there are some fun twists on the traditional lore.  The world felt lived-in and plausible.

While this book is classified as adult rather than YA, I think Mia’s journey would also appeal to teens, and the writing is very accessible.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for my review copy of this book.

Reinvention is nice, but sometimes it’s also good to go back to basics and see a vampire story follow the more classic monster lore—terrifying, manipulative, undead, and predatory. The fact Night’s Edge maintains this tribute to the classic portrayal while seamlessly weaving it into current themes of addiction and psychological enmeshment makes it a stunning example of the empathy that can be achieved through literary parallels and representation.
All that being said, Night’s Edge still feels unique because of the perspective. It isn’t told through the eyes of an intended victim or the vampire, but rather someone manipulated into being a complicit accessory. Mia’s mother is turned when Mia is very young, so the way in which she has been raised to accept her mother’s complete dominion over her time, body, and free-will even into adulthood perfectly aligns with the theory of enmeshment and how a parental figure can establish permeation in personal boundaries, if they never encouraged those boundaries to form in the first place. To then highlight that level of toxicity in a parental relationship by literally having it be about consumption of the child’s body may be horrific, but it not only succeeds in establishing how grotesque and destructive this very distinct form of manipulation can be, but also how it can arise. Mia’s mother did initially seek to protect her child, but her motivations shifted as she fell further and further into the psychosis brought on by her change and fluctuating morality. Similar to an addict’s journey.
The way in which the narrative shows how their relationship evolved to its current toxic state makes it feel terrifyingly believable, and that is why I liked this book as much as I did. As outlandish as a story about vampires is, the scariest parts of this one have nothing to do with monstrous appetites.

I'm not generally a vampire enthusiast, but this book had me hooked from the start. It's told in an alternating series of flashbacks and present day moments that really capture the evolving dynamic between Mia and her mother. I thought the way that society changed in the wake of all the "Saras" (vampires) was intriguing, especially since it was over current modern scenes like visiting a bookstore or waiting in line at a Starbucks. I liked the worldbuilding that Kerin was able to capture in a relatively small book.

There were some harrowing and genuinely tense moments throughout the book which kept me engaged. The abusive relationship between Mia and her mother was really heartbreaking to see represented, and felt sadly very real. This was a first-time author for me, but I'm curious to seek out more of Kerin's work.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

So I finished Night's Edge by Liz Kerin and I'm sad because now I have to wait for the sequel to find out wtf

happens with this vampire cult?!!

Night's Edge comes out June 20th 2023 and I'm grateful to @tornightfire & @netgalley for my review copy!

First of all, this book has major toxic parent codependency stuff and as someone with a narcissistic parent it was hard to read at times because it's so fucking accurate! Poor Mia is forced to grow up fast when her mom is turned into a vampire (although that word is never used in the book) and unable to care for her because her hunger is all consuming. Mia doesn't want her mom risking her life to find fresh blood, so instead she sacrifices herself daily to feed her.

The story shifts back and forth between when Mia's mom is first turned in 2010 and present day when Mia is 23 and still caught in the same struggle life she was at 10. Blink-182 said "no one likes you when you're 23" and that's how Mia feels for the most part- until she feels herself ~come alive~ for the first time when she meets a sultry singer. The reader gets to witness Mia's coming-of-age story and then her queer awakening and it's glorious. Meanwhile, Mia's mom is getting more involved with her toxic ex and his cult and she's started to go back on promises she's made Mia to steer clear of that chaos.

I did get annoyed at the present day chapters for being slow and thought the story read more like a YA novel but that might be a just me thing. I am sad it ended right when Mia grew a backbone, but I'm excited to read the sequel coming out next year!

Check this one out if you like:
🩸Toxic parent & child relationships (You'll be thinking "damn, my mom isn't as bad as I thought)

🩸Actually scary vampires (but only at night. Day vamps are boring)

🩸Sapphic love

The vibes are very Mommy Dearest meets The Lost Boys, but more gruesome. There's lots of trigger warnings too so look those up if you're feeling vulnerable!

Night's Edge is a really interesting take on vampires and vampire lore, and I really enjoyed it, even when it was at its most grim (and it gets pretty grim). Vampires, like most monsters, are constantly employed as metaphors for a variety of things, and when it comes to Night's Edge it's a fraught combination of child abuse and the radicalization of vulnerable adults who feel disenfranchised by society. On the whole, definitely an unforgettable book, that is at alternating moments both sweet and frighteningingly violent. If you've been looking for "vampires that are genuinely upsetting/scary" meets "queer coming-of-age" & "learning that the people who are supposed to love you are sometimes the ones who hurt you the most" this is definitely the book for you.

The nitty-gritty: A dark and gritty look at a codependent relationship, with vampires.

Night’s Edge is an interesting take on the vampire/pandemic trope, a dark and oftentimes depressing story about a young woman and her mother and their codependent relationship. There aren’t very many light moments in this book, so do proceed with caution if these themes bother you.

The story follows twenty-three year old Mia and her mother Izzy, and alternates between the past (“2010”) and the present (“Now”). In this world, a virus called Saratov’s syndrome has taken over the world. Those infected become like vampires, needing blood to survive and never aging, but exposure to sunlight or being struck through the heart with a rusty bullet can kill them. “Saras,” as they are called, have strict rules and barely any freedom. If someone is identified as a Sara, they are taken to a “recovery” center where they are monitored closely. In truth, there is no recovery, and once a Sara is caught, they never get out.

When Mia was ten, Izzy contracted the disease from her boyfriend Devon. In order to keep her mother from being taken away from her, the two decide to go on the run and hide Izzy’s condition from others. Now twenty-three, Mia and Izzy have been laying low in Tucson Arizona for the past thirteen years. Mia decided early on to draw her own blood for Izzy to drink, mostly as a way of keeping her mother from harming others, but this has led to the two having a very fraught, emotional relationship.

Now, according to the Sara Facebook page, there are rumors that Devon is in town, and Mia is terrified that Izzy will be drawn back into his dangerous world.

Liz Kerin’s story focuses heavily on the relationships between the characters, and the Sara pandemic is almost a side plot. And that worked for me, because the relationships were so well done, especially the one between Mia and Izzy. It broke my heart to see the way Izzy treated her daughter, especially in the early years when Mia was only a young girl. To keep her condition secret, Izzy didn’t allow Mia to invite friends over or become too close to anyone, so Mia’s life revolved around Izzy’s secret and her commitment to feeding her mother with her own blood. The chapters in the past were especially difficult to read. Devon comes and goes in their lives, and even after Izzy kicks him out for hurting Mia, like a drug addict she’s never able to completely sever ties with him.

In the present storyline, the two have finally settled into a somewhat normal life in Tucson. Izzy even owns a restaurant, and Mia has a job in a bookstore. But Devon’s presence is always a threatening undercurrent, and eventually he shows up with a nefarious plan to unite all the Saras he’s infected, and the mother-daughter bond between the two women begins to crack even more. Mia can barely imagine a life without her mother in it, as painful as it is, and it takes some outside influences to finally show her a different path.

There’s also a burgeoning love story between Mia and a girl named Jade, a musician who pulls Mia into the music festival scene and opens her eyes to so many other possibilities. But like the other relationships in this story, the one between Mia and Jade made me very uncomfortable. Mia is extremely naïve and just beginning to explore her sexuality, and although Jade isn’t a bad person, you can tell she’s much more worldly than Mia, and her attitude toward Mia comes off as mocking and sarcastic.

Which leads me to an element that didn’t quite work for me. In many ways this is a coming of age story, but I thought Mia was too old for that trope to work. It’s true she’s led a sheltered life in many ways, but the relationship between Mia and Jade felt immature, more like a high school romance than one between two grown women. If the author had made her younger, maybe high school age, I think the romance would have been much more believable.

I also wanted more focus on the Saras, especially Devon—the villain of the story—and what he’s trying to accomplish. Devon is more or less a cult leader, deliberately infecting others to create a family of Saras, and although we get some horrific glimpses into what he’s capable of, I’m eager to learn more about him. For such a short novella, there is a lot going on in Night’s Edge, but luckily there is a sequel on the way.

The finale was fantastic, though! Kerin gives readers a shocker of an ending that sets up the next book, First Light, and I cannot wait to read it. Readers who like their vampire stories on the dark side and don’t mind immersing themselves in uncomfortable themes will feel right at home.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Night’s Edge is a story that follows Mia and her mom through their journey of figuring out how to live as vampire (the word vampire isn’t used but there’s an illness that spreads that gives all the symptoms of a vampire). Mia’s mom gets turned by an abusive ex boyfriend when Mia is only 10 years old. She goes on the run with her mom and she blood lets for her to feed and they figure out a way to live like this. We hop back and forth between when her mom was turned to the present 13 years later. Mia lives a very secluded life because she has to protect her mom but things change when she meets Jade and the abusive ex comes back into the picture and she wants to escape.

I enjoyed this book. It was hard to read about the codependent relationship between Mia and her mom, especially when Mia was young. Mia had to do a lot for her mom and she never had a childhood of her own. I liked the different timelines that we followed. The last quarter was full of action and it really picked up. I could see this book being a movie. The ending had my jaw on the ground.

I do wish that the ending wasn’t so open ended but there is a sequel coming out so I understand. The moms decisions also drove me a little nuts at parts.

I can’t wait for the sequel to this one!

Thanks to netgalley and Tor for the arc!

Content warning: child abuse, parental abuse, gun violence, blood, gore, emetophobia, themes related to addiction, mention of an adult sending nudes to a child

Mia has been taking care of her mother, affected with an incurable virus that essentially turns people into vampires, for over a decade. Emotionally stunted and socially isolated, Mia discovers a threat from the past returning to continue his uncertain means, just as she’s discovering that life might have more to offer, like friendship, freedom, and even a bit of romance.

A horror that leans into the violence of vampirism, the melancholy of lost time, the terror of codependence, and a deeply interior first person narrative perfect for fans of literary fiction.

Despite this work doing my least favorite thing with its genre element (not calling a spade a spade), I really enjoyed the depiction of vampirism here. It’s frightening, with challenges grounded in familiar lore. While there is a way to survive and maneuver the world, it comes at either violent cost or something that’s as toxic with a smaller dose. It’s this idea that permeates the relationship at the core of this story.

The narrative is very informed by the 2019 COVID pandemic in ways that are far more subtle than other books I’ve read written int he last few years. There are the measures taken to mitigate the spread of vampirism, but there’s also the depiction of how hard Mia works to protect her mother from the immediate effects of her affiliation, both for her sake and others’. The tension doesn’t abate as threads come from both beyond their lonely existence and paranoia developing within. Kerin touches on coming of age that addresses how stunted Mia is without providing any answers or easy solutions. The version of the contemporary United States is one hostile both to those who haven’t been bitten and those who suffer the affliction. It would be very science fiction if the work wasn’t so focused on the relationship between Mia and her mother.

Uncertainty plays a huge role in this narrative. Mia has no idea what life looks like beyond the rigid schedule that has her and her mother interacting like ships in the night. One life diurnal, and the other nocturnal. The sense of unmooring Kerin manages to depict in the pages is incredible. Despite the time stamps and markers of time of day, there’s always a sense that time moves strangely for Mia. She’s aware of how old she is, but also how much she has yet to experience, especially when she meets Jade, who shows her a literal whole new world. The depiction of the sapphic relationship is at once sweet and heart-wrenching, and for those who want to be primed for endings, does not end happily. The messiness between them, especially in the context of the very real vampire threat, makes it so fraught and as much a part of Mia’s development as everything else going on. It reminded me a lot of Let the Right One In in an adjacent way.

With a haunting ending that will stay with me for a while, Night’s Edge is a chilling read that uses a vampiric illness to both literally and metaphorically explore isolation and finding the moment when a child develops an adult sense of autonomy.

TW: Child abuse, toxic parent relationship, child abandonment, gory scenes, language, drinking, domestic abuse, cheating

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:Having a mom like Izzy meant Mia had to grow up fast. No extracurriculars, no inviting friends over, and definitely no dating. The most important Tell no one of Izzy’s hunger – the kind only blood can satisfy. But Mia is in her twenties now and longs for a life of her own. One where she doesn’t have to worry about anyone discovering their terrible secret, or breathing down her neck. When Mia meets rebellious musician Jade she dares to hope she’s found a way to leave her home – and her mom – behind. It just might be Mia’s only chance of getting out alive.
Release Date: June 20th, 2023
Genre: Horror
Pages: 288
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. The cover is charming
2. The plot of the book is interesting
3. Writing style flowed
4. Parts of this book made me laugh out loud
5. I loved Jade!
6. The cult aspect

What I Didn't Like:
1. Nothing – I really enjoyed this book

Overall Thoughts:
I just thought it was odd how this major Dease is going all around the world and then when Mia mentions that someone is really sick and hints at Izzys health it's like no one knows about this going around.

The relationship with Jade warmed my heart. Jade's personality was everything. She was smart, funny, and amazing for Mia. I loved reading their parts. It broke my heart when we found out Jade was still in a relationship with her girlfriend.

It feels like a weird that they are using Facebook to talk through. It's not the most secure and people could be hacking it and finding them all.

I found myself really enjoying this book and clutching my purse worrying about Mia. Poor Mia - she just never gets a break does she?

Final Thoughts:
I can not wait for book two. I want to see what happens with Devon (and his cult like group), Jade, and if Mia can actually get a normal happy life with or without Jade.

Recommend For:
• Vampires
• Complex mother/daughter stories
• Cult like elements
• Girl girl love

In “Nights Edge”, vampires exist, but they’re known as Saras. Mia’s mom is one of them.
Turned by an ex who is now out of the picture, this is both the story of their shared life now- the blood Mia supplies her mom to keep her satiated, the restaurant they own, and all of the sacrifices she makes to keep her mom safe. It is also the story of how this came to be.
I thought the beginning was strong and I enjoyed the fast paced writing, though I did find certain parts had awkward pacing and I’m not sure if I’d read the next part of this series.

Rating is based on the 2010 parts. Normally I don't rate books I haven't read fully, but those 2010 parts deserve it and need to be noticed.

I received this book from Tor Nightfire in exchange of an honest review.

I was so excited when I got a mail from the publisher asking if I wanted to review their book, a big publisher asking me! It sounded awesome, vampires and toxic family relationships. I knew it wouldn't be easy given my own relationship with my mom (I have broken with my parents after a whole lot of things happened). But I wanted to give a shot.

And I have decided to just read the 2010 parts. It was that or a DNF at 15-20%. Because while the 2010 parts really drew me in, see how everything went darker and darker, how Mia lost her mom and how she started with the feeding stuff, see them struggle with life and more. The now parts? I just couldn't care about any characters, it just didn't draw me in, it just felt a struggle to read it. It was boring. It annoyed me. Whereas I read the 2010 parts in my normal speed, it took me way longer to get through just a chapter of now. I am glad that I decided to keep reading the 2010 parts and I would definitely give those 4-4.5 stars. Holy crap, the things that happened in there. Reading about the virus/the vampire stuff and how that works along with how things got more and more out of hand. About how a 10/11-year old has to be more adult than she ever wants to be at that age and how she has to grow up so fast. How she just wants love and safety and doesn't get that with a mom who needs to feed on blood (and LORD those parts were horrible to read *shivers*). How she has to handle so many things that no 10/11-year old should have to do. It was a freaking good read and definitely not the easiest. The 2010 parts? Recommended!
I also did read the Today part, which was confusing because of course I didn't read the Now parts, but I just needed to know if Mia was fine in the end. If she was able to get away or find her own space/life. I won't spoil anything, but I am happy I read that last chapter.