I was quickly attracted to this ARC by the cover. It was mysterious and definitely caught my eye, I appreciate the opportunity to read and review!

The backstory on Yara and Aylin started off very interesting and I really enjoyed how the author set up the idea of the vampir. It made it seem very ominous, and you could quickly pinpoint the personalities of the sisters. The characters are set up well, initially, and I was looking forward to learning more about them.

However, as the story went on, I felt myself being pulled out of the book constantly and it was a struggle to keep my interest. Characters flip-flopped a lot, and I was unsure who to root for at times. The romance was there, but it also felt random and out of the blue. Characters would go from despising each other one second to having feelings about each other the next. I think I would have preferred focusing on the relationship between the two sisters, who felt the most genuine. Also, the constant mention of the race of every character and their religion threw me out a lot.

All in all, I think the idea of the book is solid. Two strong-willed sisters that love each other very much and desperately want to reunite. However, in terms of the plot and writing, the path to the end was scattered and hard to sink into.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

First of all, the premise and the pretty cover is what instantly caught my attention. I found that the story was a bit slow-paced at first, but once it picked up, I was hooked! The vampire aspect was very well executed, which is a huge plus for me. The only thing I liked less about this book is that the world building was a bit lacking at times, which is the only thing keeping me from giving this book a perfect rating.

I had really high hopes for this book and it did start out really strong, catching my interest right away, unfortunately it fell a little flat for me in the execution. I felt like it read as a YA book but some of the intimate scenes were way too graphic to match the dialogue, I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be YA or NA and I think that should be a more clear distinction. I felt like the plot was rushed in parts and glossed over some things that should have been given more detail, where other times too much detail was spent on unimportant things. I unfortunately just did not connect with this book overall and ended up DNF'ing around 50%.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this Arc. I struggled getting through this book at times I felt like the story felt flat. The world building was good. I did like seeing how opposite the sisters were and learning about them. Overall it was a good story.

I liked this at first but then I didn't.

The setting is intriguing. The vampire court is exciting. At first. Then it's just stupid and stupidly dramatic.

It was hard to keep up with the enemies and the friends because it seemed like the sides were changing ALL THE TIME. This made the main characters seem really naive. They trusted people without so much as a second thought. It was annoying as hell.

It's also weird how this young adult but somehow I managed to find scenes that seemed weirdly intimate and kinky. Those scenes felt like they belonged to another book.

The further I read, the more annoyed I was and I ended up just skimming the ending because I couldn't care less what happened.

I don't know why I couldn't get into this book. Nothing huge stood out to me. Maybe it lacked originality. Idk but this one is a DNF. I'm sorry!

I'm going to give three stars because I think it's a me issue and not the book.

I loved seeing Yara use her knowledge of the courts to gain power in the Undead Court.
Aylin was interesting and she always was battling herself internally. As an older sister I felt the feeling of protecting no matter what. Even when it caused her to do what she did.
I feel like there was a lot we missed. I wish we got to see Eldars story more than just a few moments, to go through him gaining this power instead of just being a fly on the wall for it.

I had a hard time getting into this book. While I enjoyed Yara's storyline, I felt that everything in this book was rushed. We got to read a lot about Yara once she was captured and living among the vampir, but Aylin/Ilyas's storyline wasn't given the attention that I thought was needed. Especially towards the end of the book where all of a sudden the humans were at the vampir castle and there was a huge battle. I would have also liked more time for Eldar to gain his power, instead of almost within one night.

“One day when I am stronger and the grip on my blade is tighter, I will drive it into your chest and watch you come undone.”

I think the overall concept and world behind this book were really clever. I also really liked some of the characters and lines that they said, it very much so gave me similar vibes to other popular romantasy books. Overall this book was promising but unfortunately fell flat for me in the sense that the pacing and the writing of this story seemed to transition a lot from too slow to too fast and then telling rather than showing. All in all I think for a debut this was really good, and I will definitely be reading more from this author as I think that she definitely has the imagination to tell amazing stories and I am hopeful I will like her future stories even more.

A stunningly dark, blood-soaked gothic fantasy novel set during the rise of the Ottoman empire. Perfect for fans of Netflix’s Castlevania and Jennifer L. Armentrout’s, From Blood and Ash.

I wasn't sure if I'd like this but I ended up loving it. Well crafted story and characters. Recommend.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fact paced and it kept me yearning for more. It was so good!
I just reviewed The Court of the Undead by F.M. Aden. #TheCourtoftheUndead #NetGalley
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3.5 stars. I was given a copy of this book by Net Galley, all opinions are my own.

Aylin and Yara are two sisters who love each other deeply, unconditionally. They are happy with their lives until Yara suddenly goes missing. Yara finds herself in a new court, transported from her home in the Ottoman Empire to a Court of Vampir. Aylin is devastated. Her father is sending out all his resources to try to find her, but Aylin turns her devastation into determination to find her cherished sister. Meanwhile, Yara isn't going quietly into her good night. She first plays a weakling but quickly realizes that the weak don't survive, especially in a court of Vampir. She changes tactics and instead relies on her existing knowledge of court games and politics to prove herself a cunning adversary.

I enjoyed this. It definitely has enemies to lovers vibes, times two actually. Yara did not go the direction I had anticipated...and I liked it. It reminded me of Caraval (two sisters who are both determined to do their best for the other), From Blood and Ashes (deadly courts whose lives revolve around blood and classes) and a hint of Mulan. You'll know it when you see it.

I liked that there was a glossary in the back (although I felt the author also wrote in such a way that one could derive basic meanings of unknown words without immediately needing to research them, which is nice), but I prefer to see glossaries up front! Or if they must be in the back of the book, perhaps a note up front letting the reader know that there is a glossary at the end. I also appreciated the map.

I loved the world and the Ottoman Empire backdrop of this book. The author clearly has a good imagination when it comes to creating a world and a story; however, the pacing felt a little off to me. The first 20-30% of the book felt slow and was difficult to get into, causing me to feel disconnected, whereas the ending felt a little rushed. This does appear to be a debut so the pacing issue is understandable. But I did love how the stories of the two sisters almost mirrored each other, in a way, with both becoming stronger in order to survive. While Aylin was also viewed as the “stronger” sister, she was definitely impulsive (and made sarcastic comments at inappropriate times leading to more trouble for her), I felt she was able to mature a bit throughout the book.

Some of the characters seemed to switch personalities very quickly. Originally, Volkan was the “evil” twin who was torturing Yara but then all of a sudden the two are flirting with each other and he is her safe space? And she just forgives him?!. The same can be said with Domencio and Aylin. They hated each other (he almost bit her ear off!) but then they have a weird bond (with him saying he’s fallen in love with her) and she trusts him. At one point, they share a tent when, a couple of chapters before, she decided she wanted to kill him and tried to poison him. All of this happens so fast and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of explanation or build up to that change.

I really enjoyed Eldar’s “progression” throughout the book. It isn’t so much a progression as it is having Yara get passed initial impressions and learn more about the world she is thrust into. Definitely an entertaining read and a solid 3 stars. I will likely pick up book 2 when it comes out to see where the story is going.

Thank you to Netgalley and Northern Light Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

it was enjoyable and fun and honestly the writing was so very great too!! so many stars. Flew through it and hope for more to come

I’m on the line about this book. It started off fairly slowly and something about the writing made it hard for me to get into. I love the premise and the story between the two sisters. This book is definitely different than others in its genre and became more enjoyable further into the book. The world building was there, but a little choppy at times. Overall, The Court of the Undead is a good read if you’re willing to stick with it until it picks up.

This was unlike any vampire story I've read and I truly enjoyed the weaving of Turkish Transylvanian and other cultures/countries into one! As an avid Turkish tv and movie fan it was very fun seeing a bunch of Turkish throughout book and obviously the ottoman references as well! The sisters and the men in their lives were interesting... I waffled back and worth who I wanted Yara with until towards end then it was more firmly on one side. The chemistry was there for both love triangles which is insane when one of each of the guys is toxic af!! As for Aylin I don't understand why both have love interests that are straight up abusive psychopaths that was my biggest NO from this book and going forward I hope that's rectified, it was hard to read and root for them when they were acting so horribly. That said I'm excited to read rest of series and find out what our sisters and the brothers are up to!

A dark and twisted tale during the time of the Ottomon Empire with Vlad holding the crown of the Undying King.

The Court of the Undead is not for the squeamish, and there's no way this could be a standalone. Though there hasn't been a mention of a sequel yet, but that ending? Oh, I can't wait to see how the debauchery and treachery ends!

The Court of the Undead is a very intriguing premise! And I Darken is one of my favorite books, and the similarity in era and setting is what really caught my eye with this book. The main characters being strong, beautiful African women was an amazing plus as well.
Unfortunately, I don't think this book was as strong as it could've been. The writing felt clunky, and deciphering the dialogue took me out of the story. The way both Aylin and Lara had implied romantic interest in characters who had abused and terrorized them earlier in the novel was also unbelievable. No amount of redemption arc, let alone the bare bones one we received for Volkan is compelling enough to make these relationships believable.

I think FM Aden came up with a very unique idea and plot, but I overall don't think it was executed very well. I wanted to keep reading to see what happened but also kept being let down by the lack of in depth explanation for characters motivations and the preoccupation with the beauty of the characters without a believable description of them.
I look forward to seeing where Aden goes with their continued writing and will probably pick up a later work! Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the early readers ebook.

This had a pretty slow start but it does get better early on. I did enjoy the characters more than I thought I would but would have loved more romance! I do understand it’s a slow burn so I’m willing to wait for the next book lol.

Dark and enticing with a wonderful setting during the Ottoman Empire, this was an intriguing read with so much promise.

There is so much to like about this one. The setting is exotic and unique, set in the difficult times of the Ottoman Empire. The two sisters share an amazing bond, and the switch between them gives a chance for two very different personalities to take their views. Then, there's the vampires and the dark atmosphere surrounding them. Yet, this just didn't grab me.

The plot is complex and the world could be rich, but the entire thing just isn't as smooth as it could be. There were few details given from the surroundings, and the culture didn't come to life like it could have. So the amazing world simply didn't get the depth it deserved. This is also true of the events and time flow. While the sisters begin as children and listen to tales, these are cut short with no real deep digging before switching them to their older selves. Events sometimes cut in and out, after that, without the needed blossoming, leaving some moments feeling clunky. But then, the writing style in the first half of he book is this way, too, as if the writer needed to settle into the flow first. After that, it gets better.

There was so much wonderfulness in this read, but it just wasn't ready.