Vampires during the Civil War? Yes please. The concept of this was fascinating, but the execution was a little lacking. I didn't like the main character and the way they treated those around her. Also the language was so modern that it went from "accessible" to "distracting". But if you want just a fun vampire novel that you can kind of turn your brain off with, this is it.

This author always has unique, interesting concepts to her stories, which is why I requested her newest book on NetGalley. America’s Civil War and vampires? I needed to see how this story would play out.

I love the concept. Jerusalem, is a Black girl who is a Saint, which are people with supernatural powers. She’s fearless, which was cool to see. In their unit is Alexei, who is a centuries old vampire – but of course he’s in an 18 year old body. A Russian, white boy, vampire body. He is so enamored with Jerusalem who is always arguing with him – he likes that about her though, that she’s fiesty. They fight for the union army against the confederate soldiers coming up from the South but they go on a secret mission that takes a turn for the worse.

Both Jerusalem and Alexei have interesting back stories. Jerusalem’s story is filled with struggle and fear as she flees to the North to be a free woman. Alexei’s story about being turned into a vampire is sad too as he loses people he love and also becomes a slave to his maker. I liked all the historical elements about the civil war, and the horrible things Black went through as slaves. I even think the paranormal aspects of vampires, werewolves and Saints fit so well in this time period.

As far as the enemies to lovers situation going with Jerusalem and Alexei, I wasn’t sure I was into it. It’s obvious he loved being around her and fighting with her from the beginning of the book. But for Jerusalem, it took her awhile to actually explore her feelings about him – I felt like it was forced a bit. They both had some baggage about their troubled pasts so I kind of wish their romance took a back seat.

I would have loved to learn more about the Saints because I thought that was interesting! I did love Jerusalem’s relationship with Odessa, who tried to keep her in line – especially when she was bickering with Alexei. Something I did struggle with at times was the speech. Jerusalem speech most times sounded so modern, and in a weird way made me think she and Alexei just didn’t mesh well because she was clearly young, while he was a very, very old guy in a young body!

My Final Thoughts:

I like the uniqueness of this story and I was invested in it until the modern speech started to bother me, and the thought of Alexei being thousands of years old and Jerusalem just 18 started to make me feel uncomfortable. And usually I don’t care if vampires who look 18 are with other 18 year olds but I think the speech differences between them just threw me off on the whole thing. I think if the romance wasn’t so in the forefront, I would have enjoyed it more because I liked the historical aspects and the action and fighting between the Saints and the enemies. Overall, it was an okay read.

I wanted to love this book. It had an interesting premise with a mixture of vampires, the Civil War, and a strong, black female protagonist. But this fell short for me. The writing was choppy, and the pacing was off. I felt like I waited a long time to latch on and look forward to something in the story. The romance seemed awfully rushed. I wonder what more time and editing could have done for it.

Blackwood is a talented writer and a master of prose. Great premise, perfect for fans of vampires. Solid 3-4 stars with 5 for the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC.

I want to start by saying that overall, I really enjoyed the plot and characters of this book. It was a fun and wild roller coaster ride that pulled you in from the very beginning. I loved both MCs. Both are the very definition of morally grey, which was perfect for this story. Jerusalem is a bad ass and her fearlessness, which borders on recklessness, is an adrenaline rush in and of itself.

There are so many great messages and perspectives you can learn from in this book, but what truly stands out to me is how the author portrayed the treatment of African Americans who lived in and fought for the North. Despite the fact that they were technically free, most were treated only slightly better than the slaves they were fighting for in the South. This something that I knew, but getting to experience it through Jerusalem’s perspective was heartbreaking, and really brought the point home.

As for the things I didn’t enjoy, they all fall firmly into the “it’s me, not you” column. This book reminded me a lot of the True Blood series when it came to fantasy creatures: if you could think of it, it exists. I was ok with most of it, until we got to vampire horses and sasquatches. Not a huge issue, but definitely pulled me out of the narrative for a minute. My other hang-up comes from the writing itself. The author is a teller, not a shower, and the story is very fast paced, which at times left the narrative feeling fragmented and disjointed. I had to do a few rereads to make sure I was following.

Despite the few issues I had, I did enjoy this read and learned a lot from it. It was fun, entertaining, and included a lot of my favorite tropes such as enemies to lovers, he falls first, and one bed. If gory vampire fantasy with a strong FMC are is something you enjoy, you may want to give it try. Overall: 3.5, rounded up to 4 stars for NetGalley and Goodreads.

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the free e-reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was a case of awesome premise, so-so execution. A vampire story set during the Civil War sounded fascinating to me.

And I really wish it had been as interesting as it sounded. It wasn't a bad book at all. There were definitely parts that I liked. The romance was sort of cute but a bit bland and too much of an instalove for me. The rest of the story was intriguing at times, boring at others. I found myself skimming through a lot of it.

The ending felt like it could be setting up a sequel, though it wouldn't be absolutely necessary for there to be one. The sequel wouldn't be an automatic must read for me if it comes along, but I'd definitely consider reading it.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

The premise was very promising, and the world building was interesting. However, I just couldn't get into it, but I could see a lot of hardcore vampire lovers really getting into it.

I wanted to like this book. I loved the premise of vampires fighting alongside both armies in the Civil War and the opening scenes was terrific but the book fell flat for me. I didn’t develop a liking for the main character Jerusalem. I really do not understand why Alexei was ion love with her as she was as loveable as a prickly cactus with few if any attractive personality traits. The love story felt forced and superficial at best.

The last 40 pages of the book were the best but it took a lot of work to stick with the story and get there.

Thank you so much to Lauren Blackwood and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this title. If you want a great Sci-fi and fantasy book this is it It also has a great historical element to it as well. Blackwood did an excellent job of writing out this story and developing the characters! It is such a fresh take on Vampires and supernatural creatures. Quick read and definitely recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for giving me early access to this book! All opinions are my own.

I really, really wanted to like this. Vampires and bad ass women in historical times? It sounds like a match made in heaven. But, unfortunately the execution just wasn’t there. The dialogue felt like it was trying to be historically accurate, but then there would be modern terms thrown in that didn’t mesh well at all. When I got to the time jumps, the story felt so jumpy I couldn’t figure out what in the world was happening. Finally at 32% I decided this just wasn’t for me and I DNFed it. I think this had a lot of potential, and the general premise was amazing, but the follow through just fell flat.

The Dangerous Ones was one of those books where I was super excited by the premise but disappointed in execution. The premise of what the Civil War but make it have vampires, werewolves, and superhumans behind the scenes to me sounded like a win. The moments of greatness were vastly overshadowed by the cringe modern dialogue and childish behavior of these characters no matter how old they were supposed to be in the book. I don't think in 1863 people were using words like "cute-ass", "hella", or "suck my dick" as an insult.

Every character sounded like they were 13 even though there were 3000+ year old vampires and 25–30-year-old side characters. I know the author tried to bypass this with the vampires by saying they stayed the mental age at which they were turned but I'm sorry if Alexi was 18 when he was turned 3000+ years prior to 1863 and had a whole wife before that I doubt he was talking like a 13 year old boy who just hit puberty. Also you guessed it theres an overuse of the nickname "Tiny" that Alexi gives Jerusalem our mfc. IT WAS SAID 103 TIMES!! Him mentioning that the smell of her blood was like an a huge temptation for him and drew him to her when she showed up in the camp gave mild Edward from Twilight vibes.

I'll be honest I was so focused on the angsty romance aspect between Alexi and Jerusalem and all the bad dialogue that the rest of the story was barely there for me. There were some deeper bits with black women and pregnancy during this books setting and what I think still resonates to this day with how Black women are treated in pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. There were some conversations between Jerusalem and Alexi about how he as a white man will never understand her lived experiences. Those deeper moments were few though in the grand plotline of this book. And though the ending lacked the emotional reunion that could have been if the characters weren't making jokes the entire time, at least it was all essentially wrapped up.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me access to this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Sadly this was a DNF, I wanted to love it and give it a true try but I couldn’t get into it. I loved the concept of this story which is what originally caught my attention. Once I started reading I had a hard to with how the main character spoke. I understand the time but it was hard to follow along with how she verbally spoke one way but her inner dialogue was normal. Also some of the phrases that were used that didn’t match with the setting. I also didn’t love that there wasn’t a build up in the relationship the main male character was just already in love with the main character.

Dnf 20%

The writing was alright.
I just was bored and couldn’t get into it.
I didn’t care for any of the characters.

Went into this story not knowing too much but was super surprised. The history part with the civil war was a bit slow, ( I am really not big on historical fiction) once I get over those bits. I was pleasantly surprised! The angst and pain and vengence was something I have not seen in a good few months of reading. Well written and the romance was exactly what I needed! I felt what the characters were feeling and it was a true escape.The pacing was a bit slow but as slow burn is one of my favorite types of stories I did not mind. The female main chracter had a lot of sass and pizzaz and she was quite well written. Very clever as well.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

The book lured me in with a captivating premise and its gorgeous cover, but lacked substance to keep me engaged. unfortunately wasn’t for me. I kept going at a sluggish pace, only to realize that nothing actually happened and that—I’m sorry to say—the plot was pretty much empty and the character development felt underwhelming. It was not for me.

I unfortunately DNF the book. The concept sounded amazing, but the writing fell flat. The story felt disjointed and the MMC was instantly in love with the FMC for no reason. There was no chemistry between the leads.

A romantic historical fantasy with vampires and demi-gods?! Yes, please!

I liked the setting of the Civil War with the insertion of supernatural entities. It just made me eat this book up. Jerusalem was an interesting woman who is on her journey of revenge and finds helping slaves find freedom is an added bonus. She ends up teaming up with Alexei and of course, he is handsome. You can never really trust allegiances in these situations. I didn't like how mean Jerusalem was to Alexei though. I feel like the banter was more abusive than witty.

Very interesting ending and I am glad to have read it!

First things first, this cover is stunning. 10/10 for the cover!

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this after the first two chapters. I was very confused. This may just be my personal opinion, but I feel like it was all over the place from the start. I really felt like I had to take notes to keep up with where the story was going to go. And I also felt like the characters kind of came out of nowhere with no explanation as to who they were.

Another thing, this book is set during the civil war and I feel like the language did not reflect that time period.

This book had so much potential. I was so excited to dive into it especially with the BIPOC representation and vampires with demigod like abilities.

I honestly feel like so many people are going to absolutely love this book. Unfortunately, it’s a case of “this book is not for me.” However, I will be checking out Lauren’s other books!

Thank you to Lauren Blackwood, St Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a honest voluntary review!

Great characters, lots of action, and a good plot. This book was a decent read. I’d recommend it for fantasy lovers out there.