Page 14: I held my breath anyway as she passed so the scent of her blood wouldn’t drive me absolutely feral. I swallowed quickly to keep myself from drooling.

Page 15: I snatched her up and threw her legs over my shoulder, my arm around her waist. A laugh burst out of her as the back of her head hit my stomach, and I reveled in her joy.

🤦🏾‍♀️ That's a wild inconsistency. It's not been even a page to separate these actions to excuse it as plausible forgetfulness on Alexei's part.

The vernacular used in this time period by Jerusalem isn't matching. It's as if she was transported from the early nineties to 1863. Why have these phrases been used?

Page 34: “Listen, Tiny Saint. Listen.” Alexei shook his head, approaching me casually, like he had the right. “I know I’m the first friend you’ve ever had—”

“Touch me, and you die,” I growled, my killing instinct rising within me as his hand reached toward my chin.


More inconsistencies. Their relationship is very weird.

This is reading very much like a fanfic, or something one (usually in their early to mid teens) roleplays between friends or in a rp game. I'm 9% of the way in, and I may call it quits.

Page 49 (14%): I came back to reading after a day, to figure out what it is about this book that I'm not liking, and I think I've figured it out. There's a lot of telling, but not showing. We're told, directly, how Alexei or Jerusalem feel about the other, and especially for Alexei, his "situation". But, personally, I'm used to allusions and metaphors at the most. At the least, I like being shown why these characters like or dislike a person or situation through their actions. We don't get much of a glean into their past interactions to help justify the point readers are at now.

So this book isn't for me, and I won't be continuing at 14%. The premise is giving BuffyxCivil War vibes, but these contradictions put me off. Perhaps others will find the premise very promising and want to read until the end.

I am very thankful to have been gifted a copy of this book; however, at this point this book will be moving to my DNF shelf. It sounds like something I would have really enjoyed, and will happily come back and re-review once I am in a better mindset for the book.

'The Dangerous Ones' by Lauren Blackwood is an interesting alternative history inserting vampires and other supernatural beasts in to the landscape of the American Civil War. However, the execution falls flat with modern language choices disrupting the historical flow and the romance feeling forced and one-sided.

The Dangerous Ones
Lauren Blackwood

Her family murdered, enslaved by vampires, She knows and hates the enemy more than anyone else. But an unforeseen truce with a handsome vampire who is on her side, can they take down the vampire who has taken everything that Jerusalem loves.

The premise, right up my alley, historical romantasy with vampires, along with Gods? Yes please! I liked the characters well enough.
The cover, we have to give props to whoever created it, it is beautiful. - Mwah! 😘 chef’s kiss-

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for this early review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a very interesting concept of vampires and demigod like humans. I enjoyed how the lovers were star crossed and would do anything for each other. I wish there would have been more explanation about the demigod humans and where their powers come from and if there is more they could do in this universe. I enjoyed that Jerusalem was able to save one of her family members in the end and how everything she did was for her family.

The premise of this novel was interesting: an historical fantasy with superhumans and vampires set during the Civil War. Unfortunately, this book fell a little flat. I thought there needed to be more character development for Jerusalem after she discovered her superhuman ability. I found her to be hateful and rude and I struggled to find something to like about her. I also kept getting lost in the plot as it seemed to meander for much of the story.

Also, Alexei was a 300 year old vampire but acted like he was the same age as 18 year old Jerusalem. His
romantic interest in her felt forced. I assumed that he would have been a little bit more mature than how he was written.

I enjoyed the world building and wish the plot could have been more fleshed out overall. Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books. The Dangerous Ones is out now.

Great read and great author! Really have enoyed her books and meeting her at Imaginarium. She is so sweet ❤️

My personal issue with this book is that I wish the story had focused on Black vampires. That aside, I very strongly disliked the “romance.” It was very cringey and toxic. There was so much potential with the plot. Unfortunately, it fell short for me.

This was such a fun story! Loved the take this book had on vampires and the historical elements in this story! I did find the book to be a bit on the long side compared to what was actually happening in the story for over I really enjoyed this one! Great read that I definitely recommend checking out!

Weirdly long chapters with random point of view changes, and random flashbacks. Jerusalem was on a hero's journey but was weirdly unlikable, with Alexi the instalove vampire.

I wanted to like this book so bad!
The description to this had me wanting to read it because it sounded right up my alley but I will always have problems with language/slang fitting the time and theme of books.

So while I am leaving this review, please know I didn't finish it. I couldn't get passed that issue.

leaving this at 3 stars because my issue doesn't mean it's your issue.

What an original, page-turning, romantic take on the vampire story! I love Blackwood's takes on old stories and mythology, and this one did not disappoint!

I was hoping this would be something I could get in to and it just wasn't. The concept was intriguing but the writing and language did not work for the time period it was trying to be placed in. The FMC was just annoying and rude and had zero to none development throughout the story. I think if we would have bumped up the ages a bit and developed the language to the time period this easily could have been a 4 star. I have hopes for other writing from Laren.

The description of the book made me want to read this so very badly. Sadly, I didn't enjoy The Dangerous Ones. I was unable to suspend my disbelief for many reasons. First, the language was not at all consistent with the setting. No matter how rebellious, Jerusalem would not have been using modern language. Secondly, if the vampires in the story were as old as they said, their language would have also been much different, especially Alexei's as he came from Russia not long ago. I think a lot more research needed to have been done to make this work as a historical fantasy set in 1863, especially considering the fact that a woman who had just been freed from slavery would have had as many dangers to navigate from human society as from vampires and werewolves.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was so so excited to read this book! But it fell a little flat for me. I feel as if there are so many historical vampire novels that are a little better than this one.

Vampires fighting in the Civil War? A strong female lead on a quest to avenge her family? Sign me up! The premise of this book was right up my alley, but I spent a good portion of it rolling my eyes at the romance.

One of the main issues for me was the love interest who is an obsessed centuries old vampire.. He’s hundreds of years old, but the justification for the romance is that he’s “biologically” and mentally just 18? Meanwhile, the main character is barely 18 herself (if that). The romance felt forced—he’s infatuated with her, and she spends most of the time openly hating him, only to eventually decide she likes him? The dynamic left me confused and uninterested. IDK if I was the YA age range the book is intended for I probably would have ate that up.

Another challenge was the plot, or rather, the lack of clarity around it. I spent over half the book unsure of the story's actual objective, which made the pacing feel aimless. I kept looking back thinking "whats the point?" The characters themselves and the glimpses of vampire lore were what kept me reading. The synopsis might have provided more context, but within the book, the direction only became clear about 60% of the way through.

I also found the writing style and language off-putting at times—it felt too modern for the historical setting. However, this could work to the book’s advantage for younger readers, making it more accessible. Despite these issues, the characters were a standout feature for me. Each had depth and complexity, with rich backstories of trauma and grief. The dimensionality extended to the side characters, which was refreshing and added substance to the narrative.

While there was a lot I didn’t love, I did enjoy the story overall and the layered characters and unique ideas.

This was a tricky one for me. I really enjoyed the premise, but I didn't realize going in that it was a historical novel and those aren't usually up my ally. I think if you like historical fantasy you will love this. The writing style was tricky for me because it was written from a historical perspective, and I struggle with that as well.

I wish I would have loved this book more than I did! Overall I enjoyed the storyline and premise as well as the vampires but about halfway everything just felt a little flat for me. I found myself wishing for the end and I sadly lost interest.
I do think this might hit better for someone in their late teens!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Dangerous Ones by Lauren Blackwood!

In a time of slavery, vampires and demons roam the land feeding into the hatred and fear. There are also Saints who have enhanced strength to fight against the evils of the world. The Dangerous Ones tells the story of one young Saint who will do anything to kill the vampire master who killed her family. At her side is the one man who tempts her and fights with her…too bad he’s a vampire too.

There is so much to unpack for The Dangerous Ones. The backstory is a difficult one because it’s all true. I think it is a huge part of why this story punches you. Lauren Blackwood gives us this rich and horrible history that you can’t help to automatically root for the Saints to win the war. The lives of the characters in this book matter because you can feel each slash of the whip, sword, and cane.

Then you have the thirst of revenge and where it originates from in each character and your heart bleeds. Other than the paranormal aspect, these origin stories could be taken right out of our history books.

The battle scenes are intense and well-written. It’s hard to write a battle from multiple viewpoints, but Blackwood manages to do it seamlessly. Be prepared for gore and death because there is plenty of it.

There is some romance in this story and it’s sweet, funny, and awkward. I’m all there for it. They face each other with their souls naked for each other and still learn to accept each other - flaws and all. It’s an epic romance.

I highly recommend The Dangerous Ones. Battle, romance, gore, humor, and so much more. I just love it.