I'm a huge fan of Lauren Blackwood's lyrical writing, so I was excited to start this paranormal. And not even 'just paranormal, but HISTORICAL paranormal! I really loved that the romance mixed with the fast-paced plot.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this book but I couldn’t get behind it.

4.25 STARS
I really wanted to be in love with this book. I truly enjoyed the plot and was really intrigued with a Civil War era romantasy. The Dangerous Ones follows Jerusalem and Alexei. Jerusalem is a newly freed enslaved woman who has escaped her plantation and is a saint with superhuman strength and speed. Alexei is a vampire with a strong disgust for enslavement and has joined the union army to give them a fighting chance against the vampires fighting with the south. When the time has come, Jerusalem is finally able to seek revenge on those who enslaved her and murdered her family. Unfortunately, it’s not gonna be as easy as she thought.

I think I really struggled with loving these characters for probably about 75% of the book. It felt like a lot of their actions didn’t align with their thoughts/words. I also really struggled with the white savior complex in Alexei. That said, I really appreciated the world building and enjoyed one the twists in the end. The other twist kind of didn’t make sense to me, and I found myself rereading that section but still not having much clarity. This is probably the most diverse CAWPILE rating I have ever done because I felt like there were some things that I really loved about The Dangerous Ones and some things that I just didn’t understand.

C 6
A 10
W 6
P 9
I 8
L 4
E 8

An interesting twist on vampires, what I think THE DANGEROUS ONES does particularly well is to balance the typical inequality of power between mortal and vampire by making Jerusalem just as powerful (if not more so) than Alexei. A fun read! I always look forward to Lauren Blackwood's books.

Unfortunately, I just don't think Lauren Blackwood is the author for me. I was really excited about vampires, and there were parts of this book that I did like. I didn't realize this wasn't a fantasy, but more historical fantasy so my expectations were skewed. I was just really underwhelmed.

Jerusalem was everything I look for in am MC. Strong, smart, and rage filled. She loved her family and would not rest until she avenged them. Following her journey was a delight even if it was one filled with tragedy.

I gotta say I'm loving this return to vampires in YA. Especially, all the black vampire books that are coming out.

The story gripped me and held me so thoroughly in its clutches. I did not want to put it down. It was action packed and paced well. The characters always felt multi dimensional. I felt for each one.

One little complaint that I've seen others mention is the language used. At times it was very modern and jarring considering the time period. Other than that I loved the book.

This is described as a romantic history fantasy. I’d say it more supernatural than fantasy as there are vampires and humans with increased strength but not that magical element I think of as fantasy. (Me being picky).

The book is set during the Civil War years in the US. It begins with Jerusalem escaping slavery and joining the union soldiers as a saint (people that have supernatural strength and are good at killing vampires). Alexis is a vampire also fighting with the Union army that helps train Jerusalem.

I understood Jerusalem’s anger throughout the book and her impulsiveness. The relationship between the two main characters was a little twighlight-esque. The supernatural mixed with the history was interesting.

I really enjoyed this story! Set during the Civil War era, I really enjoyed the mix of fantasy (mainly vampires) and the banter between Jerusalem and Alexei. A love story I finished in a little over 3 hours! Would recommend.

DNF at 33%

This is my second time trying Lauren Blackwood, and I think shes not for me. I have so many friends that love her, but I just couldn't care about the characters, and found myself never wanting to pick it up,

this was a good read, a bit slow in the beginning but picked up pretty quickly. I loved historical and fantasy books; this one had fantasy, historical, and supernatural. I love that it's between the Union and Confederate soldiers and all of that. the only thing that threw me off about the modern language is supposed to be the story set in the 18's so I could not understand why modern language was used (I think the author should have done a little bit of research on how people talked back in those days to make It a bit more authentic especially if you have 3000 yrs old vampires) and I think that her verbal abuse to her companion was a bit excessive, the author could dial it down a bit, it gets annoying at the end of the day. overall it was a good book.

This isn’t the type of book that I would normally pick up. I love fantasy, but Vampires aren’t really my thing. But I absolutely loved the author’s last book so when I was asked to review this one I thought I’d give it a chance.

I thought the concept of the book was really interesting and unique! And my favorite parts of the book were definitely all the flashback sections (I’m a sucker for backstory).

I didn’t really care that much about any of the characters or their relationships. It didn’t feel like they were very well rounded people and I couldn’t relate to them at all.

I also thought the story dragged a lot. The first half of the book felt SO long and the second half felt a little like it was a different book from the first.

I received a a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.

Sadly this book just didn’t grab as much as I hoped it would. I put it down and picked it up multiple times but I just couldn’t connect with it. Super bummed.

Vampires helping to fight in the Civil War...how fun.

This story is told from two different point of views. Jerusalem, a Black former slave, who fights for the Union in the Civil War. She is considered a Saint, one with special powers who can help kill vampires. Alexei, is a Russian vampire, who also helps to fight for the Union. During one battle they are both faced with their own foes, Alexei his former maker and capture who tortured him for decades and Jerusalem is facing her former slave master who murdered her family. When they lose friends during the battle, Alexei and Jerusalem are forced to work together to deal with their foes and help to save a surviving family member of Jerusalem's.

I thought the premise of the book was good. Magical realism is parts and fantasy in others with a splash of historical fiction. What lost me was the romance storyline between Alexei and Jerusalem. It didn't feel like believable to me the way it was written. The current sounding dialogue and slang words, mostly from Jerusalem, used also threw me for a loop a lot of the times when I was reading it. I know it's a fictional book so the author can do what she'd like, but it didn't feel like it always fit within the narrative of the story. There were a lot of moments in the storyline, particularly in the middle, where the story didn't seem to know where it was going. This in combination with my other issues, mentioned previously, made this a middle of the road read for me.

I'd still like to read more from the author in the future. Also shout out to the designers of the cover because it's gorgeous.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

The concept behind this story was intriguing and creative. Set in the civil war, with vampires controlling the south and slavery, drew me in, but the characters and plot just weren’t strong enough for me. If you like the enemies to lovers trope, this could be the saving grace for you. For me, it fell short and wasn’t quite believable. The main character was just what I wanted, strong (mentally and physically), and bold. She carries the story for me. I would have liked the other characters to complement her more.

This book had a lot of potential but somehow still fell flat. The history and the love story were almost non existent there were references but the story line somehow did not fit.

The author could have placed this story in modern times in an entirely fictional war/conflict and it probably would have made more sense and wouldn't have dragged as long as it did as i struggled to finish.

arc provided by netgalley

I've loved Lauren Blackwood's previous books, but The Dangerous Ones was a miss for me. Such a cool premise but the execution fell short. I had a very hard time getting into the modern language in a book taking place in the Civil War, so the overall reading experience wasn't great. I also felt like the romance was a bit off—one-sided. I would have liked to see more development on Jerusalem's end.
I did like Jerusalem and Alexei though, and I do think this is good for a YA audience who might be prompted to do more research into this time period.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me. Despite the amazing premise, I just couldn't get into the book. I found that for a book that is taking place during the Civil War, the language is far too modern. Also, the word "ass" is used every other paragraph and I was already over it by the time I stopped reading. The writing just couldn't live up to the promise of what the book could have been.

What in the awful modern vernacular is this? We have such a compelling idea - civil war with vampires and godly beings and I was immediately hooked! And then the choppy and inconsistent writing ruined it. No civil war historical romantasy should have any of the following words in their dialogue:

stankass
dumbass
cuteass
hella

Seriously. The cringe dialogue and modern language was the nail in the coffin for something that could've been amazing.

And the romance? Where was it? Alexi loved Jerusalem we know this because his love language is words of affirmation and he tells her constantly. But Jerusalem? She was awful to him, physically and verbally abusive and he just took it. Was this supposed to be a dark bully romance because that's what it felt like at times.

If you're going to write a historical novel there needs to be some better research as well. The Civil War was more than just the Battle of Gettysburg.

Thank you St Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for the arc.

I was really excited to read this one. The Civil War but with vampires as slave owners and the saints against them! How exciting! I really liked the characters. The history was done well. My favorite part was the workings of the Underground Railroad in this romantasy setting. However, I didn’t care for the romantic relationship between Jerusalem and Alexei. It referred to him cradling her and it just seemed like she was more childlike (she’s 18 and he’s been 21 for a few hundred years) and a friendship might have been more appropriate.

This book was a ride!! I loved it. This genre (civil war) is not typically my thing, but the way it was written I couldn’t put it down. There is action, world building, Enemies to lovers, banter, funny moments, slight romance! This book has it all and I had so much fun while reading it.

I just reviewed The Dangerous Ones by Lauren Blackwood. #NetGalley
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