DNF

I really wanted to like Lightfall, but I found myself struggling to stay invested. The premise had promise—a post-human world ruled by magical creatures like vampires and werewolves—but the execution fell flat. The multiple POVs only added to the problem. Instead of pulling me deeper into the story, they made it harder to stay connected.

The only character I remotely connected with was Sam, but even that wasn’t enough to make me want to finish the book. The plot got lost beneath endless info dumps and characters endlessly explaining themselves or the world around them. I’m all for complex world-building, but I also like books that trust readers to figure things out on their own. Lightfall never gave me that chance, and ultimately, it just wasn’t for me.

I really struggled here- the concepts were all very interesting, and I was sucked in by the comparisons to Kristoff and Sean, but overall I found the writing very clunky, and full of info-dumping in the first part of the book, to a degree where it felt like the story never had time to develop because whenever a new character or event was mentioned we got a dry explanation of the past before we could move forward. The characters and dialogue also fell rather flat for me. I stuck it out because it was an arc, and had an ok time- but I think this is one I’d really struggle to recommend to others

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

i always love a book revolving around vampires, and i especially love when authors create new and interesting vampire lore. ed crocker does just that, perhaps while commenting on capitalism: rich and powerful vampire drink the strongest blood, and the poor drink the weakest. i found this to be a very cool concept, especially when depending on the blood, it grants vampires extra abilities.

DNF @ 20%

I. am. so. bored.

Here's the thing with supernaturals-- it's not enough to just tell me 'these are vampires' and 'these are wolves' or 'here's an elf.' I don't actually care. You have to actively show me that's what they are, otherwise you might as well have just called them 'Italian' or 'Russian' or any other group identifier.

If you're gonna fully redefine a creature then it should probably have a new name, and if you're gonna use common nomenclature, then your creatures should bear some resemblance to the known and associated lore. At least a little. And their creature-ness should be essential to the story at the very minimum as part of a constant atmosphere.

The very worst thing you can do is make them all basically humans who are concerned with court politics. Cause dear god, I cannot express enough how little I care.

At 20% in there was no atmosphere, no world-building (vague references to the Grays and a "time before" are not enough to hook me, I'm afraid), no interesting characters, no plotlines, and nothing Fantastical in nature. You simply can't waste 20% of a <400 page book on nothing, and give me 0 mysteries that intrigue me enough to know more.

Maybe this eventually rocks, but my eyes are already glazing over which means even if it turns around I unfortunately am too far gone and won't be able to enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review. This book had a lot of potential - werewolves, vampires, sorcerers, Grays, politics, a mysterious death, and a lack of any humans. I struggled with how many POVs there were - the story still could have unfolded with a few less perspectives. I was not overly invested in any of the main characters. I realize that a lot of things were left unexplained as this is the first in a trilogy but I feel as though what ended up being revealed was anticlimactic. I had to put this one down several times before I was able to finish it. Overall 3/5 stars as I am intrigued to see where the trilogy goes.

A fascinating premise with a world full of vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers (with no humans).
Overall, it was very enjoyable. However, I felt like the execution left something to be desired.
Hopefully, this author will continue to grow as a writer, as I’m very interested in this world and hopeful for the rest of the series.

3.5/5 stars

This tale takes folklore and twists it around in a way that makes sense and adds suspense. Mortal humans are a thing of the past, if they ever existed, and the world is shared by vampires (people in everyday parlance) werewolves (known just as wolves) and mysterious sorcerers who are birthed as adults. Yet the vampires are the ones who run the civilized society since a huge war centuries ago. Their conniving and thirst for blood consume their everyday affairs and form the foundations of their society. Yet sad vestiges of humanity remain: the subjugation of whole classes of people, the snobbery of those in power, and the desire to keep the status quo. Within this world are the brave few who desire more, and their combined actions make for an interesting tale.

Despite a slow start, this story ended up grabbing my attention. I appreciated the backstories of Samantha and Sage, and I loved how the doubts of even major nobility were revealed in a way that kept them in power yet also kept them quite flawed. Once you get past the initial individual characters' stories, the plot starts to come together, and boy, oh boy, does it have some interesting twists. I love to read, and I consider myself pretty good about guessing a novel's plot arc, but this one challenged me a bit, so that was great!

If you like a story where characters want more and work toward a better world, even if it means conflict and subterfuge, then this one is for you. The spirit of the main characters draws you in and makes you a partner in their fight. Yes, there are some seriously nasty characters that you'll hate, but that makes the fight even more delicious.

Overall, the tale is strong, the characters are well developed, and the world building makes sense even though there are serious gaps/mysteries (which hopefully will be revealed in the sequels). Enjoy, my friends!

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the reader's copy; my opinions are my own.

This is a unique take on vampires and werewolves, unfortunately, it didn't work for me. I wanted so badly to love this book and it kind of fell flat for me.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC.

Vampires, werewolves and sorcerers, OH MY!!!! And not a human to be found, that's one of the things that makes Lightfall unique. The mystery, characters and world draw you right in and immerse you from the get-go into this tale of secrets, intrigue and a fight for power and control over others. This is a multi-POV story that starts with a murder and blossoms into a battle between the vampire classes and the other immortal races. Sam is a Worn, the lowest class of vampire and a maid who serves in the palace of Lord Azzuri, who is head of all vampires in the city of First Light. When Lord Azzuri's son is found dead, Sam is drawn into the mystery of his death and the search for answers. Sage is a sorcerer who heads a small cult out in the middle of the desert, who was acquainted with Lord Azzuri's son and feels he needs to find out what happened to him. Raven is a werewolf hunter who becomes embroiled in the events that Sam and Sage find themselves entangled in and all three of them find their lives are in danger as they learn a secret that could destabilize everything in their world.

"Wolfblood. The blood of the wolfkind. The king of bloods."

Tell me there's a new trilogy out about vampires and I'm in!! There is so much to this story that appeals, from the excellent world building to characters that are unique and easy to root for and against. Looking at you Rufous. The complexities of a vampire society that is built on securing and enhancing different types of blood that provide unique abilities creates a ruling class looking to remain in power while keeping others in their place. Of course this leads to secrets, political maneuvering, betrayals and of course deadly consequences. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the POV's, but definitely love Raven, she is totally badass!!! There were some terrific twists and surprises which certainly kept me wondering where in the heck this story was going. Loved every minute of it and eagerly await what is coming up in the next book!!

This book has some interesting ideas and fresh takes on immortals (werewolves, vampires, sorcerers) but I felt the characters were a bit stale. Also, the author tended to quickly force characters into trusting groups, even though centuries of war, betrayal, etc., should mean these characters shouldn't trust all that quickly. So some decisions were made to speed the pace of the book at the cost of staying true to the world-building and character development.

It was well-paced and offered some genuine surprises, but many conveniences felt shoehorned to stretch the story into a trilogy when it could have made a nice stand-alone.

If you like supernatural creatures and fast-paced mysteries, there's a decent chance you'll dig this.

This is a really nice start to a series. I loved the world building, the new approach to the characters so they aren't the typical werewolf, vampire, etc. It did take a bit to really pick up, but I was hooked. I look forward to reading more set in this world!

When I heard this book was going to be Vampires and Werewolves, my expectation for this book shot up! I was in the mood for a good horror vampire vs werewolves book.... But unfortunately, this isn't it.

Once I realized it was dealing with the politics of a werewolf faction and a vampire faction after the fall of their central location "Lightfall", I then shifted my expectation hoping for great characters. The characters in this story fell flat for me, I never really felt invested with any of the characters and that was a bummer, I would have enjoyed a little more back story.

The setting and atmosphere was quite nice though. I think Crocker makes learning about the history of this world interesting and the setting felt very gothic for me, but the world just felt empty.

I appreciate Crocker's take on this genre and I am interested in how he takes his writing further.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for providing an ARC to me!

This is a unique take on vampires and werewolves! It was refreshing to see a new spin on these class creatures. I really liked Sam's character and her tenacity. There's secrets and political intrigue. If you're a fan of Jay Kristoff def check this out.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the gifted ebook arc.

Lightfall had a really intriguing premise but I found the execution to be messy and lackluster. I was drawn in by the premise of a world filled with vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers, but no humans. The caste system with the vampires and limited access to certain, more powerful, blood types was really intriguing.

However, the writing was clunky with awkward info dumping, stilted and juvenile dialogue, and too many perspectives. With this many POVs, I think the story would have really benefited from being told in the third-person perspective. The characters' voices weren't distinct enough for first-person POV, and I really struggled to connect with any of them. The plot was underwhelmingly basic yet also incredibly slow and convoluted for no reason.

From the beginning it was hard for me to get into the writing style. I wanted a lot more sensory and descriptive details. It was very dialogue heavy in many sections, so it was hard to imagine what this world looked like and to immerse myself in the story. Since the entire book is told in first person POV from every character perspective, it took me about halfway through the book until I could distinguish between the different voices. And IMO, at times the dialogue was cringy. It felt over the top and not relatable.

But this book did have some strengths! I appreciated how rich the history of this world felt. The times when we learned what had happened to Lightfall in the past and the wars as well as the hints about why mortals disappeared were my favorite parts of the book.

There were so many interesting hints about how this world came to be the way it is. I was actually wishing I was reading a prequel to this story! I hope the history and lore will be discussed in more detail in the rest of the trilogy.

The political machinations during the first half of the book were fascinating! I really enjoyed how the mystery of Lord Azzuri’s son was murdered unfolded at first. You could tell Crocker put a lot of thought into the politics and government of this society. It was cleverly done.

It’s just during the last 10% or so of the book that I became a little bored. It just felt like I had read this outcome and story plot so many times before, and I was hoping for something just a little bit different. Maybe I’ve just read too many rebellion stories before that they sometimes blur together, but it just didn’t capture my attention.

I am curious to see where the story will go from here. I hope the plot will be as creative and unique as the worldbuilding is!

*Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital arc copy.

I enjoyed my time with this book but at times it was a little slow. I feel like the story was definitely lacking a little world building and depth to be considered an epic fantasy. Market it as a dark fantasy and people will eat it up! As a horror junkie as well I think this story did a great job utilizing overused horror creatures and making them exciting again.

Absolutely loved this book! Ed Crocker did a fantastic job of world-building, keeping the reader interested, and throwing in twists that you don't see coming.

I'm looking forward to the next book in this series! I would read it now, if I could.

My full spoiler-free review is posted on YouTube https://youtu.be/Mu6OSe2oAKk?si=kAq8xn1z83LrUGL0

This was amazing! I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, however I did end up borrowing the audiobook from the library and listened to about half of it while following along with the ARC. As always, all opinions are my own.

The audiobook has a single narrator, and while I thought she did a wonderful job, I do think this is the type of audiobook that would have benefited from multiple narrators or even a full cast as there are so many characters.

It has been quite a while since I've come across a unique fantasy book, and this has alot going on to make it so. This is a tad on the long side, but it crosses several genres and follows a cast of characters to keep the reader invested and wondering "What the heck is going on?" Some readers are going to hate the way this is structured as it jumps around from character to character within the chapters, while others are going to love it. I loved it and didn't mind the character jumps as each piece of the story was relevant and eventually leads somewhere. This follows several of our main characters as main perspective, and there are some random side character and truly random perspectives thrown in throughout. Each perspective brings something to the table and were clearly thought out. If you aren't a fan of alot of characters and genre blending they may not be the book for you, but I thought the author did a great job keeping things moving forward and moving each of the intertwining plots organized without giving too much away too quickly.

This has court politics, magic, vampires, sorcerers, werewolves, a murder mystery, and more all rolled up into fantastical tale. I thought the world building was excellent as this takes place mainly in First Light, home of First Lord Azzuri who is one of our main players. It is home to the vampire race that survived a long ago war. There are some other locations as well that are well described and the backstory that we get regarding Lightfall and Greyfall are also well told, though I still think there is more information to come. First Light is full of secrets especially when the First Lord's youngest son turns up dead under mysterious circumstances. His spymaster and captain of the guard don't seem very invested in uncovering information, when two sorcerers from the desert with no magical abilities show up under the guise of research and a palace maid team up to figure out what is going on. Sage and Jacob belong to a sorcerer cult dedicated to finding proof that mortals once existed, but they will never admit what they know. Sam is a maid who has revenge on her mind and wants to be more than a to clean for spoiled lords and ladies for the rest of her life. The three of them find themselves caught up in an investigation bigger than themselves and on quite the adventure to start a rebellion within the vampire city and to stop the mysterious Greys who are determined to wipe out the vampire race entirely.

I loved this. I was completely invested in this book. It felt a bit on the long side, but that is because there are so many characters and complexities to keep track of. This delivered on all of the things I love in a more epic fantasy. The pacing was good, there was action and conflict to keep you invested. I enjoyed the characters and while we have sorcerers, the two main ones don't have magic so we don't really need any explanation of the magic system to complicate things. There other types of sorcerers but the author does briefly explain their abilities. He did do a good job of explaining how the types of blood works for the vampires and the commerce system which I thought was really well thought out. I can't wait for the rest of the series! I hope to see this book pick up more popularity as the year goes on within the fantasy community.

Move over urban fantasy, here are vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers in a secondary world murder mystery with fabulous worldbuilding and three-dimensional characters despite the huge ensemble of narrators. My favorite part was probably the capitalistic blood system, a twist on the usual vampiric blood-drinking that lets characters take on certain enhanced senses/powers from the ordinary or not-so-ordinary creatures whose blood they drink - with of course the best blood reserved for the rich who can afford it.

In this magical, unequal world, the maid Sam attempts to better her lot in life - and at times just survive - as she and a variety of other characters seek to untangle a mysterious murder. Along the way, several historical mysteries are mentioned but not always solved, presumably because they will be explored more in future books). Most intriguing of all is the mystery of the creatures who have taken over most of the world and shut everyone up in the city in the first place - where they came from, why, and what exactly they want.

Lightfall by Ed Crocker is an immersive and ambitious debut that blends vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers with a rich tapestry of political intrigue and rebellion. The worldbuilding is truly remarkable—dark, detailed, and brimming with history and class dynamics that shape every layer of the story. From the rigid vampire society of First Light to the looming threat of the Grays, the Everlands feel alive, dangerous, and utterly compelling.

Sam, the protagonist, is a character you can’t help but root for. Her determination to escape her harsh reality as a scullery maid and take control of her fate is inspiring, and her wit and resilience make her stand out in a world full of immortals. Sage, the enigmatic sorcerer, provides a fascinating counterbalance to her grit, and their partnership unfolds with just the right mix of tension and intrigue.

The murder mystery drives the plot forward, but the true strength of the book lies in its twists and turns. Crocker doesn’t shy away from surprises, and just when you think you have the story figured out, it takes an unexpected—and thrilling—direction. The characters, too, are a highlight, with even the villains crafted so well that you love to hate them. And Allana? She’s an absolute powerhouse of a character, adding a sharp edge to an already compelling ensemble.

With its atmospheric world, morally complex characters, and a plot that keeps you guessing, Lightfall is a strong debut that’s perfect for fans of dark, character-driven fantasy. I’ll definitely be picking up the sequel—I need to know what happens next!