This book was overall ok…definitely a very light fantasy read that resembled twilight but with more human involvement. Was the writing riveting? No. Was the plot intriguing? Occasionally. Would I read it again? No. I felt like it took five ever to get to the meat of the storyline and once it did, it was very anticlimactic. But will I read the sequel? Probably bc I’m ocd and want to know what happens next after the way this ended

First of all, can we talk about this cover? It’s absolutely gorgeous!!!

To be honest, the book itself was pretty mid. The story is predictable and the characters aren’t anything special but it was a quick read and worth it to satisfy my curiosity (which was definitely sparked by the cover). I feel like my 16-year-old self would have LOVED this book and made it my whole personality but unfortunately my 25-year-old self didn’t love it as much.

The human heir to a vampire kingdom finds herself falling for her new bodyguard all the while discovering secrets, rebellions, and betrayals as she gets ready to take her place on the throne. Princess to the Raven family and next in line to inherit the vampire throne, Emilia is a human and has a secret, she is unable to be turned into a vampire. Both of her parents are vampires and in a world ruled by vampires, being a human is risky. Emilia does not want to inherit the kingdom and she does not want to partake in any of the family duties. Yet when she is assigned a hot new vampire guard she begins to find herself questioning everything.... but with the humans getting ready to rebel and someone in her own family looking to overthrow them, who can Emilia trust? Her new bodyguard with secrets that could threaten to destroy the love growing between them or her parents who have done atrocious things to humans.... where will she stand and who will she be when all the secrets are revealed. This is the first book in a series and honestly the protagonist is yet another "I don't want to do my duty to my family, and it's so hard being me" while being naive and extremely sheltered. The romance was insta love and honestly it just didn't really feel believable. The protagonist felt immature and annoying and I can say with my whole heart I will not be continuing this series. The way this book ends and how the story progresses really has you going: really? To say its a miracle I made it to the end of the book is putting it lightly, I forced myself to get to the end of the book hoping it might turn around but sadly this was definitely not for me. I love vampire and bodyguard romances but this was just a complete miss for me. While it didn't work for me if you like vampire bodyguard romances and younger feeling protagonists. I'd say give it a try, maybe it'll be better for you than it was for me,

Release Date: October 31,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter | One More Chapter for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

2.75 stars

The Last Raven by Helen Glynn Jones is a young adult paranormal romantasy following the incredibly sheltered human daughter, Emelia Raven, heir to the House of Raven (the vampiric rulers of the land).

I’ll be honest - this book was full of cringe. The dialogue is incredibly juvenile and made me roll my eyes throughout the piece. It felt like I was watching a bad movie that you can’t look away from - the quality isn’t high but there’s still some enjoyable parts that motivated me to see it through til the end. The book is a lil too fast paced (romance was a lil TOO instalove); there isn’t a lot of depth or likable characters — the main character is incredibly immature and annoying, along with her parents and her “love interest.” Who names a fantasy book love interest KYLE?! A sexy vampire named KYLE?!! C’mon now. It’s not unreadable, but I’m not invested enough to continue the series — however, I would be curious to give Helen Glynn Jones another chance and read something else from her.

I would recommend this book to middle schoolers who are getting into fantasy books - I think they would find the characters relatable and can overlook some of the plot holes and be less critical overall.

Thanks so much to Harper 360 & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

A very YA fantasy about a human girl born to vampire royalty expected to take the throne on her 18th birthday despite the low standing humans have in their world. There were things I liked about this such as the human/vampire conflict and some decent twists. However this definitely reads on the younger side and the dialogue often reflects that. There was pretty much zero development for the romance and the love interest didn’t hold much appeal. There were very few likable characters in general. I will say I didn’t think it was quite as bad as other reviews made it out to be. There is some intrigue about what’s to come, but I’m not sure it’s enough to want to continue.

Thank you to Harper 360 and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to pick up The Last Raven after hearing it described as a vampire romantasy inspired by Twilight. Unfortunately, there were many aspects of this novel that missed the mark for me, mainly being that the similarities to Stephanie Meyers’ series were few and far between. If anything, I would equate The Last Raven to the From Blood and Ash series. The bodyguard trope is employed in both, as are some similar character and plot devices.

The Last Raven follows Emelia, the human daughter and heir to the House of Raven — the vampiric rulers of the land. Overwhelmed with her sheltered life, Emelia yearns to flee the confinements of her home. Escape finally becomes possible after meeting her new guard Kyle, a vampire whose charm and beauty draws Emelia in immediately. With her plan fast approaching and a rebellion threatening everything she’s ever known, Emelia will have to make a decision to either face her destiny or stand up for a new and brighter realm.

The Last Raven had a lot of potential, but the world building and pacing held it back from reaching the heights I hoped for. Due, in part, to the deceptive cover art, I thought it was going to be set in a fantastical world but it ended up being a contemporary, almost dystopian setting. The lore was also fed to us in info-dump chunks, disconnecting me from the universe. There were many interesting details about the world, one of which being the blood dancers — humans who perform at vampire parties and consent to feedings — but the author never went into enough backstory to explain how jobs like this existed and what it meant for the other humans living in a vampire-run society.

The pacing was jarring, launching readers too quickly into a half baked narrative. This impacted the character’s progression and the chemistry between Emelia and Kyle was rushed. The plot also relies on insta-love, a trope that is difficult to suspend ones disbelief for. I never quite felt invested enough in Emelia and Kyle’s relationship and therefore didn’t engage with the romance, which is usually my favorite aspect of a story. Emelia, as a whole, needed a bit more refinement. I couldn’t grasp how she was expected to be the heir of the kingdom, only for her to be sheltered to a point of incapability. It seemed like a glaring oversight as did the confusing way her parents treated her. They were warm and comforting one moment only to lash out and lock her up the next.

Additionally, this is just a personal preference, but the love interest’s name being Kyle took me right out of the story. There is something so starkly modern about the name that it felt disjointed to see it appear in a vampire story. Maybe it’s because I read a lot of fantasy but Kyle feels like someone I went to high school with, not a gorgeous, formidable vampire guard.

Regrettably, this one did not work for me despite it containing many tropes and plot elements that I adore. Maybe it’s because I read so much in the genre, but I was hoping for something new and innovative and never felt like The Last Raven went deeper than surface level.

Many thanks to Harper 360 and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun ride. I would give it 3.5 but since I can only go by 1’s, I’ll give this 4 stars. I enjoyed the stubbornness and the complexities of Emilia’s character and her coming into her own more and more as the story went on. The politics, magic systems, and the royal realms were easy to understand and intriguing. The romance could’ve been felt a bit more with some added tension and less repetitiveness in monologues.

This book is unreadable. I get that “Raven” is significant, but the word did not need be used over 260 times. I only made it to chapter 3 and the word “Raven” was used 28 times. There is also nothing about the writing that makes the story feel unique. I felt like I was reading story I’ve already read.

God I wanted to love that book it was one of the book I was the most excited about, I was promised a book for fan of twilight I mean being a millennial I was so down for that bad boy. But it felt flat and I god I’m upset about that one. The world building is none excitant I thought it was a fantasy set in a vampire world but they wear skinny jeans for f*** sake. They have phones and laptop (which I won’t be surprise are all apple btw) and I know it could be fine if not the plot they have problem with security but have technology but no cameras in the castle …. Make no sense to me ! The romance jeez I don’t like instant love in contemporary romance but in fantasy I think it’s just a hell no !!!!! The plot made no sense again and the ending seriously I have to say I jump to the ending wanted to see if that was true what people were saying and yes what a way to kill a book in 5 chapters 😂😂

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book tells the story of Emilia Raven, a human heir to her vampire parents who chafes at the expectations put upon her and longs to experience human life. She gets a new vampire bodyguard, Kyle, and they fall in love and along the way Emilia figures out many things about herself and the world she lives in.

I really, really wanted to like this book. I am a sucker for a vampire romance (as has already been established many times), and I was hopeful that this book would scratch that itch for me. But our vampire love interest, Kyle, has zero personality, and the romance is not so much enemies-to-lovers as complete insta love that happened so fast it confused me. The author could have done a lot more with the world-building - the times in the book where Emilia learns about how humans lived and the politics were really interesting, but they were few and far between and did not feel fleshed-out enough. Emilia struck me as childish, her parents as weirdly one-dimensional (her father's shift from being incredibly cold and angry towards her and then very loving really was head-spinning), and Kyle an almost cartoonishly "perfect" hero with no backstory or depth. The last 25% of the book felt like it completely careened, and I got so lost. The story had a lot of promise, and maybe the second book will be better, but this one was a disappointment.

When someone says a book is giving Twilight, you know I'll be there for it. However, I expect it to be better than Twilight if it's published in 2024, because the expectations are way higher and there's plenty of quality content to draw inspiration from nowadays.

The characters have no personality or defining traits, the dialogue is clunky, the narration was tell instead of show. I didn't like the writing style either, nor the constant arguing between characters; there was no point to any of it and it did not serve its purpose for world building or character development.

There's insta-love which I could overlook if there was any kind of chemistry between the MCs, but there's nothing. On the cover it says "Her blood is all he craves" but there's nothing about that in the book (yes, I care about those details) and they say "I love you" without even knowing anything about each other.

The twists and turns are predictable as soon as each character is introduced, so nothing surprised me except when the FMC finally made a wise decision for herself and that's when I decided to rate this book 2 stars instead of 1.

Maybe with some editing this book could be slightly better, but not by much. I didn't like the writing style either, but from my understanding, this is an unedited ARC. (seeing what an unedited copy looks like actually gives me hope of becoming an author)

I hate giving low ratings, especially for a book that I wanted to love, but I was tempted to dnf this one multiple times because of how bad it is and that almost never happens to me.

The Last Raven is a fast-paced story that offers a so-so narrative. Set in a world where vampires are the dominant species and humans are subjugated, the story follows Emilia, a human born to vampiric parents who is the heir to the Raven throne, and her reluctant journey toward assuming the role of queen on her 18th birthday.

The book starts with a strong premise, filled with tension and a sense of unease as Emilia navigates her duties and her growing desire to escape her vampire heritage and live in the human world. Enter Kyle, her new bodyguard, who brings his own set of complications. The relationship feels like an insta-love trope that lack suspense or tension.

As for the protagonist, Emilia, I struggled to connect with her. She is impulsive, sheltered, and at times, comes across as naive, especially given her circumstances. While her internal conflict makes sense—torn between her duties as heir and her desire to escape the vampire world—I found her behavior and emotional reactions to be a bit grating.

That said, The Last Raven has its share of compelling moments. The last few chapters, in particular, are fast-paced and full of twists that kept me guessing, even if they felt a bit rushed in terms of plot resolution. A betrayal late in the book hits hard, though it is somewhat predictable in hindsight. While the middle of the book dragged a little for me, the ending somewhat made up for it.

Overall, The Last Raven is a fun and easy read. While I had some issues with the pacing, character development, and world-building, the book succeeded in holding my attention.

Thank you NetGalley allowing me the opportunity to read the ARC. Opinions are my own.

Right off the bat I had a feeling this might not be the book for me. It's not bad, it's just too YA for my taste. I felt disconnected to the story and wasn't feeling the romance aspect. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

The Last Raven is a mix of political intrigue and the discovery of oneself. At 17, Emelia Raven is faced with the expectation of leading her kingdom one day. The caveat is that she is a human born to vampire parents. The story follows her development as she learns more about the world around her and her relationship with her parents. The plot is fast-paced and the chapters are fairly short, however, that does not take away from the action. If anything, it almost helps set the speed at which events are happening for Emelia so that the reader is by her side the the whole time. There are a few interesting twists throughout her journey and though not quite a cliffhanger, the ending does point to the possibility of there being something more to come.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper360 for gifting me the opportunity to read this ARC! All opinions are my own.

No spoilers:

I was really excited for this book which is why I'm sad to say I did not enjoy it. There were a couple major things that led to me DNF-ing at 26%.

-FMC too young: The age of the two main characters was very surprising. I'm not a fan of when the FMC is underage and the MMC is over 18. I know he is immortal but we don't have to do that anymore. It's 2024. It wouldn't have changed the quality of the story or the conflict she is dealing with by aging her by a couple months.
-This book felt YA: When I found out the FMC is 17 and the MMC is 18 (immortal) I thought this was YA and went to multiple sites to check to make sure I knew whether it was YA or not. I couldn't find whether it was YA or new adult, and it was advertised as steamy romantasy. I didn't finish it but if it is steamy I would be uncomfortable with that given the age of the main character.
-Relationship wasn't organic: It was clear this was meant to be enemies to lovers but from the moment they meet it felt forced. They immediately started arguing over nothing almost like "you looked at me weird" or "you said that really mean" but then randomly "I care about you." They felt very juvenile for an adult book. Again the ages made the reading experience weird. By the time they kissed it felt weird for me because I didn't see any chemistry between the characters at all.
-Politics didn't hold my attention: I see the potential for the human uprising and oppressive vampires. However, we barely got a glimpse into what that could be. So much of the part that I read was her feeling uncomfortable going to parties which again...feels YA. I love political intrigue and was really hoping for more. I found myself very bored.

Because this was a DNF I didn't include it on my instagram. I'm posting a TikTok tomorrow morning and will update this feedback once I do.

I had a good time reading this book! Even though there are so many vampire stories out there, I felt like this one had a unique twist with Emelia’s relationship with her parents. I’m interested to see what happens next.

Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for this e-ARC.


I had a really hard time with this novel. I found it very "juvenile-y" written and felt like this is something I would have devoured back in middle school in the mid 2000s. Aside from the writing, the characters were poorly developed and I found that the romance had no chemistry and the banter from Emelia was very immature and felt silly. The dialogue itself was just bad, very bad. I forced myself to read this because I did not want to DNF this title to be able to write a review. The instant angst for no reason between Emelia and Kyle just made no sense and I found myself cringing a lot. Names can really make or break a story, and the name Kyle for a character who is supposed to come off as "sexy" just did not match the tone. The plot and pacing was maybe okay, but was not executed well at all. The world building was so brief I kept forgetting what it was.

I really loved this book! It was just what I wanted in a fantasy romance book! The atmosphere was great and I loved the romance!

I wouldn't necessarily market this as "forced proximity" or "forbidden romance," given the way the book plans out. The world-building is interesting and it is well written, but I think lovers of 'True Blood' and 'Twilight' will have different expectations based on the book's marketing.

2.5 ☆
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The premise of this book sounded intriguing to me. I’ll be forced to take the crown, simply because of who my parents are. Never mind that my skin, my eyes, the way I move—everything will give me away for what I am: human in a world ruled by vampires.
But unfortunately, it just didn't give me the vibe I wanted and didn't hold my attention! I wasn't the targeted audience for this book.
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Thank you, Netgellay, and Harper 360 for the ebook in exchange for my honest review.