I really wanted to love this book, queer vampires? Absolutely sounds up my alley! But the info dumping and open ended plot points really made it hard for me. I think watching the original love story between George and Howard was nice, and I loved James and George too! I just really struggled to get into this and I’m honestly pretty bummed about that.

I think this book will work perfectly for some people! Unfortunately just not me.

Thank you to NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts are my own and are in no way influenced by early access to this title.

Thanks to NetGalley and MTVBooks for the eARC!

This was such an interesting take on the vampire trope - I'm still in my feelings about the ending. It made perfect sense with the events leading up to it, but it's not the ending I had pictured. I don't want to say more because I don't want to give any spoilers, but I ALMOST hope there's a sequel?? I know there won't be - the story is told perfectly, in that no more is needed, but I wish there had maybe been an epilogue a few years in the future??

I thought the joining of vampirism with the storyline of gay rights was truly interesting. While there were occasions when it started feeling info dump-y, I didn't really mind that. I wish there had been a bigger example of a queer student with supportive parents (I'm counting the one student whose parents let her starting doing school from home as supportive). But I do understand that this book was more about how hard being gay can be. How lonely. How overlooked gay and queer teens can feel.

3.5⭐️

Well over all I did enjoy this book.
I am thankful to have gotten an eARC for free from MTV Books through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

This is a YA vampire Achillean romance on the surface but beneath that it is a social justice missive. Some people are either going to love or hate it when it comes out on March 2025.
I had to sit on the book for a couple days after finishing as I couldn’t figure out how I felt about the info dumping that went on throughout the book. On one hand I enjoyed the history and emotion of talking about the 80’s and 90’s and the AIDS epidemic but at other times it got a bit preachy. And I say that as an ally.

I also enjoyed the sweet love story that started the novel
Off…and then wasn’t as keen on the toxic romance that followed. So, you make the choice for yourself. I think it’s a worthwhile read. Especially for teens looking for themselves in the pages of a book.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

I'm in my vampire era! I came for the stunning cover and the supernatural, but stayed for the love between George and Howard. We really need more queer love stories and I loved the history of LGBTQ woven in and this is so much more than just another vampire story.

I requested and received an eARC of Till Death by Kellan McDaniel via NetGalley. I mean gay vampires? I don't read much YA fiction these days, but I was definitely drawn to this book and had to check it out. Howard is waiting until he can escape the confines of his high school. He doesn't fit in there and prefers to spend his time volunteering with the elderly at a nursing home where he encounters a strange, handsome teenager. Or who appears to be strange, handsome teenager. George is facing the loss of his partner, James, after twenty years together. George and James met when they were teenagers, but lost track of one another until they reconnected in their early sixties. Now James is slipping beyond George's reach, because George is a vampire. Immortal. Forever trapped in the body of a nineteen-year-old.

The second chapter of this book absolutely stole my heart and sold me on this story. No offense to the first chapter, which was a wonderful introduction to Howard, but the second chapter of this story really sunk its teeth into me and refused to let go. The emotional hook, the impending devastation between George and James, sealed my investment in Till Death. The way McDaniel peels back the layers of their history gave them added depth without being overly maudlin and the way their story plays out reflects a very issue that the queer community has been faced with — the disenfranchisement of a partner based on homophobic legality. I think there’s a political awareness to the story that is both important and necessary.

Queer youth do live lives that are politicized, whether their heterosexual, adult counterparts wish to acknowledge that fact or not. We also see this dynamic play out in the story as Howard and his friends face the local school board in an effort to improve the experiences of queer students at their high school. I enjoyed the budding romance between Howard and George, but I do wish there had been more scenes with Howard’s friend group. You know, after about the 50% mark, I have to say I wasn’t entirely sure what direction this story was headed. This isn’t a bad thing, it kept me on my toes and sent me racing toward the conclusion. And man, what an ending. This one is definitely going to stick with me for some time to come, because I’m still wrestling with what to make of it all. While a lot of queer YA books have chosen to lean into a space of light and positivity, Till Death relies on queer cynicism which I found to be both refreshing and honest.

This was a little slow to get into but once I got to the 20% mark I couldn’t put this down! I really enjoyed the themes explored in this and I enjoyed the Heathers parallel. I will never say no to reading a vampire book or a queer book.

Review also shared on goodreads.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

I love vampire books and this cover is so good. I had so much fun reading this book and I love forward to more from this author!

as a lover of vampire fiction, i tried so hard to enjoy this book but i just could not do it. it felt so disjointed and there were way too many plot points that didn't get resolved at all that seemed almost pointless throughout. and while i won't spoil where the plot ends up going because it is crazy, but essentially it did not make any sense i can tell you that

Till Death follows Howard who one day meets George. George is about to lose his life partner James after twenty years together. George is a vampire and is questioning what to do next. Soon Howard and George start to grow closer. Will they be able to be together or will the vampire thing stop it?

This book was cute! I will say I did think it took a while for the romance to start, so I was a bit bored. I have also read a lot of books similar to this. But I still really liked it. This book in my opinion you were written for younger YA readers. I did really like that this book brought to light important queer issues. I just feel like this book was missing something. But I did like it!!!

Thank you so much Kellan McDaniel and Simon Teen for the ARC of this book.