5/5 stars
I loved every second of this book. As an eldest sister, I really loved the dedication of this book and the representation of an older sister doing what it takes to keep her siblings alive.
Arvelle's deep, undying love for her twin brothers instantly made me love her. It's always a question of "how far will you go" when it comes to those we love, and for me, I would do anything for my younger brother.

Beyond my instantaneous love for the FMC, there was an almost immediate introduction to vampires, which struck my interest.
Magic, vampires, and a corrupt government that enjoys the suffering and death of its people.

Arvelle gets thrown into a life or death match and forced to ally with a few people she could never have imagined, the man who broke her heart, and Rorrik, the emperor's sadistic, murderous son.

There were moments to cry, and others to smile and laugh. But my favorite moments were the twists that had me saying, "wtf?" all the way to the very end.

Thank you to HarperCollins publishing and Avon books for the e-ARC copy of this!!

This is going to be the *perfect* read for the dark winter months. Really fun read with a lot of moving pieces. There were definitely more characters than I could keep track of at times, but that could be because I stayed up until 2am reading it all in one sitting. I could not put this book down.

I love that we start with a FMC who has been successful and is capable on her own and is not entirely dependent on the MMC.

There's slow burn, so much yearning, second chance romance, and potentially a dark morally grey love interest (or maybe that's just my wishful thinking).

If you like Quicksilver and Heartless Hunter, you'll absolutely love We Who Will Die!

WOW! This just might be my new favorite @staciastarkauthor book!

We Who Will Die is a slow burn romantasy that follows Arvelle as she struggles to take care of her two brothers, one of whom is sick. When a vampire shows up at her door digging up her past and offering her a deal she can’t resist, Arvelle has no choice but to enter the Sundering - a deadly competition that only the fastest and strongest can win. Everything is on the line for her & if she fails it isn’t only her that goes down, but her brothers as well.

You’ll enjoy We Who Will Die if you like…
🩷fast paced, slow burn romantasy
⚔️deadly trials
❤️‍🔥love triangles
🙌🏼forced proximity
😍enemies to lovers
🌍 roman inspired world

This is definitely going to be the next big romantasy book! Preorder now!! It releases on December 30 2025!

This book was such a big difference from the Kingdom of Lies series. It was a refreshing tale of a strong independent woman who has already overcome some big hurdles and is a complex person when we are first introduced to her, versus a random civilian who is thrust into greatness. Very interesting world building, with a setting like fantasy Rome in the times of the gladiators. The magic system was unique as well and the addition of vampires was the cherry on top. I am concerned about the love triangle because those never end well, and I'm terrified that Tiernon is going to die!

Thank you NetGalley & Avon Books for the ARC :)

Theres nothing quite like a novel where the main character is forced into using skills they've abandoned to save what little family they have left.
Arvelle enters a deadly competition as close to against her will as she can get to become a guard of the empire... an empire she hates. Left with no other options but to trust a vampire with her brothers, Arvelle makes a deal and is sent in to kill the emperor.
Haunted by her past and lack of power, Arvelle stays a closed off, cold and friendless through the majority of this book. But lucky for her, people seem to like her despite her best efforts to remain distant.

You know I absolutely wanted her to drop the friendly brother for the evil one IMMEDIATELY, but that's just who I am as a person. We can have both...both is an option right? Guess I'll have to wait to find out.
Will 100% be waiting for the next book, need a little more morally grey in my life.

Rating: 4.75/5

I’m absolutely obsessed.

I honestly don’t even know where to begin, because I’m still mentally and emotionally processing the rollercoaster that is this book. This book follows Arvelle, a woman blackmailed into competing in the deadly Sundering arena, with the ultimate goal of assassinating the emperor to save her younger brothers. Arvelle is such a well-crafted character—strong yet vulnerable, in a way that feels so incredibly real. Her emotions and reactions aren’t exaggerated or performative; they’re raw, flawed, and completely human.

And then there are the love interests. I’m torn between Tiernon and Rorrik. Both are tortured, morally gray, and completely impossible to resist. I honestly have no idea who I want Arvelle to end up with. What’s so refreshing about this love triangle is that I genuinely love both men for different reasons, which is rare in books like this. The relationships between Arvelle and both of them are messy, chaotic, and full of tension—in the best way possible.

The world-building is equally stunning. Stark has created a brutal, power-hungry world where survival is a constant struggle. It’s immersive, vivid, and feels so real that you’re transported into it with every page. Some scenes are so intense you’ll need to put the book down for a breather, while others are full of joy, leaving you with a smile on your face. This book is packed with plot twists, and I genuinely had no idea how it would end. And that cliffhanger? I need the next book now!

In short, this book is incredible. If you love vampires, morally gray characters, and Gladiator/Hunger Games vibes, this one is for you. The characters are complex, the world is rich and immersive, and the story kept me hooked from start to finish. I can’t wait for the next book!

Thank you to Avon & Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was phenomenal! I loved the setting, like a fantasy Ancient Rome. Emperors, corruption, political intrigue, gladiatorial combat, magical sigils, vampires, and a healthy dose of murder. The conflict throughout was visceral, and the world full of brutality.

The characters were well developed with flaws and some deep-seated trauma, especially Arvelle. The relationships were emotional and contentious, and I want to know more, particularly regarding Rorrick and Tiernon.

I was hooked from the very beginning. The story was well thought out, intriguing, and action-packed. I came away from the book absolutely craving more, and while I was blessed to get to read this as an ARC, I have that much longer until book 2 comes out.

If Twilight, Powerless, the love story of Lily and Snape, and Hunger Games had a baby, it would be this book. 2 children form a great friendship even though they only show the parts they want to share with the other. They grow up, she goes into a trial, relationships change, trials and tribulations occur, and she is forced into another tournament in order to save her brothers. There’s a war between sigil-marked, vampires and mundanes and the FMC has to balance her determination, protection of her family, the love she still holds for the boy, and learning all of the other facets of her world.

I felt it was an interesting story and I liked the characters. The world building was easy to picture and the characters had their own personalities and complications. My one negative to the story is the large amount of superfluous language and drawn out descriptions. There were also backstories that I felt confused the storyline and weren’t really necessary. Maybe they become important later in the series or I missed connections but there were a handful of times where I thought “this explanation seems long winded and unimportant”.

So good! Trials, romance, gods, monsters. Everything I was looking for. Stacia Stark has FLOWN to the top of my must-read authors.

Thank you to HarperCollins Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book before its pub date!

While the beginning of this book was a bit slower than I typically prefer and felt very loaded with world building, once the plot moved it really MOVED! There is so much potential here, with a lush and layered world with different creatures, different religious beliefs, different societal and royal hierarchies, the romance plot, the mystery plot - there was so much going on. I was fully immersed in this world and was very sad to see it end.

I felt that the Ancient Rome inspired setting along with the vampires and magic wielders was super unique and interesting. The gladiator fights, the love triangle, the murderer on the loose, the mysterious power, the Gods and their secret plans - it all had me on edge and wanting to read the next page to figure out all these mysteries.

I can’t wait for book 2! I hope to see the plot move a bit faster now that we have the world established and the characters all in place.

This book swept me off of my feet. I have read many great romantasy books in my lifetime and this one stands amongst the best that I have read this year. It has been a very long time since I have felt this excited about a new romantasy series. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the next book even though this one has not even been published yet. This book is addicting and hooked me from the very first chapter.

This book did many things well. We have a fantasy world that is well-developed yet easy to understand. I think vampires are fairly overdone at this point in time in fantasy books, but the author was able to put a new spin on them that I though was unique and made vampires feel less tired as a subject. I also liked that there were more mythical creatures in the book outside of vampires, which also made the world more diverse and exciting.

Was this the most unique romantasy that I have ever read? Not necessarily. The basic premise of this book is a girl who grew up in poverty is plucked from obscurity to participate in trials by a powerful man. This one line summary is one I could use to describe a great number of books. However, how Stark developed this premise into a dynamic whirlwind of a story was interesting and new.

My only gripe with this book is the love triangle. Love triangles are probably one of my least favorite romantic tropes that exist, so this gripe is really just a personal opinion of mine. I think that is is possible to do a love triangle well and I am unsure if that will be the case in this series or not. I like to be invested in my characters and at this point in time in this series, I don't know who I should be invested in. Again, that's not really a critique of the books, it's just something I hope is cleared up very quickly in book two.

Overall, I think this was a fantastic start to a new romantasy series that I could not be more excited about. If you love trials and high stakes, this book is the perfect next read.

Thank you very much Netgalley and Publisher for giving me early access to this eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and freely expressed.

Arvelle, a barely sigilmarked woman who has to take care of her twin brothers when their mother died, works as a bodyguard after surviving the Sands and eking out a meager existence in the poorest part of the city. One day, she's confronted by a vampire who manipulates and compels her into trying to assassinate the Vampire Emperor, one of the first Vampires ever made.
Unable to trust anyone for fear of putting them in danger and doing everything she can to save her brothers from the bargain she made, Arvelle must succeed to finishing the three challenges set out in the Arena from the Emperor himself and attempt to take his life.

Will she succeed? Or will she fail in the attempt? Not only does she have to succeed but there's also someone, or something Killing fellow Gladians and their trainers and leaving their heartless corpses behind.

This is the first EVER story that I've read that was Roman Gladiator inspired, and I loved every inch of this. Alot of it I did find predictable and obvious, but the story was so good that it didn't even matter to me.
Made me smile, made me kick my feet but also made me tear up and cry at parts.
I am most definitely buying a copy of this when it comes out and I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.
The world was beautiful and sometimes bleak, the descriptions were good and the battle sequences!
I loved Maeva and her budding friendship. I just loved the uniqueness of this story for I haven't read anything like this before.
Could there be a love triangle? I don't know but im weirdly getting that vibe.
I really really am looking forward to the continuation of this series and I'm deeply sad that it's not out yet 😆 highly recommend.

Check triggers though.

We Who Will Die is unlike anything I’ve ever read — a bold, genre-bending romantasy that completely hooked me. Vampires, powers, Roman-inspired politics, and literal gods? I was obsessed.

The love interests?? Absolute perfection. I’m living for the second-chance/enemies-to-lovers tension and seriously hoping we get even more of that dynamic in the next book.

There were a lot of subplots and side characters, which left me a bit confused at times, but honestly, it just made the world feel that much bigger and richer.

This has all the makings of the next big romantasy obsession, and I cannot wait to see where book two takes us.

Thank you to the publisher for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This gladiators meets vampire fantasy romance was a really enjoyable read.

This has a good blend of action, politics, and romance. The combat/competition scenes were exciting, the politics were captivating, and the romance was a nice build throughout the book.

The main character Arvelle is so protective of her family, and I enjoyed how this played into the plot.

If you like romantasy and vampires, I recommend you check this one out when it releases at the end of this year.

This was one of the best books I have read all year!!! Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for letting me review this ARC.

I couldn’t put this book down!! It had it all my favorites vampires, mythical creatures, magic, trials, found family, and gods. I cried, I laughed, I cursed, this book has it all.

Favorite quotes

“Addiction thrives in the dark places. The places we want to escape. And my life has been filled with dark places.”

“Long before my mother was born – every citizen had the right to vote. Then, without warning, that right was taken away. That’s the thing about rights – you don’t realize you’ve taken them for granted until one day, you wake up, and they’re no longer a right. They’re a privilege reserved for other people.”

“Women have been each other’s sword and shield since the beginning. When men turn against us, we turn to each other.”

The plot: Arvelle’s focus is only one thing– keeping her younger brothers safe. In order to save one of them, Arvelle is forced to make a magically binding vow to kill the emperor. In order to get close to the emperor, she must enter and win a deadly competition consisting of gladiator style arena fights. She has not fought in years and is out of shape and nearly magickless but will be facing people and vampires (likely with far more magic than her) who have been training for most of their lives to win this competition.

I have read Stacia’s Kingdom of Lies series and really enjoyed that, so I was already a fan. This book surprised me in that I was hooked instantly. I devoured it in just over a day and was kicking myself for starting it right before bed because I didn’t want to stop reading. The plot was cohesive and fast-paced, there was constant action or tension without sacrificing world-building or character development. I think this is Stacia’s best book yet and I am so excited for a sequel. I don’t know how she managed to fit so much into 432 pages, but I felt like I went on a whole quest reading this book. This had the socioeconomic disparity of Hunger Games, the scheming and violence of Spartacus (the tv show), and the good brother vs bad brother tension and drama of The Vampire Diaries. I really enjoyed that there were multiple magical creatures in this story, as well as a mix of familiar (vampires, elemental magic) and unfamiliar magic systems (sigils). I would have liked to learn more about the Sigilmarked and how the sigils work and grow, but my impression was that the FMC doesn’t know all that much about the topic and the reader will learn more as the FMC does. I am hoping that more secrets about these and the FMC’s lineage are uncovered in the next book, because I am definitely intrigued. While this is the start of a series, I wouldn’t say that the book ends on a frustrating cliffhanger, but there is a clear pause for more to come. Those who don’t like painful cliffhangers shouldn’t have any problem reading this, but it definitely leaves you wanting more ASAP regardless.

This book releases Dec 30, 2025 so I highly suggest that everyone add it to their tbr and pre-order.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Stacia Stark and Avon & Harper Voyage for the eARC of this book. It was an absolute pleasure to read and I would be delighted to receive an ARC of the sequel when it becomes available.

Tropes You’ll Swoon/Sob/Scream Over:

✨ Grumpy x morally gray
✨ Found family in the middle of a war
✨ Magic that scars and saves
✨ Enemies to reluctant allies to something more
✨ The “I will burn the world for you but I don’t know how to say it” energy

This book devoured me. Stacia Stark delivers another ruthless, beautifully written installment that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. The tension? Chef’s kiss. The politics? Sharp enough to bleed. And the slow-burn between Raasc and Taly? Torturously perfect.

The stakes are higher, the magic is darker, and the emotional wreckage is so delicious it hurts. I laughed, I screamed, I held my breath and now I’m spiraling until the next book

We Who Will Die was a fun time! I love that it has a gladiator aspect with vampires. Arvelle is an FMC who has not been dealt an easy hand in life and to rub it in she's forced to enter a kind of gladiator games so she can get into the cruel emperor's guard and kill him. This leads to she getting on the wrong side of both the emperor's son and the head of the guard, but they also might just be her best chance at pulling off her plan. Everything unfolds from there in a wild ride through this multilayered story. The book left me wanting to find out what happens next and look forward to book 2!

Thank you HarperCollins & NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book!! It gave roman coliseum fighting to the next level! As much as I wanted to hurry up and finish I knew when I finished it I'd be devastated. I absolutely love the story line and can't stop thinking about it. Following Arvelle a "washed up" champion of the sands trials who will stop at nothing to save her brothers. However a vampire named Bran finds her and gives her the ultimate ultimatum, kill the emperor and her brother is healed.
However it's not that simple. She has to fight in a gladiator trial type contest against vampires and other sigilmarked people to even get close to the emperor.
Add in a second chance forbidden romance, morally black characters, interesting side characters, pawns in a rebellion and a very interesting magic system of sigilmarked people who have bronze, silver, or gold emblems on their foreheads that show the power of their magic. Arvelle will stop at nothing to save her brothers even if that means getting back in the fight after losing everything years prior when she became a champion. With frequent flashback moments that help further character development I couldn't put this book down. If you loved books like Trial of the Sun Queen, Crowns of Nyaxia, and Blood of Hercules then this book should definitely be your next read. The first in a new series that I 1000% will be continuing.
Is an adult fantasy with romance book that has spice.

Stacia Stark is an auto buy author for me and this was everything I've come to expect from her!

Stacia takes us into a completely new world with this one. Arvelle is living in a Roman empire inspired world where there are vampires, a cruel emperor, and gladiator competitions. The twists and turns this story takes kept me so engaged the entire time. I loved the way the magic system was written, essentially with tiers of powers, and how that played in with the vampires.

This felt like a very high-stakes and fast paced story. Arvelle's entire world is taking care of her younger brothers. They are everything to her, and when their circumstances change and the only way to save one of them requires her to enter deadly competitions, she makes that impossible choice.

I loved Arvelle's character so much. This was a single POV story so I really hope that the next book we get some new POV's because I feel like we missed a lot - likely intentionally - but I would love to get inside some new heads. Also, this book does have a love triangle and I really need book 2 after that ending!

Thank you so much to Stacia Stark, Avon and Harper Voyager for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.