Y'all. I adored this new world!! Roman influence with the vibes of vampire diaries? Absolutely yes! The challenges were fun with just the right amount of violence and gore. The cast of characters is huge and I am both terrified of losing any of them while also loving getting to know them.
Arvelle is a great FMC who has already come a long way with development and I am excited to continue to watch her grow as the world opens in front of her.

The fact I have to wait until release and then after for book 2 is criminal! Tiernon has my heart and I don’t care what anyone says. I was addicted from chapter one and I didn’t want to put this book down. Stacia did it again! If you like Gladiators but throw in The Vampire Diaries then you’ll eat this up! Rorrik and Tiernon 100% give Damon and Stephan vibes but with a twist. I can’t wait to read more of their story and Arvelle is a totally badass!

This book literally has it all, if you love Vampire, Mythical creatures, mundanes and a fast paced / high stakes Romantasy then this will be perfect for you. Not to mention, TWO broody, dark MMCs who will quite literally burn the world down for the FMC.

ARC Review: We Who Will Die
Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️

If you’re craving a book that delivers a fierce, high-stakes survival story with gladiator-style trials, broody vampires, slow-burn tension, and a splash of forbidden romance, We Who Will Die checks every box—then adds a few more you didn’t know you needed.

From the gritty desperation of the Thorn district to the lethal elegance of the emperor’s court, Stacia Stark crafts a world that’s as brutal as it is addictive. Arvelle is a heroine you can’t help but root for—fierce, clever, and willing to make impossible choices to protect her brothers. The magically binding vow to kill an ancient vampire emperor? Insane. The decision to enter a death match to get close enough? Even worse. But every page ratchets up the tension in the best way possible.

The slow-burn romance sizzles in the background, with just enough angst, history, and emotional depth to leave you aching for more. The Primus is all intensity and mystery, while Rorrik—the emperor’s sadistic son—manages to steal scenes with unpredictable energy and a hint of something more beneath the surface. The push-pull dynamic and unclear loyalties between all three characters will have romantasy lovers hooked.

With plot twists, emerging magical powers, and a growing conspiracy that could shatter everything Arvelle thought she knew, this book doesn’t just set the stage—it explodes it.

I have so many questions after that ending and can’t wait to see how everything unravels next. Highly recommend!!

Thank you to @staciastarkauthor for sending me an ARC to review!

I'm an avid Stacia Stark reader and was incredibly thankful to have been given an opportunity to read this ARC. This book at it all: trials, vampires, friendship, character growth, etc. The plot is plotting! Can't wait for the next in this series.

This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time!! Stacia is a phenomenal writer and an auto buy author for me so I knew this one would be a hit! I was absolutely hooked from the beginning. I loved the trials, the character growth, the friendships and the creatures.

The gladiator vibes, vampires and magic was fantastic but the characters? Even better! I was invested in the MCs and even cared what happened with the side characters. This was an emotional rollercoaster and I could feel what the characters were going through.

I’m on the fence with which MC I’m leaning towards but I love the options moving into book 2!

This book has a very interesting plot line. We have sigilmarked, which are basically humans who depending on their power level have a different sigil (bronze, silver, gold), and we have vampires, who run the kingdom. The vampire emperor has a decree, where every citizen must fight in the sands after a certain age. Our main female character is the winner of the sands from 6 years ago, and she has two twin brothers, one who is chronically ill from a mine explosion. Our main FMC is blackmailed into joining the gladians to get close so she can kill the emperor, and in return he will heal her one brother. I really liked the plot, however I felt like I was missing a lot of world building as I still feel like we can delve deeper into the gods, and sigilborn powers, and vampires etc. The FMC doesn't really develop any friendships with anyone until the end of the book, so I felt like we missed out on a lot of scenes of her with other people. But I also can't figure out who the love interest is? But it is a very interesting book and I look forward to seeing where book two leads us.

We who will die involves everything to do with gladiators/arena/games but also throw in a tonne of mystery, vampires, allure, a conflicted fmc and a hidden quest and you have a CHUNKY book that is rich in its character, sprinklings of mythical creatures and the bloodbath of the arena.
Arvelle won the sands years before, where she lost her best friend and was awarded the riches of her win to help heal her brother who has lung sickness from being caught in a mine explosion. But her uncle steals her winnings, and so Arvelle must do odd jobs/bodyguard to make the coin to get tonics to keep her brother from death.
She is given an ultimatum though, go back to the sands and arena and find a way to kill the Vampire Caesar who is as powerful as he is cruel, and her brother will be healed permanently. Reluctantly she enters into a bond with a conniving empire and suddenly is back into the gladiator games.
I feel like Arvelle's pride was her downfall in some ways, and she really had to be taught a few lessons in humility, to accept help and hold her own against her powerful competitors.
Throw in two dangerously alluring vampire brothers, sons to Caesar and its a delicious blend of action, danger, romance and intrigue.
I really really enjoyed this, but I am begging please NO LOVE TRIANGLE! :)

I received this e-arc as a member of Stacia Stark's Street team.

Fantastic. Simply fantastic. There was no world in which I wasn't going to love a gladiator meets vampire diaries romantasy, but it really was a fantastic read.

I can't wait to see what Stacia does next in this universe because I am INVESTED

Vampires and Gladiators? Yes, please. This slow burn romantasy was addictive. If I could have put my responsibilities on hold, I would have finished this in a day. I loved it all....Roman-inspired world ruled by tyrant Vampires, gladiator style trials, vengeful gods, twists and turns, second chance romance, and....potentially a love triangle? The plot was great, the world was creative, and the characters were fantastic. Highly recommend. And now I eagerly away book 2.

Breathtaking. Brutal. Beautiful.

Stacia Stark has once again delivered a masterclass in dark fantasy with We Who Will Die. From the first page, I was swept into a world that is as unforgiving as it is mesmerizing. The morally gray characters, slow-burn tension, and high-stakes plot twists kept my heart racing the entire time. Stark’s writing is sharp and lyrical, painting vivid imagery while plunging deep into emotional and psychological complexity.

If you crave:
⚔️ Dark fantasy with teeth
❤️‍🔥 Angsty, high-stakes romance
👑 Morally gray characters
🖤 Found family, betrayal, sacrifice
🔥 Jaw-dropping plot twists

…this one absolutely delivers.

Stacia Stark continues to raise the bar. I’m obsessed and already counting down for what comes next.

This is the easiest 5 star rating review. I absolutely loved reading this from beginning to end. I have read Stacia Stark’s work before and this one is her very best.
I have to really praise the world-building in this book. I love how everyone kept describing it as a gladiator story but with vampires, because that’s exactly what it is. I loved Arvelle’s character and how we get full flashbacks into her backstory, how much she takes care of her brothers (eldest daughter syndrome at its finest), and how she persists even when grief is beating her down.

I personally loved the various hints to a bigger better plot. The gods conflicts, The emperor’s bad reign, the vampire’s rebellion, how they could one day walk in the sun. I loved seeing the potential of all these conflicts being connected in the future. It shows great world-building and plot scheming in the book. I also have to praise the new friendships Arvelle makes plus old reunions. Her reuniting with Tiernan gave me a lot of excitement. I still don’t know what to think of Rorik but there’s potential and I need to know their past. Maeva was a great addition and even a great parallel to Kasia. And then there’s the twins, I really hope they have a big role in the future.

Great book and I am positive many people will run to get this one when it releases next year.

6 stars. 7 stars. All the stars. A Roman gladiator-inspired romantasy with vampires, magical powers, griffons, wyverns, gorgons, and more. Yearning and romance and a morally gray situation named Rorrik. Epic battles and epic stakes. I've already recommended it to everyone I know and shall continue to do so. The writing and pacing is excellent. Every scene served a purpose and I never felt that things were happening to quickly without narrative consistency or too slowly for no reason. The characters are well-written and well-rounded and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley for selecting me as an ARC reader for this book.

My Sincere gratitude to Stacia, Avon, Harper Voyager & NetGalley for entrusting me with an advanced copy to read and give a fair review.

Vampires, Mythical Beasts, Gods, Unique Magic Users (Sigilmarked) & Gladiator Battles, what more could we ask for? Stacia Stark truly outdid herself in this stunning Romanesque, Vampire Romantasy Adventure. I was so drawn into the world that I found myself cheering for, crying over, and raging alongside the FMC. An easy 5-star series!

Arvelle has lived in the Thorn district all of her life and as such, has faced unrelenting hardships and insurmountable losses which have molded her into a woman who guards her heart, while remaining a fierce protector over her only remaining family she has left. When the health and safety of her younger brothers are at risk, she is forced to sacrifice everything and enter into the Sundering, a gladiator-style competition where contestants must survive the perilous odds in the Emperor’s Arena. As if that wasn’t enough of a risk, she is simultaneously blackmailed into a magically-binding contract where she must also win the Sundering and become a trusted elite guard where she might gain access to, and assassinate, the Emperor.

This story offers a substantial amount of character growth for both our main characters and supporting roles and I found myself wanting backstories of many of those supportive characters as well. While our FMC is certainly someone I immediately felt a connection to, I also found myself loving other characters in the story. The pacing was magnificent and left me regretful for every moment I had to put the book down for life off-page. I loved that there were elements of mystery and suspense, risks and danger where you weren't certain who would survive, and there were plot twists that will leave me guessing and making theories now that I'm finished. I genuinely cannot stand that I’ll have to wait a bit longer than everyone else for the next book in the series to get more answers. In the meantime, I’ll be encouraging all my Book-lovers to read it as soon as possible!

Excellent Read for those who loved Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games, Carissa Broadbent’s’ Nyaxia Series, Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean Series and similar books.

Tropes: Enemies-to-lovers, Forced Proximity, Slow Burn, Plot Twists, Banter, Loyalty, Healing after Loss, Just the right amount of Spice
Triggers: Addiction survivor, Cliffhanger (but SO worth it!)

So I’ll start off with the fact that this book is well written. It’s clear and understandable; even if there are some plot holes. I also feel the need to mention that I was two chapters in before I realized Arvelle was a female. The grammar and punctuation are mostly correct and the descriptions all make sense. However, I found this book long and slow.

I also had a hard time connecting with the characters. I just had a hard time caring. Tiernon was quite irritating and Bran just dips in and out every once in a while. i was getting there with Marva and Leon… I think but they were a little too flat. I really wanted to like someone and quite frankly it took Rorrick becoming humanized towards the end before I did. Maybe that just speaks to the characters being well written in that no matter how good or bad they were they were also not all or nothing. I would recommend this book for people that like this time period but it just wasn’t for me but at least I tried.

I would have liked to see something more happen with Arvelle’s sigil too. The mind path route could have been amazing! And can we talk about Rorrick being both sigil-marked and vampire!? I wanted so much more on this point!

This book was chaos in the best way—trials, twists, and a wild friends-to-enemies-to-lovers arc that kept me guessing. Just when I thought I had it figured out? Nope. Plot twist. I had to physically pause to process.

The grief, loyalty, sibling bonds, and mythological threads hit hard. And that cliffhanger? I’ll be feral waiting for the next one.

This is a fast paced book without any filler. Theres not a dinner scene, a getting ready for bed scene or just randomly going around the place scene. Our girl Arvella doesn't stop. Action action action.

This is about Arvella, a 25ish(?) woman who survived a hunger games style gladiator game 6 years ago. Her best friend died in those games and she's pretty much been angry and grieving. Her grief is portrayed quite well and has stopped her from truly living. She's solely raising her young teen twin brothers and one of them has a lung sickness.
Fast forward to end of chapter one and she has no choice but to get into an unbreakable bond to save her brothers life, she must survive 3 rounds of a brutal gladiator style trials and then secretly assistinate a really powerful emperor who is protected at all times.

This has vampires as the all powerful citizens who lord over the sigilmarked(ranked citizens who have a magic gift and work for the vampires) and mundanes who have no rights pretty much.
There's modern day humour and dialect but in a roman colosseum paranormal setting.

This was mostly about our girl Arvella and her trials and stages of her grief. Every page is action pact and a well thought out.
There's some mystery elements and some gods thrown in the mix.

Theres a romantic interest but I would say this book is a prelude to book 2 where I think the romance element will soar!
I've got so many theories on the mysteries in this book but also the realllllly subtle foreboding. I'm dying to know if my hunched are true!
And dare I say there might be a TRUE enemies to lovers trope coming.

This is a truly five star read by a fantastic author who knows how to make the story the main focus of a book and not drag out enjoyable reads!

WOW WOW WOW!
This book was everything I needed and more! If the vampire diaries is a comp, sign me up, but TVD X GLADIATORS, yes yes yes!

I was here for every moment of this story, beginning to end. The character development through the story of Velle, our FMC, was amazing and the action and drama in this story, perfection. I felt everything from happy, excited, terrified, to relieved with all that was happening. And that love triangle in the making??? Im here for it and will be needing more of it. This story was weaved together seamlessly and I’m so sad it’s not out yet because I’m already looking forward to book two 😂 I’ll be working my way through Stacia’s backlist in the mean time because whatever she puts in her writing, I’ll be needing more of that.

Thank you so much Avon and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review! Because wow just wow.

ARC Review – We Who Will Die ✨

4.5 stars – Blood, Bonds, and Betrayal

A dramatic fantasy that has Roman gladiator brutality with supernatural politics (think gladiator with a twist of vampire diaries). Or if you’ve ever wished Spartacus had more vampires and mythical creatures, this will be your jam.

Our FMC Arvelle, a sigil-marked, is forced into the emperor’s deadly Sundering — trials in the sand with monsters and man — not for glory, but to save her sick brother. Blackmailed into a blood bond with a vampire, she has no choice but to fight.

We get centaurs and gryphons, kelpies and vampires. At its core, this story is about fractured siblings, power struggles, sacrifice, and the line between survival and honor. And yes, there’s a slow-burning possible love triangle that feels earned rather than forced.

Fans of dark epic fantasy, and morally gray characters will find so much to love here. A brutal, beautiful debut with high stakes, sharp teeth, and an aching heart.

arc reader review: 4.5stars. i feel that this book honestly will become big on social media. this book was so good in ways i do not understand. the connections between the characters is crazy, every word that left someone’s mouth revealed a twist. this book was so good, the only time i got slightly bored was the small info dumping but other than that, this book is literally amazing. i will buy this immediately when it hits the stores! thank you to netgalley and stacia for this arc!

This was my first Stasia Stark novel and if her other books are as compelling as this one then I will have to continue reading her other work! I loved how fast paced the story was and the setting was vividly portrayed. It reminded me of a vampire style hunger games/gladiator games! Can’t wait for the next book in the series!