Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Night's Edge by Liz Kerin

10 reviews

macncheese_pdf's review

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

aparker89's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kalventure's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

 I read this book a month ago and am still thinking about it. Night's Edge is powerfully evocative, lyrically written, and gritty with a story that you won't be able to put down.


I adored Kerin's debut novel The Phantom Forest so I was thrilled to receive an ARC to read it early for review. Thanks to the worst reading slump of my life, it took me much longer to pick this book up than intended but when I finally did Night's Edge consumed me and I devoured this book in a weekend. Normally I annotate while reading for review, but the four comments I have are basically me screaming at plot points. It's been so long since I've had this experience reading!

"The night is starless. Clouds suffocate the moon."

The narrative is instantly gripping and sinks its teeth into you on the first page. Kerin's writing is sharp and descriptive, lyrical without feeling heavy, and the book keeps a steady pace, keeping me glued to my chair to watch the horrors unfold.

I love when books are tightly written and every scene serves a purpose, and Night's Edge is intricately plotted. It comes to a natural conclusion while leaving you ready for more in its sequel (April 2024 cannot come fast enough!).

"Sometimes it feels like she's moving backward through time. But maybe that's just me. Moving forward."

At its core, this book uses vampires as an allegory to explore codependency in families. There's so much that I could gush about Mia's relationship with Izzy, but I wanted to keep this review surface-level so you can experience it for yourself. One part that struck a cord with me is how Mia was forced to grow up too fast and now that she's an adult herself, her mother sees her as a child. How we perceive time and how that perception becomes distorted through trauma - I found my heart aching for both Mia and Izzy.

"I wonder what that's like, to know someone can't fight back. To take their silence as concession."

No good vampire tale is complete with an exploration of personal agency, control, and power - and Night's Edge is a damn good vampire story. There are many intersectionalities, which introduces a lot of nuance into an analysis. Nothing is black and white, and no person is truly good or evil - almost every character in some way has their agency taken from them.

I especially enjoyed how Kerin took the vampire mythos and made a story wholly her own. The pandemic adjacent worldbuilding paints a scene that feels all too real: our modern world overrun by a virus, only this virus is responsible for turning people into vampires. I hope that there will be more focus on the Saras in the sequel, because I feel like there's so much here to explore - especially with the ending!

"We need to believe that everyone we give our love to is a good person. But if they change... and if that change hurts us... what then? Are they still good, deep down? Because 'they weren't always like this'?"

Night's Edge deals with codependent familial relationships and may be a difficult for some so please read the content warnings to ensure that you're in the right headspace before picking it up.

Overall, Night's Edge is a powerful and raw exploration of codependency through the lens of vampires that will stay with you long after reading. It's action-packed in a cinematic way that I was able to clearly picture the book's events in my mind. It's uncomfortable to read at times but beautiful all the same.

Content Warnings: Blood & gore depiction, Child abuse, Gun violence

ARC provided by the publisher for consideration. This does not affect my opinion or the contents of my review. Quotations are from an unfinished proof and are subject to change upon final publication.

Blog • Twitter • Instagram • Pinterest • Ko-fi • Patreon 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jamieleepilk's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

gorybmovie's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

alreads13's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

amobrien's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A worldwide pandemic called Saras spreads, allowing people to turn others into vampires. Though treatment centers pop-up, there is no cure, and Mia's mother Izzy, who was turned by an abusive ex, worries that the treatment centers are a cover for medical testing. At the age of 10, Mia suddenly becomes solely responsible for taking care of her mother.

For over a decade, Mia has been drawing her own blood for her mother, avoiding making any relationship that might alert people to her mother's condition. When the man who turned her mother starts coming back into their lives, Mia's strained relationship with her mother begins to crumble and she starts searching for an escape.

Night's Edge is a fantastic story about toxic relationships and the difficulty in leaving them as well as the feeling of obligation. Mia's anxiety is contagious — I was so stressed while reading! This was a fantastic horror with an amazing premise. Please check content warnings before reading though and be warned that this is not a good book for you if you're squeamish.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

enchantressreads's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“Every night, the darkness devours another piece of her. I have no way of knowing how much is left. “

Mia is just 10 years old when she finds her mom’s lifeless body. And Mia is 10 years old when she feeds her mother blood for the first time. 

Night’s Edge is not your typical vampire story. In this book, Kerin took some inspiration from the Covid Pandemic to create something horrifying. It’s been years since Saratov Syndrome began, and there are plenty of precautions in place to make sure people are safe. But Mia is far from living a normal life. She still feeds her mother from her veins.

It’s not only horrifying, but it’s sad. This book will hit hard with all femmes, but especially those with strained mother-daughter/child relationships. For every child who had to grow up too fast. For every child who became the parent. It hits very close to home.

It’s also gay, which I loved. I’m glad queers can exist freely even among deadly vampires.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the chance to read this advanced review copy. 

CW: blood, HP reference, death, child/emotional abuse, abandonment, panic attacks, murder, gun violence, addiction
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

grimdark_dad's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nerdyprettythings's review

Go to review page

emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

I liked this! It was a very quick read, it's short and the tension keeps building as the past and present versions of the story unfold. The MC (Mia) in the present day reminded me a bit of Jade from My Heart is a Chainsaw. She's so lonely and just living her life is a horror story. This
should also be marked LGBT fyi! Mia gets a manic pixie dream girl gf (ironically named Jade). Mia's mom is a vampire, and since Mia's childhood has literally been sucking the life out of her. The disease is just
as much or more a family dynamics metaphor as it is an
external pressing concern. Definitely check the CWs on this, it's a really insidious toxic relationship, and being in Mia's head as she experiences every manipulation and attempt to isolate her was tough to read at times.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...