YA Review: Immortal Dark
Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 432p., ages 14-up, 9780316570381, September 3, 2024)
Immortal Dark is a fabulously bloody and intricate reimagining of the vampire myth, wherein an ancient agreement between vampires--or "dranaics"--and humans is all that keeps a massive slaughter of mortals at bay. But the stasis becomes threatened when one bitter, self-destructive 19-year-old embarks on a mission to save her twin, no matter the cost.
Kidan Adane is a murderer. And she'll kill again when she finds the "shadowy vampire" she is convinced kidnapped her twin sister, June. When Kidan's aunt dies, Kidan finds herself heiress to her parents' legacy, which should include the great House Adane, located on the hidden campus of Uxlay University. Uxlay is an ancient Black community that exists because of an uneasy peace, the Three Binds, that was created long ago in Ethiopia between dranaics and humans. Before the powerful binds, "humans were hunted and tortured by vampires," but once the alliance was forged, vampires were invited to live alongside humans as companions.
In a baffling twist, Kidan's parents have willed House Adane not to Kidan, but to dranaic Susenyos Sagad, the very vampire Kidan is seeking. To get to him and break her parents' will so she can inherit, Kidan must live in the estate with Susenyos; at the same time, each races to master the very real power of House Adane. Kidan and Susenyos, with his features "cut like dark glass," behave brutally--despite their growing and violent attraction--as each plots to make the other leave. As secret societies with unknown allegiances contribute to a trail of corpses, Kidan realizes the odds she'll save June without losing her own life are slim. But Kidan has always intended to die for her twin, "wreaking as much chaos as she [can] before facing hell itself."
Tigest Girma's ambitious, vividly imagined debut conjures a complex, often messy world in which humans vie for power and vampires fight for control. Her smart writing, which never shies away from violence, features a cutthroat society where life (both human and immortal) is cheap. Girma's heroes--angry, driven by their own conflicting desires, and unafraid to get bloody--rarely pretend to be virtuous. Readers will likely enjoy the intricacies of the mythmaking, and ultimately be left pondering the price of survival in this rewarding and original read, first in a planned trilogy. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author.
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