If you loved “Underworld” and want to read a YA story about vampires, training montages, and quests for revenge – this is for you. Court of the Undying Seasons is a fun new addition to the vampire cannon. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
In becoming a vampire, I’m less than a girl. And more.
Or maybe I’m becoming what I always have been, deep inside.
A blade.
When nineteen-year-old Fin volunteers to take her secret love’s place in their village’s Finding, she is terrified. Those who are chosen at the Finding are whisked away to Castle Courtsheart, a vampire school where human students either succeed and become vampires, fail and spend the rest of their lives as human thralls…or they don’t survive long enough to become either.
Fin is determined to forge a different learn how to kill the undead and get revenge for her mother, who was taken by the vampires years ago. But Courtsheart is as captivating as it is deadly, and Fin is quickly swept up in her new world and its inhabitants – particularly Gavron, her handsome and hostile vampire maker, whose blood is nothing short of intoxicating. As Fin begins to discover new aspects of her own identity and test her newfound powers, she stumbles across a string of murders that may be connected to a larger ritual – one with potentially lethal consequences for vampires and humans alike. Fin must uncover the truth and find the killer before she loses her life…or betrays her own heart.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Court of the Undying Seasons begins with serious “I volunteer as tribute” vibes and ends with “Underworld” vibes. It’s a book that asks us about our motivations. What will we sacrifice and compromise for what we want. Who will we hurt. For Fin, she’s determined to get revenge, but she quickly finds out that nothing is that simple. If you love the idea of queer vampires, a vampire who wants to be a vampire hunter, and training montages – this is for you.
Fast paced, Court of the Undying Seasons combines deadly vampires, werewolves, and courts. With an enemies to lovers story line, everything Fin thinks she knows about vampires and her rivals, is called into question. Strickland’s recent release examines choices and power. It explores the power of choice and the idea that we can make a different, a new, future. Fin has to see her own value, her own abilities, and believe that she is enough as she is.
(Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links. For more information you can look at the Policy page. If you’re uncomfortable with that, know you can look up the book on any of the sites below to avoid the link)
To find her powers, claim them, and train them. Court of the Undying Seasons delivers mystery and investigation, sparring matches, and powerful decadent deadly courts. Find Court of the Undying Seasons on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.