stacia stark – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 423 pages
Author: Stacia Stark
Publisher: Avon Books
Release Date: December 30th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the bestselling author of the Kingdom of Lies series comes a slow-burn romantasy set in a Roman-inspired world ruled by merciless vampires. Filled with breathtaking combat, vengeful gods, and magical creatures, We Who Will Die is the epic first installment in an enthralling new series perfect for fans of Carissa Broadbent, Jasmine Mas, and Rebecca Yarros.

Life in the perilous Thorn district is a constant battle for Arvelle and her younger brothers. And the vampire standing on her doorstep is about to turn their world upside down.

Faced with an unthinkable choice, Arvelle makes a magically binding vow to do the impossible: kill the emperor, an ancient vampire created by the god Umbros. But first, she must enter the Sundering—an arena where only the fastest, strongest, and deadliest survive long enough to be selected for the emperor’s elite guard.

She quickly draws the ire of the Primus, the powerful figure charged with protecting the emperor. But the vampire under the armor is the last person Arvelle expects to encounter in the emperor’s court.

With her brothers’ lives in the balance, Arvelle has no choice but to ally with the man who once shattered her heart… and with the emperor’s sadistic son, Rorrik—two vampires whose motives are impossible to pin down. Rorrik holds the key to understanding the powers Arvelle is developing—abilities that would put a price on her head if discovered by the emperor.

To survive the arena and complete her mission, Arvelle must get to the bottom of a conspiracy that will change everything she thought she knew about herself—and the two vampires who are deeply entwined with her destiny…

Thank you LibroFM for the gifted audiobook.

I GET IT.

I’ve been sitting on this audiobook for just a little bit because there was a lot of hype surrounding it amongst my friends (and I don’t know why that makes me nervous) BUT LO AND BEHOLD. I enjoyed it and I’m excited to read book two!

Y’all know duet narration is my kryptonite so bless this audiobook for making it such a great listen. I liked the narrators and that they did a good job in executing the storyline.

I didn’t quite understand why Arvelle would be chosen to kill the emperor when she had no big marketable skills? But I mostly rolled with it and liked seeing her slowly grow (and I hope that continues in the next book).

The romance was…a little meh to me? BUT I can’t really say why without spoiling it so I think I’ll have to keep that to myself and see if I’m right. If I am, then I think I’d love this book even more. The wait is on to see!

For the world building and magic, I didn’t know just how brutal this was going to be but I’m here for it. I love a gritty dark fantasy and this hit those marks. I liked how the vampires functioned in society and the gladiator vibes could be felt throughout.

Overall audience notes:

Dark Fantasy Romance
Language: strong
Romance: 2ish open door
Violence: high ++
Content warnings: blood & gore, loss of loved ones, murder, animal cruelty, grief

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 532 pages
Author: Stacia Stark
Publisher: Self published
Release Date: March 24th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

For years, when I fell asleep, I dreamed of a man with blazing green eyes and a cruel smile.

The day I meet him, the ruthless mercenary leaves me for dead.

Just hours after humans are born, the gods take what little power we have. In return, they protect our borders from the vicious, merciless fae.

The humans who manage to keep their power are known as the corrupt.
And they are burned.

When my forbidden power is discovered, I’m forced to flee my tiny village and the life I adore.

To survive, I make a desperate bargain with the mercenary who abandoned me at my weakest.

Our deal is simple: I’ll help him and his mysterious friends sneak into the city. And he’ll help me learn to wield the strange, dark power I’ve always kept hidden. The power that may just be the key to my survival.

But the ruthless mercenary is hiding secrets of his own. Secrets that threaten the safety of everyone I love. Secrets that could tear this kingdom—and perhaps even this world—apart.

Thank you Dreamscape Media for the audiobook.

THE BONES WERE GOOD.

I wanted to love this more than I did but a few things kept holding me back. What it does have is a really good general fantasy romance set-up. I love hidden identities, some enemies to lovers and warring lands. I just wish the execution was a bit less…repetitive. The same ideas kept continually rotating through the story, they kind of kept doing the same things over and over and even the romance lost some steam too.

I didn’t mind Lorian and Prisca as main characters. They were perfectly fine. I liked the banter that they had and wanted to see them together more often to really feel that chemistry igniting. I did love that it was dual POV and that I saw both sides of the story.

There’s some good plot lines but I am on the fence about continuing the series. Might do the audiobook route again.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: 2-3 open door
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life/loved ones, attempted murder, executions