young adult books – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Black River (#1)

Author: Ruby Jean Cottle

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 432

Publication Date: 6/9/26 (first published 8/25/25)

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Categories: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This limited deluxe edition is printed with gorgeous stenciled edges and a stunning foil-stamped case!

JUST ONE TASTE CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING.

All seventeen-year-old Dusty wants is to escape into books and the Adirondack wilderness that surrounds her small town. But in the dead of night, strange things have been happening in Black River.

Animals are being ravaged by something unnatural. And Dusty wakes up one day with dirt on her feet, changed and starving. When new kid Will arrives, Dusty feels an attraction unlike anything she’s felt before. She wants him . . . or she wants his blood. As Dusty realizes she’s transforming into something she can’t control, she reluctantly turns to the only person she somehow knows will understand: the annoyingly attractive Eli Blake.

Together, Dusty and Eli must uncover the mystery of their town and their new, insatiable desires. Have they become vampires or some other kind of monster?

Whatever they are, they’re not the only ones.

Content Warning: violence, death

World Building: Set in a small town, Dusty likes to keep to herself and her best friends until things.

Characters: Dusty’s mom left their family and it’s left a lingering trauma in Dusty but she tries to stay strong for her younger sister who she loves a lot. Dusty is known in town, and has a few popular friends, but she likes to keep to herself. I loved her relationship with her best friend Mali. There is also a boy named Will, who is a new kid and also keeps to himself, and he and Dusty make a connection. But there is also another boy named Eli who Dusty has a connection to also.

Romance: I thought for a moment this was going to be a love triangle but things are clearer near the end of the book. The romance between Will and Dusty is a very slow burn, with challenges coming between them. I was definitely waiting to see their relationship grow and see what direction it would go.

Story: I think for me, this story was too slow. I loved the paranormal elements, the vampires, but trying to figure out how they became vampires took awhile. Most of the story was about how Dusty acclimated to life as a new vampire. Things pick up and get very interesting at the 90% mark, and that was a little too late for me. Also the story ended abruptly, but I believe this is book one, so there will be a continuation to the story.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, this was an okay read for me. I loved Dusty and her story but the mystery of the vampirism and how it happens took too long to unfold, for me. I did like the small town setting and the sweet little romance brewing between Dusty and Will but even that was a slow burn.

Read if you like:

small town mystery
vampires

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: Tethered (The Binding Chronicles, #1)

Author: Elayna R. Gallea

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 416

Publication Date: 2/13/23

Categories: Romantasy, Vampire, Series,Young Adult/New Adult

What could be worse than an arranged marriage to a vampire prince?

When Luna is sold into marriage to the Prince of Darkness, she thinks she knows what to expect. Arranged marriages happen all the time, right? Wrong. No one could have prepared her for the reality of being married to the vampire prince.

Ever since the day he was Made, Sebastian has been living according to Queen Marguerite’s rules. After all, he’s only alive because of her. When she orders him to marry and Bind himself to Luna, a human hailing a neighboring kingdom, he has no choice. He agrees to the marriage but never expects to feel anything for Luna.

When their Binding Ceremony goes awry, and they are magically Tethered, everything is thrown into upheaval. Unable to leave each other’s presence, they must learn to live with each other. Or die.

Tethered is a slow-burn arranged marriage epic romantic fantasy and is filled with forced proximity, magical bindings, vampires, and world-building.

Tethered takes place in the same world as Of Earth and Flame. It can be enjoyed on its own or alongside The Ithenmyr Chronicles.

NOTE: This series is upper YA/NA and has moderate steam. There are some instances of violence, language, and mature situations. Recommended for ages sixteen and up.

Content Warning: violence

I’ve been seeing this one recommended to me on KU, maybe because I’m reading so many vampire books? Also it’s an indie book that is getting traditional published and a new book cover on September 8th, so I was curious. Anyway, I borrowed it a few weeks ago and finally finished it.

+~ Luna is arranged to marry the Prince of Darkness, a vampire prince, shadow daddy named Sebastien. He doesn’t want the marriage either, but his mother is forcing him to do it. But not only are they married and bound, the person who married them tethered them also – which means they cannot be no more than 30 feet apart from one another or else they face the physical consequences of it, even death. So this is forced proximity at it’s maximum. Where Bastien goes, Luna must go and vice versa. Bastien tries to track down the person that married them, Ciro, so he can undo the tether but it’s a mystery to where he went. There is some political intrigue and even a murder mystery, but I wasn’t as invested as I hoped I would be.

+~ World-building is a bit light. But it makes this a very quick read. Now as for the characters – I didn’t connect to them at all. Luna comes off childish at times and acting immature but this is a young adult book so she is acting her age.

+~ I liked the tether trope but Bastien falls for Luna right away. Personally, I felt things moved to fast for that. I feel like I barely know Luna and Bastien, I would like a little more depth to them before they fall for one another but I guess the forced proximity did it’s job. There is no spice, there are a lot of kisses but no spice.

Final Thoughts:

This one was okay. It doesn’t help that I just read some very good vampire romantasy before this one and I compared it to those. I would like more depth to the characters, but I don’t think I’ll continue to the series. It has tons of potential and maybe the other books are better, but I didn’t have enough of a connection to the characters to want to read more about them.

Read if you like: