Review: Night’s Edge by Liz Kerin

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

First in a duology, Night’s Edge is coming out in paperback this Tuesday… and its sequel First Light releases on April 23, 2024 — it’s the perfect time to pick up this duology that’s redefining vampire fiction.

I received a review copy from the publisher for consideration. This does not affect neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review. I have since purchased a finished copy (picture above).

About Night’s Edge

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Representation

sapphic representation

Content Warnings

blood & gore depiction, child abuse, emesis, gun violence

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My Review of Night’s Edge

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.

The Verdict

Recommended with caution to readers of vampire stories. This is a dark coming of age novel about toxic and codependent relationships, so please be sure to read the content warnings before picking it up.

Recommended if you enjoyed…

Another Book Recommendation: A love letter to the punk rock scene, VAMPIRE WEEKEND by Mike Chen is about family and connections, but also living a life worth living. I didn’t write a full review of this one but it was such a good read and hits a lot of the same beats as NIGHT’S EDGE.

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Let’s Chat!

No two readers experience a book in the same way; this was mine, but what about you?

💬  Have you read Night’s Edget yet? If so, what are your thoughts?

💬  Did I convince you to add this book to your TBR?

💬  What other vampire novels would you recommend?

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