Read wRite Run
The overall atmosphere was one of a heavy horror influence a la your old school vampire (vampyr in this novel) stories where they are vicious blood suckers, and something to be feared. But on top of this there is the focus more on a story of a thriller-like nature, with the horror aspect being more of a world-building tool than actual horror-esque events taking place (such as serial murders and the note of constant fear to the story).
Queens of Mist and Madness takes place immediately after the events at the end of the previous book. Thank goodness for this because I was shook by the cliffhanger ending and not having immediate answers.
It does take a bit of time to really feel like the plot is going somewhere, but it’s entirely worth the wait with how satisfying the story always comes together in these books.
Pepper Winters keeps blowing me away with phenomenal dark romance, this time in Ruby Tears. Now, when I say this is DARK romance, I mean dark. To be clear this is not for the faint of heart, so proceed with caution and check trigger warnings, but it’s a definite must read as far as I’m concerned. To be transparent, this book tackles extremely tough topics, ie. trafficking, which means it can be a hard, emotional read.
Empire of the Damned was so hard to put down. Full of anxiety-inducing-non-stop danger and the knowledge that not one character is ever safe. If there’s one thing the first book taught me it’s that anyone could be killed at any moment and this was a feeling that hung over the entirety of the sequel.