Till the Last Beat of My Heart by Louangie Bou-Montes

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Just in time for spooky season and Latinx Heritage Month we have a YA fantasy debut. I received an arc from HarperCollins for Till the Last Beat of My Heart, a queer contemporary fantasy whose release is perfectly timed with the start of spooky season and Latinx Heritage Month. 

Jaxson Santiago-Noble is very familiar with death. As the son of a mortician, he's seen his fair share of bodies pass through his family's morgue. But nothing prepares him for when the body of his former best friend, Christian is brought in after an accident. Unaware Jaxson accidentally revives him and discovers he comes from a long line of necromancers. Suddenly it's as if Jaxson is one of the stars in his favorite horror movies. Bringing back the dead comes with a catch and it's a race against time as Christian is fading again and Jaxson is trying to control his newfound powers with the help of his Titi Clio. 

With Christian back Jaxson reconnects with him and has to face some of his social anxiety as Christian pulls him into his world of Spirit Days and Homecoming celebrations. We get this story of two boys who have always had feelings for each other but are now realizing they should explore that more because life if short and not promised. Though wacky things are happening throughout the story they're happening alongside regular days at school. 

The relationship between Jaxson, his mother, and his Titi Clio really shines here. So often in these types of stories the teens stand alone and their house is nothing more than a place they sleep at night. We might brief conversations with the parents in passing. The involvement here from the adults in his life feels very realistic. When it's not his mother or aunt looking out for him it's close family friend's within the neighborhood. While the power over life and death is generational, this book takes a slightly different approach by not tying it to any cultural specific legends or religion. Additionally Jaxson lost his father when he was younger and is learning more about who his father was outside of the authoritarian he remembers.

Louangie Bou-Montes delivers some slight horror, humor, and a queer romance you can root for. 

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Immortal Dark is a book many people have been buzzing about this year and it's been on my radar for awhile as well. So keep reading to hear my thoughts on this new YA dark fantasy.

In the world of Immortal Dark, vampires also known as dranaics only feed on the blood of members of certain influential families. Kidan and her sister June are the last living members of the House of Adane. But when June goes missing, Kidan connects her disappearance to Susenyos Sagad, the only dranaic still tied to their House and legacy.  To discover more about this dranaic who has stolen her inheritance, she must enroll in Uxlay, a prestigious university which human companions and vampires attend to learn more about their symbiotic relationship . 

There's a lot of worldbuilding here which can be a little much at times but I found the lore fascinating albeit sometimes confusing. Tigest Girma writes the vampires in a seductive way that's often missing from YA vampire portrayals. It's bloody and gory, yes but it's also tantalizing and readers understand why Kidane is getting entranced by this world.  In a dark fantasy romance that push and pull between characters is what drives the story and Kidande and Susenyos have great chemistry where even if I found my attention waning at some points they pulled me back in. 

Well paced in the beginning this is a pretty easy one to get sucked into. Though sometimes the prose got a little too flowery and cliched for my taste, there were other times where she described things so vividly I could picture the scene in my head. The book ends on a cliffhanger that will leave readers ready for book 2.