Kate’s Review: “First Light”

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Book: “First Light” by Liz Kerin

Publishing Info: Tor Nightfire, April 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: “I came all this way to watch you burn.”

It’s been nine months since the catastrophe in Tucson sent Mia fleeing from her home. But she’s not running away from the darkness―she’s running toward it, obsessively pursuing the man who gave her mother a thirst for blood and destroyed their lives.

But when Mia finds the monsters she’s been hunting and infiltrates a secret network of fugitives, she discovers she might have been their prey all along. To escape their clutches, she’ll have to reckon with her mother’s harrowing past and confront a painful truth: that they might be more alike than she ever imagined.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

After “Night’s Edge” blew me away last year, I had high high hopes for Liz Kerin’s follow up, though I was also apprehensive for a few reasons. The first is always that fear that a follow up to a well loved read will somehow be a let down or underwhelming. The second and more relevant reason here is that “Night’s Edge” left off on such a bummer of a note that I was steeling myself for a story that had the very real potential to destroy me. And you know what? It did.

Before I go into the things that kicked my emotions square in the ass, I want to talk about “First Light” in how it has expanded and further explored the vampire themes and the horror/thriller themes as a whole. So first a refresher where we are as we start this book (and this review will have spoilers for “Night’s Edge”, though I’m going to do my best to avoid spoilers for this one): our protagonist Mia is a young woman living in a world where vampires, or Saras, are confirmed as real and seen as threats to the world. Her mother Izzy had been turned into a Sara by her toxic boyfriend Devon when Mia was a child, and since then Mia had been helping hide her mother’s condition, protecting her, devoting her life to her, and bloodletting to her when needed. When Mia met and fell for a free spirited musician named Jade and was going to leave, Izzy lashed out and was going to kill Jade, so Mia killed her. Now we are catching up with Mia, who is now obsessed with finding Devon and getting her revenge on him for ruining her mother’s life and therein her own. She has been tracking him and the fringe group he runs, known as ADAPT, that has been recruiting Saras online to join them and to make more Saras so that Saras can outnumber humans, and become apex predators.

While there is some bit of Mia that knows this is on a whole wrong, she is more driven by her personal hatred of Devon, and the cat and mouse game that ensues, both at a distance and close up, it riveting, tense, and very well done. I liked learning more about how society has been trying to contain and control Saras, as we go from underground terrorist groups to charity run Sara houses that try to keep them safe and cared for (but also away from others), as well as how Mia finds herself drawn to a Sara named Cora, who may know something about Devon’s and ADAPTs whereabouts. The action rarely stops as we jump from past to present, and I found it incredibly engaging as a horror thriller and very unique and enjoyable as a vampire story and all the bloody bells and whistles that go with it. I especially was horrified by some of Devon’s manipulations and greater plans if only because he is still SO charismatic, which is terrifying in and of itself.

But at its heart, beneath all the vampire goodness and gore and vengeance parable is a story about healing and a story about a woman having to find herself after losing her complicated mother, who had been the only person she had really truly lived for, and now has to live without. Mia is focusing so much of her energy and time on tracking down Devon and getting revenge for Izzy and for herself, that she isn’t trying to heal from the terrible loss not only of Izzy at the end of “Night’s Edge”, but also the loss of a functional childhood long before she has gotten to this part and new traumas as this narrative goes on. She obsesses with finding Devon and his ADAPT group of potential terrorist Saras, doing research, delving into volunteer work at a Sara house to try and get information from those who may know something, and falling into a bottle as well as a desire for revenge, that she isn’t finding closure or peace. But Kerin, instead of making this a tragic tale of all consuming revenge, does that on that as a warning, and has Mia start to navigate her traumas even as she gets close to her goal. Even if that means reconciling devastating truths about her mother. Even if that means having to accept new truths about herself. Even if that means seeking closure with Jade, her love interest and spark for a yearning for a better life in “Night’s Edge”, and learning to trust people again, specifically Cora, a Sara that has potential connections to ADAPT and whom Mia first seeks out for information purposes, but then starts to fall for. There are so many gut wrenching moments as Mia goes on this journey, and it all culminates with a lot of action that feels incredibly fulfilling while still tearing my heart out for various reasons. It’s just so good.

“First Light” is a fantastic conclusion to the story of Mia and her vampire mother Izzy. I absolutely loved this book and will dive headfirst into anything that Liz Kerin writes next, whether it’s expanding upon her Sara world building, or bringing us something totally new. Simply exquisite.

Rating 10: A tense, unforgiving, and deeply emotional sequel that tackles vengeance, identity, and forgiveness and expands upon an already unique and effective vampire mythos.

Reader’s Advisory:

“First Light” isn’t included on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Best Adult Vampire Books”.

Previously Reviewed:

• “Night’s Edge”