FIRST LIGHT by Liz Kerin – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

First Light by Liz Kerin
Series: Night's Edge #2
Published by Tor Nightfire on April 23 2024
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Liz Kerin ups the stakes in this excellent sequel, a tense rollercoaster ride of terror and high emotion.

Liz Kerin wraps up her dark vampire duology with First Light, a stellar follow-up to Night’s Edge and a perfect end to the series. This is a bleak story, filled with tension and emotion, and it won’t be for everyone. There are very few glimmers of happiness in these pages, but it’s the connections between the characters that ultimately kept me reading. Kerin is a first rate writer who not only understands storycraft and pacing, but she’s brilliant when it comes to poking at the soft, vulnerable places in a reader’s heart and putting her characters through hell. You must read Night’s Edge first, though, because this one picks up right after the brutal, shocking ending of the first book.

I’ll keep my recap brief, because I don’t want to spoil things for you. Kerin uses a dual timeline narrative, switching between “Now” and four months in the past. In the present, we catch up with Mia and Cora, who are clearly running from something, although at this point we don’t understand what, nor do we know who Cora is. Little by little, Mia tells us that they are following clues to find a Sara (vampire) named Devon, whose hidden location is a mystery. Without giving too much away, Devon was the villain in Night’s Edge who corrupted Mia’s mother Izzy and nearly killed Mia when she was a child. Armed with several bottles of a controversial new Sara drug called Daylight that allows Saras to spend several hours in sunlight without being harmed, as well as two syringes filled with yet another drug call Saranasia, Mia and Cora are getting closer and closer to finding Devon, although they are in constant danger.

In the past timeline, we follow Mia’s first weeks after the terrible events at the end of Night’s Edge. She’s living with her friends Sandy and Alyssa but feeling adrift and trying to come up with a plan for revenge. When an opportunity to work as a volunteer at a Sara Recovery Center in Manhattan arises, Mia knows this is her chance to gain intel on a splinter group of Saras called ADAPT, presumably led by none other than her nemesis Devon. Mia is accepted as a volunteer and gets to know some of the Saras who live in the center, but something unexpected happens there and she finds herself on the run with a Sara named Cora.

Eventually these two timelines come together in an explosive finale that surprised me at every turn. I thought this book was even better than Night’s Edge, filled with so many horrors that hit even harder because the reader is invested in what happens to Mia and her friends. I loved the twist that involves Mia’s character, a twist that’s hinted at in the beginning but not confirmed until about a quarter into the book. Not only is Mia dealing with a group of vicious vampires who have a terrible agenda, but her heart’s been broken by her girlfriend Jade from the last book, and she’s trying to get past that. When she meets Cora at the recovery center, she’s still vulnerable, but Cora has more to offer than just companionship—she might have valuable information about ADAPT and where they’re hiding out. 

There are a few new settings in this story as well, and I love that the author avoided the “repetition” trap that often makes sequels feel stagnant. We get a peek into a high end recovery center, sort of like a Hilton for vampires, where those who follow the rules get all sorts of perks, and those that don’t are relegated to the upper floors of the building and lose privileges like phones and social media access. This was one of the lighter parts of the story, and there are even some humorous moments between Mia and some of the Saras who live there. Well, until the shit hits the fan and things get serious again… I also loved the idea of the Red Market, an underground farmers market of sorts catering to Saras. Mia and Cora visit one that’s set up in an underground parking garage, and the vibe was both cool and dangerous at the same time.

In the later part of the story, Mia and Cora end up with Devon’s group of followers somewhere in the middle of the desert, and this section was intense and scary. The Saras are basically starving, with no real source of food (blood) except for the human “bloodletters” they are able to lure in, with the promise of turning them into Saras themselves one day. Devon reminded me of a crazy, Charles Manson-like cult leader, with a terrifying vision for the future of the Saras, and I honestly could not turn the pages fast enough.

While Night’s Edge explored the emotional themes of codependency and mother/daughter relationships, First Light tackles the aftermath of those themes to show that there is light at the end of the tunnel. An epilogue set years in the future puts a hopeful spin on Mia’s tale, and I loved how the author brought her story to a firm conclusion, rather than leaving things open ended.

Lucky readers who haven’t started this series can now do a binge read, something I highly encourage you to do if you are looking for a hard hitting vampire story that doesn’t pull any punches.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.