Review by Kirkus Book Review
A superhuman teen reluctantly teams up with a vampire to avenge her family and kill the monsters who enslaved her. Set during the U.S. Civil War, in an alternate universe where the real-life horrors of chattel slavery and the supernatural coexist, this story follows Jerusalem, a fearsome Black 18-year-old who recently escaped the plantation where she was held captive. She's a Saint--a member of a group of monster slayers who possess extraordinary strength and speed and who aid the Union Army in the war, hoping to abolish slavery. But Jerusalem is also personally motivated to kill the woman who enslaved and brutalized her and murdered her family. She trains with Alexei, a centuries-old Russian vampire, who's sympathetic to the Saints' cause and fights with them. Powerful, beautiful Alexei was turned against his will at 18 and carries his own traumatic past. He's drawn to Jerusalem, and despite their many differences, their contentious relationship slowly develops into a deep bond that's buoyed by a shared goal that's central to their freedom. Jerusalem and Alexei's epic journey takes them across a war-torn United States to confront their pasts, assert their autonomy, and defeat their demons once and for all. Beneath the story's bloody and brutal trappings lies a tender romance about survival, agency, and liberation. The genre-bending elements add a fresh twist to the enemies-to-lovers historical drama. A cheeky, romantic, and thrilling revenge story. (content note, author's note) (Supernatural. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
