Bly blames herself. If it wasn’t for her plans to get a guy to finally notice her, she and her little sister Eloise wouldn’t have been in the woods
that day. It seemed a simple wish, but she’d been told to stop wishing and dreaming her whole life by her parents. But Bly was stubborn and longed for a better life than she’d been given.
Living life in the Gap is tough. With a town of Vampires on one side and a haven of Witches on the other, humans like Bly, Eloise and their parents barely eked out a living. Many sold blood to their powerful neighbours just to survive. Vampires love blood on any terms and Witches used it for their spells.
She’d known Emerson forever, best friends since small, but Bly has had deeper feelings for him for some time. He seems completely oblivious, so she hatches her plan – only to lose her beautiful sister to a death curse. Her parents haven’t said it to her face, but they blame her. Bly knows they wish it was the other way around, as Eloise was kind, helpful and everything expected of a daughter. Filled with guilt Bly hatches another plan.
There is a chance to get Eloise back. Bring her back to life. Bly will do anything to achieve that, and after selling blood and saving up, she announces she is entering The Revenant Games. These games happen only once a year and is the only way humans can improve their lives – but most lose them. The Witches and Vampires consider these games and the desperate humans purely entertainment even if they themselves are at risk.
Catch a Vampire and give it to the Witches – they will bring someone back to life.
Catch a Witch and give it to the Vampires – they will make you immortal.
The higher ranked the Witch or Vampire, the more chance you have to win.
Bly wants to go for BOTH prizes. She has Emerson by her side, and nothing else to lose. She is prepared to break the rules to win but first she has to find some team mates….
Is she doomed before she even begins?
The Revenant Games might sound a bit like the Hunger Games, and sure there are sponsors to impress and team mates to find, but other teams aren’t your worst enemy in the forests. There are grand parties to attend, and survive, and witches and vampires at every turn as you compete.
One ill-fated romance is replaced with another, and I enjoyed Bly’s character development as she went from selfish teenage girl to grieving sister to quick thinking and scheming huntress. Falling for the person you’re planning to kill makes things even more complicated. And some of these characters are – complicated that is. A key Vampire character named Kerrigan might look like a villain, but has a past layered in tragedy and survival – reminding me of Kaz Brekker in Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows.
Emerson never seemed filled out enough as a key character, and I’m hoping we will learn more about him in the next book of the series. The Revenant Games leaves you wondering what Bly will do next, and where her fledgling romance and her never-to-be old one will take her.
I love almost anything with Vampires, but stirring Witches, Romance and Revenge into a plot, makes this series a must read.
Author – Margie Fuston
Age – 14+
(2024, Simon and Schuster Australia, Harper Collins, Magic, Revenge, Action, Horror, Romance, Poverty, Fantasy, Courage, Grief, Historical, Love, Compete, Competition, Games, Witches, Vampires, Falling for someone, Sister, Siblings, Teamwork, Cunning, Spells)