![Azalia Quinn fills out a mock ballot. On Thursday, Oct. 24 AP Government students did a pretend election to experience what it’s like. “If you can get [students] enthused about voting at a young age, the chances are higher that they’re going to continue this process throughout their adulthood,“ Brian Brown, the AP Gov teacher said.](https://mshsprospector.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/18FGwFbMo8mtfWGnVEvaqiODxDZhuV9ipRw3DAgL-1200x960.jpg)
Ali Hazelwood’s “Bride” is a vampyre/werewolf, paranormal romance that is much better than “Twilight.” This book is unlike any other vampyre/werewolf book that I have ever read, and is actually good and sucks you in quickly, leaving you thirsting for more.
“Bride” follows Misery Lark who is a vampyre that has lived in the human world for most of her life. She was a collateral child (the vampyres and humans peace agreement – they each exchange a child that lives in the others realm for 10 years); and after her collateral was up, she stayed in the human realm because the vampyre world didn’t accept her and she also wanted to remain with her best friend/sister Serena Paris. Yet seven years after her collateral is up, Misery’s father arranges for her to marry the Alpha Werewolf of the Southeast pack, Lowe Moreland. Misery only agrees to the marriage because Serena has disappeared and the only thing she left behind was traced to Werewolf territory.
I typically don’t like vampyre/werewolf books as I think they’re cheesy and usually not well written, but “Bride” is a vampyre/werewolf book that I actually loved. This book blends the vampyre/werewolf genre with paranormal, mystery, and romance; and I love mystery and romance. The romance in this book is very much a slow burn between Misery and Lowe, but the tension and the banter between them is a chef’s kiss. Additionally, they have the sunshine and grumpy dynamic, which adds even more to the tension.
I also love how this book takes place in a modern day world with a lot of the same pop culture and technology, but it just has a vampyre/werewolf twist to it. The pop culture references in this book just add to the story, but also to Misery’s sense of humor. Misery is absolutely hilarious and this book being through her pov is the best thing ever, she literally referred to the werewolves as the OG furries.
Ali Hazelwood is more known for her nerdy romance novels, so this was very different from her other books; but it was still just as good if not more. Overall, I loved this book a lot more than I was expecting, considering I devoured every page of this book.
Trigger warnings: Blood, biting, crude language, graphic sexual content, and kinks.
5/5 read.
