The Last Raven by Helen Glynn Jones

Book Fort Rating: 2.5 Stars
Is it building the Book Fort? It's a nice neighbor, but... It's not coming in the house.

This review will be short and sweet, because this was a short read. This is very much one of those "junk food reads" - it's not the sort of book you read to shatter your worldview or really make you think, but it is a fun romp through an alternate vampire-ruled universe.

However, content warning: This book features an explicit underage sex scene, which is concerning.

Here's what I liked:
- Emilia is written as a very true to form 17-year-old. So often books with teenage protagonists do not have their characters thinking in stereotypically teenage ways. Emilia's greatest flaws in the book are in fact her naivete and her lack of a fully developed prefrontal cortex, so the book was fun to read because it was appropriate for her age.
- The character development of Emilia's parents throughout the book was heartwarming to read. There's one particular scene with her father that I found especially poignant.
- I overall liked the "vibe" of the book - it's lightly spooky/gothic, which is fun.

Now here are my concerns:
- Again, we have an underage sex scene in this book. This book is being marketed as "hottest forced proximity x forbidden romance vampire story to sink your fangs into," which is really just frankly inappropriate when you have a protagonist who's characterized throughout the book as being a child. Is she over the age of consent? Yes, but her partner is an arguably 50+ year old vampire, and she's infantilized throughout most of the book. If this was a fade-to-black or closed door scenario, it wouldn't be a big deal. Also, even if she were actually over 18 - why is there only one sex scene for a book being marketed as extremely smutty?
- Instalove. Not my favorite trope. There's not a lot of "forced proximity" here - only about a chapter's worth.
- The major plot twist was predictable for me; I didn't hate it, but I do think people who don't see it coming/are expecting something else from the book would.
- Overall, not a lot of worldbuilding. There was enough to get by, but I would have liked more worldbuilding for a book set in such an alternate version of the world.

My general feedback is that I think the main ideas of the book are good, and it could be a really fun romp through the vampire woods, but the execution needs a little help. Or, if it were to have the one explicit scene removed, it would make a great YA vampire book.

Thank you to Harper 360, Netgalley, and Helen Glynn Jones for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.