Kalie Cassidy
Little, Brown & Co
15 July 2025
384
eBook - EPUB
Romantasy
ARC via Edelweiss
The monster is always slain…
Imogen Nel is in hiding. Hiding from a cruel kingdom that believes Sirens are monstrous, blood-hungry creatures. Hiding from a king and his captain who viciously hunt her kind. Hiding from her own alluring abilities. By keeping herself from the sea, Imogen’s bloodlust is dulled, and her black wings remain hidden beneath her skin.
When a neighboring king comes to visit, Imogen can no longer hide. He knows precisely what she is, and he believes she can save both their kingdoms from an even greater monster. But Imogen’s power threatens to violently reveal itself, and the two form a blood bond that protects them both. They flee the kingdom together, traversing waters teeming with the undead. As the lines between duty to their people and desire for each other begin to blur, Imogen worries her own ancestral powers may not be enough to kill what hunts her—the only way to defeat a monster may be to become one herself.
In the Veins of the Drowning started off on a positive with its theme of Sirens, moving away from some of the usual fantasy/paranormal creature foci. Unfortunately, the world building was somewhat lacking and I constantly had questions about the world in which the characters lived and the magic and its uses, and these were not all successfully answered for me during the course of the story. Imogen was a character I struggled to get behind as her motives sometimes came across as wishy-washy. On the other hand, I did like Theo as he was a more intriguing character. The romance perhaps happened a tad fast, but that's only a minor complaint. Overall, I giving this book 3.5 stars. It has some problems but there are also a lot of positives and it offers some fresh fare to romantasy fans.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
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