I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Célie’s life is over. She took her final breath trying to save the people she loves—including the powerful and enigmatic vampire king, Michal, who refused to let her go. When Célie wakes, she cannot walk in the sun; she can hear her friends’ heartbeats and she craves their blood. Michal has cursed her to the eternal existence of a vampire.

But Célie isn’t the only dead roaming the earth. Her sister, Filippa, has returned as a shadow of her former self, and other revenants are rising from their graves intent on revenge. The fragile balance between life and death has broken, awakening an even darker force—and he is coming for Célie, ready to claim her as his Bride. With the fate of their world at stake, Célie and Michal must set aside their searing attraction to mend the veil and right the balance, once and for all.

Short and Sweet Review

The Shadow Bride picks up a little after where The Scarlet Veil ended. The last thing we saw was Célie taking her last breath by trying to keep her friends safe, now she’s a vampire trying to adjust to her new circumstances. She’s back with her friends but it’s hard for them to help her and give into her needs as a vampire. When Célie learns that revenants are walking and terrorizing the places she loves the most she knows she needs to figure out how to put a stop to it. The only problem is she might have to fight her sister Filippa and Death to do it.

The Shadow Bride was one of my most anticipated books for 2025 and it didn’t disappoint. Célie is back but she’s a new vampire and she doesn’t know how to control her urges and because of this she goes back to Requiem with Michal. There’s a lot going on in this book but the biggest thing is Death is our villain and Célie is his bride, not only that but it seems the Filippa is working with Death, and we have the revenants. This book seems ling but it was worth it because everything was fleshed out and it never felt like it was long just to be long. I loved that Célie had all of her friends and that they were there to help no matter what. Célie and Michal’s relationship had more growth in this book and I loved it, it went from Célie holding things back to being able to trust Michal and tell him things to wanting to be with him. I will say the storyline with Filippa was interesting, she wasn’t herself but Célie wasn’t willing to give up on her and even though this new Filippa would say cutting things Célie wanted to save her or at least find a way to do it. I also enjoyed seeing how Death played a big role in this book and how our characters had to figure out a way to stop him, because can you really kill death?

This book was amazing, if you enjoyed the first book you’ll love this conclusion. Some of the things that happened in this book almost broke me but it was worth it especially for the ending we get. I would definitely recommend this book and if you haven’t read the first book get it and then read this one! I’m sad that it’s over but I’m glad I can always go back and read this duology.