We Who Will Die (Empire of Blood, 1) by Stacie Stark

We Who Will Die launches a dark, slow-burn romantasy set in a world ruled by merciless vampires.

In Thorn district, survival is a daily fight for Arvelle and her two younger brothers. One of her brother’s suffers from a lung disease that requires Arvelle to obtain a tonic on a regular basis for his health. Failure to take the tonic could mean death. She is struggling to keep up and takes up jobs as a bodyguard, guarding people whose lives are in danger. One day, a vampire named Bran arrives at her door and changes everything. Faced with an impossible choice, Arvelle makes a magically binding vow to assassinate the emperor, who is an ancient vampire who terrorizes his people. In return for her actions, her brother will be healed, and the other will be kept safe under protection..

To get close enough to strike the emperor, Arvelle must enter the Sundering, which is an arena where only the strongest, fastest, and deadliest survive long enough to earn a place among the emperor’s elite guard. Her presence quickly draws the attention of the Primus, the emperor’s protector, and places her at the center of a court filled with secrets and bloodshed.

With her brothers’ lives on the line, Arvelle is forced into uneasy alliances with two dangerous vampires: the man who once shattered her heart and Rorrik, the emperor’s ruthless son. As her own forbidden powers begin to surface, Arvelle learns about a conspiracy that threatens to reshape everything she knows about herself, her enemies, and her fate.

Age Recommendation: Adult (18+)
This book includes plot and themes that involve combat, violence, grief, death, political intrigue, murder, and adult stakes in a fantasy world. The book is more appropriate for mature readers rather than teens or children.

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We Who Will Die (Empire of Blood, 1) by Stacie Stark

Series: Empire of Blood
Author: Stacie Stark
Publisher: Avon
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Dark Romance, Dark Fantasy
Year of Publication: 2025
Date of Publication: December 30, 2025
ISBN-10:‎ 006343671X
ISBN -13: 978-0063436718
Pages: 432
Series Status: Ongoing

Audiobook Narrator: Meg Sylvan and Troy Duran

Our Rating of This Book

“We liked the fact that even though this is the first book in the series, the story is told in a way that we quickly became invested in the well-being of the characters. We liked all three main characters, Arvelle, Rorrik, and Tiernon, but even more importantly we found supporting characters like Leon and Micah to be likeable. Again, even though Arvelle’s brothers, Evren and Gerith, have limited time in the book, we are interested in seeing how their roles grow and how their stories develop in future installments.

One concern we usually have about stories that have vampires, and mention things like trials or fights for survival, wyverns, talks of “mundanes,” and just enemy-to-lovers tropes in general, is that these stories start to lack originality. While this book had a lot of those elements, the way the story is developed particularly in the second half of the book gave us some hope for a more developed story.

With that said, there is still a lot of world-building that may need to be added to the story. We are told it is a roman-inspired world but other than the fact that there are fights in the Sundering and the Sands, and there is an emperor who rules, there isn’t much that hints at this inspiration.

Overall, we found We Who Will Die to be an enjoyable read and look forward to reading future books in the Empire of Blood series.”