The Last Vampire by Romina Garber
When You Want to Love It, But Can’t
I’m sitting here slightly heartbroken to give this a 2-star review. I truly wanted to love this read—I’m usually the girl who can devour a paranormal romance in one sitting—but as they say, you can’t win them all. While the “outsider at a wealthy college” setup had potential, the execution and the romance ultimately missed the mark for me.
The biggest hurdle was the relationship development. Our vampire lead starts off as genuinely “ass-y,” threatening the protagonist and making her his familiar against her will. I found the transition from that toxic power dynamic to “true love” incredibly jarring; it felt like it happened in the span of a single paragraph. One minute he’s a threat, and the next, it’s: “well, I guess I can’t bring back my kind, let’s date.” It left me with a bit of an “ick” factor rather than a swoon.
I was also really confused by the Pride & Prejudice marketing. I expected the story to mirror the themes of Austen’s classic, but instead, the connection felt superficial. We mostly just got classroom scenes where the characters discussed the book, or name-drops of Darcy and Dracula that felt more like pop-culture “cool” points than actual plot depth. Even the twist involving Bram Stoker’s lineage felt disjointed against the rest of the story.
To the early reviewers who loved this: I am truly thrilled you enjoyed the ride! I wish I could join you, but between the annoying protagonist and the unearned romance, I think I need to walk away from this series. I’d definitely give this author a second chance on a different project, but for now, I’m closing the book on this one.
