I didn’t realize this, but you can rent e-books from the library through Libby and read them on your Kindle. That’s so slick! I was exclusively listening to audiobooks on Libby and didn’t realize that renting e-books was an option. To test this out, I rented We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark. I found out about this book from thtgrlreads as she read this book earlier this year and loved it. We Who Will Die is a solid first book in a series, and I’m excited for the next book to come out.

Spoilers for We Who Will Die Below

“Because a man has wronged you. Women have been each other’s sword and shield since the beginning.”

Arvelle Dacien lives a rough life with her brothers. Her brother, Evren, has a lung disease, which Arvelle doesn’t have the resources to treat. Arvelle is offered a deal: Evren can be healed if Arvelle can kill the Emperor. To do so, Arvelle has to enter a competition called the Sundering, and if she wins, she could be placed on the Emperor’s guard. While Arvelle may be offered a losing deal, she would do anything to make sure her brother gets the cure that he needs.

This might be a longer book review, but I have a lot of thoughts! Starting with Arvelle, I like how she’s portrayed as being rough around the edges. She isn’t this sweet protagonist. She’s cold-hearted and has trouble trusting people in her life. This comes from the death of her friend Kassia, who died in a competition both she and Arvelle were competing in. When Arvelle agrees to this deal, she takes Leon with her to act as her mentor. Leon happens to be Kassia’s father. There are times when I genuinely don’t like Arvelle, nor do I agree with her actions. However, I understood why she was the way she was. The way that Arvelle treats Maeva, another competitor in the Sundering sucked and Maeva calls her out for it later in the book. As the story unfolds, Arvelle matures and grows as a person. She starts to build upon her relationships and realizes she can’t keep living her life this way. I liked seeing that growth from her. It leaves potential for Arvelle to grow in future books.

While this is Arvelle’s story, another thing I liked about the book was all the side characters. Maeva is one character I highlighted already, and I adore her. Give Maeva her own book. I liked her story and her family dynamic, which led to her competing in the Sundering. Maeva and Arvelle end up becoming good friends. There are all the other gladiators, like Hester, who gets what’s coming to her. If you know, you know. Leon, what a gem. Leon keeps Arvelle in line and calls her out when she isn’t paying attention or is planning on doing something she shouldn’t. While we don’t get to meet Kassia, she plays a crucial role for both Arvelle and Leon. There are so many interesting characters in this book, which adds to my enjoyment of the series.

With this book being advertised as romantasy, I have to talk about the romance. Our book boyfriend is Tiernon, a former lover from Arvelle’s past who left her without warning. There’s a lot to unpack there since he did leave for a reason, which is revealed later. I think it’s safe to say there’s a love triangle being built with Tiernon, Arvelle, and Rorrik, Tiernon’s vampire brother. I am waiting for the ball to drop for Tiernon. I think he’s hiding something, and he doesn’t want to tell Arvelle about it because he’s afraid that he will lose her. I could be wrong, but something doesn’t feel right about him. The romance is fine, but I think it needs more time to develop.

When I write a book review, I like to read other reviews from other readers. There were a few critiques other readers brought up that I agreed with. The first is that Arvelle is portrayed as almost too weak at times. This goes beyond being out of shape and having an ankle injury. It seemed that every physical fight she was in, she struggled. It was almost to the point where I was questioning how on earth she won the Sands? There was never a moment when Arvelle won her fight by a landslide. This might be me being too nitpicky, but if she won this competition, why does she seem like such a beginner during her training? The last thing I wanted to say was how I feel like there’s too much going on in this book. Dare I say that vampires felt out of place? This book features vampires, gladiators, sigil magic, gods, pixies, centaurs, and wyverns. I think if Stacia had taken two of these things and honed in on them, it would have made the book better.

We Who Will Die is if the movie Gladiator had vampires. I think this was a great first book in a series, and there’s a lot of hype for the second book. If anything happens to Maeva, I will rage quit this series. I rated We Who Will Die four stars on both Goodreads and Storygraph.