The Last Vampire / Romina Garber / Book Review

THE LAST VAMPIRE

When Lorena Navarro gets the chance to attend boarding school in an old woodland manor, she jumps at it. It might not be her aesthetic, but she needs to get away from her mommy-vlogger mother. And she'll have her best friend Salma at her side, like always.

This once-condemned Victorian manor in New Hampshire has been refurbished to its original glory... mostly. There are still a few wings off-limits to students as construction and rehab take place. Which is exactly what interests Salma and the new friends they've fallen in with. Lorena is done breaking rules and pushing boundaries, but she's not exactly prepared to say no when her friends decide to stay up late exploring.

Mostly they find dust. And some cool old passages that don't exactly feel safe. But one of these passages leads into a basement library that feels ancient. And in this library is a box. Well, more like a... coffin. And there's something inside, patiently waiting.

THOUGHTS

This book was an absolutely wild ride that I wanted to get off almost as soon as it started. Alas, I had determined to review it, so I did stick it out to the end. And boy, was it not worth it. At the end of the day, I'm absolutely baffled by the early reviews and the author blurbs on this one, because what book are they talking about? Certainly not the one that I read.

PROS

Academic	The setting had so much promise here. I did like that, at least. An old countryside estate in New England. Remote, almost off-the-grid, and definitely cut off from modern conveniences: there's just nothing like a mysterious boarding school, right? There are definitely signs that more is happening here than meets the eye, and what's not to like about that?
Co-Eds	I really liked that Lorena's little friend group was co-ed. It might seem like a small thing, but having such an active and engaged group of friends of all genders feels so foreign in the contemporary YA market. I liked this group, and I liked that her friend group really did play an active part all the way through the story. That's not usually how these romantic vampire stories go, so it was refreshing.
Mandatory Attendance	You know what I liked best of all? These boarding school kids are actually going to school. Like, they spend time in class. They have assignments. They actually do the school part of this whole scenario. And it might seem like such a silly thing, but there are a lot of "dark academia" books that use the aesthetic without actually considering what being in an academic setting means. Were the structures of these classes odd? Absolutely. But at least they went to class. So, you know, that's a win.

CONS

There were a lot of parts of this book that were weirdly contrived. A lot. So many. And it is the little, mundane pieces that irked me the most. What do you mean these kids are proposing random clubs, meeting for those clubs, and then having to do some sort of academic presentation to show their club is worth it? In what world do school clubs work like that? And how did this even apply to the plot? (I mean, I know how, but I feel like we could have gotten there a better way; especially because this added to the aesthetic alone. I will always contend that a book can't be just for the vibes.) The whole school aspect here felt a little like it was written by an alien who had never been to school before and only knew about school from watching American sitcoms. But I guess take what you can get?	Contrived
You know what the queens of the original YA fantasy boom understood? You can't introduce a massive world in Book 1. Even really big and shocking twists that throw protagonists into a whole new plane of existence have limits in the first book. Book 2, Book 3: that's where you introduce a whole world of Italian vampire overlords, am I right? Alas, this book doesn't set up anything well. No, it's all shoved at us in rapid succession right here in this first installment, and I just wasn't here for it. It's too big. It's too wild. It's too frustrating and ridiculous. We're throwing season-7-level crazy plotlines in the first episode. It's too much.	Too Big
He hates her. He's using her. He's following her around her classes for some reason. And guess what? They love each other now! It's a no from me, friends.	Insta-Love

Rating

⭐⭐⭐
3/10

Those who liked the unsettling, remote boarding school of Lili Wilkinson's Unhallowed Halls will love attending this first semester. Those who loved Tracy Wolff's Crave will like the wild supernatural twists this book provides.

Details Publisher: Wednesday Books Date: December 2, 2025 Series: N/A Add to Goodreads Buy it HERE

Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.