ARC Review - We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark

 

We Who Will Die

by Stacia Stark

Release Date: December 30, 2025

Genre: Romantasy

Age Range: Adult

Series: Empire of Blood

Goodreads Avg. Rating: 4.35 stars

3.75 stars

    I only really heard about this book a few months ago, and it quickly became an anticipated release. Then I was approved for the audio ARC, thank you to Harper Audio, and the excitement increased more. I should have been mindful, as a friend said recently in one of her vlogs, that if we go in with too many expectations, then the books could disappoint. Thankfully, the book wasn’t bad; there were just a few things that kept it from being awesome (for me, you might love it).

Let’s start with what I liked. As this was an audiobook, the narrators must be given their due. Even though this is a single POV book, we were graced with two narrators, one for the female and one for the male. They were fabulous; not all audiobooks have narrators who lean into the voice acting rather than just reading it in different voices. Here, though, we got differing voices between characters, dramatic tone shifts as the scenes developed, and the sounds of sighs or chuckles. Then, some of the intimate scenes, the voice acting for them was so spot on that it could make you blush.

The background setting and styling were Roman-inspired. From the government system to the gladiator-style arenas, the inspiration was consistent. The way in which it was done was also different from what I have seen before. Sure, we have seen the brutality and idolization of Roman culture in other books (looking at you, Red Rising & Suneater), but what was on display here did feel different. We Who Will Die is showing from inside the arena trials as the combatants, the spectators, and even how the Emperor, much like the Romans, is mostly putting on this show to take the public's mind off the war and hard times. He is purposely putting other mythical races in there to be slaughtered, too. Those who oppose his vampire empire spreading get made into sport, even if they are other intelligent beings.

Our character was Arvelle Dacien, at 24, she is around the typical age of many female main characters. Interestingly, though, the way she is written is almost like she’s been through her own YA story before. We meet Arvelle, already the victor of the Sands, a mandatory competition in the arena for all sigial-marked 16-year-olds. Her whole life, she has spent looking after her younger brothers, and that leads her into the dangerous bargain she makes for this book. Knowing she has been through this deadly trial and spent years being a guard to wealthy clients, I expected her to have good instincts and a bit more wisdom than your average FMC. That was put to the test in some instances throughout the book. However, the author actually cleverly devised a way to explain that. So it will be up to you to decide if you like the way she was written or find it an annoying plot device. Overall, Arvelle was loyal, caring, and pretty intelligent.

This is a romantasy, but don’t expect too much for a good portion. Part of me wants to say this didn’t even have to be a romantasy book as the world and story were pretty strong. However, it would require more work to get a good, fully flushed fantasy from this story; the bones are there, though. The romance itself isn’t a slow burn or an enemies-to-lovers story, as the description might suggest. Possibly telling you might be too much of a spoiler, though, so let's not even get into it. I do feel that the author might be leaning into trying something in the sequel that, personally, I hope she doesn’t. While I could see why it could work, it just feels icky and wrong to me.

As I mentioned, the story could be a fantasy book without the romance; it would just need some work. Within the first chapters, we are given so many details about the competition, the types of people, and the world. The way this is all thrown at you was a bit fast, and I definitely forgot/confused the two competitions together for several chapters. However, this is a really thought-out world full of different mythical creatures, magic types, and politics. There was a strong story of why Arvelle needed to go through all the trials to complete her bargain. Then the training and trials themselves were given good detail and time spent. Through most of the book, there was a secondary plot line of murder that, for the most part, was in the background. Here is where some work could have been done. For the most part, this storyline did seem trivial background noise. Only to explode into its own importance and scenes in the last portion of the book. Pacing or tonally, it felt a bit off to do this.

Overall, I think this was close to a 4-star for me. I liked the main character, world, magic, and most of the story. The audio version of the book for sure helped this rating, though. I will be looking for the next book in this series to see how the story will continue.