Review: Belle Morte

Title: Belle Morte
Author: Bella Higgin
Genre: New Adult, Fantasy, Parnormal, Contemporary
Publisher: Wattpad Books
Source: Raincoast Books
Format: Paperback ARC
Release Date: April 5, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

There’s only one way out.

Belle Morte. One of five houses where vampires reside as celebrities and humans are paid to be their living donors. While others came here seeking fortune, I came in search of my sister who walked into Belle Morte five months ago . . . and never walked back out.

Now that I’m here, the secrets about this world have proven to be much bigger than I ever anticipated. And lurking around every corner are shocking insinuations of what happened to my sister.

There’s only one person who might have the answers I need, and the undeniable pull I feel toward him is terrifying: Edmond Dantès―a vampire, and my mortal enemy.

The harder I try to resist him, the further I fall under his spell. And in one instant my life is irrevocably changed. My past becomes prologue and my fate becomes sealed behind these doors.

Belle Morte has spoken. And it may never let me go.

Review:

Belle Morte is one of the five vampire houses in the UK, where humans can work to be living blood donors to the vampires. Renie’s older sister June was obsessed with vampires, and she was chosen to live there. However, a few months later, June stopped sending letters to Renie and no one could tell her what happened. Renie decides to apply to live in Belle Morte to finally learn what happened to her, but when she arrives at the house, no one will answer her questions. Renie has to do her own investigation into what happened to her sister, but what she discovers is life changing. 

This was a refreshing vampire story. I loved that it focused on the “donor,” who had the job of giving their blood to vampires. Vampire are often characterized as predators but these ones paid people who wanted the chance to feed vampires. There were strict rules that they had to follow in the house to maintain a distance between the donors and the vampires, but they didn’t always follow these rules in this story. 

The vampire culture in this story reminded me of reality stars and influencers who are famous because of their famous parents or for no apparent reason. The vampires were rich and famous, just because they were vampires. A lot of the donors didn’t know what they were actually getting into by moving into the house, including June. This was an interesting way for the vampires to fit into modern society. 

Belle Morte is a fun and thrilling vampire story!

Thank you Raincoast Books and Wattpad Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Have you read Belle Morte? What did you think of it?