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The Underground
In the country of Lornesse, the city Anen harbors more than just high-rises and technology. Deep beneath the architecture, unbeknownst to humans, roam incredible and terrifying creatures. The Underground isn’t the only place these people reside, however. Most humans don’t know that a third of their population are actually blood suckers and moon howlers, changelings and ghosts, disguised and living among them. Ashai is a young vampire of humble origins just trying to bridge the gap between supernaturals and humans with her blood bar. She’s happy to deal with human, vampire, and werewolf alike. When an old vampire is rumored to have come back from the dead to build an army, it bristles the fur of many a werewolf. This sheds new light on the truth of past transgressions and the prejudice between their peoples. Ash is unwittingly caught in the middle and must fight her way to find her own truths.
279 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 22, 2018
4 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Azalea Forrest
4 books36 followersAzalea Forrest is the author of A Bitter Drink, a semi-finalist winner during SPFBO8. Her stories focus on hope and adventure, becoming a better person, coping with mental illness, and doing your best. She loves discovering new characters and their personalities and the worlds they reside in.
Forrest lives with her partner, cat, and leopard gecko in sunny Florida. She loves photography and video games like Final Fantasy IX and Legend of Zelda, and Ghibli films like Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa. She is affiliated with Mathematician Records, where you can buy her books directly. You can find her on Threads under @AForrestWrites, and Bluesky, Tumblr, and Facebook under @AzaleaForrest, as well as on her websites listed below.
www.azaleaforrest.wordpress.com
www.mathematicianrecords.com/azaleafo...
Forrest lives with her partner, cat, and leopard gecko in sunny Florida. She loves photography and video games like Final Fantasy IX and Legend of Zelda, and Ghibli films like Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa. She is affiliated with Mathematician Records, where you can buy her books directly. You can find her on Threads under @AForrestWrites, and Bluesky, Tumblr, and Facebook under @AzaleaForrest, as well as on her websites listed below.
www.azaleaforrest.wordpress.com
www.mathematicianrecords.com/azaleafo...
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 24, 2018
The Underground is a break from typical Azalea Forrest-style fare. Where previously she focused more on cozy adventures, The Underground is a darker, more action-oriented story with a hefty share of violence. It takes place in a world where the supernatural exist alongside humanity, living in hiding. The main character is a young vampire named Ashai, and we’re given a few details about her life before the turn: she was poor and alone and found the streets to be dark and terrifying places. As a vampire, they bother her much less.
As is usual with Azalea Forrest’s books, there’s a hefty and lively supporting cast that include a whole werewolf family, some ghosts, other, more insufferable vampires and a very minor sprinkling of humans. The villains are suitably huge in personality and reach, and make for a very entertaining problem.
People who liked Witch in the Lighthouse might not like this book. It’s decidedly different in tone. However, fans of supernatural stories might find a new favourite in The Underground. This book especially pays off if you like your supernatural fiction WITHOUT a side of overdramatic romance, as it is blessedly free of that.
Overall it’s a wild, daring adventure that’s the perfect length. If you like the genre, you’ll like the story.
As is usual with Azalea Forrest’s books, there’s a hefty and lively supporting cast that include a whole werewolf family, some ghosts, other, more insufferable vampires and a very minor sprinkling of humans. The villains are suitably huge in personality and reach, and make for a very entertaining problem.
People who liked Witch in the Lighthouse might not like this book. It’s decidedly different in tone. However, fans of supernatural stories might find a new favourite in The Underground. This book especially pays off if you like your supernatural fiction WITHOUT a side of overdramatic romance, as it is blessedly free of that.
Overall it’s a wild, daring adventure that’s the perfect length. If you like the genre, you’ll like the story.
June 28, 2021
A fantastic, exciting supernatural adventure
I LOVED this book! I was really into novels about supernatural beings (especially vampires) in high school, and The Underground gave me a DELICIOUS taste of that world again. Forrest combines interesting characters with exciting, well-paced scenes and an intriguing plot to create a fantastically told tale that I was constantly excited to come back to. The characters were dangerous (as supernatural beings are wont to be) but still human in their motives and friendships. The relationships the main character has with the other vampires, werewolves, and ghosts are wonderfully crafted. A truly great read!
I LOVED this book! I was really into novels about supernatural beings (especially vampires) in high school, and The Underground gave me a DELICIOUS taste of that world again. Forrest combines interesting characters with exciting, well-paced scenes and an intriguing plot to create a fantastically told tale that I was constantly excited to come back to. The characters were dangerous (as supernatural beings are wont to be) but still human in their motives and friendships. The relationships the main character has with the other vampires, werewolves, and ghosts are wonderfully crafted. A truly great read!
August 17, 2019
**spoilers duh**
I have mixed feelings about this book. It starts off jumping from one character to the next which actually caused me to re-read a lot of the same pages so I could understand what was going on. However once I got through that hurdle it got into it and I was devouring the book. I remember Mendel saying he was injured and that's why he was gone for so long. But that doesn't make any sense to me. For starters if he was injured blood should've sped up the healing. Then there's the factor of him being for about 8 years. Unless he was driven away by deli. Which doesn't make sense since he creates ashai right before he leaves. But even that. Why create her? I only have 2-3 other problems. The old vampires never have their ages revealed. Which I usually wouldn't care about so much if it weren't for the fact that 2 of them have powers. On that note we learn that dante is definitely older than deli. But that's it. No one else has powers, which again is strange. Because vlad is even older than they are. Deli also seemed stronger than Dante. The hybrid transformation was interesting.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It starts off jumping from one character to the next which actually caused me to re-read a lot of the same pages so I could understand what was going on. However once I got through that hurdle it got into it and I was devouring the book. I remember Mendel saying he was injured and that's why he was gone for so long. But that doesn't make any sense to me. For starters if he was injured blood should've sped up the healing. Then there's the factor of him being for about 8 years. Unless he was driven away by deli. Which doesn't make sense since he creates ashai right before he leaves. But even that. Why create her? I only have 2-3 other problems. The old vampires never have their ages revealed. Which I usually wouldn't care about so much if it weren't for the fact that 2 of them have powers. On that note we learn that dante is definitely older than deli. But that's it. No one else has powers, which again is strange. Because vlad is even older than they are. Deli also seemed stronger than Dante. The hybrid transformation was interesting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2019
The Underground has a neat premise and interesting setting. A fun take on the usual and rising conflicts between vampires and werewolves. As is most of the books I tend to gravitate towards the characters are fun, and dynamic, and the action is too die for. The underground is littered with interesting side characters and I think there's something to enjoy here for most readers.
The underground is rather short but it doesn't need to be very long to leave a good impression
The underground is rather short but it doesn't need to be very long to leave a good impression
March 18, 2020
I really enjoyed this book! It's very different from Azalea Forrest's other novel, Witch in the Lighthouse, but she brings this one to life just as well. It has a lot of action and suspense, and all of the classic supernatural beings you'd want.
The setting was very cool, especially the blood bar that the main character Ashai owns. I was really intrigued by the hidden society of supernaturals and where it was going. Really, my only complaint was that I wanted to see more of the world and learn more of the history and cultures involved. (Sequel when plz?)
The characters were what really made this a pleasant read though. I had quite a few favorites, from the family of werewolves, to Folke and his country-boy struggles, to even the villains. I loved the villains honestly; they were conniving and fun, and had great chemistry whenever they were in scene together, or even on their own.
I had a really good time reading this, and would definitely recommend for anyone who enjoys a good supernatural action story. If there's ever more to this story written, you can bet I'll be reading it.
The setting was very cool, especially the blood bar that the main character Ashai owns. I was really intrigued by the hidden society of supernaturals and where it was going. Really, my only complaint was that I wanted to see more of the world and learn more of the history and cultures involved. (Sequel when plz?)
The characters were what really made this a pleasant read though. I had quite a few favorites, from the family of werewolves, to Folke and his country-boy struggles, to even the villains. I loved the villains honestly; they were conniving and fun, and had great chemistry whenever they were in scene together, or even on their own.
I had a really good time reading this, and would definitely recommend for anyone who enjoys a good supernatural action story. If there's ever more to this story written, you can bet I'll be reading it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews