A thrilling dark academia debut that brings vampires back for a new age, Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma follows a lost heiress who must infiltrate an arcane society and live with the vampire she suspects kidnapped her sister. We think it would be perfect Book Club pick, and here are some of our suggestions to help guide your discussion!

*We recommend finishing Immortal Dark before reading the below questions.

‘Kidan Adane gave herself eight months to die.’ In Chapter 1 we meet our protagonist Kidan – what are your first thoughts about her as a character? What is her initial driving motivation, and does it change as the novel progresses?

At Uxlay University, Kidan studies unique subjects like Introduction to Dranacti, the theory and groundwork for the coexistence between dranaics and actis. How is Tigest Girma’s academic world building similar or different to other universities you’ve come across in pop culture?

What are your first impressions of Susenyos? Did your opinion of him change as the plot evolved?

We learn that the location of vampire bites on the human body leads to different revelations about each other. What did you think about this exchange? Did you have a favourite moment of this occurring? Where would you choose to bite or be bitten?

A pivotal moment in Immortal Dark is when Kidan defangs Susenyos. How does this event alter their relationship? What do you think Kidan and Susenyos bring out in each-other, both positive and negative? Who is really in control, and does that shift?

Discuss the theme of good vs evil in the novel. Do you think there are some characters who are purely one or the other? Why or why not?  

Throughout Immortal Dark, we see both Kidan and Susenyos try to conquer their house law to varying levels of success – if you had to establish your own house laws, what would they be and why?

Found family is one of our favourite tropes – how did you feel about the people who end up meaning the most to Kidan? What surprised you the most about Slen, GK, and Yusef?

Did you see the ending coming? What questions were you left with, and what do you hope to see in the sequel?

Tigest Girma is an Ethiopian writer based in Melbourne, Australia. After graduating with a Bachelor of Education, she splits her time between writing and teaching. Passionate about exploring East African characters and myths, her work weaves Black stories with the dark and fantastical. In her free time, she can be found rewatching her comfort shows where the villain gets the girl. She invites you to visit her at tigestgirma.com or tiktok.com/tigestgirma. Immortal Dark is her debut novel.