An ancient bloodline.
A forgotten war.
A woman destined to awaken both.
The Half Kasst
by Delilah Belvedere
Genre: Paranormal Vampire Romance, Urban Fantasy
After a charged encounter ignites something ancient in her
blood, Sarai Davis becomes entangled in a world of hidden magic where pleasure
and danger are inseparable.
A shocking prophecy shatters her reality: Sarai is a Half
Kasst, descended from an erased bloodline and born to stand against a secret
network of aristocratic vampires.
Now hunted, Sarai must reclaim a legacy meant to be wiped
from history, and embrace her power before the forces hunting her finish what
they began millennia ago. But power always demands payment.
**NEW RELEASE!**
Kate adds, “She is right, Sarai. You must feed. If Half
Kassts are anything like vampires, you don’t want to experience what starvation
is like. My father…”
She pauses, looks around the room, then continues.
“My father punishes vampires who don’t follow his rules by
locking them up, and he does not provide them any blood. It’s terrible. They
wither away for years; their screams get weaker in just weeks, and after a few
months, you don’t even hear them anymore.”
Delilah Belvedere is a Kenyan-born, Washington, D.C.–based
author and keynote speaker whose stories weave together mythology, sensuality,
and power. Her writing blends African-inspired mythology with nontraditional
vampires, witches, immersive worldbuilding, and unapologetically sensual
storytelling, exploring themes of identity, legacy, and self-discovery through
bold, unforgettable characters. Drawn to the spaces where ancestral magic,
forbidden desire, and hidden histories collide, Delilah creates worlds where
passion is transformative, power is inherited, and destiny is written in blood.
Through every story, she champions authenticity, body positivity, curiosity,
and the courage to embrace one’s truest self. When she’s not writing, Delilah
is exploring new cuisines, hosting backyard BBQs, or binge-watching her next
favorite series.
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THE HALF KASST is not your typical vampire story. After reading the book, I’ve been trying to figure out how to review it properly. It’s a book that had me thinking and pulled me in different directions. I know that makes it sound like the book is confusing. And I guess, in the beginning, it kind of was, but let me get to that. First, I want to start with the writing.
The book is written in third-person present. I’m generally used to the past tense, so seeing it in the present tense caused a wee jump in the mental circuit board. This isn’t a critique of the writing style, just something I think readers might like to know before jumping in. That said, it was easy to get used to it once I knew what was going on. That is, until around chapter three or four. Then the plot went in a totally different direction than I was expecting.
Again, this is not a critique, just something I want readers to understand going in. It’s because I could see it potentially kicking readers off. HOWEVER, I encourage you to keep reading. It all makes sense later on, and it’s a seriously cool aspect of the story that had me excited. Seriously, if it feels off, keep reading. Because once I went past that chapter, the rest of the book was flying.
And that brings me to the story itself. I didn’t know how I felt about Sarai. At times I liked her at the beginning, and at other times I didn’t. At first, I could argue she might’ve felt 2D, but that would be an incorrect judgment. Sarai is, at first, human. She struggles with her own past, then gets pulled into a world completely different from her own. On top of that, she is rare, and that makes everything that much harder. Because how can you navigate a new world when not even the people you know can properly give you all the information needed?
Think about it. If we go down memory lane and think of Harry Potter, for instance, he is a young boy with a bad history who gets pushed into an unknown world. He is lucky enough to have this unknown world give him the blueprints to live off of. Sarai doesn’t really have that. She’s pushed into the world, and its beginning is so much of a whiplash that she loses time. But she’s resilient and keeps moving, finding the truth and herself in the end.
I think the author, Delilah Belvedere, explained it the best, though. In the note to the readers, she welcomes old and new to her world. She addresses the themes of desire, power, and identity, mixing them with vulnerability, self-discovery, and self-love. And how am I to disagree with the expert on this book? She’s one-hundred percent correct. That is exactly what I got from reading this book.
THE HALF KASST isn’t your typical vampire book, but it fits well in that subgenre. Instead of the broader vampire analysis you could make, this one also hits a bit more on the nuance of the individual.
Casia's Corner 