Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, Romantic Fantasy
Representation: Black bisexual MC, Black bisexual MC/love interest, Black bisexual love interest with vitiligo, F/M/M
PoV: Third-person, present-tense; first-person, present-tense; multiple PoVs
Published on: 4th November 2025
ISBN: 0063323206
Goodreads
From New York Times bestselling author Akwaeke Emezi comes a steamy paranormal romance set in the Black South—a bold new foray that takes us on a journey of magic and fantasy, from the whispering creeks outside the city of Salvation to the very depths of Hell itself.
Tenderhearted Galilee was raised by the Kincaids, a formidable clan of Black women sequestered deep in the weeping willows and dark rushing creeks of their land. Galilee has always known that she’s different—that there is an old and unknowable secret around her very existence. It has been a hollow ache inside her since her childhood, something she assumes she will always have to live with.
Until she meets Lucifer Helel. He’s fronting as the head of security for her wealthy friend Oriaku’s family, protecting a mysterious, ancient artifact, but from the moment she lays eyes on him, Gali knows he’s not human. From her first incendiary touch, Lucifer knows something even Gali herself doesn’t—that she isn’t human either.
Leviathan. As Lucifer’s most trusted prince of Hell, Levi is ruthless and determined to eliminate the intolerable danger that is Galilee before she brings death and disaster to those he loves. While unseen battles rage between Hell, Heaven, and earth, Lucifer and Galilee’s attraction threatens to bring all the structures of their existence crashing down around them.
Soon, loyalties will be shattered and reformed as Kincaid secrets clash with the princes of Hell, driving even the most powerful to their knees. Galilee Kincaid must decide if she will step into herself and embrace the consequences of power in this astonishing, seductive, and wildly original fantasy.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
So the important thing to know is: if you don’t enjoy paranormal romance, The Son of the Morning isn’t going to change your mind.
that’s it that’s the review
I was really hoping that because I love Emezi’s writing AND angelic lore, those things would overcome my dislike of paranormal romance. I definitely assumed that Emezi would write paranormal romance that, you know…didn’t fall into all the pitfalls/cliches of the genre? Not every paranormal romance book has stupid violent alpha males! Or instalust! Or personalities and opinions doing 180s at random! I figured an Emezi paranormal romance wouldn’t!
It does, though.
If you like popular paranormal romance what are you doing reading my ridiculously niche blog? and enjoy or don’t mind the common tropes/genre conventions, then you’ll probably have a great time with this. Lucifer quickly comes to worship the ground Gali walks on; Gali’s arc is very much about coming into her power and being unafraid of what she’s capable of; there’s a refreshing focus on female pleasure; both leads have strong family bonds (found-family for Lucifer); we have women who don’t hate each other; a sprinkling of kink. Son of the Morning even takes the time to point out and question some of the ridiculousness it depends on (Gali being disgusted with herself for wanting Lucifer despite his refusing to guarantee her safety, isn’t it WEIRD how this is all so intense so fast, etc) albeit without actually resolving any of it.
It’s also a very queer novel, which was a pleasant surprise from a M/F romance – although perhaps not a surprise from Emezi, since You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty was another M/F romance with casually bisexual leads. Son of the Morning brings its queerness front and centre, though, with one of Gali’s friends being a sapphic trans woman and Lucifer still extremely close with his male ex Leviathan, a past romance that’s extremely plot-relevant.
There’s room for a sequel, but it stands alone perfectly well. The right reader will probably love it.
The rest of us…should probably not go near it. Despite the evocatively beautiful opening introducing us to Gali’s family of supernaturally-touched women, all the cliched flaws of the genre are here on full display. Lucifer and his princes (his inner circle/found family) give us a truly excessive amount of violent, alpha male posturing, with lots of threats of violence taking the place of reasonable discussion. Gali and Lucifer experience classic instalust, which wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t lead to an inexplicable true love (the main chunk of the book takes place over 24 hours, in which Gali and Lucifer go from strangers to soulmates). Personalities flip-flop WILDLY, with abrupt, unexplained 180s of strongly-held opinions happening everywhere. Bits of interesting worldbuilding are scattered here and there but never elaborated on, which is particularly infuriating alongside the constant infodumping/telling-not-showing. The central conflict – a mask with a very bloody history threatening to open a gate to Hell – makes little sense, since we’re never told WHY Lucifer turned it into a Hell-portal, or why he did so and then left it with the Vatican instead of, you know, keeping it. Lucifer goes from refusing to promise he or his princes won’t kill Gali, to kneeling at her command in front of witnesses, and I have no idea how they went from one to the other (it’s literally two sequential scenes!) And please don’t get me started on Leviathan, whose 180 is possibly the most dramatic and definitely the least explicable!
So if there is a sequel, I will definitely not be reading it. Even with the occasional beautiful line or brilliant bit of phrasing, there’s so much nonsense, so much toxicity (I really do not have patience for or interest in these ‘alpha male’ types), so much handwaved, and so much straight-up-stupid. I’m really disappointed, but I guess that’s mostly on me, for getting my hopes up that this wouldn’t be what it said it was.
Paranormal fantasy definitely loves its tropes! I read one recently that was a parody of the genre where a cliche straight frat boy gets trapped in his brother’s paranormal romance book in place of the female main character.
…well now you HAVE to tell me the title + author, because I have GOT to check that out!
Haha! It’s Bro and the Beast by LC Davi. It’s very fun and over the top. Still has the alpha male love interest but he’s romancing the wrong person!