Troubled by nightmares of his forgotten childhood, fifteen year old Damian Grayscale enrolls in the prestigious Helix Academy, known for producing powerful mages. His only connection to his past is a powerful Vampire named Lana who changes careers to become a teacher at his new school. He quickly settles into his new routine as he meets new friends and rivals that push him to improve. But Damian soon realizes that grudges donât die easily. Over a century ago Vampires went to war with his home country Reshion and lost, but theyâre finally ready for round two and Damianâs efforts to stop a new era of war will put him on a collision course with the monster responsible for his fractured memory.
Troubled by nightmares of his forgotten childhood, fifteen year old Damian Grayscale enrolls in the prestigious Helix Academy, known for producing powerful mages. His only connection to his past is a powerful Vampire named Lana who changes careers to become a teacher at his new school. He quickly settles into his new routine as he meets new friends and rivals that push him to improve. But Damian soon realizes that grudges donât die easily. Over a century ago Vampires went to war with his home country Reshion and lost, but theyâre finally ready for round two and Damianâs efforts to stop a new era of war will put him on a collision course with the monster responsible for his fractured memory.
âMom! Dad!â I screamed, staring at my burning house. There was no answer as I watched the blazing inferno swallow it whole. The door was wide open, but I wasnât sure if that meant theyâd already gotten out.
As soon as I got closer to the door I started coughing. There was way too much smoke. I started to walk through the doorway and began sweating.
There was no way to know if they were still inside or not. I might end up going in there for nothing and get trapped. The increasing heat was a reminder that I was running out of time.
I turned away and headed into town. I had to hope theyâd gotten out safely.
My house wasnât the only one ablaze, every building lining the road had suffered a similar fate, beacons in the dense smoke around me. I had no idea who couldâve done such a thing.
My legs slammed against the pavement as my eyes and lungs continued burning.
Aspects please let everyone be okay.
As I got deeper into town, something soundedâŚwrong. It was like people were screaming.
I slowed down and looked around, but I didnât see anyone nearby. The only thing I did see was an almost black splatter on the ground.
I tried my best to ignore it. I just needed to find mom and dad, and everything would be okay.
I kept running until I tripped over something and crashed into the ground. It felt like Iâd scraped my knee. I slowly climbed to all fours and turned around to see what Iâd run over.
Someoneâs head was staring back at me. There was no sign of the rest of him.
I opened my mouth to scream, but my voice wouldnât work.
Who would do something like this?
Why?
I forced myself back to my feet and turned around, only to freeze in my tracks.
A pile of corpses was lying there. Mangled bodies, torn to shreds with rivers of blood flowing from them. Worst of all were the blank white eyes that pierced my soul, judging me, blaming me for what happened.
I closed my eyes and tried to block out the sounds of screams that seemed to be getting even closer. I didnât want to keep going forward. I didnât want to see anymore.
â-Ian!â Someone was saying something.
I opened my eyes and lifted my head. The pile of bodies had changed. I couldnât make out faces anymore. The bodies had become a blackened mass, a mound of shadows.
âDamian!â Someone shouted.
I wiped my eyes and kept looking around. âWhoâs there?â
I saw figures running towards me through the smoke. They ran past an open flame, and I got a good look at their faces. I got up and started running to them.
âMom! Dad!â We reached each other and they hugged me tightly.
âThank goodness youâre okay!â Mom said.
We stood there for a second before dad pulled away.
âListen, we have to get out of here quickly,â Dad said. âHave you seen ââ?â
He had said a name, but for some reason, I couldnât hear it.
âWe were playing in the forest earlier, but I donât know where she went,â I explained.
Why did I know that? It was almost like someone else had taken over and spoken for me.
The shadows behind dad began moving.
I opened my mouth to warn him, but once again, I couldnât say anything. I had to watch as the shadows crept closer and closer and closer.
âThe forest,â Dad nodded. âOkay, thatâs where weâll go. We should be safe once we get-â
I had no clue what he was going to say to us. He never got the chance to finish.
The shadows pierced his body like a blade. His blood splattered across my face and I started shaking. He made a strange gurgling noise as he tried to force himself to speak.
âR-ruâŚâ
The shadows pulled free from his body and he dropped to the ground, blank lifeless eyes staring up at me.
Mom shoved me as hard as she could.
âDamian, run!â Was all she got out before her head was removed from her body.
I couldnât run. All I could do was just stare at them. What wouldâve been the point in running?
The shadows began to morph. They split into five parts, taking on vaguely human shapes, but their features all impossible to discern.
The shadows spoke to me, their voices echoing but I couldnât understand a single word. I covered my ears and tried to ignore them as they got closer. They got closer and loomed over me when I finally understood at least one sound they were making.
They were laughing at me. They were enjoying what theyâd done, what theyâd forced me to watch. They found it amusing that I was helpless, and that they could take their time playing with me.
They knew theyâd see me again soon.
I really enjoyed this book! It was full of adventure and fantastic characters.
In The Dawnbreaker Gambit you're following Damian Grayscale, who can't remember anything of his childhood except for this connection to Lana, a badass vampire who becomes a teacher at Damian's new school to stay close to him. Damian makes some really good friends at the academy and I really enjoyed seeing these relationships blossom. Most of the YA fantasy books that I read follow female protagonists so it was a nice change of pace to follow a male main character, especially one written so well. There is a friends to lovers romance that I didn't really enjoy. It wasn't a huge aspect of the story but I felt it was unnecessary.
I enjoyed the authors writing style. The book was full of action and adventurous scenes, however it didn't feel rushed or lacking in emotional development. I have always been a fan of magic schools so I really enjoyed the setting of Helix Academy. It had the atmosphere of an exclusive boarding school with magic and I could almost feel like I was there too.
The magic system wasn't the most unique however the mixture of talismans, elemental magic (lightning is my favourite thanks to Percy Jackson) and pocket dimensions made it very enjoyable. It was easy to follow and understand.
In my opinion, this book is written more on the younger side of YA. I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys coming of age fantasy with great friendships and fun magic. I look forward to reading the rest of this series and anything else the author writes in the future!