Review: The Exorcism of Faeries by J.L Vampa

 

Publication Date: November 2025

Publisher: Vampa Productions LLC

Source: Purchased on Kindle (Goodreads)

Blurb: 

She is the daughter of morticians, studying Botany at Trinity College, Dublin. He is her Morbid Anatomy professor. And the Fae are possessing the good people of Dublin. Only Atta and Professor Murdoch can exorcize the fae, but can they fight their forbidden feelings for one another in the process?
Trinity College, Dublin 5th November, 1993

He always reads standing in front of the shelf, one hand shoved in his pocket until it’s time to flip the page. It’s the first thing I noticed about him, while I was supposed to be studying. Instead, I watched him move from shelf to shelf and book to book. I had no idea at the time that I would one day meet him and he would change everything. We would change everything.

-Excerpt from the diary of Ariatne Morrow, found in the wreckage at Ground Zero

This was a book club pick and I was glad it was chosen as it was something I never would have picked up normally, very out of my comfort zone but a welcome surprise! 

The book centers around Ariatne at college in Dublin whose real passion is human anatomy, studying and delivering mysterious corpses to a secret society of masked scientists. Secret society, mysterious deaths and dark academia vibes GALORE. 

The book is very much sometimes a vibes over plot read but if you are big on vibes - they are STRONG in this book. I felt myself slowly reading the first 50% of the book, waiting for the plot to pick up but enjoying the vibes and then when we started to delve deeper into the mysterious disease, the secret society and the heart of the plot I found myself really turning the pages. 

The romance in the book didn't really hit for me unfortunately, I enjoyed it and felt it added something to the story but it didn't blow me away like other reviewers felt. I also would have liked more "Irishness" from the setting, dialogue and behaviours of the characters (Not sure if the author is Irish? If someone knows let me know). 

Overall I did enjoy the book, it was very interesting although sometimes I felt the science and anatomy talk went right over my head as I'm not a very science-y person but I loved the vibes and the faerie disease mystery. 

I think I will pick up the sequel but no information has been released about it yet. Everyone else in my book club loved it so if you like dark fantasy academia then this might be the book for you!