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bookishwule's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
"Spectacular, give me 14 of 'em right now"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Self harm
boredreading's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I really like the story building, the way the word and rooms and battles are described.
Classic enemies to loves.
I often found my self fully emerged in the book and the characters, unable to put the book down.
4.75 out of 5 purely because of the rushed ending but absolutely recommend
MASSIVE END SPOILERS
I found that the ending was very fast pasted and ended almost a bit sloppy, she killed him, she brought him back, he killed her dad, kidnapped her, married her explained everything the end. All with in the last like 20 pages.
Am I am excited to read th3 next book in the series.
Classic enemies to loves.
I often found my self fully emerged in the book and the characters, unable to put the book down.
4.75 out of 5 purely because of the rushed ending but absolutely recommend
MASSIVE END SPOILERS
I found that the ending was very fast pasted and ended almost a bit sloppy,
Am I am excited to read th3 next book in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Self harm and Death of parent
yureisilhouette's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Self harm, and Murder
thehannahclaire's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Death of parent
tguccione's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, and Kidnapping
brooke_pearson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The writing was really well done, and I don't regret reading it, but the ending was a bit confusing. Spoilers: When it started talking about heir marks, I feel like there were either plot holes or parts that were just confusing. How come none of the Rishan people had an heir mark, even if there were so few of them (from my understanding, there should always be two people with an heir mark, a Rishan and a Hiaj. Or do they not get the heir mark until the leader dies? If so, why are there two heir marked people, Oraya and Raihn? If not, why didn't Oraya already have an heir mark). The ending was also just confusing with the motivations of people. How the hell can Oraya even tolerate Raihn, let alone still love him after he killed her father, who he knew she loved? Lastly, why didn't Oraya Turn at the end of the book when they both consumed each other's blood (during the wedding)? Is it because he's Turned, does a vampire need to be Born to turn others? There were other confusing parts (like when Jesmine was talking about being bonded? What does that mean??) but those were the biggest ones I could think of . Overall, it was a good book, but I'm not sure if I'll be getting the sequel unless there's a good sale. There's also a huge age gap, but I guess she's technically an adult
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Self harm and Alcohol
liaantje's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I read this together with my sister in law, we had so much fun, the writing is awesome, and we've already ordered the second book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Alcohol
justagremlin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Magical competition vampire political fantasy? Yes. Yes, please.
I feel like the worldbuilding was a little messy, and I didn’t know the difference between the vampire families until halfway through the book. The conflict between the two Nightborn clans was also confusing because we never really know what it’s about. However, the end of the book suddenly spits out a lot of worldbuilding and twists rapid fire and I had to reread some chapters to make sure I got it.
The book isn’t the most unique, but it filled the void of new adult fantasy for me. I needed a nice fantasy read to forget about the world and this provides one. This book will hook you from the first page.
I loved our main character. She was easy to root for and her motivations are very understandable. The love interest and the best friend were also good characters. It’s not a super character-heavy book which I liked. It didn’t try to bog you down with several characters that appear for a line and are never heard from again.
Overall a good fantasy competition book. Would recommend especially if you're looking for new adult fantasy on Kindle Unlimited.
4/5
Recommend For: Romantasy lovers who like competitions and vampires.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Sexual content, Blood, and War
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Self harm
Blood:weirdemosrus's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Murder and Alcohol
Minor: Rape and Self harm
astoryofbooksandbrews's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
4.5/5
I think this book found me at the right time. I was in desperate need of a trope-y, page turning, romantic fantasy adventure. And not the crap book tok loses its mind over but like a decent quality story. And I’m surprised to say it delivered.
I also think my bar for such books has dropped so low in recent years due to the overwhelming flood of “popular” but terrible books on book tok, so I’ve lost a lot of trust in recommendations from that forum. This one was the surprising exception though.
It has its flaws, things that irk me a bit, as all books do, and it was a little predictable as these trope-y fantasies typically are but still I ravenously read and enjoyed every moment, more so than I have any book in quite a while.
One thing I wanted more of was more side character development but it seems like that might come more in the next book. The character development of the two MCs was decent but I’m also hopeful that will expand more as the story unfolds.
The writing was surprisingly good, at times even beautiful. It was artistic and elemental. It reminded me that there are still books being published by authors who actually care about the art of writing and that some books do actually go through editing processes.
The worldbuilding was a bit slow and there are components that still haven’t been fully fleshed out but the ending made me realize there’s a lot more to come on that front. Overall though, I really like the premise of this world, the political system and challenges and the ethical dilemmas the characters face.
I also really enjoyed the challenging perspectives of being a fragile human vs an all powerful immortal vampire and how Oraya, pulled out of her human life so young and forced to live amongst the vampires, never felt like she belonged with either. The inner turmoil over who she is and her perceived powerlessness motivating her to become this ruthless force of nature is really intriguing and made for some great character development.
One of my favorite parts was the complexity of Oraya and Vincent’s relationship. There are so many layers to it and it’s such a challenging dynamic to wrap your head around but it makes for such an interesting component of Oraya’s motivations. I’m interested to see how things keep playing out with this in the next book.
I think there will be a lot of interesting pieces of the story that unfold in the next book. I’m left with a lot of questions and internal conflict which is what keeps me intrigued and reading.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and haven’t been this excited by one in a while. I think it’s a refreshing read when our bookshelves have been inundated with literary crap from booktok trends that glorify smut and bad writing, and publishers who forgo editing to rush to publish crappy books to make a quick buck.
Very excited for book 2!
I think this book found me at the right time. I was in desperate need of a trope-y, page turning, romantic fantasy adventure. And not the crap book tok loses its mind over but like a decent quality story. And I’m surprised to say it delivered.
I also think my bar for such books has dropped so low in recent years due to the overwhelming flood of “popular” but terrible books on book tok, so I’ve lost a lot of trust in recommendations from that forum. This one was the surprising exception though.
It has its flaws, things that irk me a bit, as all books do, and it was a little predictable as these trope-y fantasies typically are but still I ravenously read and enjoyed every moment, more so than I have any book in quite a while.
One thing I wanted more of was more side character development but it seems like that might come more in the next book. The character development of the two MCs was decent but I’m also hopeful that will expand more as the story unfolds.
The writing was surprisingly good, at times even beautiful. It was artistic and elemental. It reminded me that there are still books being published by authors who actually care about the art of writing and that some books do actually go through editing processes.
The worldbuilding was a bit slow and there are components that still haven’t been fully fleshed out but the ending made me realize there’s a lot more to come on that front. Overall though, I really like the premise of this world, the political system and challenges and the ethical dilemmas the characters face.
I also really enjoyed the challenging perspectives of being a fragile human vs an all powerful immortal vampire and how Oraya, pulled out of her human life so young and forced to live amongst the vampires, never felt like she belonged with either. The inner turmoil over who she is and her perceived powerlessness motivating her to become this ruthless force of nature is really intriguing and made for some great character development.
One of my favorite parts was the complexity of Oraya and Vincent’s relationship. There are so many layers to it and it’s such a challenging dynamic to wrap your head around but it makes for such an interesting component of Oraya’s motivations. I’m interested to see how things keep playing out with this in the next book.
I think there will be a lot of interesting pieces of the story that unfold in the next book. I’m left with a lot of questions and internal conflict which is what keeps me intrigued and reading.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and haven’t been this excited by one in a while. I think it’s a refreshing read when our bookshelves have been inundated with literary crap from booktok trends that glorify smut and bad writing, and publishers who forgo editing to rush to publish crappy books to make a quick buck.
Very excited for book 2!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Self harm