Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Serpent and the Wings of Night

Oraya is the human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king. Growing up as a human surrounded by vampires, she has always felt like the prey. Entering the Kejari, a legendary tournament hosted by the goddess of death, is her only chance to become more. But with her opponents being some of the most vicious vampires, winning is easier said than done. Forced to make an alliance with a ruthless and mysterious rival, Raihn is her biggest competition, but she can’t help the drawn she feels towards him.

Firstly, I loved Oraya! We love a badass who is strong, fierce and independent, who doesn’t let her weaknesses define her - I mean, she can hold her own against vampires, for crying out loud. I love Raihn as well, he was kind of adorable, and his relationship with Mische was really cute.

Oraya and Raihn may be one of my favourite couples, I loved the mix of enemies to lovers and grumpy/sunshine. Their chemistry and partnership gave me similar vibes to a Sarah J. Maas book in the best way possible! I did unfortunately read a spoiler about the ending (iykyk), so that wasn’t a surprise for me, but I do think it would’ve be had I not accident read the spoiler.

I also really liked the relationship between Oraya and Vincent. I’m currently wondering if how everything ended with Vincent isn’t all it seems and that there may be a twist in book 2, because he truly seemed to love and care for Oraya as a daughter.

In terms of the plot and storytelling, the world was interesting but not overly complicated, which is always a bonus for me. The plot was intense and action packed, and at no point did it drag.

Overall, this book is probably one of my favourites that I’ve read this year and can’t wait to read the next one!

Content Warnings

brooke_pearson's review against another edition

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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

liaantje's review against another edition

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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

weirdemosrus's review against another edition

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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

xtsukix's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

This book made me ugly cry. I loved every single part of this, although sometimes with equal hatred towards the end. Super curious how the sequel is going to play out with this dynamic!

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