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princessofpages's reviews
136 reviews
The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent
4.25
I'd spend a lifetime at the tip of your blade, and it would have been worth it.
AGHHHH!! This book was so hard to write a review for because in many ways it is the perfect example of a sequel not quite living up to the sky-high expectations of the first book. The Serpent and the Wings of Night had me absolutely ENTHRALLED, GAGGED, DISTRESSED, FOAMING AT THE MOUTH... all the things. Without giving any spoilers, the ending of the first book set up this incredible enemies-to-lovers storyline that I was fully prepared to go feral for.
Unfortunately, the sequel didn't really deliver for me in terms of pacing or plotting. The first 35% was very slow and it was difficult to get a sense of the characters' motives once we were removed from the Kejari setting. Though I absolutely LOVED getting Raihn's backstory, it wasn't clear at almost any point WHY he was doing... basically anything he was doing. The entire Godblood storyline felt tired and patently uninteresting. Overall, the vibe of the entire first half was just *mild disappointment*.
All of these things had me prepped and ready to hit that 3-star review. EXCEPT.
EXCEPT. There were a few things this book did really well and I'm such a massive sucker for them that they made up for the plotting flaws.
1. The Complicated Father
I love reading about complicated father figures, the more details and emotional messiness and nuance and pain the better. Yes, I obviously have daddy issues. No, I don't want to talk about it. Oraya's exploration of her relationship with Vincent, coming to terms with who he was to her, and the resolution at the end? Had me choking, sobbing, retching. I tabbed so many moments that those sections are just annotations at this point. I'd read the entire series just for the Oraya/Vincent saga.
2. The Healing Arc
I'm beginning to fear that my favorite themes are revealing too much about me personally, but the dual POV was (imo) an amazing choice, and getting to see both Raihn and Oraya's sexual trauma and the way they were able to heal from it together really had me emotional and just generally elevated the story.
Overall, I enjoyed this book so much even though it truly did NOT live up to the expectations of the first. As far as fantasy series wrap-ups go, it wasn't bad: I laughed, I kicked my feet, I cried (too much), and I experienced moderate anguish even though I wasn't once surprised. I call that a win. And cannot WAIT to devour the other novellas in this world!!
AGHHHH!! This book was so hard to write a review for because in many ways it is the perfect example of a sequel not quite living up to the sky-high expectations of the first book. The Serpent and the Wings of Night had me absolutely ENTHRALLED, GAGGED, DISTRESSED, FOAMING AT THE MOUTH... all the things. Without giving any spoilers, the ending of the first book set up this incredible enemies-to-lovers storyline that I was fully prepared to go feral for.
Unfortunately, the sequel didn't really deliver for me in terms of pacing or plotting. The first 35% was very slow and it was difficult to get a sense of the characters' motives once we were removed from the Kejari setting. Though I absolutely LOVED getting Raihn's backstory, it wasn't clear at almost any point WHY he was doing... basically anything he was doing. The entire Godblood storyline felt tired and patently uninteresting. Overall, the vibe of the entire first half was just *mild disappointment*.
All of these things had me prepped and ready to hit that 3-star review. EXCEPT.
EXCEPT. There were a few things this book did really well and I'm such a massive sucker for them that they made up for the plotting flaws.
1. The Complicated Father
I love reading about complicated father figures, the more details and emotional messiness and nuance and pain the better. Yes, I obviously have daddy issues. No, I don't want to talk about it. Oraya's exploration of her relationship with Vincent, coming to terms with who he was to her, and the resolution at the end? Had me choking, sobbing, retching. I tabbed so many moments that those sections are just annotations at this point. I'd read the entire series just for the Oraya/Vincent saga.
2. The Healing Arc
I'm beginning to fear that my favorite themes are revealing too much about me personally, but the dual POV was (imo) an amazing choice, and getting to see both Raihn and Oraya's sexual trauma and the way they were able to heal from it together really had me emotional and just generally elevated the story.
Overall, I enjoyed this book so much even though it truly did NOT live up to the expectations of the first. As far as fantasy series wrap-ups go, it wasn't bad: I laughed, I kicked my feet, I cried (too much), and I experienced moderate anguish even though I wasn't once surprised. I call that a win. And cannot WAIT to devour the other novellas in this world!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and War
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
Screaming, shaking, gnawing at the bars of my iron enclosure. WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO READ THIS DAMN BOOK????
Please hear me when I say I have had this book SITTING ON MY SHELF for over a year. A year of me resisting the many TikToks and rave reviews about how this is one of the best romantasy reads out there. If this sounds like you, PLEASE stop this madness and just pick this book up.
This book has tension, it has drama, it has wonderfully tortured main characters, it has swoon-worthy romance and it has a little bit of spice that, when it happens, is to DIE for. It is fast-paced and actually fairly well-written and had me on the edge of my seat for like... the entire read. And the ENDING???? I can't even speak at this point about the delightful anguish of that ending. But it was brilliant. And I literally started the second book the MOMENT I picked my jaw up off the floor.
The book isn't perfect (obviously). The world-building is a bit weak, and there are some inconsistencies that will probably have to be addressed in the sequel. I don't actually like the comparison that I've heard many make to The Hunger Games- this book is at its core a romance even though there's a lot of action, and there isn't much to be found here in terms of social commentary. But this book absolutely accomplishes what I believe it set out to do: it's a hell of a romantasy.
Something I haven't seen people talk about is how this book is different from the hundreds of other romantasy books I'm constantly getting recommended on Booktok. I've read a LOT of this genre over the past year and a half, and the one thing that has made many of these books miss the mark for me is the weak character development. So many of these books feel like a Frankenstein-esque amalgamation of all the tropes it knows fantasy readers love. Unfortunately, these often read (to me) as inauthentic and stiff, and the characters these books birth tend to feel like two-dimensional cardboard cutouts of the characters I WANT to read. This book did such a good job of hitting some of those tried-and-true tropes WHILE STILL keeping the characters real and compelling and absolutely worthy of hyperfixation. Currently, I can't stop thinking about Vincent and Oraya's relationship because complicated fathers will probably always be my Achilles hell. Chef's kiss to the author for writing that absolute mess of a relationship.
In summary: if you've enjoyed SJM, The Folk of the Air Series, or any of the other commonly recommended romantasy books out there, I can almost guarantee you a really, really good time with this book.
Please hear me when I say I have had this book SITTING ON MY SHELF for over a year. A year of me resisting the many TikToks and rave reviews about how this is one of the best romantasy reads out there. If this sounds like you, PLEASE stop this madness and just pick this book up.
This book has tension, it has drama, it has wonderfully tortured main characters, it has swoon-worthy romance and it has a little bit of spice that, when it happens, is to DIE for. It is fast-paced and actually fairly well-written and had me on the edge of my seat for like... the entire read. And the ENDING???? I can't even speak at this point about the delightful anguish of that ending. But it was brilliant. And I literally started the second book the MOMENT I picked my jaw up off the floor.
The book isn't perfect (obviously). The world-building is a bit weak, and there are some inconsistencies that will probably have to be addressed in the sequel. I don't actually like the comparison that I've heard many make to The Hunger Games- this book is at its core a romance even though there's a lot of action, and there isn't much to be found here in terms of social commentary. But this book absolutely accomplishes what I believe it set out to do: it's a hell of a romantasy.
Something I haven't seen people talk about is how this book is different from the hundreds of other romantasy books I'm constantly getting recommended on Booktok. I've read a LOT of this genre over the past year and a half, and the one thing that has made many of these books miss the mark for me is the weak character development. So many of these books feel like a Frankenstein-esque amalgamation of all the tropes it knows fantasy readers love. Unfortunately, these often read (to me) as inauthentic and stiff, and the characters these books birth tend to feel like two-dimensional cardboard cutouts of the characters I WANT to read. This book did such a good job of hitting some of those tried-and-true tropes WHILE STILL keeping the characters real and compelling and absolutely worthy of hyperfixation. Currently, I can't stop thinking about Vincent and Oraya's relationship because complicated fathers will probably always be my Achilles hell. Chef's kiss to the author for writing that absolute mess of a relationship.
In summary: if you've enjoyed SJM, The Folk of the Air Series, or any of the other commonly recommended romantasy books out there, I can almost guarantee you a really, really good time with this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence