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Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
265 reviews
beebowbabe's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Gore and War
boba_nbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Spice Rating: š¶ļøš¶ļø / 5
The Serpent and the Wings of Night is my first Carissa Broadbent book, and suffice it to say I am HOOKED.
Oraya is the adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Vincent, and throughout her 23 years, her father has taught her to do away with her humanity and embrace the vampiric way of life. She is taught time and time again that she can trust no one and that she is prey in a world full of predators. Vincent has always wanted Oraya to be more than just a human, and her chance to do that comes in the form of the Kejari: a legendary tournament hosted by Nyaxia, the goddess of death and mother of all vampires. Oraya is the only human in the tournament and underestimated by most of the other competitors, except for one. She is forced to create an alliance with Raihn, who is a ruthless vampire and an enemy to her father's crown. Despite all of her instincts and training telling her to stay away, Oraya finds herself innately drawn to Raihn for reasons she can't quite explain, and that terrifies her. Especially because, though they may be allies for now, there can only be one victor at the end.
The author does an excellent job building this world slowly and through anecdotes instead of just telling readers everything about it. I enjoyed the entirety of this book, but once I hit the last 100 pages, just like in a Sarah J. Maas book, sh!t started to go down. And I was here for it. When my husband tried to talk to me, I wouldn't listen because I was that engrossed in the story.
Broadbent has a way of drawing you in, and the first-person POV helps you truly understand Oraya and come to love her despite her standoffish demeanor and ruthlessness. Though I read a lot of fantasy romance novels, I can assure you this one will stick with me for a long time.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night is my first Carissa Broadbent book, and suffice it to say I am HOOKED.
Oraya is the adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Vincent, and throughout her 23 years, her father has taught her to do away with her humanity and embrace the vampiric way of life. She is taught time and time again that she can trust no one and that she is prey in a world full of predators. Vincent has always wanted Oraya to be more than just a human, and her chance to do that comes in the form of the Kejari: a legendary tournament hosted by Nyaxia, the goddess of death and mother of all vampires. Oraya is the only human in the tournament and underestimated by most of the other competitors, except for one. She is forced to create an alliance with Raihn, who is a ruthless vampire and an enemy to her father's crown. Despite all of her instincts and training telling her to stay away, Oraya finds herself innately drawn to Raihn for reasons she can't quite explain, and that terrifies her. Especially because, though they may be allies for now, there can only be one victor at the end.
The author does an excellent job building this world slowly and through anecdotes instead of just telling readers everything about it. I enjoyed the entirety of this book, but once I hit the last 100 pages, just like in a Sarah J. Maas book, sh!t started to go down. And I was here for it. When my husband tried to talk to me, I wouldn't listen because I was that engrossed in the story.
Broadbent has a way of drawing you in, and the first-person POV helps you truly understand Oraya and come to love her despite her standoffish demeanor and ruthlessness. Though I read a lot of fantasy romance novels, I can assure you this one will stick with me for a long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture
Minor: Self harm, Slavery, and Death of parent
toastyghosty13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This was another romantasy book that has vampires and chosen one prophecy vibes. I don't even know if Oraya is actually a chosen one, but she definitely gives off that energy regardless.
I did like how this was a similar ish base concept to the book From Blood and Ash, where there is a main leading lady and a mysterious leading man comes into her life, where they forge a bond that stands against all other odds. I did find this book more engaging because they were in a hunger games esque competition, and thus it was far more interesting than FBAA imo.
I found the lore of the different vampire types to be confusing (probably because I was listening to the audio book and usually eyeball to read). My friend recommended this to me and told me that understanding the different types of vampires is not as important for this book, and that the next book will go into it further.
I plan on reading the next book and hope that it does not take a similarly boring turn as the FBAA universe does, because I could not get myself to finish it after the 3rd book.
I did like how this was a similar ish base concept to the book From Blood and Ash, where there is a main leading lady and a mysterious leading man comes into her life, where they forge a bond that stands against all other odds. I did find this book more engaging because they were in a hunger games esque competition, and thus it was far more interesting than FBAA imo.
I found the lore of the different vampire types to be confusing (probably because I was listening to the audio book and usually eyeball to read). My friend recommended this to me and told me that understanding the different types of vampires is not as important for this book, and that the next book will go into it further.
I plan on reading the next book and hope that it does not take a similarly boring turn as the FBAA universe does, because I could not get myself to finish it after the 3rd book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Misogyny
savannahsshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Wowwowow! This book really grabbed me by the throat I absolutely loved it and cannot wait to read the next book! For me this is more like a 4.75āļø than a 5 but damn it was close and I cannot wait to read more of this series and this author
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
Minor: Gore and Slavery
literarymary95's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I don't know why but I was not a fan of this book. I'm still planning to read the sequel but hopefully that one's better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture
Minor: Self harm, Slavery, and Death of parent
littletiramisu's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
anusername0521's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Blood, and Death of parent
natashaleighton_'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Vampires are back with a bang in this breathtakingly pacy and deliciously addictive fantasy from Carissa Broadbent. Blending heart-stopping action and slow burn romance with a plot twisty, Hunger Games style premise that had me utterly HOOKED!
The world-building was (to paraphrase Mary Poppins) practically perfect: vividly descriptive without slowing down the plot with unnecessary exposition, but also not too fast that the story (or our charactersā progression) feels rushed eitherā an impressive feat that even the most well established authors often struggle with.
But not Broadbent, who navigates her way through intricately woven character arcs and shocking plot twists like a literary Machiavelli; pulling strings and stealing hearts with her evocative prose.
Iām also happen to be a sucker for well written characters so loved the attention to detail (and three dimensionality) we see in protagonists Oraya and Raihn as they navigate the complex and brutal vampire hierarchy, itās never ending power struggles and life-threatening court intrigues.
As a human raised by a Vampire King (after the death and destruction of her entire village), Oraya has learned to survive in a world that only sees her as prey. So exploring her compelling & resilient journey, alongside the scorchingly intense attraction building between her and rival contestant Raihn was marvellous!
The enemies turned reluctant allies were both in depth and engaging characters who, surprisingly, have waay more in common than I first thought. But I also loved some of the supporting cast too, particularly Mische, whose perky, sunshine-y demeanour had me rooting for them every step of the way too!
I donāt want to spoil anything (particularly Raihnās heartfelt disclosure of his past) so all I will say is that I enjoyed getting to explore both of their poignant backstories, flaws and conflicted inner feelings - as they attempt to fight their way to victory.
Overall, an enthrallingly intense, vampire centric Romantasy that fans of Hunger Games, True Blood or Buffy The Vampire Slayer should definitely consider checking out.
And also, a huge thank you to Pan MacMillan and Bookbreak for the stunning PB copy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture
Minor: Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, and Death of parent
shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Slavery, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Child death, Confinement, Self harm, and Grief
username_niika's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and War