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boba_n_books'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: Murder, Cursing, Violence, Sexual content, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Rape, Genocide, Sexual assault, and Torture
Minor: Self harm, Death of parent, and Slavery
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: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, 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: Violence, Blood, Cursing, and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Torture
Minor: Self harm, Slavery, and Death of parent
littletiramisu's review against another edition
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: Genocide, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Gore, Murder, Blood, and Cursing
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: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Torture
Minor: Slavery, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Self harm
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: Death of parent, Sexual content, Gore, Body horror, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Torture, Ableism, Slavery, War, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Confinement, Grief, Self harm, and Child death
jonghyun4life's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Loved the characters in this book. It was also very well written with call backs from previous chapters. Everything tied in nicely. Ultimate betrayal and it was insanely done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Violence
Moderate: War and Genocide
Minor: Rape, Torture, and Slavery
_verena_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I loved this book, I simply couldn't put it down.
Oraya emotional journey was so raw and relatable, I'm so heartbroken for her!
I hated the ending tough! Wtf!
I mean, why the fuck did they get married? He lied to her, made her feel safe, just to abuse her confidence like that!
I really need a serious relentless + brutal revenge arc in the next book!
Plus: I need to know more about Vincent, whose story we learn almost nothing about. To me he was the most interesting character, I loved the mystery that surrounded him.
I request a prequel about Vincents life, pretty please š
Oraya emotional journey was so raw and relatable, I'm so heartbroken for her!
I hated the ending tough! Wtf!
I really need a serious relentless + brutal revenge arc in the next book!
Plus: I need to know more about Vincent, whose story we learn almost nothing about. To me he was the most interesting character, I loved the mystery that surrounded him.
I request a prequel about Vincents life, pretty please š
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Genocide, Violence, Body shaming, Colonisation, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Slavery, War, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Torture
dani_365's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Child abuse, Confinement, War, Murder, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Torture
leahp8's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
My first fantasy read and I was obsessed need to read book 2 immediately
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: War, Torture, Slavery, and Violence