Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent

3 reviews

erinkellyreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Continuing from the first book in this duology, I am again conflicted in my review. I did get more about the gods and Vincent/Oraya's past, which is what I was looking for, but... this dragged. I just never felt the chemistry between Raihn & Oraya and so when they were fighting over what Raihn did (which - valid, girl, I don't know if I could be in the same room with him after that in the beginning) I wasn't super rooting for them to get back together. I found myself skimming pages to get to the good parts. The ending was, in some ways, expected and, in others, unsatisfying. Now the question becomes - do I do what I did to myself with the Hades/Persephone series and push to read the rest in this world to see if it gets better or do I cut my losses on this series? Time will tell. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, War, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Slavery, and Bullying

Moderate: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Cursing, Infidelity, Child abuse, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Body shaming, Colonisation, Classism, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

bzliz's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

This was a great sequel though it was doing A Lot and probably could’ve been two books. The headway made by our main characters and their respective squads felt earned rather than extremely convenient. There’s also great spicy scenes (be warned of blood play because it’s vampires) and they don’t feel gratuitous.  

Some dialogue felt clunky and heavy handed with reveals that shocked no one (re: Mische in the wedding party scene). The refusal/inability of Oraya and Raihn to discuss feelings went on for too long in my opinion and it was no longer serving a purpose by the time confessions were made. The buildup to the final battle was well done but

the additional human army was pretty damn convenient and also apparently not a problem for vampires who have always had trouble holding themselves back from human blood.

Overall I’m glad I read this and I’m interested in reading more from this author in the future. Mind the content warnings!

Content warnings:
Blood, body horror, death, gore, injury, murder, violence, fire injury (on page):

Vampire battles that get pretty gruesome. If you cannot handle lots of serious injuries with characters on the brink of death, this isn’t the book for you. Blood is also shared in sexual encounters.

Grief (on page):

Oraya must grapple with her father’s death at Raihn’s hands and is also overtaken by his memory at points in time. She has complicated feelings about him because he was her father but he also shielded her from the truth about many topics for his own continued benefit.

Sexual content (on page):

Oraya and Raihn share a few intimate scenes ranging from sweet and loving to down and dirty. They are explicit but not vulgar.

Emotional abuse, domestic violence, physical abuse: (off & on page):

Raihn and probably everyone under former King Neculai’s rule suffered greatly. Much of the violence was implied through mentions of bruises and trauma. Raihn still suffers residual emotional trauma through exposure to Neculai’s cousin and the nobles looking down on him for the dehumanizing events they participated in at his expense.

Alcohol (on page):

Alcohol is specifically used as a tactic to get information out of Oraya’s cousin Evelaena about her father and his violent rise to power.

Child death (off page):

Evelaena relays the story of Vincent’s ascent to power by killing his family including the children which she survived by chance.

Death of parent (off page):

Vincent was killed in the previous book and Oraya spends most of the book dealing with the aftermath of that event.

Infidelity (off page):

Vampires don’t seem to adhere to bonds of fidelity but Raihn specifically had an affair with Queen Nessanyn as they were both victims of King Neculai’s violent tendencies. I mention this because of the emotional bond forged there and because it was significant in shaping Raihn’s life.

Rape, sexual assault (off page):

It is strongly implied Raihn was regularly sexually abused by Neculai and his court/nobles. Oraya’s first sexual encounter is mentioned again which began consensually and turned into rape (her explicit words say this). The experience is not rehashed in this book but is referenced a few times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, Body horror, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Rape, Alcohol, Child death, and Death of parent

soniajoy98's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual content, Slavery, Death, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Gore, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, War, Child abuse, Self harm, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Vomit