Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War
Minor: Child death, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Alcohol
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Rape, Slavery
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail
The story is well paced, the action doesn’t drag out too long and the “slower” parts are still animated and interesting. I think the tournaments and trials are becoming a little overdone in fantasy books and it feels like reading different versions of the same book - especially when there is a more or less powerless human who is somehow stronger than anyone with powers or other creatures and manages to defeat the opposition. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the story and world building and I’m interested to see what happens with the rest of the series!
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape
Minor: Slavery, Torture
Very addictive, good plottwists and cliffhangers, interesting themes (humanity & power(lessness)), not my favorite romance, but still enjoyable. Very interesting parent-child dynamic. I don't know how to handle the ending though (in good and bad ways). Do look up the content warnings and please be aware that the way this book handles the topic of sexual assault might be disturbing to some due to (main) characters making explicit threats about it. Also don't pick this up if you don't want morally gray main characters.
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery
Minor: Torture, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Child death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Slavery, Torture
Minor: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship
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.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture
Minor: Self harm, Slavery, Death of parent
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Torture
Minor: Self harm, Slavery, Death of parent
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, Injury/Injury detail