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dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Colonisation
Minor: Genocide
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Slavery
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Apparently book two isn’t available until winter 2026 and I’m probably going to forget about it and what happened in this entire book 🫠
It being dual POV between Julian, the MMC, and Malina, the FMC, was a nice change of pace. A lot of newer romantasy books seem to always be in a single POV and I’ve found myself getting sick of being in the FMC’s head by the end of it.
Blessedly, no pregnancy even with the amount of banging the MCs do towards the end (not constant, but protection and/or ~contraceptive teas~ aren’t mentioned)
🐉 dual first person pov
🐉 fated mates (human x dragon shifter)
🐉 Roman mythology-esque world
🐉 historical setting but old timey toothpaste is used 🙏🏻
🐉 war
🐉 slavery & strict caste system
✅ no third act break up
✅ no sexual acts with others on page
✅ he falls first
✅ she’s not a super special virgin who’s been subconsciously saving herself for her super special future mate (bc she’s human)
It being dual POV between Julian, the MMC, and Malina, the FMC, was a nice change of pace. A lot of newer romantasy books seem to always be in a single POV and I’ve found myself getting sick of being in the FMC’s head by the end of it.
Blessedly, no pregnancy even with the amount of banging the MCs do towards the end (not constant, but protection and/or ~contraceptive teas~ aren’t mentioned)
🐉 dual first person pov
🐉 fated mates (human x dragon shifter)
🐉 Roman mythology-esque world
🐉 historical setting but old timey toothpaste is used 🙏🏻
🐉 war
🐉 slavery & strict caste system
✅ no third act break up
✅ no sexual acts with others on page
✅ he falls first
✅ she’s not a super special virgin who’s been subconsciously saving herself for her super special future mate (bc she’s human)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual violence
Regarding sexual assault:
Not between MCs
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really enjoyed the premise of this story because the world building is so beautiful, as was the backstory of the coin, but the relationship between the two main characters was giving hardcore Stockholm Syndrome by the middle and was pretty disappointing. There wasn’t nearly enough non-sexual emotional development between them that would possibly validate her loving Julian back. Julian’s dad freed his mom from slavery so they could marry and it seemingly never even crossed Julian’s mind to simply free Malina. This was bizarre and would’ve solved the entire conflict with the protagonist Ciprian as well as balanced out their power dynamic to make their relationship more believable. It felt like the FMC sometimes forgot she had powers and was a supposed badass because there was too much focus on HIS power and HIS dragon. Also the spice was sooo cringey. Saw a review that said the dragon narration was giving Gollum and I unfortunately have to agree. At one point I literally rolled my eyes and skipped the scene. Ick. I’m pretty disappointed because the physical book itself is so stunning, but I’m not eager to read the next one whenever it comes out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Slavery, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, War
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, War
Minor: Child death, Suicide
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder
Minor: Incest
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book just …. Hurts. Definitely not similar to house of the dragon at all. Nor any other dragon themed book. I’d say it’s actually closest to Ice Planet Barbarians.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Sexual harassment
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, War
No non consensual sex on the page, only referenced
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
SPICE: 🌶🌶🌶, RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25, VIBES: ⚔️🔥 Forbidden love, fierce heroine, broody commander, political drama, magic on the edge
This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 — and I’ll admit, some of the reviews floating around online had me sweating a little. But when my library had a cooy ready, I decided to see for myself… and honestly? I’m glad I did!
Yes, on paper this sounds like: “Roman commander owns enslaved woman” — but that barely scratches the surface. Julian (our MMC) rescues Malina (our fierce FMC) from a brutal situation and makes her his slave only as a way to protect her and keep her powers hidden. Not once is he cruel or degrading — in fact, this man worships her. He adores her sharp tongue, her defiance, and the way she shakes up his worldview.
Meanwhile, Malina is everything: beautiful, powerful, unafraid to challenge the status quo, and determined to protect those she cares about. Girl’s got brains, backbone, and magic — and I was cheering her on every step of the way.
The world itself? Messy. We’ve got kings, commanders, politics, and some absolute villains who are more than happy to steal wives and wield power with zero conscience (shudder). Julian, thankfully, has both a conscience and the capacity for growth.
Final verdict? This book gave me spice, heart, political intrigue, and two leads I genuinely rooted for. Book two can’t get here fast enough!
TL;DR: Come for the forbidden romance, stay for the badass heroine and the Roman commander getting emotionally wrecked.
⚔️🔥❤️🔥✨👀💥💬👑
This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 — and I’ll admit, some of the reviews floating around online had me sweating a little. But when my library had a cooy ready, I decided to see for myself… and honestly? I’m glad I did!
Yes, on paper this sounds like: “Roman commander owns enslaved woman” — but that barely scratches the surface. Julian (our MMC) rescues Malina (our fierce FMC) from a brutal situation and makes her his slave only as a way to protect her and keep her powers hidden. Not once is he cruel or degrading — in fact, this man worships her. He adores her sharp tongue, her defiance, and the way she shakes up his worldview.
Meanwhile, Malina is everything: beautiful, powerful, unafraid to challenge the status quo, and determined to protect those she cares about. Girl’s got brains, backbone, and magic — and I was cheering her on every step of the way.
The world itself? Messy. We’ve got kings, commanders, politics, and some absolute villains who are more than happy to steal wives and wield power with zero conscience (shudder). Julian, thankfully, has both a conscience and the capacity for growth.
Final verdict? This book gave me spice, heart, political intrigue, and two leads I genuinely rooted for. Book two can’t get here fast enough!
TL;DR: Come for the forbidden romance, stay for the badass heroine and the Roman commander getting emotionally wrecked.
⚔️🔥❤️🔥✨👀💥💬👑
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, War