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adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed the unique perspectives of the main character, especially weaving in her past experiences as a drive for her present choices. Unfortunately the love interest fell a little flat for me, as he had very little character development and very little personality. Serpent and the Wings of Night had a much more favorable romance dynamic with a much more dynamic love interest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, War
Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, War
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Stars ⭐️=3.5
Spice🌶=1.5
Plot/Tropes📚= Romantic Fantasy, Sent to Kill You, Take over a Kingdom
Pov🧍♀️🧍♂️=Single first person
Recommend👍👎=Yes
KU or Bought🆓💰=KU
TW⚠️💥= Violence, Death, Drug Addiction, War, Violence against children (not graphically depicted), Sexual Content
I enjoyed this book for what it was, it took us on a journey but I feel like it could have gone abit deeper. I got why both the main characters were doing what they were doing I just didn’t feel it as deeply I have in this authors other work.
I felt like some things were just repetitive and I never felt like there was much conflict anywhere even though we were trying to overthrow a whole kingdom. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the story and I wanted to see where it went but I don’t think I was fully invested. Maybe it’s because we didn’t get the MMCs perspective so I didn’t really understand his thoughts and feelings throughout, it was just a given and there was no conflict within him (because we didn’t get his POV) so I didn’t understand his feelings towards the FMC that much.
3.5 stars because I had a good time reading, the writing is good and the story is easy to follow, will be helpful if you’ve read the Crowns of Nyaxia series before this though because if not I imagine it would be confusing. Highly recommend those books though, they were my top reads of 2023.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Violence, War
Moderate: Child death
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lord this was good
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse
Minor: Slavery, Death of parent
Drug abuse/addiction and slavery relate to side or unnamed characters //
For emotional/physical/child abuse wasn't really sure how to tag it, but the FMC is a part of a cult/religious group that is at times very emotionally manipulative and codependent in a way. Pain in a key part of their worship and there are short descriptions of the "trials" she went through to join, like blinding her with drops of some kind of chemical/solution, breaking fingers, and cutting off a finger. This started at the age of 10 for the FMC, But younger for many other minor named/unnamed side characters
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"Slaying the Vampire Conqueror" is a standalone and an installment of the Mortal Enemies to Monster Lovers series. I won't read the other books in the series, but this one caught my interest.
Sylina is part of the (cultish) Arachessen, who devote themselves to the Goddess of Fate, Acaeja, and 'sacrifice' their eyesight in order to see "the entire world". Despite not seeing, Sylina experiences the world through threads, which allows her to see more than the naked eye can. When a vampire conqueror, Atrius, arrives on Glaea's shores, Sylina is tasked with earning his trust, becoming his seer by infiltrating his army, and killing him.
Sylina is part of the (
All of us at the mercy of fate - the mercy of the unknown.
Right away, I was delighted to meet Sylina. She's a little lost and unsure about her place in the world, struggles internally, but is also absolutely badass - a trained assassin. Talk about duality! It was a complex journey for her: the past, her struggles and beliefs, the sisterhood and Sightmother, the war and her mission, and of course Atrius and her growing feelings.
A complicated mess that would cost everybody involved a lot, regardless of what Sylina decides to do.
Atrius was actually surprisingly refreshing; he wasn't your typical "villain", he had his reasons, and he was more... soft? Perhaps not the right word, but he was more human than some others.
You see too much, seer.
I see just enough, conqueror.
There was a lot of action, a few funny bits, a whole lot of tension, and too much heartbreak. Atrius and Sylina had a good connection; something was lacking, but I can't put my finger on it. I liked their "too many?" and "not for us" moments; they were such an entertaining and slaying fighter duo. Who needs an army when you've got these two?
I would've wanted to know more about their future: what happens to Nero, the Arachessen, how is everyone doing, and what about their work ahead? The ending could've been a little more, but it wasn't terrible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Death, Drug use, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Drug abuse
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
It was good, an easy read. 3.5 is not an insult to me, it means it was a good book. I’m happy to read a good book. I’m also comparing it against the Other Nyaxia books which get 5 stars, so it’s hard to compete! I’d recommend this one to my friends.
I’d say the spice is 🌶️🌶️
For my TW of animal death: At one point the FMC is asked by a supporting male character if they have cats where she is from. Skip a couple paragraphs down when you read that line so you skip that topic.
Every time the FMC needs to seer, she has to do a blood sacrifice so tao times it’s a small woodland creature and one time a lizard. You’ll get a little bit too much detail about the second one, the rabbit. It’s mentioned twice during the seering so I don’t know how to advise you skip it, since the content of the seering is rather important.
As this book includes vampires, there are multiple times that deer are used for their blood for the vampires.
I’d say the spice is 🌶️🌶️
For my TW of animal death: At one point the FMC is asked by a supporting male character if they have cats where she is from. Skip a couple paragraphs down when you read that line so you skip that topic.
Every time the FMC needs to seer, she has to do a blood sacrifice so tao times it’s a small woodland creature and one time a lizard. You’ll get a little bit too much detail about the second one, the rabbit. It’s mentioned twice during the seering so I don’t know how to advise you skip it, since the content of the seering is rather important.
As this book includes vampires, there are multiple times that deer are used for their blood for the vampires.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War
adventurous
dark
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
It got bumped to a 4 stars because of the second last chapter with Nero. It's a good novel but the romance is like one of its weaker points. I would say to read this book if you're looking for good fantasy book with worldbuilding and high stakes.
Also I wish there was some god-slaying in this
Also I wish there was some god-slaying in this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, War
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use
Minor: Child death, Death