Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
A breathtaking blend of fantasy, passion, and finally… a wedding!
Rivaled Crown gave me everything I didn’t know I was craving in a fantasy romance—and then some. The worldbuilding is rich, the characters have depth and chemistry, but what completely stole my heart was the wedding scene. So many fantasy books build to love without ever giving us the moment, but this? This was sheer magic on the page.
It was emotional, vivid, and honestly one of the most beautifully written wedding scenes I’ve ever read. It wasn’t just a plot point—it was a reward, a celebration, a deeply felt pause in the chaos of the story. It made all the tension and battles feel worth it.
I laughed, I swooned, I underlined too many lines to count. If you’re a romantic at heart who still wants your fantasy fierce and your characters beautifully flawed, this book delivers it all—and then ties it with a vow.
The ending? Literary perfection. Bravo! Wonderful work, Holly.
The ending? Literary perfection. Bravo! Wonderful work, Holly.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I finished this book/series because apparently I hate myself and I couldn't help but be a completionist.
Don't read this. Really, don't do it. The first book was fine and then the second two were just not it.
Don't read this. Really, don't do it. The first book was fine and then the second two were just not it.
** CAUTION: These are my reading notes and, therefore, contain approximately one million spoilers**
Overall # of Stars: 2/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️
— 1/2 way through and so disappointed so far 😣
— I really dislike Verena. Not as much as Galantia from the Court of Ravens series, but she’s still kinda the worst
— if I didn’t have OCD I would 100% DNF this. I can’t remember that last time I felt that way about a book
— so glad I’m done w this lol
The short preview of her new series at the end of the book was better than this one 😂
🥰 Nickname: love
Source: Kindle Unlimited.
✅ fated mates
✅ touch her and die
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Verena being held by her father, tortured for info on the rebellion?
Omg MICAH somehow sneaks into her cell!? What!
Dacre locked up on the ship, been at sea for less than a day
He’s like I gotta get outta here, strangles the guard unconscious to get the keys to open his cell
He’s knocking guards out left and right and then JUMPS OVER the side of the ship into the row boat below
Sees land!!
Somehow it’s Kai and Wren who happen to be on the beach when he gets back?? That’s awfully convenient. Is this a we-need-to-suspend-reality kind of moment?
*just noting here that I’m already annoyed at how easy that escape from the ship was, lol. And how his best friend and sister just happen to be the two people on the beach at the same moment he makes it to shore? But okay, I’ll play along*
Days have gone by and V is in v rough shape in her cell. She’s worried she hallucinated that moment w Micah?
Her father is still being an abusive dick
“Give me what I want, Verena.” His voice turned deathly quiet. “Reveal your magic. Tell me everything you know.”
Oh shit, Micah’s legit a guard at the palace now, doesn’t want to be though. Said he “didn’t have a choice.”
Basically he was caught by the guards while he was looking for Verena (who he only knew as Nyra)
he’s like I want to help, she doesn’t believe him
She’s like I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth
Wait what? Then he’s like no one is coming for you Verena but he says he’ll be back when he can
Dacre is back in the hidden city…
lol I’m so annoyed at how quickly and conveniently this all happened!
The rebels found them on the beach and took Dacre as prisoner
Another abusive POS father
Micah pretends to be Dacre wtf!? But why?
He’s like girl u r dying in this cell and waiting for someone who might never come or who might not make it on time
At least he gives her some water?? Finally doing something helpful
*I literally do not understand what’s happening with Micah in these scenes..?
*at this point, this book is getting 2 stars lol wtf none of this makes sense
Another guard steps inside her cell and she suddenly feels the power of her magic inside her!?
She’s a siphon?? She used the guard’s magic against him and killed him? But didn’t mean to? lol what is happening I can’t follow along
“A siphon is a rarity. A weapon.”
Oh shit, so her father is a siphon too?
She thinks back on all the times she felt her magic with Dacre — had she just been siphoning from him all that time?
I feared that I had become the one thing my father always wanted me to be.
I was a siphon. I was just like him.
I was powerless on my own.
Her father is delighted and I like okay take her out of the dungeons I want her by my side so I can keep an eye on her
Eiran
D gets taken to the council chamber, charged w treason
D is like listen guys I’m just trying to save my mate
Everyone is like wtf mates aren’t real
Guards start to drag him somewhere and he’s like wait bbs u all actually need me: I know the way into the palace & that’d info you’ve always wanted to know
But if I show you, you can’t harm V
Council votes in his favor
“You will take us to the tunnels, then the real war begins.”
Okay unfortunately, this is just… bad lol
Now all of a sudden we are being introduced to vessels?
“The vessel was never meant to be ruled by one kingdom… It was a covenant. A balance. Created by the five nations, each with their own vessel, each sharing magic freely across the lands… It was never meant to be hoarded. Never meant to be drained.”
lol what?
Sorry now I’m just laughing out loud:
Now we’re suddenly being told about a Kingdom called Veyrith?? And Nyra was the Princess??
They were the last two kingdoms standing and the marriage was supposed to bring peace
Damn then V’s father killed the King of Veyrith (N’s dad) and stole their vessel
lol this is SO ABSURD!! Introducing like 500 new concepts in the final book of the trilogy!!?? lol no
“You are not just the daughter of Marmoris, Verena. You are a daughter of Veyrith, the last daughter, and I bound your power to protect you. I bound your magic so it wouldn’t awaken until you found safety in someone who wanted you to have power, but did not wish you use it.”
Dacre.
Basically the vessel is slowly killing her father, and so now he’s trying to tether V to the vessel instead lol what an asshole
LOL OH AND NOW THERES A PROPHECY OF COURSE THERE IS 😂😂😂
She’s born of the tides?? Idk man
The choice was coming.
And I didn’t know if I was strong enough to make it.
LOL WHAT CHOICE WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING
** I’ve decided from here on out I’m just staying for the vibes 😎 **
Dacre (still chained), Wren, Kai, escorted by Liya & Torrin (council members) and some soldiers through the forest towards the palace to go get V!
He leads them to the two trees V had once told him about - there’s the tunnel!
Are they just going into this tunnel / the palace blindly!? What’s the plan!?
There’s an opening above a statue and they just blindly climb through it wtf
It leads to the streets just outside their grandmother’s house!? What??
Now they’re just going to her house?? What is happening I thought the tunnels led to the palace
Micah is here!!?
And they KNOW each other!? What!?
“The tides have risen.”
Micah’s like the king has my sister that’s why I’m a guard now
Oh and now suddenly MICAH has a whole complicated back story 😂😂
Arrested while looking for VerenA, saw his sister inside the palace
Oh shit his sister is a royal courtesan oh no
“The king made me a deal.
There it was.
“He promised to let my sister go if I helped him with Verena. Helped get her back, helped break her.”
Grandma explains how they had to hide V’s power so that her father couldn’t use her and about the vessels
“The vessel is killing him. He will bind Verena to it to save himself.”
“A tethered soul to shifting sands.” NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY SENSE AND I CANT STOP LAUGHING 😂
“Beware of the weight of fate.”
She’s mad at her dead mom like mom you didn’t prepare me for any of this why didn’t you take me away on a ship to escape your psycho husband wtf
Her father and Micah come to get her
Oh fuck they’re taking her deep below the castle to the vessel
Damn it’s trying to get her magic and like really fucking her up
The Sight lady is here
“The tideborn.” Her voice was soft, eerily detached.
A chill wrapped around my spine.
My mother’s voice echoed in my mind, the prophecy, her notes scrawled in the margins.
The tideborn’s gift, bound in chain,
To break the bond or bind again.
“Born of two kingdoms,” she murmured. “Bound to take, yet cursed to mourn.”
V is buckling under the overwhelming weight of the vessel’s power and then SHE FEELS HER MATING BOND
It didn’t want to consume me. It wanted to keep me whole. It wanted to keep me safe.
It was my bond. It was my mate.
D wearing a stolen guard’s uniform to get into the palace
Micah gave them all the info on the guards’ rotations, weak spots etc
But something if off — there are triple the amount of guards M said there’d be and now there’s a guard down in the tunnel?
Damn they have to kill the guy
The tunnels lead them into the dungeons
D can feel V nearby and then heard her scream
They run down below towards her
Damn the vessel is STILL fucking her up
It fed on my suffering and drained my magic until there was nothing left to take.
But somehow, it found more.
… It was alive, ancient, unrelenting, and it wanted me to bend to its will.
It’s destroying her from within, “eating at [her] very soul.” wtf
But she can feel Dacre nearby!
Then her father keeps striking her with his magic, it’s all so fucked up
Then Dacre EXPLODES into the room with his magic!
Gd it, her father is attacking Dacre now nooooo
Now Kai and Wren are in the mix, also Micah 😵💫
JFC her father rips into her magic and explodes it outward so it slams into Wren noooo
THIS MAN IS A LITERAL PSYCHOPATH WTF
He starts to go for D,K,W and she’s like fuck this
My magic crackled, violent and untamed, scorching through me in a frenzied, brutal surge, and I didn’t hold it back. Didn’t restrain it. Didn’t let him speak another fucking word.
I let it loose. A vicious, feral wave of power — mine.
She slams him back!
The bond is fighting with the vessel’s hold inside her
They’re outnumbered, exhausted, they’re all going to die
She locks onto Dacre, onto the bond
And I did the only thing I could do. I let go.
Not of myself. Not of him.
But of the vessel’s hold.
And in its place, my own magic answered.
It ripped free from my chest, an explosion that sent the entire chamber quaking. Stone cracked, torches winked out, and the guards were flung back, their swords clattering against the stone…
I looked back.
And the last thing I saw was my father.
Still on his knees, blood dripping from his nose, and his gaze locked on to mine.
His rage.
His hatred.
But beneath it —
A flicker of something else.
Fear.
WE GOTTA HAUL ASS OUTTA HERE PEOPLE LETS GO
FUCK more guards I’m so stressed
All dead now
Running again
MADE IT OUT OF THE TUNNELS
Splitting up:
Back to the hidden city
Micah going to warn the rebels in the city, then bring back D’s grandmother to the hidden city as well
Damn he tried to heal her w magic and she accidentally SIPHONS FROM him in front of everyone in the hidden city
They’re all PISSED and scared of her, accusing her of being just like her father
She shows them all her beaten and bruised body and she’s like yeah that’s what he did to me
BUT ALSO I NEED SOME SPICE SOON PLZ
🫑 sweet
Ilus!!
Is this the first time they say it to e/o??
I can’t remember
D is back in front of the council trying to convince them that V is not their enemy and his father is being a total dick again. And then…
“You fear her power, but I do not.”
The council turned, shocked gasps ringing out around us as my grandmother stepped through the chamber doors with Micah at her back.
Yessss an icon
W&V reconnect, W is way too good for her but whatever
V literally IMMEDIATELY ditches Wren for Dacre right after this 😂😂
Omg take a fucking shot every time the author writes how her “fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt.
And/or “she swallowed hard.”
🌶️🌶️
Oh they getting married now?? Okay
“I want to choose this. Choose you.” …
“Yes.”
A shudder ran through me, my grip tightening around her. “Say it again.”
“Yes,” she repeated, her voice steadier this time. I’ll marry you.”
W& K as witnesses, all start walking to the ruins
Then grandmother is suddenly there like hey I kno wut r u up to bbs
She’s like ill guide you through the binding, I did it with my mate, shoes her gold mark on the inside of her wrist
“You are the heir to both Marmoris and Veyrith. This is more than just a vow… This is a soul-binding, the kind that had not been done in generations.”
Damn.
They’re in the temple and gma is like both your mothers were here together once — praying for the war to stop
“This temple was not just sacred. It was part of the prophecy, and it had been waiting for us.”
lol wut
“The vows you speak here will not only bind your fates… They will bind your magic. Your souls. Once spoken, they cannot be undone.”
Some crazy magic binds them together. Blood, vows, golden mate marks on their wrists. Married!
🌶️🌶️🌶️ intense
Sooo drawn out and not in a good way 😩
Their dumb hands are ALWAYS trembling
Training w Kai
She has a whole page saying like oh my magic is so much more settled now since the soul-bond etc
And then the next moment Kai starts to train with her and her magic lashes out and punches him in the face?? lol??
She tries again, feels it going out of control and then feels her bond and it helps her control her magic this time
Then grandma is there like okay you controlled it 1x but now you gotta learn to wield it
Then send her own silver magic towards V
She swallows hard AGAIN 🙄😒
She pulls on the magic from her bond and that makes her magic even stronger!
Oh look she tried literally 1x and now she’s a pro lol
Omg grandma y r u so mean all of a sudden
“Your mother… gave up everything for you… She gave you this.” She nodded toward my wrist, toward the mark still glowing. “She gave you him… She gave you the choice to decide what you would become.
lol wut
“A magic that was not solely mine, but somehow mine completely.” lol wuttt
Well they just keep sending magic back and forth At each other until she must do something right bc all of a sudden grandma is like ok I will fight for you like I once fought for your mother.
“You are the ruler that will unite us all.”
I mean, okay?
Micah is like 1) I’m sorry. And 2) he had been tasked with watching over V when she was on the streets by Elis (D’s grandma) and V’s mother?
V always thought they’d just randomly found e/o on the streets, yikes
* Also WHY DOES THIS AUTHOR KEEP SAYING “BOY” AND “GIRL!?”
They aren’t children?
Then she barges in on a meeting Davian is having where he basically tells the others that he will have her killed
D and Davian get into it
D is like hey assholes your future queen is leaving: Kneel
They all do except for Davian obvs
Dacre calls a meeting for the whole rebellion
V has more trembling fingers 🙄
The King is basically burning the city to the ground looking for V
WAIT WTF EIRAN STEPS FORWARD AND TELLS EVERYONE THAT IT WASNT THE KING WHO KILLED D& W’s MOTHER THE NIGHT OF THE PALACE RAID — IT WAS E’S OWN FATHER (REED) WHO STABBED HER WTF
Damn ok this is a pretty good plot twist for all the shit I’ve been talking about this book so far 😂
— the night of the palace raid, D’s mother separated from the group to find V and help her escape the palace through the tunnels
— Reed saw her and tried to grab V to use against her father but D’s mother fought back trying to protect V
— so then Reed straight up killed her omg
— everyone is losing their minds
Dacre’s mother had saved me.
And she had died for it.
Davian is obvs DEVASTATED by this betrayal
He kneels before V and says he will fight beside her until the king is dead
Well that took a sudden turn okay
Then V also kneels in front of Davian:
“I will fight beside you… Until the king is dead.”
The tides had turned.
And I knew when tomorrow dawned, we would march.
Tomorrow, my father would fall.
🌶️🌶️
They have their whole plan ready to go and then Davian is like shit the king collapsed the tunnels we can’t get in that way shit
So now they’re just charging straight up to the palace!? Well that’s terrifying how are they all not going to die?
V is supposed to save her magic for the fight in the palace but she becomes furious and unleashes her power into the lines of guards in front of the palace gates
The rebels aren’t afraid of her anymore?
“The heir has returned. The queen has come.”
Inside the palace now:
— D’s grandma is like fuck the entrance to the vessel is blocked
— the vessel starts “calling” V
This was different. This wasn’t just the vessel lying deep beneath the palace.
This was the piece of it that lived inside me now.
She walks into the throne room and her father is just… chilling there? Lol what?
The Sight lady is here again. She’s the one who alerted the king that the rebels would try to use the tunnels to enter the palace
Oh shit Micah’s sister is here 😩
“The tideborn has come. The vessel of Veyrith rises.”
Her father is beyond furious “he was trying to reclaim control, trying to silence the power that had awakened inside me.
But he couldn’t.”
Her father panics, yells at the Sight to do something
She’s like “I warned you… You tried to claim what was never meant to be yours.”
So then he starts attacking Wren!?
Eiran shoves W out of the way and dies taking the hit from the king instead of W
King uses magic to drag V towards him
“… but another force rose inside me, something equal in power, something opposite.
Veyrith.
Its presence slammed into me, its power pushing against the vessel like a crashing tide. It did not bind. It did not chain. It called, and I answered…
and suddenly, I was not just inside the throne room.
I was inside the vessels.
Marmoris and Veyrith.
The two of them clashed inside me; one built on power hoarded, the other built on power shared.
One built on taking, the other on giving.
The vessel of Veyrith had awakened, and it had chosen me.
The last daughter of Veyrith. My mother’s blood sang in my veins.
Damn now she’s wielding both vessels and her father is scared af
She takes a dagger and just straight up plunges into into his chest omg
Ded
Michah and sister, Maliah, reunite finally
V is like go back to Veyrith and watch over it as it rebuilds
IS WREN ABT TO DIE?
Oh nvm, she’s okay
HER AND KAI FINALLY YESSSS
Just to be clear: I love Kai and Wren WAY MORE than I like Dacre & Verena 😂
I lifted my chin, and I let them crown me.👑
Epilogue: Dacre POV
She was breathtaking.
And she was mine.
I’m so glad I’m done w this book lol
Overall # of Stars: 2/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️
— 1/2 way through and so disappointed so far 😣
— I really dislike Verena. Not as much as Galantia from the Court of Ravens series, but she’s still kinda the worst
— if I didn’t have OCD I would 100% DNF this. I can’t remember that last time I felt that way about a book
— so glad I’m done w this lol
The short preview of her new series at the end of the book was better than this one 😂
🥰 Nickname: love
Source: Kindle Unlimited.
✅ fated mates
✅ touch her and die
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Verena being held by her father, tortured for info on the rebellion?
Omg MICAH somehow sneaks into her cell!? What!
Dacre locked up on the ship, been at sea for less than a day
He’s like I gotta get outta here, strangles the guard unconscious to get the keys to open his cell
He’s knocking guards out left and right and then JUMPS OVER the side of the ship into the row boat below
Sees land!!
Somehow it’s Kai and Wren who happen to be on the beach when he gets back?? That’s awfully convenient. Is this a we-need-to-suspend-reality kind of moment?
*just noting here that I’m already annoyed at how easy that escape from the ship was, lol. And how his best friend and sister just happen to be the two people on the beach at the same moment he makes it to shore? But okay, I’ll play along*
Days have gone by and V is in v rough shape in her cell. She’s worried she hallucinated that moment w Micah?
Her father is still being an abusive dick
“Give me what I want, Verena.” His voice turned deathly quiet. “Reveal your magic. Tell me everything you know.”
Oh shit, Micah’s legit a guard at the palace now, doesn’t want to be though. Said he “didn’t have a choice.”
Basically he was caught by the guards while he was looking for Verena (who he only knew as Nyra)
he’s like I want to help, she doesn’t believe him
She’s like I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth
Wait what? Then he’s like no one is coming for you Verena but he says he’ll be back when he can
Dacre is back in the hidden city…
lol I’m so annoyed at how quickly and conveniently this all happened!
The rebels found them on the beach and took Dacre as prisoner
Another abusive POS father
Micah pretends to be Dacre wtf!? But why?
He’s like girl u r dying in this cell and waiting for someone who might never come or who might not make it on time
At least he gives her some water?? Finally doing something helpful
*I literally do not understand what’s happening with Micah in these scenes..?
*at this point, this book is getting 2 stars lol wtf none of this makes sense
Another guard steps inside her cell and she suddenly feels the power of her magic inside her!?
She’s a siphon?? She used the guard’s magic against him and killed him? But didn’t mean to? lol what is happening I can’t follow along
“A siphon is a rarity. A weapon.”
Oh shit, so her father is a siphon too?
She thinks back on all the times she felt her magic with Dacre — had she just been siphoning from him all that time?
I feared that I had become the one thing my father always wanted me to be.
I was a siphon. I was just like him.
I was powerless on my own.
Her father is delighted and I like okay take her out of the dungeons I want her by my side so I can keep an eye on her
Eiran
D gets taken to the council chamber, charged w treason
D is like listen guys I’m just trying to save my mate
Everyone is like wtf mates aren’t real
Guards start to drag him somewhere and he’s like wait bbs u all actually need me: I know the way into the palace & that’d info you’ve always wanted to know
But if I show you, you can’t harm V
Council votes in his favor
“You will take us to the tunnels, then the real war begins.”
Okay unfortunately, this is just… bad lol
Now all of a sudden we are being introduced to vessels?
“The vessel was never meant to be ruled by one kingdom… It was a covenant. A balance. Created by the five nations, each with their own vessel, each sharing magic freely across the lands… It was never meant to be hoarded. Never meant to be drained.”
lol what?
Sorry now I’m just laughing out loud:
Now we’re suddenly being told about a Kingdom called Veyrith?? And Nyra was the Princess??
They were the last two kingdoms standing and the marriage was supposed to bring peace
Damn then V’s father killed the King of Veyrith (N’s dad) and stole their vessel
lol this is SO ABSURD!! Introducing like 500 new concepts in the final book of the trilogy!!?? lol no
“You are not just the daughter of Marmoris, Verena. You are a daughter of Veyrith, the last daughter, and I bound your power to protect you. I bound your magic so it wouldn’t awaken until you found safety in someone who wanted you to have power, but did not wish you use it.”
Dacre.
Basically the vessel is slowly killing her father, and so now he’s trying to tether V to the vessel instead lol what an asshole
LOL OH AND NOW THERES A PROPHECY OF COURSE THERE IS 😂😂😂
She’s born of the tides?? Idk man
The choice was coming.
And I didn’t know if I was strong enough to make it.
LOL WHAT CHOICE WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING
** I’ve decided from here on out I’m just staying for the vibes 😎 **
Dacre (still chained), Wren, Kai, escorted by Liya & Torrin (council members) and some soldiers through the forest towards the palace to go get V!
He leads them to the two trees V had once told him about - there’s the tunnel!
Are they just going into this tunnel / the palace blindly!? What’s the plan!?
There’s an opening above a statue and they just blindly climb through it wtf
It leads to the streets just outside their grandmother’s house!? What??
Now they’re just going to her house?? What is happening I thought the tunnels led to the palace
Micah is here!!?
And they KNOW each other!? What!?
“The tides have risen.”
Micah’s like the king has my sister that’s why I’m a guard now
Oh and now suddenly MICAH has a whole complicated back story 😂😂
Arrested while looking for VerenA, saw his sister inside the palace
Oh shit his sister is a royal courtesan oh no
“The king made me a deal.
There it was.
“He promised to let my sister go if I helped him with Verena. Helped get her back, helped break her.”
Grandma explains how they had to hide V’s power so that her father couldn’t use her and about the vessels
“The vessel is killing him. He will bind Verena to it to save himself.”
“A tethered soul to shifting sands.” NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY SENSE AND I CANT STOP LAUGHING 😂
“Beware of the weight of fate.”
She’s mad at her dead mom like mom you didn’t prepare me for any of this why didn’t you take me away on a ship to escape your psycho husband wtf
Her father and Micah come to get her
Oh fuck they’re taking her deep below the castle to the vessel
Damn it’s trying to get her magic and like really fucking her up
The Sight lady is here
“The tideborn.” Her voice was soft, eerily detached.
A chill wrapped around my spine.
My mother’s voice echoed in my mind, the prophecy, her notes scrawled in the margins.
The tideborn’s gift, bound in chain,
To break the bond or bind again.
“Born of two kingdoms,” she murmured. “Bound to take, yet cursed to mourn.”
V is buckling under the overwhelming weight of the vessel’s power and then SHE FEELS HER MATING BOND
It didn’t want to consume me. It wanted to keep me whole. It wanted to keep me safe.
It was my bond. It was my mate.
D wearing a stolen guard’s uniform to get into the palace
Micah gave them all the info on the guards’ rotations, weak spots etc
But something if off — there are triple the amount of guards M said there’d be and now there’s a guard down in the tunnel?
Damn they have to kill the guy
The tunnels lead them into the dungeons
D can feel V nearby and then heard her scream
They run down below towards her
Damn the vessel is STILL fucking her up
It fed on my suffering and drained my magic until there was nothing left to take.
But somehow, it found more.
… It was alive, ancient, unrelenting, and it wanted me to bend to its will.
It’s destroying her from within, “eating at [her] very soul.” wtf
But she can feel Dacre nearby!
Then her father keeps striking her with his magic, it’s all so fucked up
Then Dacre EXPLODES into the room with his magic!
Gd it, her father is attacking Dacre now nooooo
Now Kai and Wren are in the mix, also Micah 😵💫
JFC her father rips into her magic and explodes it outward so it slams into Wren noooo
THIS MAN IS A LITERAL PSYCHOPATH WTF
He starts to go for D,K,W and she’s like fuck this
My magic crackled, violent and untamed, scorching through me in a frenzied, brutal surge, and I didn’t hold it back. Didn’t restrain it. Didn’t let him speak another fucking word.
I let it loose. A vicious, feral wave of power — mine.
She slams him back!
The bond is fighting with the vessel’s hold inside her
They’re outnumbered, exhausted, they’re all going to die
She locks onto Dacre, onto the bond
And I did the only thing I could do. I let go.
Not of myself. Not of him.
But of the vessel’s hold.
And in its place, my own magic answered.
It ripped free from my chest, an explosion that sent the entire chamber quaking. Stone cracked, torches winked out, and the guards were flung back, their swords clattering against the stone…
I looked back.
And the last thing I saw was my father.
Still on his knees, blood dripping from his nose, and his gaze locked on to mine.
His rage.
His hatred.
But beneath it —
A flicker of something else.
Fear.
WE GOTTA HAUL ASS OUTTA HERE PEOPLE LETS GO
FUCK more guards I’m so stressed
All dead now
Running again
MADE IT OUT OF THE TUNNELS
Splitting up:
Back to the hidden city
Micah going to warn the rebels in the city, then bring back D’s grandmother to the hidden city as well
Damn he tried to heal her w magic and she accidentally SIPHONS FROM him in front of everyone in the hidden city
They’re all PISSED and scared of her, accusing her of being just like her father
She shows them all her beaten and bruised body and she’s like yeah that’s what he did to me
BUT ALSO I NEED SOME SPICE SOON PLZ
🫑 sweet
Ilus!!
Is this the first time they say it to e/o??
I can’t remember
D is back in front of the council trying to convince them that V is not their enemy and his father is being a total dick again. And then…
“You fear her power, but I do not.”
The council turned, shocked gasps ringing out around us as my grandmother stepped through the chamber doors with Micah at her back.
Yessss an icon
W&V reconnect, W is way too good for her but whatever
V literally IMMEDIATELY ditches Wren for Dacre right after this 😂😂
Omg take a fucking shot every time the author writes how her “fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt.
And/or “she swallowed hard.”
🌶️🌶️
Oh they getting married now?? Okay
“I want to choose this. Choose you.” …
“Yes.”
A shudder ran through me, my grip tightening around her. “Say it again.”
“Yes,” she repeated, her voice steadier this time. I’ll marry you.”
W& K as witnesses, all start walking to the ruins
Then grandmother is suddenly there like hey I kno wut r u up to bbs
She’s like ill guide you through the binding, I did it with my mate, shoes her gold mark on the inside of her wrist
“You are the heir to both Marmoris and Veyrith. This is more than just a vow… This is a soul-binding, the kind that had not been done in generations.”
Damn.
They’re in the temple and gma is like both your mothers were here together once — praying for the war to stop
“This temple was not just sacred. It was part of the prophecy, and it had been waiting for us.”
lol wut
“The vows you speak here will not only bind your fates… They will bind your magic. Your souls. Once spoken, they cannot be undone.”
Some crazy magic binds them together. Blood, vows, golden mate marks on their wrists. Married!
🌶️🌶️🌶️ intense
Sooo drawn out and not in a good way 😩
Their dumb hands are ALWAYS trembling
Training w Kai
She has a whole page saying like oh my magic is so much more settled now since the soul-bond etc
And then the next moment Kai starts to train with her and her magic lashes out and punches him in the face?? lol??
She tries again, feels it going out of control and then feels her bond and it helps her control her magic this time
Then grandma is there like okay you controlled it 1x but now you gotta learn to wield it
Then send her own silver magic towards V
She swallows hard AGAIN 🙄😒
She pulls on the magic from her bond and that makes her magic even stronger!
Oh look she tried literally 1x and now she’s a pro lol
Omg grandma y r u so mean all of a sudden
“Your mother… gave up everything for you… She gave you this.” She nodded toward my wrist, toward the mark still glowing. “She gave you him… She gave you the choice to decide what you would become.
lol wut
“A magic that was not solely mine, but somehow mine completely.” lol wuttt
Well they just keep sending magic back and forth At each other until she must do something right bc all of a sudden grandma is like ok I will fight for you like I once fought for your mother.
“You are the ruler that will unite us all.”
I mean, okay?
Micah is like 1) I’m sorry. And 2) he had been tasked with watching over V when she was on the streets by Elis (D’s grandma) and V’s mother?
V always thought they’d just randomly found e/o on the streets, yikes
* Also WHY DOES THIS AUTHOR KEEP SAYING “BOY” AND “GIRL!?”
They aren’t children?
Then she barges in on a meeting Davian is having where he basically tells the others that he will have her killed
D and Davian get into it
D is like hey assholes your future queen is leaving: Kneel
They all do except for Davian obvs
Dacre calls a meeting for the whole rebellion
V has more trembling fingers 🙄
The King is basically burning the city to the ground looking for V
WAIT WTF EIRAN STEPS FORWARD AND TELLS EVERYONE THAT IT WASNT THE KING WHO KILLED D& W’s MOTHER THE NIGHT OF THE PALACE RAID — IT WAS E’S OWN FATHER (REED) WHO STABBED HER WTF
Damn ok this is a pretty good plot twist for all the shit I’ve been talking about this book so far 😂
— the night of the palace raid, D’s mother separated from the group to find V and help her escape the palace through the tunnels
— Reed saw her and tried to grab V to use against her father but D’s mother fought back trying to protect V
— so then Reed straight up killed her omg
— everyone is losing their minds
Dacre’s mother had saved me.
And she had died for it.
Davian is obvs DEVASTATED by this betrayal
He kneels before V and says he will fight beside her until the king is dead
Well that took a sudden turn okay
Then V also kneels in front of Davian:
“I will fight beside you… Until the king is dead.”
The tides had turned.
And I knew when tomorrow dawned, we would march.
Tomorrow, my father would fall.
🌶️🌶️
They have their whole plan ready to go and then Davian is like shit the king collapsed the tunnels we can’t get in that way shit
So now they’re just charging straight up to the palace!? Well that’s terrifying how are they all not going to die?
V is supposed to save her magic for the fight in the palace but she becomes furious and unleashes her power into the lines of guards in front of the palace gates
The rebels aren’t afraid of her anymore?
“The heir has returned. The queen has come.”
Inside the palace now:
— D’s grandma is like fuck the entrance to the vessel is blocked
— the vessel starts “calling” V
This was different. This wasn’t just the vessel lying deep beneath the palace.
This was the piece of it that lived inside me now.
She walks into the throne room and her father is just… chilling there? Lol what?
The Sight lady is here again. She’s the one who alerted the king that the rebels would try to use the tunnels to enter the palace
Oh shit Micah’s sister is here 😩
“The tideborn has come. The vessel of Veyrith rises.”
Her father is beyond furious “he was trying to reclaim control, trying to silence the power that had awakened inside me.
But he couldn’t.”
Her father panics, yells at the Sight to do something
She’s like “I warned you… You tried to claim what was never meant to be yours.”
So then he starts attacking Wren!?
Eiran shoves W out of the way and dies taking the hit from the king instead of W
King uses magic to drag V towards him
“… but another force rose inside me, something equal in power, something opposite.
Veyrith.
Its presence slammed into me, its power pushing against the vessel like a crashing tide. It did not bind. It did not chain. It called, and I answered…
and suddenly, I was not just inside the throne room.
I was inside the vessels.
Marmoris and Veyrith.
The two of them clashed inside me; one built on power hoarded, the other built on power shared.
One built on taking, the other on giving.
The vessel of Veyrith had awakened, and it had chosen me.
The last daughter of Veyrith. My mother’s blood sang in my veins.
Damn now she’s wielding both vessels and her father is scared af
She takes a dagger and just straight up plunges into into his chest omg
Ded
Michah and sister, Maliah, reunite finally
V is like go back to Veyrith and watch over it as it rebuilds
IS WREN ABT TO DIE?
Oh nvm, she’s okay
HER AND KAI FINALLY YESSSS
Just to be clear: I love Kai and Wren WAY MORE than I like Dacre & Verena 😂
I lifted my chin, and I let them crown me.👑
Epilogue: Dacre POV
She was breathtaking.
And she was mine.
I’m so glad I’m done w this book lol
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
quick little read
LOVED the series, it had bunch of twists and turns and I have loved watching the characters develop throughout it!
LOVED the series, it had bunch of twists and turns and I have loved watching the characters develop throughout it!
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated