Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Serpent and the Wings of Night

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

207 reviews

heyz0mbiez's review against another edition

3.5

Spoilers:

This was going to be a 5/5 read until the very end. No issue with the plot twists though I kindve expected them, but Oraya was set up to have so much rage and anger and at the end she just--- gives up? She just goes along with this forced marriage without even fighting back? "But she was in love with him!" Who gives a fuck? He literally killed her father right in front of her, betrayed her, and made a complete fool out of her after she gave up everything to save his life. Why is she not as enraged as i am? Overall, a pretty large let down to a story I otherwise enjoyed up until that point. ~~Might increase my rating to 4 after I stop being so angry about it~~

Outside of then plot, I really loved the writing style of the book. The prose hooked me with the first two paragraphs. It wasn't so purple that it was excessive, but definitely more elaborate and descriptive than I've come to expect from modern fantasy.

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time4tori2read's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent brought me back to fantasy after being on hiatus from the genre because of SJM. Broadbent's writing and character development lived up to the hype, and I enjoyed every minute of the book. I do wish some characters were given more page time, and from what I hear, Broadbent is writing stories just for those characters which I'm excited to dive into. The pacing, dialogue, and characters were all well-developed, and I found the challenges exciting. I enjoyed that the reader was not inundated with world-building prose and that it developed naturally to help me frame the characters in their world without distracting me from it. I hope the next book gives us a little more ambience and world building to fully understand it.

I would like it moving forward if there could be a content warning at the start of the book and also if the glossary of terms could be mentioned in a table of contents or beginning author's note so that readers would know to easily reference it. I LOVEEEEE that Broadbent did this, and I think that more fantasy authors should take a page out of her book as it helped reorient me and clarify any of my confusion (without me having to page through previous chapters).

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natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense 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

5.0

Vampires are back with a bang in this breathtakingly pacy and deliciously addictive fantasy from Carissa Broadbent. Blending heart-stopping action and slow burn romance with a plot twisty, Hunger Games style premise that had me utterly HOOKED!

The world-building was (to paraphrase Mary Poppins) practically perfect: vividly descriptive without slowing down the plot with unnecessary exposition, but also not too fast that the story (or our characters’ progression) feels rushed either— an impressive feat that even the most well established authors often struggle with.

But not Broadbent, who navigates her way through intricately woven character arcs and shocking plot twists like a literary Machiavelli; pulling strings and stealing hearts with her evocative prose.

I’m also happen to be a sucker for well written characters so loved the attention to detail (and three dimensionality) we see in protagonists Oraya and Raihn as they navigate the complex and brutal vampire hierarchy, it’s never ending power struggles and life-threatening court intrigues.

As a human raised by a Vampire King (after the death and destruction of her entire village), Oraya has learned to survive in a world that only sees her as prey. So exploring her compelling & resilient journey, alongside the scorchingly intense attraction building between her and rival contestant Raihn was marvellous!

The enemies turned reluctant allies were both in depth and engaging characters who, surprisingly, have waay more in common than I first thought. But I also loved some of the supporting cast too, particularly Mische, whose perky, sunshine-y demeanour had me rooting for them every step of the way too!

I don’t want to spoil anything (particularly Raihn’s heartfelt disclosure of his past) so all I will say is that I enjoyed getting to explore both of their poignant backstories, flaws and conflicted inner feelings - as they attempt to fight their way to victory.

Overall, an enthrallingly intense, vampire centric Romantasy that fans of Hunger Games, True Blood or Buffy The Vampire Slayer should definitely consider checking out.

And also, a huge thank you to Pan MacMillan and Bookbreak for the stunning PB copy.

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kayleames's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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mj_86's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.5

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_verena_'s review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I loved this book, I simply couldn't put it down.
Oraya emotional journey was so raw and relatable, I'm so heartbroken for her!

I hated the ending tough! Wtf!

I mean, why the fuck did they get married? He lied to her, made her feel safe, just to abuse her confidence like that!
I really need a serious relentless + brutal revenge arc in the next book!

Plus: I need to know more about Vincent, whose story we learn almost nothing about. To me he was the most interesting character, I loved the mystery that surrounded him.
I request a prequel about Vincents life, pretty please 🙏

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