Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent

9 reviews

lauracatereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

Oh Raihn Ashraj 🥰

I’m going to be completely honest, it wasn’t with great anticipation or enthusiasm that I picked up TAASCK. Don’t get me wrong, I loved TSATWON, but I wasn’t chomping at the bit for a sequel. Two things got me though: a) the cliffhanger & b) the magic/mythology system that Charissa has designed. I’ll say c) the characters, too, because how great are Mische & Raihn?!?

Oraya continued to annoy me a lot, although her grief was certainly appropriate in the first 1/5 of the book. I’d be mad as hell to find out I was half-vampire and my father lied to me all olong to protect his own grasp on power. Her squane with Raihn, however, was outright annoying. You either hate him because he killed your dad, or you don’t. And let’s be honest here, you don’t! So quit trying to be self-righteous when it comes to the hottest vampire king on the block.

That being said, I liked the way this one was wrapped up! The full circle back to Nyaxia and the Coriatis bond was great and I LOVED the addition of this new goddess, Acaeja. I also thoroughly enjoyed the background we got to see of Oraya’s mom and family, but did wish it could’ve been explored a little more. Perhaps not leaving the introduction of Oraya’s aunt Alya until the pivotal eleventh hour would’ve been nice. Just saying.

I’m excited for Mische’s story, and wish she hadn’t been criminally underused in this book. I felt like she had a much larger role in TSATWON? Maybe that was just my perspective though. Her story is tragic and I’d thoroughly enjoy more from her. While I can’t say I have any significant interest in reading further Nyaxia books from Vale or anyone else’s perspective, I’d pick up a Mische story! She gives me great Medusa vibes, but like if Medusa was a ray of the purest sunshine.

Honestly don’t have much else to say, other than OMG we got another goddess of the White Pantheon!

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rheagoveas's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? No

2.75

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rubisbooknook's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

It’s hard to explain all the feelings that this book made me feel because I felt so much! I completely lost myself in the world and the characters joy, fear, love, and pain all felt so real. And I had moments while reading where I absolutely SOBBED, which any reader will tell you is usually the sign of a great book.
I love both Raihn and Oraya and I’m so glad that this book showed their dual point of views because they were definitely both needed. They are one of my favorite fictional couples of all time now and this series has also definitely cemented itself in my list if all-time favorites!
I’m also really glad that I read Six Scorched Roses before starting this book because Vale and Lilith’s story was so relevant. If you’re thinking of moving onto this book after finishing book 1, stop and go back to Six Scorched Roses first, and then come back!
I’m so happy I read this book because I truly loved every moment of the experience, but I’m also sad it’s over cause I still need more. I’m looking forward to whenever the next duology in this series is finally released!

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princessofpages's review against another edition

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4.25

I'd spend a lifetime at the tip of your blade, and it would have been worth it.

AGHHHH!! This book was so hard to write a review for because in many ways it is the perfect example of a sequel not quite living up to the sky-high expectations of the first book. The Serpent and the Wings of Night had me absolutely ENTHRALLED, GAGGED, DISTRESSED, FOAMING AT THE MOUTH... all the things. Without giving any spoilers, the ending of the first book set up this incredible enemies-to-lovers storyline that I was fully prepared to go feral for.

Unfortunately, the sequel didn't really deliver for me in terms of pacing or plotting. The first 35% was very slow and it was difficult to get a sense of the characters' motives once we were removed from the Kejari setting. Though I absolutely LOVED getting Raihn's backstory, it wasn't clear at almost any point WHY he was doing... basically anything he was doing. The entire Godblood storyline felt tired and patently uninteresting. Overall, the vibe of the entire first half was just *mild disappointment*.

All of these things had me prepped and ready to hit that 3-star review. EXCEPT.

EXCEPT. There were a few things this book did really well and I'm such a massive sucker for them that they made up for the plotting flaws.

1. The Complicated Father
I love reading about complicated father figures, the more details and emotional messiness and nuance and pain the better. Yes, I obviously have daddy issues. No, I don't want to talk about it. Oraya's exploration of her relationship with Vincent, coming to terms with who he was to her, and the resolution at the end? Had me choking, sobbing, retching. I tabbed so many moments that those sections are just annotations at this point. I'd read the entire series just for the Oraya/Vincent saga.

2. The Healing Arc
I'm beginning to fear that my favorite themes are revealing too much about me personally, but the dual POV was (imo) an amazing choice, and getting to see both Raihn and Oraya's sexual trauma and the way they were able to heal from it together really had me emotional and just generally elevated the story.

Overall, I enjoyed this book so much even though it truly did NOT live up to the expectations of the first. As far as fantasy series wrap-ups go, it wasn't bad: I laughed, I kicked my feet, I cried (too much), and I experienced moderate anguish even though I wasn't once surprised. I call that a win. And cannot WAIT to devour the other novellas in this world!!

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