A review by banter_or_bust
Chaos & Flame by Tessa Gratton, Justina Ireland

3.5

Chaos & Flame

By Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland

Narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt and James Fouhey

3.5-4 ⭐️ range

I really like the overall concept of this story, book 1 of a duology. Each “house” (ie court, territory, kingdom, etc.) has a mythical creature mascot of which their founding legends are centered on. They also embody characteristics of those creatures. Example: house of dragon like to hoard things, are the group that starts problems and are extra temperamental. As a YA fantasy/romantasy, this story follows the expected YA romantasy recipe. I think this makes for a comforting easy read (Yes cozy too. However, it’s not cozy fantasy, and I don’t want to give the wrong impression). I’m glad I picked this one up. The audiobook was really good and I think it helped tell the story beautifully. Joniece Abbott-Pratt was a brilliant casting choice for Darling. - I hate that character name fyi. I just keep thinking “Wendy Darling” from Peter Pan. And while I’m mentioning it - Talon Goldhoard as the name for a prince from the House of Dragon? 😳 These immensely talented authors can do better than that. 0/5 ⭐️ for these names; it makes the book seem like it will be campy, or at least have that vibe, and it wasn’t at all. That said, I’ll be checking out book 2.