A review by farairytale
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

5.0

While this book starts off slow and can drag at times, I absolutely adored the worldbuilding and the character relationships. In particular, the relationship between Oraya and Vincent was so sharp and cutting, drawing blood even, yet also so poignant and tumultuously soft. Carissa managed to craft a stunning look at the realities of some parental relationships - maybe not all of our parents committed atrocities, but they each have their own mistakes and/or burdens that we as the next generation must bear and work towards undoing. I thought the romantic elements of this book were also extremely convincing and I saw myself in Oraya quite a bit as I am slow to trust due to some of my own experiences. The tension is what really did it for me, as the spice was hot, but not necessarily as intense as I like it. I definitely think that the second book and its spice will be off the walls based on the plot twist, which I did NOT SEE COMING. At all. And I have more than a bit of hubris in that I most of the time can see when a plot twist is coming or predict plot shifts and arcs. This left me on the edge of my seat waiting for the second book, which luckily was already out and I immediately snatched up and read greedily. I definitely recommend it!