Review by rasha_reads - Mother of Death and Dawn

rasha_reads 's review for:

Mother of Death and Dawn by Carissa Broadbent

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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: Complicated

To say that I enjoyed this book (and series) would be putting it mildly. I couldn’t put it down to the point that I found myself reading through till four in the morning because I had to know what was going to happen. I was not disappointed.

The entire series from start to finish is a rollercoaster ride of a story that goes beyond the usual tropes and delivers a world where you feel everything felt by the characters. It is interesting because even thought the 1st book is exclusively from a single POV (the wonderful kick ass FMC Tisaanah), it grows as the series progresses to encompass Maxantarius (if you’re looking for a shadow daddy that will make you melt…) and Reshaye. This choice to have additional POVs introduced from book 2 instead of immediately gives you, the reader, a chance to absorb the world and its details, without getting immediately overwhelmed.

Beyond the development of the two main characters, CB also does a fantastic job of developing lesser characters and antagonists. This is, at its core, a political fantasy where the two sides are desperate to do the right thing, and fear and power can be a catastrophic combination. Of course, there are also out and out evil beings, but again that is what makes this tale so wonderfully complex and well plotted.

If I had to describe this series in relation to other series I have read, I would say “Throne of Glass” meets “The Plated Prisoner”.

As for the spice (I give it about 🌶️🌶️), in a book of this genre which explores the darker side of human nature, having characters who still connect despite the darkness and explore each other physically provides a ray of light and balance. I would go so far as to say that this is a great epic fantasy series that happens to include spice. It makes me wonder if it would have been given the label romantasy if it had been written by a man. I don’t recall George R.R. Martin’s ASOIAF being labelled in that way and it included everything under the sun… something to think about.

If you’re looking for a story that will grab hold and not let go, then this series is for you.

A five star, God tier read!

🤓📚

Content Warnings