It was a very difficult road, but ultimately, I feel really proud of where this story ended up. I hope you absolutely love it! I loved the side characters, especially Mische, Vale and Lilith. Mische is sweet, bubbly, strong, loyal, and outgoing. I wished we saw more of Lilith and Vale, they are so cute together and I love them so much! I'm in love with Raihn, he is charming, very handsome, protective, stubborn, sweet, and will do whatever it takes to protect Oraya. I loved that even though Raihn acted tough around other people, he was always so sweet and protective of Oraya. Raihn's character development was great, I enjoyed learning about his past through his perspective and watching him as he faced new challenges.

i highly highly recommend this entire duet, because the writing, the characters, the plot and VINCENT my love are what made this so different from other fantasies. 💗 It is RELEASE DAY! It's honestly a bit surreal. This was one of the hardest books I've ever written for a number of reasons, from health issues to deadline stress, but the biggest of which was that I so desperately wanted to make sure that it does Oraya's story justice for the (totally unexpected) huge number of readers who connected with her in book 1. THAT WAS SOO GOOD 🤩🤩 I was super excited for this after LOVING the first book- and when I tell you Carissa Broadbent DELIVERED- She may be becoming a favourite author bc I freaking ATE this book up 😩😩🤌🤌 some would call what he did brainwashing (me? never 🤭). and the best part of this book, unquestionably, undoubtably Vincent and how his complex bond with Oraya was explored. how his past was explored. i loved his influence on her so much. 💘 Secondly, I hated how Oraya gave everything she had worked so hard for up to save Raihn’s ass ONCE AGAIN. I already talked about how the author used the plot devices of the first book in this one but I have to mention this again. ORAYA BE SERIOUS RIGHT NOW, THIS ISN’T YOU. I can somehow justify your stupidity once but twice? This is too much.He needs to do all of us a favor and set himself on fire. Honestly. He is giving toxic boy vibes who keeps saying “No no no, you don’t get it! I’m actually a decent person!” To my gorgeous and lovely friends Lyra and Vio. I had so much fun reading this book with you 💗 we were crying, screaming and fang-girling in our group and It was chaotic but I enjoyed every minute of reading this book with you. Can't wait to do more BRs with you and I love both of you so much 🫶 I am writing this review a day after finishing it, and I don’t know if I am prepared to still close our chapter of Oraya’s and Raihn’s story. However, I am pleased to say that this story ended in a way that doesn’t leave me disappointed with their outcome, but only more eager for the world of Nyaxia’s Crown and what else is in store. Her connection with Vincent was simply emotional and heartbreaking, and aside from the romance, I think it was the thing I loved the most about this book. Lilith has been dying since the day she was born. But while she long ago came to terms with her own imminent death, the deaths of everyone she loves is an entirely different matter. As her town slowly withers in the clutches of a mysterious god-cursed illness, she takes matters into her own hands.

The writing and storytelling was great, I felt like I was experiencing every event and emotion that the character felt. The writing was descriptive and easy to follow. The ending was so good! I'm glad that Oraya and Raihn got the ending that they deserved. I can't wait to read the next book!

Customer reviews

I'm glad they both finally cleared all their misunderstandings and got their closure and Oraya finally knows that her father had loved her. That scene just broke my heart in million pieces and made me sob for hours because it was heartbreakingly beautiful. What began as a simple transaction gradually becomes something more, and Lilith is faced with a terrifying realization: It's dangerous to wander into the clutches of a vampire… and in a place already suffering a god's wrath, more dangerous still to fall in love with one.

Raihn. My downfall and my most valuable supporter. My weakness and my strength. My worst enemy and the greatest love I had ever known.' There he is." He is perfect and I'd gladly bow for my powerful king. He is flawed and imperfect yet he tried his best for his kingdom even though they treated him as an usurper king and betrayed him. He proved all of them wrong. His growth in this book was commendable. He was so conflicted about his role as a Nightborn king and felt the burden of it because nobody was ready to accept him as a king but he appreciated his strengths and even his weakness and fought for his kingdom. And I loved how he was so patient with Oraya and made her feel safe and loved with his thoughtful and sweet gestures. I loved this book, I didn't think it was quite as good as the first book though but only because I thought there was some redundant storylines, And the pacing could have been a little tighter in my opinion. While I didn't struggle to place a rating, I did struggle about whether or not to rate up or down and ultimately the answer was up and can be explained with one name, which I will get to later. But I also never highlighted a book as much as this one, so many beautiful quotes and the writing was stunning. The action scenes in these books are always heart pounding and expertly written. I also really loved the side characters and all the surprises we got from Oraya's past. AND THE LOVE STORY!!! GAH!!! 🫠 If I haven't already, this is where I’ll lose a lot of you... This is really about personal preference, but “There she is” does not do it for me. When this line was used in the first book, it neither delighted nor irritated me. But the amount of times it was repeated in this book took me out of moments between our main characters that I would’ve otherwise been very invested in. A couple of other repeated lines were a bit cringe, too, but I do think there are many beautiful quotes throughout this book. Girl, you probably don't know what love looks like because your father was a power-hungry, manipulative piece of shit (a decent one but we know the type). Killer of your father or not, this over here is what love looks like.

Reviews

If I had to actually point out the main complain I have with this - which is also the reason why I ended up giving this 4 and a half start (albeit rounded up to five), I'd go with the truth and tell you that I found the last conflict a little too rushed, which ended up feeling anticlimatic. I'd die to know her personally and have her write little daily snippets just for me, because she's just that good. I have the softest spot for quotable authors, and she's a total champ in this department. the way he knew what he did was unforgivable so he was willing to let oraya go because he thought she deserved better 🥲 the way this book has a clutch on my heart it's not even funny 😭 devastated. Carissa Broadbent never lets me down. 🥺 Raihn was right in front of me, so close the Nightfire surely had to burn. If it hurt, he didn’t show it." (a lot of shit you did hurt him and he didn't show it, for your information.)

I craved honesty the way a flower craved sunlight. I even craved the pain of it, driven deep into my heart.' The financials of indie publishing are also very different than trad, and they've been very kind to me. Because I take home all of my royalties (after the retailer cut OFC!), I make a comfortable full-time living from my books, and I feel like it would have been a lot harder to do that as a mid-list author if I was trad. With no trials to go through, the plot focuses a lot on the action and political side of the story, but it also gives us Oraya and Riahn's fans the thing we were left craving since the infamous end of The Serpent and the Wings of Night, which is, well...more Oraya and Riahn. I cannot describe the depth of that emotion, not the intensity of the terror that comes with it, bound together so inextricably. I came here to excise my greatest weaknesses, and instead, I now offer my heart to it. I hate you because I let you hurt me. I hate you because I grieved you. I hate you because I don’t.Maybe the king always knew that his greatest love would be his ruination. Maybe he knew it the moment he met her. This book captured a piece of my heart, made it beat, made it bleed. I laughed and cried along with it, fell in and out of love all over again and I loved every second of that feeling. I thought nothing could rival how good the first book was but this book came as a pleasant surprise. I can only imagine what delights the upcoming ones will bring! His shitty interludes made me wanna take a lovely lovely bath with my toaster. We already walked through his story in the first book, those chapters in this book were unnecessary not to mention annoying. OKAY WE GET IT, YOU RE SAD AND POETIC AND YOU CRY ALL THE TIME. WOO-HOO POOR RAIHN. It was also so weird that he kept thinking about his ex all the damn time. Like, are you sure you are in love with Oraya?