Reading With Tyler

Name: The Serpent and the Wings of Night
Series: Crowns of Nyaxia #1
Author: Carissa Broadbent
Publisher: Self-Published
Format: Kindle (through KU)
Genres: New Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal
Noted Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Vampires, Games and Trials
Steam or Spice: Spice

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Review:

I was excited for The Serpent and the Wings of Night the moment I read Daughter of No Worlds! I actually purchased this book not realising it was the same author as Daughter of No Worlds – it wasn’t until I was looking for the rest of The War of Lost Hearts Trilogy that I even realised Carissa Broadbent was the creator of another series! I decided to continue reading through TWoLH rather than jumping ship to The Serpent and the Wings of Night because I was already hooked.

I did not expect to find a new top 5 author this year, certainly not one to potentially dethrone the top 3! And that’s when Miss Carissa Broadbent walked into my life (if you sang that to the tune of Say No to This from Hamilton, can we be friends?). I’m starting to be convinced that she can do no wrong. I loved The Serpent and the Wings of Night. Our FMC, Oraya was brilliant. A human living as the Vampire King’s daughter, in a very Vampire world? It was such a cool premise. A premise that haves you going into the book wondering why on earth is the Vampire King looking after a human? At least I did.

Oraya had a wonderfully conflicting relationship with her ‘father’, Vincent (again reminder: Vampire King) and as the reader I found that I constantly had questions for Vincent that Oraya wasn’t asking!! It was infuriating, but I loved it. You could understand why Oraya wasn’t questioning Vincent, or going against him. It was a highly dangerous situation for Oraya to be in and her ‘father’s protection (and her own badass skills) were necessary to survive.

And then when the Kejari begins… This competition is essentially for untold powers from the Goddess – should you win. But death is a very real possibility, and when we are told that Oraya (again reminder: Human) enters the Kejari you begin to understand very quickly just how deadly these trials are. And that’s what we’re told – Oraya is entering the Kejari to gain that power and be her ‘father’s equal. Oooh, it was a fun, wild ride…

Oraya is, as I said, badass. But she’s not our only badass. Mische and her friend Raihn are two of the other vampires that enter the Kejari (to be clear, I think there was like 40 entrants to the Kejari – so i’m singling out a couple). Mische was one of my favourite characters, even though we don’t see her all that much. Raihn, is our MMC, and I adored how morally grey he was. Even when he was helpful, there was always the undertone of ‘but I’m still going to kill you’ and it was glorious!

We follow them through all of the trials, through the politics and the war and as I said, it was a wild ride. Between Oraya’s relationship with Vincent, and her relationships with those who also entered the Kejari, it’s hard not to cheer for her to win. That being said, I did have a soft spot for Mische, and a lot of suspicions about a fair few of the other contestents!

I wasn’t buddy reading this, but I read it after a friend of mine had already finished it which meant she got my running commentary throughout (mostly through the second half because my god does it pick up pace and then not let up, ever!) which was a lot of fun also – I recommend doing running commentary’s with friends who have already read the book you’re reading! They’re hillarious.

I have been singing Carissa Broadbent’s praises since I read Daughter of No World in July, and I have no plans to stop – that is because this author deserves every praise sent her way. She captivates you, and then holds your emotions hostage and she takes you on the journey through her story. I’m so glad I found these books and if you decide to pick either this series up or The War of Lost Hearts, I am sure you won’t be disappointed either.

“So many mistakes in the end,” he choked out. “Never you.”