Review--The Serpent & The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

 

The first book in the Wall Street Journal bestselling Crowns of Nyaxia series by Carissa Broadbent. Filled with heart-wrenching romance, dark magic, and bloodthirsty intrigue—perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

For humans and vampires, the rules of survival are the never trust, never yield, and always—always—guard your heart.

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.

I finally picked up Carissa Broadbent's The Serpent & The Wings of Night after seeing a bit of buzz over them and if you know me, you know I love my vampires! I was immediately blown away by this unique take on vampires set in a fantastical setting! This is a read no vampire-fantasy loving reader should skip over!

When Oraya was a child, war had come to her home and her family was slaughtered by the vampire conquerors, but Oraya was rescued by Vincent, a vampire king, who was impressed by her ferocity as a child and he in turn raised her after her family was gone. Right away, I was getting Underworld vibes from this one! It sent my mind spinning since at least one of these names was very close to one of those from the movie! I won't say anything about end results or how right/wrong I was about things, it was just fun seeing something a little bit familiar in a totally new story.

Oraya was protected by Vincent all her life, being a human in a vampire filled world. She longed to stay with Vincent but becoming a vampire is a lot harder in this world and not everyone survives the turning and death is more common than survival. So Oraya comes up with a plan to participate in the Kejari, a tournament that's basically a fight for survival amongst all the more fierce warriors throughout the kingdoms. There is only one survivor, only one winner and that person is blessed by the goddess Nyaxia with a wish. Oraya plans to win the tournament to wish herself into a vampire with none of the danger of the turning.

It's in the tournament that Oraya meets Raihn, another vampire in the tournament. He suggests a temporary alliance for their paths crossed a time or two. Raihn was impressed by her skills and Oraya was impressed by his, but she is reluctant to trust him for many reasons. But when the tournament requires a partnership at a certain level, so reluctantly under extreme circumstances, Oraya agrees to Raihn's partnership.

It's during this time as they train together, alongside one of Raihn's friends, Mische, that things begin to change a bit. Firstly, I loved Mische! She's Raihn's friend and just has this bubbly personality for a vampire that it surprises Oraya as well! We do eventually get a deeper insight to her and Raihn's friendship and I hope we get to see more of Mische in the future books because she is just a delight!

Naturally, as time goes on and the tournament turns more fierce, Raihn and Oraya's relationship begins to change. Feelings begin to develop and eventually a deeper connection is formed. I did like that it was a gradual process. It wasn't instant and I always love when it takes time for things to happen between the eventual lovers. 

The book was pretty well packed with action! I expected as much since there's a tournament that is deadly to all. I felt like there was never a dull moment. Even in between "matches," things were rife with tension as it was a kill or be killed kind of game for Oraya and you could basically take out your opponents even when there was no current game at hand, so there was always danger for Oraya being the only human. Danger lurked around every corner, which was more reason for her to take on Raihn's offer of a partnership, however temporary.

I will admit, there were some world-building mechanics that were a little hard to understand. I guess it was just an overload of names when it came to countries, houses, the names of the people...it was a lot and they were used so freely that when things are revealed as the story progressed, I was a bit confused as to who was who...kingdom/people wise. We do have a map that is a little helpful, but I guess it was the history between all these houses, it was hard to even know which side was good and which wasn't. Or if there really was no "good" side.

Despite that bit of confusion, I enjoyed this story immensely! It was a fresh take on vampires and I pretty much always love diving into a good vampire story! This one blew me away with the lore. I positively loved it!

The romance was also enjoyable as well! I guess you could call it an enemies to lovers since technically Oraya and Raihn were opponents who ended up needing each other by circumstances. I cannot wait to see what will happen with their story in the next book as things ended in a chaotic storm! So much was happening and while we did get some sort of pausing moment amid the chaos, the storm is only just getting started.

The Serpent & The Wings of Night was an extraordinary read ensure to delight fans of the vampire! It's mystical fantasy setting gives an added flare to the intensity of the story and world-building at large! This is sure to be a great, spine-bending of a series read once all the books release, but the journey to the final set of books will be worthwhile!

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars