#those Carissa Broadbent books

[separatist-apologist]

Not to be a hater but there are very few books that justify being 600-1000+ pages long.

[mcflymemes]

PROMPTS FROM THE SERPENT AND THE WINGS OF NIGHT *  assorted dialogue from the book by carissa broadbent, adjust as necessary

i would beg. for you, i would.

you have fucking destroyed me, [name]. do you know that?

death isn't frightening when weighed against an insignificant existence.

i've lived through some injustices in the last couple of centuries.

a dead lover can never break your heart.

so many mistakes in the end. never you.

i give you my body. i give you my blood. i give you my soul. i give you my heart.

your soul is my soul.

i bind myself to you.

i wanted it to all be a lie. but it was not a lie.

never trust. never yield. always guard your heart.

vampires know better than anyone how important it is to protect their hearts.

love is sharper than any stake.

fear, when embraced, hardens and sharpens.

i would not die here.

don't fucking touch her.

there she is.

you are the most stunning thing i've ever seen, [name].

no one has ever said those words to me.

here's how you stay alive.

maybe our skin doesn't scar the same as yours, but our hearts do.

are you going to kill me, [name]?

you might destroy me anyway.

i would beg for you.

don't be so quick to throw away your humanity.

you might find you miss it once it's gone.

don't you fucking dare stop fighting.

it would break my heart.

nothing matters but this.

once you win, the world is yours.

this is the time for conquering.

you don't give an inch, do you?

why would he do this?

you smell like the sky.

i only know how to fight.

i can't take credit for everything that you've become.

fear is a collection of physical responses.

i love it, really, truly love it, when they underestimate me.

you're sweet. prickly, but sweet. in an acidic sort of way. like a pineapple.

love is a sacrifice at the altar of power.

you don't even know the things i've thought about.

there you are.

i used to be one of them.

i've saved your life twice now.

you're a demanding little thing, aren't you?

you aren't my prisoner.

i don't like feeling things.

i'm done hating myself for all my human weaknesses.

i will never be able to carve you from my heart. you are embedded too deep.

[spider-stark]

have any of you guys read the war of lost hearts series by Carissa Broadbent? cause I read it at the beginning of this year and I'm still thinking about the characters on a daily basis and I just need to know that more people were this impacted by those books

[nctinkverse]

Home Alone: Valentine's Day

Hello nctzens, I'm back with my unorthodox fic rec list of the week (is it weekly I have no idea), specially for Valentine's Day and people who like me don't have a date today.

I'm a bit drunk so either this is gonna come out horribly or I am gonna ask Chat GPT for help with grammar.

So last week we got Pussy Fiend (Haechan x y/n), You're so golden: the Olympic collection (Johnny x Y/N), The way life goes (Jaemin x Y/N). Link is here. Now we got 🥁🥁🥁

Listen, this story got me in a dark magic romance spiral that I've bought the book it was inspired from and also The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent. It's a Jaehyun x Y/N pov story and I couldn't put it down once I had started. Be aware. The Peace in Her Arms

Amazing, right?

NEXXXXXXXXXXXXXXT

Sleep Well, Princess

Well, this is such a amazing story. I see myself so much in it. Only I didn't have a older brother, so my crushes were always my cousin's friends.

Still, feels nostalgic to have a crush on someone who is nothing but sweet to you and you don't know what love is yet, so you feel protective and jealous of people who get a piece of the cute guy that u like attention.

Sleep Well, Princess

last one for today:

Since Seeds of Pomegranates, yes I KNOW, almost a Jaehyun special rec post, I KNOW.

But I can't help it if he is bias wrecking me so HARD....

This is a Hades X Persephone inspired story, this time with Y/N and Jaehyun...the story about human and a Gods love story.

If you don't know about Hades story, read it after, this story is delicious on itself.

Seeds of Pomegranates

So that's it for today everyone, if you have someone special please enjoy the date, if you don't I hope those stories make up for a good company.

Also, I'll be updating my Jaehyun x Y/N story this week so if you haven't seen it here it is: Promissa Redux

by Tessa :)

[itadorysss]

I'm still curating my reading list for next year and I wanted to know if I can get any recommendations from you ♡

xoxo

MY FAVOURITE QUESTION ON THE ENTIRE PLANET!!!!! this may be a long list. I am not sure what genre u tend to read but I have a lot of recs. I tend to read contemporary and fantasy so it'll be mostly those

contemporary:

the entire windy city series by liz tomforde (4 books, the fifth is out in April, they are all 5/5⭐️ ESPECIALLY the second book- it is sports romance!!)

salt kiss by Sierra Simone- this book is fcking WILD, and I devoured every single page of it, very shameless smut

side note: anything by Sierra Simone is just shameless smut, but her new Camelot series is the most shameless (I ate the whole trilogy up- some insaneee age gaps in all her books tbh)

hoops series by Kennedy Ryan (I must have cried half of the water content in my body over the first book- SO SO EXCELLENT)

now onto fantasy:

these violent delights/our violent ends by Chloe gong (we've talked about this one before: 1920s Romeo and Juliet retelling with fantasy and mafia?? yeah, I ate this series up for breakfast lunch and dinner- cried my fcking eyes out too)

foul lady fortune/foul heart huntsman also by Chloe gong (this series is even BETTER than the first one, I do not play about this couple one bit!!! it's soooo good)

caraval by Stephanie garber (3 books, its got this old timey feel to it I think you'll enjoy it a lot)

once upon a broken heart by Stephanie garner (also 3 books but WAY BETTER, I think you'll like this one as well, its got that vintage feel to it- and the second book is one of my top 10 books of 2024)

the book of azrael- amber v nicole (3 books out atm, there's gonna be 5 apparently: I NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO ABOUT THIS SERIES IT IS SO DAMN GOOD!!!! REAL enemies to lovers PLEASE READ)

fate of wrath and flame- ka tucker (4 books, complete series, I need someone to talk to about this one too, literally had me having withdrawals once I'd finished it was soooo good)

shatter me- tahereh mafi (not my fav series ever, but it's one you read just to say that you've read it)

the serpent and the wings of night- Carissa Broadbent (this book made me fuck with vampires again- that is HIGH PRAISE coming from me)

spark of the ever flame- Penn Cole (another series that gave me withdrawals after I finished it)

six of crows- Leigh bardugo (ITS SO GOOD!!!!)

divine rivals/ruthless vows- Rebecca ross (I think you will LOVE THIS ONE!!!! its set in the 1800s I believe and it is SICKENINGLY SWEET I LOVED IT)

fourth wing- Rebecca yarros (on the more unserious side but I thoroughly enjoyed it- i'll eat up anything with dragons in it)

one dark window/two twisted crowns by Rachel gillig (vintage vibes AGAIN!!!! SO GOOD!)

the crimson moth by Kristen ciccarelli (EVEN MORE VINTAGE VIBES)

onto more classical ones:

the handmaids tale- Margaret Atwood (I have ptsd bc we studied this in depth for alevels, but I would have ate it up if I'd read it without the pressure of having to write a million essays about it)

the bell jar- Sylvia plath (I did my english coursework project on this book, so so good)

a streetcar named desire- Tennessee Williams (one of my inspos for writing halcyon, it's set in the 40s but it has suchhhh vintage vibes to it, very morally questionable and flawed characters)

outliers:

debutantes duology by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (this series had me ripping my hair out in frustration but in a GOOD WAY???)

five survive by holly Jackson (reading this at 2am in low lighting was a bad idea bc I was genuinely getting scared while reading- I ate it up tho)

I AM SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG BUT THIS QUESTION TURNS ME INTO AN EVEN BIGGER YAPPER! <3 PLS READ THE BOOK OF AZRAEL PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!! xxxx

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

Review: The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Carissa Broadbent)

Rating: ★★★★★/5

“Strange, that girls are so often told that the loss of their virginity marks a threshold between girlhood and womanhood, as if it fundamentally alters them in some way. It was not the sex that changed the girl forever. Not the blood that spilled between her thighs that shaped her. The blood that spilled over that marble floor, though… Those are the stains on one’s innocence that never fade.��� This is a perfect romantic fantasy. I laughed, I swooned, I gasped, I obsessed over these characters. There is nothing like the feeling of sinking into this kind of story for me, and I fucking loved this. Oraya was rescued from the wreckage of her family home as a baby by the vampire king, Vincent. She's grown up in the House of Night, separate from everyone, prey to the predators that surround her. But all that is about to change; Oraya is set to compete in the Kejari, a contest that promises any one wish to the victor. But Oraya will be forced to ally with those intent on killing her, and what she learns about herself and her father along the way may just change her entire world. This was compared to both Underworld and ACOTAR, and I was absolutely OBSESSED with both at different times of my life (ACOTAR is ongoing, obviously). I knew I had to read it when I heard that; I love a good vampire story, even now, and boy was this an excellent reason why vampires have yet to fully fade from pop culture. Oraya is such a brash, outspoken character, but she is also so guarded and protected that you can tell immediately that her walls are facades. Raihn, on the other hand, is a snarky, bronze god of a character. Normally I don't like the whole "huge warrior" vibes, but here, it worked SO well; because our two mains are such fleshed out people, any stereotypes that they embody become unimportant as the story goes on. They just become Raihn and Oraya, and I dearly loved them both. The story here is very Hunger Games-esque, but that works so well in giving everything drive and structure. I loooooove a good game like this, and the way it's all done is intriguing and surprising. I never knew what would happen next, and details about how things are modelled after Nyaxia and her journey are given sparingly, which add to the overall intrigue. The magic system here is mysterious, but again, it just...works. It all works. The characters are SO well-written (everything is - Carissa has TALENT), the action is intense, the romance is HOT (pls give me more spice that actually means something and feels earned, thank you very much), and the world is SO interesting and fun. I am immediately going to download Carissa's other books on my Kindle for my upcoming trip, and I cannot WAIT for book two.

[more-than-a-princess]

【ME & 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗜'𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥】

⠀

- ALIAS / NAME: Rae

- BIRTHDAY: August 22

- ZODIAC SIGN: Leo/Virgo cusp and I absolutely live up to it. I have never felt like I'm solely a Leo or solely a Virgo. I'm a combination of both.

- HEIGHT: 5'8"

- HOBBIES: Writing, reading, watching a lot of TV and movies (sometimes for work, sometimes not), cosplay and fan conventions, fashion (especially luxury accessories and classic cuts and patterns. Though much of my style inspo comes from France and Italy! I love a timeless look with a nod to retro fashions, especially from the 50s-70s), visiting cafes, and dreaming of travel.

- FAVORITE COLOR: Sapphire blue! Both my engagement and wedding rings have sapphires for this reason.

- FAVORITE BOOK: This is an absolutely rude and cruel question how dare you expect me to choose-

- LAST SONG: This Is Taylor Swift playlist on Spotify, but mostly going through Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights tracks for RP reply inspo.

- LAST FILM / SHOW: I'm currently watching Only Murders in the Building with my husband and we're loving it! A few of my family members grew up and/or lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan so seeing all of the familiar architecture is entertaining. As well as the murders, the character personalities, etc. I still don't believe Steve Martin and Martin Short's characters are heterosexual in this show and it should be 'Selena Gomez and her two gay adoptive uncles' but I digress.

- RECENT READS: I finished House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas at the very beginning of February and I've had a book hangover since then! Not that I was 100% satisfied with the ending of Crescent City but it's been hard to get into something new. I've started book 1 in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent, but I haven't managed to finish it or its sequel yet. After that, I'll probably go back to finishing the Letters of Enchantment duology by Rebecca Ross, The Cruel Prince series by Holly Black, or the Hades and Persephone saga by Scarlett St. Clair. I'm tempted to finally dive into some Leigh Bardugo works, some V.E. Schwab, or start Katee Robert's Neon Gods series.

I have 166 books on my Kindle and I've finished maybe 50 of those so far, if it's any indication on how long my TBR list is. And I haven't even mentioned my historical, contemporary, and/or gothic romance picks on that list...

I really love books, y'all.

- STORY BEHIND URL: It's how Sonia wants to be seen by everyone she meets.

- FUN FACT ABOUT ME: I got married in November 2022 but I'm finally taking my honeymoon next month in April 2024. My job takes most of the blame for this, but I'm very close to securing a promotion soon (which means I'll be able to assign some of my work to others!).

That said, a lot of April will be a long hiatus from this blog. I'll be coming back to write when I've returned, but leading up to the trip, two weeks on the trip, and coming back and catching up with everything means much of April will be queued aesthetic posts around here.

That said, I'm so ready for London, Paris, and Disneyland Paris!

TAGGED BY: @mechatiqe (thank you!)

TAGGING: @quickdeaths, @hxpelessnurse, @dcviated, @tacitusauxilium, and you!

[kayechanted]

as someone who used to say i loved those four books set in the crowns of nyaxia universe i'm just looking back in retrospect and thinking damn. like. there was absolutely no memorable character in those books except vincent and i hate doing the thing where i take a book with a main female character and make it about the side man but seriously vincent is genuinely the most intriguing character in those books. oraya in book 1 was nice though

raihn is so boring im sorry like once again in retrospect he just seems like a mannequin with abs and dick attached he is such a generic nice guy that's it. wished he stayed dead

carissa broadbents writing is so repetitive and unpolished at times and idk how those drafts went through the editors chopping block without having the 50 versions of "fuck" in each page being cut out bc looking back some parts of the books were genuinely unreadable. the book least affected by this is six scorched roses

ashes and the star cursed king was long drawn out and so much worse than book 1 like i could not tell you a single thing i remember about that book except vincent (or memory!vincent anyway) and oraya's final scene together because oraya choosing to describe how she forgot minute details like the lines on his face first thing lives in my head rent free . one thing i have to credit miss broadbent for is her description of grief. once again oraya vincent best father daughter relationship ever

finally i am extremely irritated by the author's "why is everyone so harsh on israel's side of the story?" aka her "both sides bad" statement about the genocide in gaza because.

the absolute irony of crowns of nyaxia having a main character (a human) with nightly activities being regularly killing vampires who hunt for humans in the HUMAN villages/settlements (where vampires are NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN especially to find food) on the vampire populated side of the universe, the book which explicitly describes the high society vampires as oppressors and enslavers of humans & turned vampires and the living conditions of humans on vampire populated land as, well, inhumane, is so. like the idea of radical change, revolution, war or oppression is fr just an aesthetic to a lot of these authors it is both parts extremely angering as well as upsetting

[animezinglife]

Major Songbird spoiler below.

I'm serious. This is not one of those minor spoilers you can forget about and experience the same way knowing it, so don't read it if you haven't finished the book.

I'm convinced Carissa is physically incapable of writing non-meaningful sex scenes, but can we just appreciate the entirety of the symbolism of Mische being the one worshipped on Atroxus's altar? By darkness?

It being one of the most liberating moments of her life when she experiences what that type of intimacy can be like when it's no longer duty and an abuse of power, but love?

I freaking love Carissa Broadbent.

[antoniab93-blog]

Daughter of no worlds

I recently read #DaughterofNoWorlds by #carissabroadbent, which was the 76th book I read this year! This author is known for her series #TheCrownsofNyaxia , which I loved, so I was hoping this book would be just as enjoyable (click the link for more)

I recently read Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent, which was the 76th book I read this year. This author is most well known for her series The Crowns of Nyaxia, which is The Serpent and the Wings of Night and The Ashes and the Star Cursed King. I really enjoyed those books, so I was really hoping this would live up to them. A plot summary attempt The story opens with the moment when…

[animezinglife]

Fully agreed.

In my eyes, he fully redeemed himself through his actions of saving Feyre's, Azriel's, Elain's, and Briar's lives. There was no chance of him coming back from that--he was willing to die to do the right thing (and almost did).

He chose to help in the war. He dragged Beron out of Autumn by the neck to make him fight with them. He saved Rhysand not out of any love for Rhys, but for Feyre and her happiness.

The woman who played a massive role in destroying his court.

I was confused after reading ACOWAR and realizing people thought he wasn't.

I think people forget (or ignore) that he was broken, too. He and Feyre weren't compatible in the long run and it didn't work out. They both did things they shouldn't have; he said things he shouldn't have. Tamlin has to get his temper under control.

But I will always be onboard with Tamlin healing and becoming better. I'd like to see him happy again, unburdened, and playing his fiddle.

The thing about these books is that there are no saints, and the ones meant to be monsters are only ever depicted as such and shown no other side. Tamlin doesn't fall among those monsters. Feyre and Rhys don't either. The monsters are the forces like Koschei.

None of them claim to be saints. For all SJM's writing flaws and inconsistencies, she is at least consistent in that. We as readers have to understand that we're being told these stories through biased perspectives, and those biases are recognized.

Granted, she doesn't necessarily do that as well as some other authors (Katherine Arden and Carissa Broadbent come to mind), but there is clearly some intent there.

Unpopular Acotar opinion:

Tamlin doesn’t need a redemption arc - he needs a healing arc.

I think he has earned his redemption (or at least part of it) through his actions in ACOWAR:

- Exposing his cover in Hyberns camp to help Feyre escape

- Coming with what little army/support he had left to help during the war (even after Feyre destroyed his Court and left them defenceless)

- “Be happy, Feyre” ???

He saved Rhysands life!!! He did not have to do that. If he were a true villain, he would have let Rhys die, would have wanted Feyre to suffer.

Yes, he has a LONG way to go but if (hopeful when) we get some kind of Tamlin book I hope that man finds peace, I hope he heals. I want him to find happiness.

[moplayspoke]

Finished Quicksilver… kind of disappointed, NGL, but the first 80% had me in a chokehold. 4.25/5

This was an extremely addicting read and I caught myself a few times thinking, could this be a 5? And the first 70% of the book I was like, oh yeah, this is probably a 5.

I loved how different this felt from all the standard copy pasta romantasies being thrown out there. The different world concept, the quicksilver, etc.

It did feel like some moments could have been cut entirely and not affected the story at all. Might have shortened it by about 100 pages or so because there was a LOT happening.

But I think the last 20% or so kind of ruined the 5 star potential for me. The reveals were purely for shock factor yeah, but I was disappointed in more than a few of them. It felt like it all was just thrown together and left a bunch of plot holes and questions open that I had a hard time believing it. It was *too* convenient of an ending and too convenient of an explanation.

In fact I had made a few predictions that I thought would likely happen that I did find more believable that I am now thinking would have been a great lead into book 2.

It kind of sucks because it immediately felt like I went from reading a great fiction to reading something someone wrote on tumblr as an alternate ending to the real one. Or D&D, producers of the Game of Thrones series, got their hands on the final pages and said “let’s go for the shock factor” despite there being a better story to tell.

But ending aside, I adored the characters and Kingfisher. Carrion was a delight. I did like the worldbuilding and evolving world of realms we were teased to in the beginning. It’s because of the characters I will continue reading but it will be hard for me to get past some of the plot decisions made so I can only hope it goes up from here.

I do feel if you have enjoyed the Crowns of Nyaxia series you may enjoy the ending and reveals much more than I did because I felt like the last half of this story had a similar vibe/cadence to that series. I am NOT saying they are similar in plot or story. I am simply saying if you take what happened in the last 20% of this story and added it to a Crowns of Nyaxia novella, I would be slightly confused but partial to believe Carissa Broadbent wrote it all the same.

I also CANNOT see the ACOTAR comparison. Yes, there are some similar concepts this story and ACOTAR share but those concepts are not exclusive to ACOTAR. They’re exclusive to fantasy. The closest resemblance they share was a certain reveal about two characters. I felt ACOTAR was much more emotional about this and had set it up such that you could find evidence of it from the very beginning. ACOTAR also knew how to grab your heart and splinter it. This story had its sweet moments for sure but it came on very suddenly and I honestly didn’t expect it when it did happen because the clues to build up to it did not exist. But I do think people are way too quick to point to ACOTAR when it comes to making comparisons in fantasy and some of those people need to seriously expand their horizons.

Anyway, can’t decide if it’s a 4.25 or 4.5 yet so I’ll sit on it and leave it as a 4.25 first. 4.25/5

[summaryi]

The Serpent and The Wings of Night - Carissa Broadbent

5/5

ok so I started this because i saw a silent review by suonnahbooks on ig reels

the start is a bit slow but holy shit it fucking slaps

i was so stressed reading this

i audibly gasped

i was gobsmacked

i got my heart broken

immediately started book 2 and finished that and now i have to wait 4-5 months for book 3

i love romantasy, and this checks all the boxes

my only gripe is that Worldbuilding Fantasy Nouns get thrown around with very little introduction

i pieced things together in context but like

i havent lived with this novel as long as the author has so i would really appreciate some kind of quick map and brief primer

this is the kingdom/world

these are the different factions and their pasts

instead of just saying

Nightborn

House of Blood

etc

like i wanna enjoy this but help me out a little or i start tuning those details out even when i know they matter

[meltotheany]

hi friends! how are you doing? i hope well! april was a really good reading month for me in terms of quantity! but quality? oh friends, we were in the trenches a little bit at the start of the month, i wont lie lol! i gave my first one star rating in years (truly years) and i still can’t believe! but we also ended the month with one of the best books i’ve read in years, so maybe we did have some balance. or maybe the book gods felt bad for me, so they gave me a boon before may reading began! but okay, let’s get into the range of the ten books that i was able to read this month! ✨ ✨ Slaying the Vampire Conqueror by Carissa Broadbent ⭐⭐ 1.0) The Serpent and the Wings of Night ★★★★ 1.5) Six Scorched Roses ★★★★ 2) The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King ★★★★ i have been loving this series so very much, and after finishing the ashes & the star-cursed king i immediately wanted more, therefore i picked this up also assuming it would be a banger like the rest of this series. oh friends, i am experiencing heartbreak as i type this mini review. i believe that this in-between story, set in this world at a different time period, was to help us learn more about the goddesses, in particular nyaxia and (view spoiler) arachessen. yet, that’s all it really did for me because i just could not get into this story, these characters, their romance, their dynamics with other characters, or anything really. this was ultimately just such a let down for me, but i will still be picking up the songbird & the heart of stone come fall! content warnings mentioned in author’s note at beginning of this book: violence, war, drug addiction. violence against children, explicit sexual situations additional trigger + content warnings i wrote down while reading: loss of a loved one, loss of a friend, cult depiction, colonization, drowning, grief, murder, death, a lot of blood depictions, captivity, body control powers, drugging, talk of the subject of rape, power imbalance dynamics / child abuse, slavery mention, extreme drug withdrawal, talk of animal death, graphic detailed mentions of eating animals ✨ Funny Story by Emily Henry ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley “To me, libraries have always represented the best of humanity. The way we all share knowledge and space, and… and how we find ways to look after each other. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s powerful.” this book is, ironically enough, a story about one person trying to convince another person to build a home and life in a sleepy little michigan city. but let me not forget to type that these two people’s lives have crossed because both of their significant others have decided to leave them for each other! and our main character, after being dumped the morning after her fiance’s bachelor party, has nowhere to go because she picked up her life and moved it to where she thought she would finally set up roots. so she moves in with her ex’s new girlfriend’s ex (this feels so hard to type out lol), and each chapter starts with a countdown of how many days until a fundraiser at her work, at a local library, happens and then she will be able to leave. but maybe she can actually still set up those roots after the fundraiser, but in an even healthy and happier way (filled with some good healing along the way). ❤️ full breakdown review with tw/cws HERE ✨ Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson ⭐⭐ even though i did not love this, i think i have finally recognized that i’m just not this type of horror reader. i love anything speculative, anything paranormal, but actual murders/slasher-like stories? they just don’t work for me, they have never worked for me, and this one also did not work for me. and if a sapphic cottagecore one didn’t work for me, i fear just none ever will. so i really implore you to look at other reviews if this book sounds good to you – here are some of my faves: gabby, genesee, cassidy but yeah! sapphic, cottagecore, two girls meeting at a farmers market, but somethin...

[prideandbook-idce]

Book Four Down!

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

Date: 01/17 to 01/27

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Let's talk vampires. First, there was Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897). Dracula was the first book that referenced vampires that I read that left an impression. Many can say that Interviews with a Vampire by Anne Rice (1976) or Nosferatu (1922) are the very first influential vampire books and adaptations.

Now! Dracula is a story, for those who don't know, about a man named Johnathan Harker who goes to this Count's home in Romania. He sticks around and stays in his home for a time and it basically is a notebook of his thoughts and feelings while he is there, some to his girlfriend back home and some are just....ramblings of a man.

However! This was back mid-18th century. Now flash forward to the beautiful world of the late 1990's and the 2000's. The world is bright and ready to go with the world of vampires once more. Vampire Academy is a main contender for this boom in fantasy novels. And then the Twilight Saga makes land fall and the whole world goes crazy. 

Now, vampires are not only bright and shiny and beautiful but they are revered as both the villain and the main love interest in a world that would crucify them if it meant love and affection. Edward Cullen, we are looking at you buddy. 

I say all of this because the book The Serpents and the Wings of Night has been trending on social media. Booktok has been a public figure on social media for the past few years and some recommendations have been intriguing and never have led me astray. Well, I read it!

What this book is about:

A little girl is rescued from the ravages of her home and her dead family by the men who sought to kill them. The vampire King, Vincent, has a choice: save the girl with a serpent's spirit or kill her before she hatches. Years later, the girl must choose; either she can join a war for the loyalty and power her father wishes to give her, or she can succumb to the harshest and most rewarding thing of all: LOVE.

Thoughts:

This concept of vampire was very different from the most recent adaptations of what it means to be the undead. Normally the vampire is someone who is supposed to look beautiful and that is what attracts the humans to them. They also are creatures that go against their basic needs and instead move towards a more human way of life. In this version, the main character Oraya is able to use their beauty as a way of acknowledging the power that the creature holds over her. Their beauty is used less as a tool for them to survive and is more so used as a warning to both the reader and to the other characters as well. Oraya is written as a character who is aware of her mortality and fights against the idea of death and decay. She would fight forever if it meant that she was not afraid.

Mortality and the concept of fear is a common theme in this book. Oraya's character throughout the story can look at both concepts to their barest bones and separate the two. Raihn, the main love interest, and heartthrob, is a contrast to this idea. Raihn hates the concept of his immortality and gambles it away by introducing the past into his present. He will live forever but he wishes he weren't alive at all. Throughout the book, mortality and fear coincide with each other. Oraya's father figure, Vincent, gives her one thing to live by: "Fear is a series of physical responses". Oraya sees fear and humanness as a weakness and showing either would result in her death. Oraya takes this saying to heart and hides her fear away until the very end of the book where she embraces this and gains something even better.

To be honest, betrayal is hard to get over. Especially in this Hunger Games-based novel. I still cannot get over it and I will die on my grave before I forgive them.

[critical-quoter]

January Books

And here we are, starting a new year. I've got a reading goal of 365 books this year, so basically a book a day. Since I read a total of 387 books in 2023 (and most of those were read between June and December), I think it's hella doable.

Devious Lies - Parker S. Huntington ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Off Limits - J. A. Low ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Bridge Kingdom - Danielle Jensen ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Riggs - Sandy Alvarez and Crystal Daniels ⭐️⭐️ You're Still the One - Sasha Clinton ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Daughter of No Worlds - Carissa Broadbent ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Perfect Storm - Jolie Vines ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Fae King's Curse - Jamie Schlosser ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Baby I'm Yours - Carrie Elks ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Not My Romeo - Lisa Madden-Mills ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enclave - Ann Aguirre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hot Puck - Skye Jordan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ City of Brass - S. A. Chakraborty ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Archer's Voice - Mia Sheridan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wild Zone - Skye Jordan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Coming Home - Wendy Smith ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Taken: The Coldest Fae - Katerina Martinez ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Bombshell Effect - Karla Sorensen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ When Forever Changes - Siobhan Davis ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fireborne - Rosaria Munda ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Real Players Never Change - Micalea Smeltzer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Masters of Death - Olivie Blake ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lore Olympus Vol 1 - Rachel Smythe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lore Olympus Vol 2 - Rachel Smythe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lore Olympus Vol 3 - Rachel Smythe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lore Olympus Vol 4 - Rachel Smythe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lore Olympus Vol 5 - Rachel Smythe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Twisted Hate - Ana Huang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ King of Battle and Blood - Scarlett St. Clair ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Twisted Games - Ana Huang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Rage of Dragons - Evan Winters ⭐️ Propositioning Love - Izzy Sweet ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Throne of Shadows - Emma Fenton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Smoke and Mirrors - Michelle B. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Sound of Salvation - I. A. Dice ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Taste of Redemption - I. A. Dice ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Merciless - Willow Winters ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Savage Little Games - Lane Hart ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dark Submission - Kitty Wilder ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stranded - Selena Winters ⭐️⭐️ Icing Hearts - J. J. Wright ⭐️⭐️ The Right Sign - Nia Arthurs ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pinkie Promise - Sapphire Hale ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Golden Goal - Annah Conwell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Lovely Return - Carian Cole ⭐️⭐️ A Little Luck - Tia Louise ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lethal Vows - T. L. Smith ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Secret Vendetta - Kathy Lockheart ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Silent Vendetta - Kathy Lockheart ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ethan - Samantha Whiskey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Feeling the Forward - Jacob Chance ⭐️⭐️ My Neighbor's Secret - Lauren Rowe⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Demon's Deal - L. Alexander ⭐️⭐️⭐️ House of Flame and Shadow - Sarah J. Maas ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Catching the Mistletoe - Mary Waterford ⭐️⭐️⭐️

56 books total read for the month of January 2024.