An adopted human daughter of a vampire king enters the most dangerous completion known to vampires in order to hopefully become as powerful as them. But once she is in the middle of the competition, she learns that maybe she has not been always told the truth. And maybe she can start trusting others. I can't wait for the next book!

The Serpent and the Wings of Night had me hooked from beginning. Oraya, the Nightborn King's adopted daughter, enters the Kejari - a deadly tournament, in hopes of gaining a favor from the goddess Nyaxia. In a realm where vampires ruthlessly rule and humans are treated as mere livestock, Oraya's resilience and determination stood out to me. Despite her vulnerability and perceived human weaknesses, she remains strong.

The witty banter between Oraya and Raihn, another participant in the tournament, added an extra layer of enjoyment to the story. Their relationship born out of necessity lifts the story above the fight or die narrative of the Kejari. This book is full of unexpected twists and turns, and the ending left me with a mix of emotions.

This is a completed duology, so you don’t have to wait for the conclusion. If you like adventure, mystery with a touch of steamy romance pick this book up now. Very grateful to Bramble for the advanced reader copy. All comments are my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would! I’m skeptical of all the popular TikTok books, but this did not disappoint.

While the death games idea is not new by any standard, Broadbent certainly makes it her own with the Kejari. I could clearly picture each round, named after each of the moon phases, and understand how it all worked.

Oraya is such an interesting character, and I’m so glad that she’s so strong and independent. Her traumatic history with vampires, revealed later in the book, is essential to the story. However I was surprised it wasn’t more of a challenge or internal struggle for her.

I did find this book hard to get into at first, but by the time she teamed up with Raihn and Mische I was hooked. I hope Mische has a bigger role in the next book and is more than just an added background character. Raihn and Oraya have great chemistry, even at the end of the book,


—————SPOILER AHEAD—————

What didn’t make sense to me in the end was why didn’t Oraya die? If her wish was “I wish Raihn had won” then Oraya should have died. Did Nyaxia let her live on purpose? She does seem like she enjoys toying with her “children” and she probably knew who Oraya really was and wants to see how it all plays out.

This definitely filled my niche for a strong female-lead fantasy book. Oraya was great, her backstory and personality were strong. It was a bit predictable with the “twist” that Oraya seemed to be the only one unaware of. The author definitely hinted at it heavily throughout and I found myself dragging to get through it at the end, but I will definitely be grabbing the second in the series to pick up where this left off.

I found myself dreaming of this book. I could not put it down every time I picked it up. Surprisingly well written romantasy. I love that these vampires are different. I love that the author shows you rather than lore dumps. Very well done. I need book 2

I’m torn with this book. I loved the beginning and middle of it but the end really threw me off. I can tell this will be popular with people who love fantasy romance but I’m not really a fan of second chance romances which is what I imagine this series will end up being. I enjoyed the writing style and thought the world building was done very well. Overall, I would rate it a 3/5!

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Crowns of Nyaxia novel, The Nightborn Duet book one

I devoured this book. I haven’t read a straight-up vampire fantasy series in ages and my Twilight-loving middle school heart was singing.

I really enjoyed the setting and the story that took place in it. It gave adult-Hunger Games vibes mixed with vampires and an enemies to lovers plot. 💯

The story swallowed me whole and would not release me until I finished it! Book 2 published last week and I am dying to start it. I’ve been instructed not to skip the novella that takes place between the two books, so, I’m headed there next.

Perfect for you if you like:
Blood-thirsty vampires
An MMC with WINGS 🫠
Surprising + unexpected twists

It took me legitimately 2 weeks to read the first 4 chapters because I was bored out of my mind. This is a very, very slow start and I found the twist to be quite predictable.

The first ~50-60% of this is basically all plot driven and I found it difficult to care about the characters at all. I like plot heavy books, but I need SOMETHING character wise to keep me invested.

From the ~50-60% point, it picked up and was a lot more character focused. I liked this WAY more from that point on and flew through it after that.

That being said- the magic system felt incredibly underdeveloped. Who can access it? Is Oraya the only one or are other humans able to access it? Outside of the vampires having different magic based on their houses, the magic system really wasn’t explained, like at all.

Overall I enjoyed this, but I’m definitely going to need more from book 2.

Tropes/Highlights:
- Vampires and magic
- Hunger Games style competition
- Enemies-to-lovers
- Slow burn
- Forced proximity

Between ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5 & ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️.5/5

This was such an amazing read!! I haven’t book that hooked on a fantasy in a long time, especially one that shocks me. I really enjoyed the world building and the lore, the way she writes her characters had me feeling so torn. Which to me is a job well done!! I’m dying to get to the sequel!!!

Vampires have never really been my favorite paranormal creature. It would be easy to blame “Twilight” for this opinion, but even before then, back when I was reading “Interview with a Vampire” and the like, I never quite understood the appeal. Especially not in the romantic sense. How do you form a romantic interest out of a being that literally sees you as food? That in mind, I’ve been a bit hesitant about the recent resurgence of vampire fantasy fiction. But I’m always hopeful that there is a book out there that can change my mind on some of these pre-existing skepticisms. And, here we are, a vampire book that I actually really loved!

You know how a week ago I struggled to write a review for Jennifer Armentrout’s “Fall of Ruin and Wrath?” Mostly because, while I enjoyed the book, I could also objectively look at it and recognize that, at least in this instance, the author’s quality of writing was fairly low. Well, here I am a week later with a book that truly highlights the difference that good writing makes. In many ways, these books are similar. They are romantic fantasy fiction, focused on powerful beings and the humans who are caught up in their scheming, and, ostensibly, they both have unique worlds (I use the word “unique” carefully in Armentrout’s case as it seemed that she recycled some of her own ideas in her book.) But from the very first page, it is clear that this book is operating on an entirely different level. The sentence structure was varied and dynamic, the author pulled from a large vocabulary, the narration had a distinct voice, and the dialogue was engaging and natural. It was a success in every way, and I was immediately drawn in by the style.

The world-building was also introduced organically throughout the story, while not bogging down what ended up being a very fast-moving plot. The versions of vampires we see here are recognizable, but there was also a lot of creative interpretation built into the structure of this society, the political conflicts, and the lore of this world. I was also impressed by the creativity brought to the Kejari trials. Each one of them felt fresh and unique to this world and its story. These weren’t simple battles to the death, but intricate and dangerous puzzles of danger.

Further, I’ve also read a decent number of “Hunger Games” style books with deadly competitions at the heart of the story, and too often this aspect of these stories often falls flat, with the main character surviving due to heavy swaths of plot armor rather than any real skill we’ve seen from them. Instead, here, we have clear insight into Oraya’s success, with it often coming down to her keen observational skills and her drive to push herself further than her fellow competitors, beings who have been able to rely on their physical dominance up to this point. And that’s not to say that Oraya isn’t a powerful fighter herself. I appreciated the balance that was struck here between presenting Oraya, a human, as an exceptionally skilled fighter while also remaining realistic about the disadvantages she faced when competing against supernatural beings.

I also really enjoyed the romance that builds up through this story. This is definitely a slow-burn love story. Not only does the book itself hold off on its main characters getting together until late in the novel, but the structure of the plot takes place over months, giving our two characters a believable amount of time to work together, develop a friendship and partnership, and eventually a romance, overcoming their original distrust of one another. Of course, the book ends with a fairly large reveal (I was able to predict some of it, but that didn’t make it any less engaging when it happened), so the story is left in a state of upheaval as far as their love story goes. But the author so neatly side-stepped many failure points in the development of this relationship that I feel fully confident that she’ll navigate the path ahead just as successfully.

This book definitely doesn’t shy away from the violence of this world, so readers should go in expecting bloodshed. It’s also a romance novel in that it has fairly explicit scenes when it gets to that point. But it also reads well as a straight fantasy novel, with full attention and detail given to the plot and world-building. I think this book would likely appeal to most fantasy readers in general, beyond the romantasy fans out there. I really can’t express how impressed I was with this read. These books were originally self-published, so the sequel is available on Amazon now. But I’m going to try to hold off on reading and reviewing the second one until it comes out later this spring. Gotta support Bramble’s effort to pick up indie authors like this! Who know what other hidden gems are out there?!

Rating 9: Expanding the boundaries of what romantasy is capable of, this book has it all: solid word-building, compelling characters, and a fantastic love story!

(Review will go live on The Library Ladies on Dec. 8)

This book easily became one of my top fantasies ever. Vampires? Wings? Slow burn? enemies to lovers? Daddy issues? Sign me up!

Oraya was such a strong female lead and I loved her journey. Her relationship with Vincent was complex, her daddy issues coming in strong. The way everything unfolded---his lies, his secrets, etc (which continue even more in book 2), was perfect. Vincent's thoughts are prevalent in Oraya's mind throughout the entire length of the book. It love what that portrayed. Even when she began to hate him, she still loved him because he was her father. The accuracy of that turmoil was just fantastic.

Raihn is one of my top favorite book boyfriends. He's so Rhysand coded and he's a doll. When he's not a doll, he's malicious but still so good. My heart ached for him and everything he lost when he became a vampire--and everything he will continue to lose as the book goes on. I loved that he was the love interest AND the villain because since we are only reading Oraya's POV for this book, we feel her emotions more strongly. Raihn hurting her hurt ME and it hurt so BAD but also so good. The perfect torture!!!

Their slow burn was so good and I love when enemies to lovers find comfort with each other during times of distress and war, even if they're supposed to "hate" each other. The enemies to lovers for them was done superbly IMO. I was paying attention to all of Raihn's actions like nobody's business. He smirked? Annotated. He touched her? Annotated. "There you are." ANNOTATED! EVERYTHING he did was noted by me because I was obsessed. Tortured villain but still a mushy little babe. I loved him! (Especially the sunlight portions. His pain made me physically ache im not even joking)

I thought the pacing in this book was really well done, with everything! Oraya and Raihn, Vincent, the trials. It was the perfect pacing with easy to follow world-building and politics. Five stars isn't enough for this book.

Initially I was HOOKED. And a good deal of that goes towards Mr. Vincent and his complex relationship with Oraya.

What I Liked:
1. There were a lot of interesting things popping off immediately. Why is a vampire king like Vincent showing such softness towards an orphaned human girl? Why does Oraya want to win the Kejari? How the hell is she planning to survive amongst all these powerful vampires? What are the trials going to be like?
2. Raihn isn't tanned with black hair like all the other romantasy boys. Okay, give us some variety, Ms. Broadbent!
3. I liked the details about vampires having black blood, the two different types of vampires at war in the world, a vampire origin story, and how the magic system worked. I loved the way Broadbent tied the Kejari's trials to the lore of Nyaxia's journey from the White Pantheon.
4. Slow(er) burn relationship between Oraya and Raihn. I found the lack of instalust and instalove heightened the romantic conflict.
5. Rivals to lovers relationship between Oraya and Raihn. Right now everyone is trying (and kinda failing, I don't want to drag the girls, but they leave me no choice LMAO) to do enemies to lovers.
6. The complexity of Vincent's feelings towards Oraya and their relationship was great. I LOVED seeing all the conflict and contrasts between Vincent the Father and Vincent the King.

What I Didn't Like:
1. Fuck. Used with the relish of a 13 year old trying to impress his bros. Overdone!
2. The weeks between the trials dragged. I wanted to feel the pressure and relish the high stakes!
3. Being told about Oraya and Raihn growing closer by hunting vampires instead of being shown. I love to watch characters falling in love. Being told instead of being shown is unsatisfying.
4. Oraya's an interesting character. She hates vampires but also wants to become one? Her prickly, snarky, stabby personality didn't feel fresh.
5. I needed some more details and fleshing out. Vincent is allowed to give Oraya things between trials? You can request withdrawal due to injury from a competition that I swore was a fight to the death? How often to vampires need to eat? Why do some people get killed by vampires but others get turned? What's that process like?

Overall, this book got me really hyped up, but lost me in the middle.

Thank you Tor Publishing Group, Bramble, and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

For fans of Sarah j. Maas: this book has all the best qualities that TOG/ACOTAR have! (But with winged vampires!) It's super fast paced, I whipped right through the pages and couldn't get enough. Unique cast of characters who are so fun to read about. A sort of lucid writing style, it feels very familiar and accessible. The worldbuilding / politics and culture is developed as you read, and there's no lengthy info dumping at the start like some high fantasy novels that are the first in a series.

I do wish there was a little bit more depth to the characters in the beginning though. I appreciated the beautiful family that Oraya and her father are, but there wasn't much else to her except her drive for survival and romantic interest. I would love to read more about her history, her childhood, and how her powers originated from. However, the insane and ruthless competition was more than enough to keep my attention forward while reading. It was incredibly engaging and is definitely a book to scoop you out of a reading slump!

Overall, I love it exactly how it is! From a critical perspective, it could do a little better with developing the main characters some more, especially considering it's the first in a series. Perhaps the second will actually address that though!

WOWWWWWW. oh my god. Wow.
SO GOOD.
That cliffhanger?!?!!!?!?!?
I LOVED THIS SO MUCH.

“There she is.”

If it wasn’t freezing outside (and dangerous) I would find a rooftop to shout about this book on. One of the best new fantasy romances I have read in a long time. There are certain books that just make me love being a reader and this is one of them.

-fantastic female main character
-incredible (easy to follow, yet still surprising) magic system
-male love interest that is rough around the edges but passionate about what he believes in (and her)
-high stakes
-excellent tension-filled slowburn romance with banter
-some spice
-twists and turns
-plot twists

…oh yeah & VAMPIRES…….with WINGS!

“I realized that fear,
when embraced,
hardens and sharpens.
That it becomes rage.
That it becomes power.”

I need the second one like Raihn needs blood (and honestly he probably has better patience and discipline than I do).

This book is on Kindle Unlimited but go ahead and do yourself a favor and buy the hardcover anyways because it is stunning.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Serpent & The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent!

Everyone is searching for the next book series to captivate us like Sarah J Maas. This might just be that series!! Carissa Broadbent weaves story that is unlike any other fantasy book I have read. If I could get this book in paperback at my store I would have no problem hand selling this

Oraya is saved by the vampire king Vincent when her family is killed . He brings her up in his castle where she spends her life in hiding as she’s nothing but prey to the kingdom. She enters the Kejari, a fight to the death contest where the winner gets a wish from the goddess in order to win power for herself. Then she meets Raihn, another contestant, who makes her question everything about her life. Can she trust him?
Loved this first installment and looking forward to the next.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

I was immediately pulled into this story and I could not put it down!! The background of the fantasy world we've stepped into is very complex, and yet it pulls you in. It was a perfect balance of fantasy and romance, enough to make you root for the couple but also remain ensnared by the complexity of the worldbuilding. Oraya is our human FMC in a world where humans are no more than livestock. She refuses to be preyed upon or allow her human vulnerabilities to hinder her. Enter in vampires, and how can you really go wrong from there? I am eagerly looking forward to any sequels that follow.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night
Carissa Broadbent

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫- 4.5 stars
🌶️🌶️

I should preface this my saying I don’t love tournament/ hunger gamesey books. This was that, but I still loved it!

What I Loved:
🍄I really enjoyed the human living in the vampire world. Oraya is turning her weaknesses into strengths to survive. She’s compassionate and strong and I really enjoyed her character.
🍄Raihn 😭. A bad ass vampire but also a Jellyroll. I adore him!
🍄I enjoyed the slow burn relationship between MCs. They are a nice balance for each other and worked well together to survive the tournament.
🍄Loved the world building and learning about the three different vampire houses and wars between them.
🍄The ending was awesome and NOT what I was expecting.

There was nothing I didn’t like, I just wanted more spice and again the tournament setting is not my favorite. However, the ending and the set up for the next book… it’ll be a five star!

Ugh so fun. I ended up reading this so quick because I got invested in the plot, the characters, and the world. Such good troupes that I LOVE seeing in romance fantasy. Going to read book 2 now…