Bloody Fury, by co-authors Tessa Gratton & Justina Ireland, is the second installment in the Chaos & Flame duology. Key Characters: Talon Goldhoard, and Darling Seabreak. Outside of the prequel which features Aurora Falleau from 30 years ago, the story alternates between Talon and Darling. Picking up months after a kiss transformed Darling into the long-lost Phoenix and every House regent into their empyreal form, Darling struggles to make sense of her destiny as a legendary creature.

How can she, an orphan with no family, truly be the one to reunite the fractured houses and bring about peace, if she can't control the magic of her new Phoenix body? But there is blood magic at work that is tainting the kingdom and its lands and it must be dealt with. She needs to harness her new found power and use it to bring peace to the land. As Darling rounds up allies and destroys blood magic temple's, she has to put her anger away and find a way to work peacefully with Talon and House Dragon.

Talon Goldhoard, still in love with Darling, is now tasked with ending the vicious House war that his family instigated and finding his once beloved Aunt who murdered a key person in Darling's life. With the Phoenix reborn, Talon is hopeful that the bloodshed will end swiftly. Instead, the kingdom grows more fraught, with the threat of violence ever present – especially from dark, conniving forces within the walls of his own House Dragon.

As Chaos reigns, Talon and Darling must find their way back to each other to not survive but save the kingdom. Can Darling harness the power of the ancient magic that runs through her blood to bring about a new peace? Or will the fury that House Dragon fueled for a hundred-year war be too strong to break. Meanwhile, the real leader of House Dragon, Caspian, seems content to remain in dragon form instead of facing his responsibilities as regent, and Darling continues to find the other empyrials to bring them back to their human selves. House relations are tenuous at best, but most seem supportive of a united front. Using the Phoenix to heal and help, Darling is able to gain allies quickly.

In this book, readers meet the House regents who literally embody their house mascots. Characters turn into creatures like the giant kraken squid, a huge dragon, the long-lost Sphinx, the cat-like gryphon and a cockatrice. I think I would have liked this book a whole lot better had one of the authors had not infested the story with woke crap just because of who the author is. Enough. While the ending was good, it spends a whole lot of time wasted on Darling's personal issues, and Talon trying hard to prove that he's the leader needed in the time of trouble.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin/Razorbill for the opportunity to read and review Blood & Fury in exchange for my honest review.
I was very excited to be selected to receive an advance copy of this book as I had just finished the first book, Chaos & Flame, earlier this month, I am giving Blood & Fury 3.5 stars/5 stars.
While I did enjoy the first book more, especially that cliffhanger, I do think this was a good wrap up and Im glad that this was kept as a duology instead of dragging the story out into a trilogy.
I like all of the characters in this series and even though I was saddened by the fates of two of them at the end for a book series about war and dragons it could have been much more of a bloodbath. I genuinely enjoyed the dynamics between the three main characters( Darling, Talon and Caspian) in the first book so it was a bit disappointing to not have those interactions again until 50% of the way through the book.
One of the main issues that I had with this book and what contributed to it not quite reaching 4 stars was the villain. At times it felt all too convenient to have the main bad character continuously just manage to slip away out of the heroes fingers. And it kept happening, at least three times. As if to draw the story out for another 100 pages or so when that really wasn't necessary from that storyline aspect, I understand why this was done in the narrative , the whole its for House Kraken to have justice part, but it happened too many times to make it plausible. Especially when the last time it was already established how the character could have been trapped long enough for Kraken justice to occur.
I was satisfied by the resolution and the ending was good and happy for most all of the characters. I will make sure to post about this book on my social media (TikTok and Youtube) closer to the release date in Mary, but as of now I am undecided if I will end up purchasing a copy of this book for my home library.
Video Link for social media (TikTok & YouTube) added 5/6/24

In this one Darling settles into her role as the Phoenix Reborn. She tries her best to release the Chaos back into the world and allow people to use their boons, bringing people together to stop the war that's still raging. Some don't agree about it's end.

Caspian seems content to remain in dragon form instead of facing his responsibilities as regent, and Darling continues to find the other empyrials to bring them back to their human selves. House relations are tenuous at best, but most seem supportive of a united front. Using the Phoenix to heal and help, Darling is able to gain allies quickly.

Talon is unabashedly in love with Darling, and is doing his best to play his role for Dragon House while also supporting her. All the whole they search for and try to figure out how to destroy Aurora, who has tainted herself and Chaos with blood magic.

A little slow until the end, and then everything happens so fast it was hard to follow. Overall a good read!

I honestly loved the first book in this duology. It was all about politics, hidden secrets, and a prince going mad. The sequel was completely different from that, and I’m honestly kinda salty about it. Update: VERY salty. MAD even. Worst book of 2024 so far. We still have 3/4 of the year to find a worse book, but still.

Editor me: Rant incoming. Give it a minute to load.

The first mistake made was to not give the mad painter prince a point of view in this one. My favorite parts of the first book was watching this prince spiral down into insanity, because his prophecy magic makes him go crazy. Seeing him obsessively paint these wildly abstract paintings of Darling was the best part of the book. It made the creative part of me go absolutely feral.

And then I open book two, and Caspian’s pov is gone! What the heck? There were so many moments he could have had a pov that would have been amazing. He spends a large portion of the book in dragon form, not wanting to turn back into a human again. He doesn’t want to rule a country, doesn’t want the responsibility that comes with being human. That would have been such an amazing perspective to explore through giving us chapters in his pov.

What did we get instead?

A bunch of people standing around naked, because they just changed back from their mythical beast forms and didn’t think to bring clothes with them. I swear this was most of the book. It was weird, especially since this is a YA fantasy.

I left the second book wanting more of the politics, more of the magic, and more of the secret history of the country that had been buried in order so that House Dragon could reign supreme over all the houses. We got maybe one chapter of the history, a pointless cat and mouse chase with the evil aunt, and the biggest case of the miscommunication trope done horribly I’ve ever seen.

And yet, the writing was superb. The authors hooked me with their stunning prose that carried over from book one. I could not put this train wreck of a book down. It’s like how SJM writes these character drama stories that are so compelling while you’re reading them, but afterwards you regret wasting your time on them. That’s how I felt about this book.

It doesn’t help that after book one was such a smashing success I wanted this to soar to new heights. I was promised a conversation about Caspian’s lack of care for anyone or anything. I was promised war and politics. I was promised epic magical beasts being awesome in battle.

Instead of any of those things, we got one half assed conversation about Caspian’s problems, in which HE WASN’T EVEN THERE, no politics whatsoever, and about twenty too many scenes where the characters would change into magical beast form because of the convenience of flying, and then upon landing, would just be standing around naked for two pages waiting for someone to come running with a shirt and pants. And since it’s faster to fly, they’d get stuck waiting for a long while. Wouldn’t it have just been easier to travel with them then, if they had your clothes and you had to wait for them anyways?

Half the book was just descriptions of people delivering clothing to them, or descriptions of tailors being hired, or neither of those, and they’re just like “oh no, whatever shall I do? I’m buck naked and I need someone to lend me their long coat so people don’t see me naked.” And then at the same time, they would all be like, “But who cares if people see me naked? I’m part wild magical creature now. I’m naked in animal form all the time. Maybe I should just get used to this and be naked 24/7.”

And you know what the worst part of this was? It wasn’t even used for the romance subplot. If you’re only going to give me the povs of the two main characters in love, why aren’t they constantly awkward around each other because Darling is always finding herself naked? BECAUSE IT’S YA, THAT’S WHY. If this were a new adult SJM or JLA series, I wouldn’t bat an eye at these random naked scenes used to further the romantic tension. But since this is YA, they can’t do that.

There was only one scene in the entire book I cared about, and it was when Caspian’s brother was talking to Caspian’s lover about Caspian’s commitment issues. I thought they were about to go back and confront Caspian, BUT NOOOOOOOO, BECAUSE THEY NEEDED MORE TIME FOR MORE STUPID POINTLESS NAKED SCENES.

And also there was blood magic. It was horrible and evil and oh so very tempting. Why didn’t the book spend more time talking about all the pros and cons of using blood magic? Why didn’t it focus on that moral dilemma? BECAUSE NAKED SCENES ARE INHERENTLY FUNNY, according to these two authors. They’re not. They’re just weird and make me feel weird, because THEY’RE BARELY OVER 18.

I highly recommend reading the first book and then quitting the series. That’s what I should have done. The first book was brilliant. It was emotional. It actually made use of the super unique magic system. The characters had real romantic tension between them. I freaking loved book one.

Blood and Fury sucked. Do not read it. Only read the first book and then make up whatever ending you think would suit the series best in your head. And then please share them over on ao3 so I can go there and be like SEE THIS AUTHORS? THIS IS HOW THE BOOK SHOULD HAVE BEEN. YOU FUCKED UP.

Now, you’re probably wondering why I gave it 3/5 stars even though it was a train wreck. Because 3/5 stars for me is a disappointing read. 1/5 or 2/5 books will end up as dnfs, and I clearly liked this enough in the moment to not dnf it. The writing and prose was JUST AS GOOD as in the first book. But there are only so many flowery ways to describe the awkwardness of being suddenly naked around a bunch of random strangers, WHO ARE THE CITIZENS YOU RULE OVER AND SERVE.

I’m done. I can’t do it anymore.

Not quite as good as the first but still a great read. These authors work well together and I will definitely check out anything else they put out.

I still loved the characters and loved the addition of the empyreals. I was disappointed that Talon and Darling were separated for the first half of the book. I thought Darling overreacted to his “betrayal.” I also missed Caspian’s mystique from the first book.

Everything that was confusing about the first book was satisfactorily explained in this one. The magic system and world were interesting. I wished we could have witnessed the use of even more boons. I also would have loved to have learned the history between the empyreals and why they had certain feelings towards each other.

The ending was a nice wrap-up of the series. I would gladly read another book set in this world.

***I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts herein are my own***

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great sequel and completion to a series. Who doesn’t love dragons! I think I need more dragon books and more books from this world.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. Okay, the first book Chaos & Flame was good, like REALLY good, but Blood & Fury was BETTER. Like incredibly so. I normally don't love a sequel as much as the first book because it'll normally have issues with the consistency of timing and planning, but Gratton & Ireland did an absolutely fantastic top with all of it. Which is impressive in itself to be able to write that fluidly with another author. LOVE. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

This was a strong sequel and finale in the Chaos & Flame that I was hoping for, it had everything that I had enjoyed from the previous entry. The characters continued to feel like the same people and belonged in that world. It had everything that I wanted from Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland and it was written perfectly. I loved the cover and glad I got to read this.

Chaos & Flame had me gripped, but Blood & Fury has completely blown it out of the water. I adored the world building in the first book, and the details just got better and better - I would read much more set in this fantasy world!

Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy of the book to review

I devoured book one and couldn't wait for book 2! It picked off right where book 1 stopped and was just as amazing. I feel in love with this story more and more with each chapter

In this captivating read, the author masterfully weaves a narrative that is both engaging and thought-provoking. Through a blend of richly developed characters and a meticulously crafted plot, the book offers a unique exploration of its central themes, inviting readers to immerse themselves in the story's depth and complexity. The narrative is paced perfectly, balancing moments of intense action with thoughtful reflection, ensuring that readers are hooked from the first page to the last. The author's ability to evoke emotion and create a vivid, immersive world is truly remarkable, making this book a must-read for anyone looking for an exceptional literary experience.

Beyond its compelling storyline, the book stands out for its insightful commentary on the human condition, weaving philosophical questions into the fabric of its narrative. The author's skillful use of language not only enriches the text but also elevates the reader's experience, offering new perspectives on familiar themes. Whether it's the intricate dynamics of relationships, the exploration of identity, or the confrontation with ethical dilemmas, this book tackles complex issues with sensitivity and intelligence. It's a testament to the power of storytelling to illuminate the nuances of life, making it a valuable addition to any book lover's collection. Regardless of genre, this is a work that resonates on multiple levels, affirming the enduring impact of well-crafted literature.

Thanks so much to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I received an ARC of Chaos & Flame when it came out a couple of years ago and I adored it....except for that cliffhanger at the end. So you can understand my excitement when I saw the sequel was finally coming into this world! I won't talk too much about the plot of this one because, well, spoilers.

But Talon and Darling's story in the first book had me hooked immediately. The story began when Darling's adoptive father, the scion of House Kraken and rebel leader against the tyrannical House Dragon, is taken captive by the Dragon War Prince. In an attempt to get him back, Darling tries to rescue him but is instead pulled into a scheme by the Prince Regent of House Dragon to pretend she's the long lost House Sphinx heir.

The worldbuilding of this story is so incredibly unique, and is the thing I love the most about it. The love story that occurs is cute, and I definitely root for it in both books, but the magic system and political setup of Pyrlanum are what really had me hooked. This book is a solid continuation of the first novel and I really enjoyed how it wrapped up everything. If this duo decides to write any more, you can bet I'll be buying it! I enjoyed this story immensely.

I liked this one better than the first book! I'll admit, I was more interested in Caspian's romance than the one between Talon & Darling, but I still love them too. I really like the different paths characters took in this, and how we saw Darling really grow into herself. Love those author's writing together

This was a very good conclusion to the series. I love the world and the setting was perfect. I could not put this book down!