2.5⭐️
I was really wanting to love this book. The characters from Until the Stars Fall really won me over and despite parts of the storyline not being the most believable, it was easy to read and engaging enough to pull me in. I was especially eager to get more character development from Brennon because even though parts of his personality were questionable, the fact that he had formed such a bond with Lieke at an early age made me want to see him get his happily ever after. Obviously, that was not to be. I honestly hated the way that he was killed off right at the beginning of the book without showcasing all the ways that his character had grown and the alleged happiness that he had found for himself. I really feel like there should have been a book or even a novella before Once the Skies Fade to highlight Calla and Brennons union. Maybe I could have forgiven that, but I couldn’t find anything that I liked about Calla. Between her temper tantrums and the despicable behavior that she justified with grief, her chapters read like a villain origin story. I am still not convinced that she deserved Brennon or Matthias. In fact, Matthias was the only main character that I actually liked. As far as the plot goes, Once the Skies Fade was a bit drawn out, but otherwise just as smooth as the first book. There was plenty of action to go around and more than enough tension to keep me entertained. Im enjoying the world and I'm trying to be hopeful that the next book will make me fall for the characters again.

The narrators for the audio book both did a great job in bringing the characters to life. Shane East was fantastic as Matthias and the only thing I didn’t like about Zura Johnson’s performance was her male impressions.

Once the Skies Fade is a beautifully layered tale of resilience, love, and hope in the face of darkness. Vanessa Rasanen crafts a world that feels both epic and deeply personal, with characters who stay with you long after the final page. Emotionally rich and quietly powerful, it’s a story that lingers like a memory.

I really hope there will be another release in this series! I love the world that Vanessa has created for this series. I think there's a lot of room for the story to continue building with future releases.

The author's character development is fantastic and she wasn't afraid to start the series with an unexpected, and maybe even controversial, move. Her MMCs are confident and cheeky, and her FMCs are brilliant and strong. In Once the Skies Fade, Vanessa turns the damsel in distress trope on it's head and has her FMC do the rescuing. There is more spice in book two than there was in book one and I was here for it. The shadows be shadowing!

The audio was very theatrical, particularly the female narrator, and it did take some getting used to. I really enjoyed Shane East's deep, gravely voice as the narration for the male POV.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Vanessa Rasanen for an early review copy. These are my honest thoughts.

🚨Potential spoilers for book 1!

🌌This one is about Calla, Queen of Arenysen, who has recently lost her parents, been widowed, and now lives with a nearly unbearable grief. The law states that she cannot rule alone for long, so she does the only sensible thing and holds a deadly tournament ⚔️ so that various suitors may compete for her hand. By Calla’s logic, if they want to share her crown and bed they need to put in maximum effort and I cannot fault this logic one bit. Enter Matthias, Connor’s snarky best friend/matchmaker/general of his armies from book one. Matthias enters the tournament in order to investigate Calla… his opinion is that she’s a 10/10 but also mayyyybe she killed her husband? Better look again. 🌠

🌄This one was good too! Although there were similarities to book one in the world and writing style, book 2 had a completely different story, and the characters were completely different, particularly the FMCs. Where Lieke was a powerless human servant who gradually found her strength, Calla is an extremely powerful noble fae queen who struggles with so much loss it threatens to destroy her. Not only that but she loses some of her moral compass in it and does some pretty horrible stuff. But who among us hasn’t wanted to lash out at the people who kicked us while we were down? I support women’s rights as well as women’s wrongs. I also really loved the way that Calla slowly came to find healing in love, when it was love that had hurt her so badly in the beginning. 🌅

🎧The audiobook was very well done. I could listen at 1.5 or 1.7 speed with zero distortion. I liked the FMC narrator although her accent, which I understand is supposed to be posh because Calla is a queen, had one or two affections that bothered me because they came off kind of QEII, very Mumsy. The MMC voice was amazing, except when he did female voices (I often feel this way, I tend to prefer duet narration for this reason).

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC!

Review: Once the Skies Fade by Vanessa Rasanen (Audiobook) – Did Not Finish
I wanted to love this one—the cover, the title, and the setup all had strong potential—but it just didn’t hold my interest. That said, the narration was well-done, and I think readers who enjoy slow-burn, emotionally driven fantasy might find more to love here than I did. Just not quite the right fit for me.

This is second book of the Immortal Reveries series - and it’s giving us more of our favorite sarcastic general from book one! Mathias goes “undercover” in a competition for Calla’s hand, but that’s just a cover to discover the truth behind Brennan’s death. I really enjoyed the trails and watching the characters grow together as they dance around the idea of mates. Plus - hello morally grey shadow momma Calla. Other tropes include fated mates, court intrigue, as well as secrets and betrayal.
Thank you Netgalley, the author, and publisher for an advance copy of the audiobook! All opinions are my own.

I love Vanessa and her books so getting to listen to this on audio for release was just a fantastic experience. This was my first time hearing her words on audio and I loved it so much and now I feel spoiled and need to go back and listen to book one.

I really didn’t think this book could get any better but listening to everything! The narrators did an absolutely amazing job bringing Calla and Mathias to life. Mathias is such a fun, cheeky character and hearing him was even more exquisite than reading his smart mouth. If you haven’t experienced Vanessa’s writing it’s truly magical. There’s so much tension, banter and spice that smolders. This in your earbuds is magnificent. Highly recommend this series in both written and audio form. Honestly might start it over from the beginning right now because it’s that good!
Thank you so much Vanessa for letting me experience this magic in a different form!

This story started off with a heartbreak & kept me on my toes the whole time. Calla is a truly morally grey FMC (with shadows!) who exemplifies what grief can bring out in a perfect. Mattias was the perfect counterbalance as the witty, sarcastic MMC. I never imagined I’d find the nickname “Killer” attractive but he does it!

Zura Johnson & Shane East did a wonderful job with duet narration for the audiobook. Their voices set the regal tone that you would imagine a queen & general to have.

Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this book. This review is voluntary, and all opinions expressed are my own.

What an epic book 2 in the Immortal Reveries Series by Vanessa Rasanen!!

Shadow Mama takes names and leaves no prisoners! Okay, she might leave one or two in the dungeon.

And General “Flynn Ryder” is the perfect blend of banter, swagger, strength and boyish charm.

I do not want to give away anything in the plot, but I will say this is a murder mystery with trials, subterfuge, who done it, listening to your heart, banter and so much more!!!

I just loved every aspect of the General and his “Killer”!

Thank you @netgalley for the Audio ARC
Thank you @vanessarasanenauthor for writing this masterpiece adventure. Thank you @dreamscape_media for this marvelous production. Thank you @shaneeastreads and @zurajohnson for an epic performance!

#shadowmama #immortalreveriesseries #vanessarasanenauthor #killerandhergeneral #givemeashersbook

3/5 ⭐ (this is a generous 3 ⭐)

The idea of the story was good. However, I really wanted to DNF this book several times.

First of all the narrators were not doing very good job. I disliked the FMC because of this. Actually I didn't like her because of a lot of things but this was the major one. I mean she was too collected to be the morally grey character and shadow mummy that I am seeing in the reviews. Constantly pitting herself, constantly doubting herself... oh, get a hold of yourself woman!

It was too long... I mean 15 hours for this was too much. There were so unnecessary inner thoughts and description that could have been avoided. And in the same time I can't tell nothing of the world or the characters. I have no clue how they should look like.

The trials were ok. They were written well and were a breath of fresh air.

I couldn't understand what was exactly the magic system - ok she had the shadows but what else? And they were talking more like a curse than a magic... In general, I couldn't see much of the fantasy here. Where are the rest of the abilities, the rest of the magic...?

There are a lot of plot holes. Example of this why all those people were murdered - what was the reason of loosing her family. Why she was killing humans in such a rage? (didn't her friends were half humans?) And she was supposed to know who killed her husband... why didn't she tell Matthias when they were in that dream? And those dreams... and the mate bond... too many things that they were supposed to know or there are only few couples in the whole world who only experienced the mate bond?

And please, oh please stop putting dragons only to write that there are dragons in the books when they make no difference if they are there or not.

What was the need in the end of the book to be presented with totally new characters and species? Why prolonging the end? It didn't make it more interesting or sure.

I don't know, in general there is potential but I can't tell that I am impressed. Maybe people really liked it but this was not for me.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this sequel. Mathias and Calla were good MCs in this story and the narrators who portrayed them were both great! This story was filled with loss, mystery, betrayal, love and more! I look forward to reading more books from this author!

I didn’t realize this was book 2 in a series so I immediately stopped and then listened to the audiobook of book 1. I do think they can be read as standalone books, but I think it enriches the experience to read book 1 first.

I always love a shadow daddy and on this story we have a shadow mommy!

I adore the characters. They are sarcastic, sassy and an all around good time. This book deals with grief, and finding life after loss.

This has many great tropes:

Enemies to lovers
Touch her and die (touch him and die)
Fae/human political issues

If you enjoyed book 1, you will definitely love book 2.

The narrators are fantastic as always. Shane East is one of my favorites! Zura Johnson was new to me, but I enjoyed her portrayal of Calla very much!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape media for an ALC in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoy Rasanen’s writing, and the worlds she creates. The narration on this audio was fantastic, and really elevated the story. It was really exciting to listen, and the narrators really kept me on my toes!

This story follows Calla and Matthias as they try to avoid their fated pull through a deadly trial, heartwrenching grief and a kingdom at the edge of collapse. The banter and chemistry between these two is absolute perfection. The ending leaves the door cracked to continue the series of interconnected standalone, so l'm dying to read the next one already!
If you like audio, you'll love the performance that @zurajohnson and @shaneeastreads give in their narration. It completely brings the story to life.

When I saw that the FMC for Once the Skies Fade by Vanessa Rasanen was going to be Calla, my heart broke. I loved that she and Brennan found joy together and legitimately fell in love with one another. He found his place and I was happy for them. We even get to have a glimpse of that in the beginning, him loving and attempting to cheer up his wife who is still mourning the deaths of her parents. So much for happiness!

Before I get deeper into it, I want to say adding Shane East as the MMC narrator really knocked his out of the park. He did an amazing job portraying both side of Matthias, his earnestness alongside his impishness and angst. Zura Johnson is back narrating the FMC and was great as Calla. She really helped me feel the anguish and rage and impotence Calla spent the entire novel going through.

This second book in the Immortal Reveries series was by far better than the first. This gave me everything! It definitely leaned more into the romance instead of trying to toe that line between this is a fantasy story and this is a romance that the first book tried. This also had much stronger personalities and main characters. Calla’s ruthlessness was perfection. I was ready to marry her. Loved my shadow queen who suffers no fools. And Matthias, it took some time for me to warm up to him because I loved Brennan so much and was so upset at having him come into the picture as a possible replacement. But, I grew to care for him – much more than I did for Connor.

The tension between all of the characters was perfect and, despite considering myself particularly discerning, I was absolutely played for a fool at the ending (Isa, my queen, I’m sorry I thought ill of you.) Then that ending was so gruesome but intriguing. I’m honestly excited to see where the next book goes and who we focus on. I’m also so intrigued by the witch and cannot wait to see what all these money moves she’s making are for.

If you were on the fence with the first book, trust me, Once the Skies Fade by Vanessa Rasanen makes up for it. It is spicy, angsty, and practically perfect. Plus, if you’re going to read this, I 100% recommend the audiobook version.

High fantasy romance with dragon shifters, nightwalkers, mages, and a battle for the throne? Say less. I was hooked from the prologue, and let’s be real—Shane East delivering that opening as Matthias? Immediate obsession.

I fell hard and fast for Matthias. How could I not? He’s a sarcastic, sunshiny cinnamon roll of a general, convinced he’ll never find true love and perfectly content with his duty—until Calla storms into his life. And her name? His Killer. That nickname? Absolute chef’s kiss.

This book gave me everything I love—
• Reverse grumpy/sunshine (Calla is the grump, Matthias is the snarky, sarcastic sunshine, and I lived for it).
• Slow-burn tension with undeniable chemistry.
• A heroine fighting against grief, suspicion, and ruthless politics.
• A hero who swore off love but is now in way too deep.
• So much treachery. Who’s on her side? Who’s working against her? Trust no one.

Calla is a queen in mourning, forced into a deadly competition to keep her crown. Matthias enters the trials for his kingdom, but also to uncover the truth behind his best mate’s brother’s death—her late husband. They both try to fight the attraction, insist it’s only physical… but their connection? Unstoppable.

Vanessa Rasanen’s world-building is phenomenal. I was completely swept into the intrigue, the stakes, the twists I did not see coming. And the audiobook? Pure magic.

Zura Johnson was perfect as Calla—this was my first time listening to her, and she absolutely nailed it. And Shane? We all know he’s my favourite narrator, the GOAT, the Romance God. But I’ll say it again—Shane belongs in fantasy romance. His performance as Matthias was everything I could have hoped for. If he could narrate every fantasy romance ever, I’d be first in line.

I need the next book immediately, and in the meantime, I’ll be diving into book one. But honestly, you don’t even need to read the first book to enjoy this one—Vanessa sets it up brilliantly, and that prologue? Genius.

There are not enough stars in the universe for this book.
Your ears will thank me later.
Ten out of ten, run to get this audiobook.

Thank you to Vanessa Rasanen and Dreamscape media for an advanced copy of this book for an honest review. I had the opportunity to listen to the audio version and it did not disappoint! The narrators did a wonderful job. There were two- one for each of the two main characters in the book.
I appreciated the little recap at the beginning. It was nice to have a little review of what happened in the previous book, especially as someone who did not read it. That being said, I don't think you have to read book 1 to enjoy this one, but I am certainly interested now.
The book started off a bit slow. At first I thought it was going to be a villain origin story, which I would have totally been here for, but it picked up about 30-ish percent in when the competition began. The chemistry between the characters was definitely there and the action/adventure and mystery aspects of the story were also very compelling.

Oh my stars! This has to be my favorite audio book Ive ever listened to! Both the MMC and FMC voice actors were excellent choices, I especially enjoyed the male! Every part of this book, was perfect! It all made sense, perfect conversations, great main and secondary characters. Some books feel too long, but this one was perfect. Every chapter was needed, every interaction added to the story/plot. I havent enjoyed a book like this in a while! Every chapter I enjoyed and really soaked in. Calla, was made likable despite everything that happened d/t the amazing character building and character growth. You empathized with her and understood where she came from. Matthias, oh my, oh my, Matthias! I love him so much. Our grumpy sunshine! Who did this to you?! I enjoyed every aspect of this story. The loss, the trials, the love, the twists, the friendship - all of it was perfect! I cannot emphasize this enough, if you havent read this and you love fae, romance, trials, dragons, and vampires - this book is for you! I give this a 5/5 and if I could give more I would! I loved this so much so, that after I listened to audiobook, I immediately looked for a special edition hard back of this book! Seriously, one of my top 5 favorite books of all time! Thank you so much Netgalley and Crab Apple Books for blessing me with the opportunity to experience this as an ARC audio listener! I am forever changed! I cannot emphasize this enough, if you can, PLEASE allow yourself to experience the audio book!! I found myself wanting to stay in my car just a bit longer, do my house work just a bit longer, go on my walks just a bit longer JUST so I could know what was happening!! 5! 5! 5! STARS!

*Once the Skies Fade* by Vanessa Rasanen is a poignant and emotionally charged romance that explores themes of love, loss, and healing. Set against the backdrop of a world recovering from tragedy, the novel follows its protagonist as she navigates the grief of losing her partner while slowly learning to open her heart again. Rasanen's writing is raw and relatable, capturing the complexity of human emotions with sensitivity and depth. The romance, though tender, doesn’t shy away from the challenges and scars that come with personal growth. It's a beautiful and heart-wrenching journey of rediscovery, making it a must-read for fans of heartfelt contemporary romance.