Once the Skies Fade (Immortal Reveries #2) by Vanessa Rasanen

The law is clear: remarry or lose the throne.
But it says nothing about love.

Rating: ****
Feels: Amusement, Shock, Anticipation, Heat
Style: Fantasy, Romantasy, Magic, Fae, Fantasy Romance
First published March 14, 2025: 642 pages, Kindle / Audio Book

I adored Matthias in book one so was pleased we got to see more of him, so so much more and wow. He did not disappoint. Calla, wow girl. She brought her game and found myself a new shadow mommy. If you thought you loved shadow daddies wait until you meet Calla and see what she can do *swoons*. Oh wait yes back to Matthias, who did not want any of this but because he is the kind of guy he is he just wins us all over. The reluctant hero is a storyline I so love and then combine it with a deadly, hurting (while we are kinda hurting to be honest) shadow QUEEN !! well this was just one recipe I loved. This author really knows how to tell a story.


Audiobook Review: Zura Johnson (narrator), Shane East(narrator) : So this is the first audiobook I have listened to with these narrators and wow. They have climbed up my list. They bring the perfect amount of emotion, depth and tone to each situation and I was transported. I have read on kindle and now listened to the audio and the prologue was delivered with so much humor I was giggling even though I knew what happened already. I was easily able to tell who was speaking in the story at throughout. The flow of the story was seamless and I was able to follow along at different speeds without difficulty. My typically listening speed is between 1.5 - 2.0 and I listened to this at 1.75. The pauses, shifts and way they both narrate really add to the story in a way that brought the story and style of the writing to life. This was literally such a perfect pairing of author to narrator. This would be an equally pleasant read or audiobook listen, for me I think I actually preferred this as an audiobook with just how well it was done.

This book has:
Shadow Mommy (YES !!!)
Enemies to Lovers
Marriage Trials
Touch her/him and die
Fae Courts
Fae vrs Humans
Politics
Magic

Thank you so much to Vanessa Rasanen, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to review this audiobook. All thoughts are my own.

✨ ARC Book Review ✨

Once the Skies Fade by Vanessa Rasanen

STAR RATING: 5/5⭐️

REVIEW:
Oh how heavy grief is. Vanessa did an absolutely beautiful job at portraying just how painful grief is and how unusual society views such a natural thing. Even in a world where fae are immortal, their grief should be allowed and processed. To be forced into something you aren’t ready for can also show how crazy life is. These characters were so wonderful. I loved this story so much. How wonderful!


PLATFORM: Audiobook

Shane East could get me to read nearly anything, honestly. Zura Johnson is new to me and delivered a phenomenal performance.

This is my first Vanessa Rasanen book and I am glad it was a stand alone I could jump right into.

Tropes: Fated Mates |Feminine Rage| Touch him & die

There is so much love and loss throughout this book. We get a story of grief, political intrigue, a morally gray female, and some great banter.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable listen! Zura Johnson and Shane East knocked it out of the park and made all the characters come to life. I haven't gotten a chance to read the first book (though it's on my TBR), but it didn't feel like I was dumped into a world mid-story. You can definitely read the stories out of order if you're okay with knowing who ends up with who in previous books. The letter at the beginning, written by Mathias, was absolutely hilarious and immediately made me feel like I understood this character and who we were going to get as the MMC. Mathias's non-stop banter and snarkiness were fantastic, and getting a shadow mommy for a change instead of the ever-present romantasy shadow daddy was fantastic! Calla's grief felt palpable, and I loved that Mathias accepted that her grief was HERS and didn't need to be understood by all. Losing someone important to you can be devastating, and I appreciated the author's sensitivity when writing about it. The trials and rivalry were really interesting, and I didn't immediately call who the murderer was, which is always a plus! This book ensures I'll be reading the first book in the series asap, and I'm really looking forward to the third book!

I am familiar with Vanessa Rasanens writing, and was very eager to dive into this book!
At first, I wasnt sure how I was going to like the story. The FMC, Calla, has gone through some significant loss and is clearly struggling. With this grief she makes some, well.... really poor choices. That really made it hard to like her as the FMC.
However, Matthias more then made up for that. It was great seeing her slowly heal through their interactions, and learn her way back to a sense of humanity.
In generally, I love the imagery Vanessa creates in her writing. She is very eloquent and paints vivid and beautiful scenes in her book. I loved this book and was surprised by the conflict towards the end! It definitely kept me engaged and reading to the very end!


Specifically for the audiobook portion... these voice actors were perfect. I really feel like they fit the descriptions of the characters really well, and added a richness to their development.

This was such an excellent, enjoyable read! I loved Matthias' character from the moment we met him in Until the Stars Fall, and throughout this book.

The VA's did a wonderful job.

Once the Skies Fade is a gripping mix of political intrigue, romance, and mystery. The widowed queen’s struggle to keep her throne while facing deadly secrets and an unexpected romance kept me hooked.

✔ Strong, morally grey heroine and a tense, slow-burn romance
✔ Intriguing mystery and courtly drama
✖ Pacing drags in the middle
✖ Worldbuilding could be deeper

Overall, a solid fantasy romance with sharp tension and high stakes—perfect for fans of political intrigue and slow-burn love stories!

Once the Skies Fade was a good sequel standalone but I did not like it as much as Until the Stars Fall. I definitely do not care for vampire books and did not expect them to be introduced in this series. I can tell they will be incorporated more as the series goes along. I also did not know how I felt about the relationship in this one unlike in book 1. I know it is always hard to compare but I couldn’t help it. I did enjoy the book a lot but just didn’t love it as much as the first which took inspiration from one of my favorite movies Sabrina. I kind of wish they all were inspired from different romance movies.

✨ A Thrilling, Twisty Fantasy with a Husband-Finding Competition Like No Other! ✨
I was so excited to receive an ARC of Once the Skies Fade from NetGalley! I went into this book as a standalone since I hadn’t read Until the Stars Fall (and had seen some very mixed reviews on that one), but I loved that this book stands on its own. Too many fantasy series are turning into endless sagas, so I appreciated the rare joy of an interconnected standalone. The quick recap before Chapter 1 was a brilliant touch—it gave me just enough background to dive straight in!

💖 Things I Loved:
🔥 The husband-finding competition was incredible—possibly one of the most exciting sets of challenges I’ve ever read. Think The Bachelorette meets Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, with an ACOTAR-esque fae overlay, and I was here for it. The competitors weren’t just filler characters—they had depth, and the challenges kept me constantly guessing. The first task in the forest? Straight-up Triwizard Tournament maze vibes. So good.
⚔️ Top-tier political intrigue. The cutthroat backstabbing within Queen Calla’s court, mixed with the strategic manipulation inside the husband contest itself, kept the tension high. By the end, I was anxiously flipping pages to see how it all played out.
💫 The slow-burn, fated mates romance was so well done. You know the main characters are destined for each other, but they circle each other in the most deliciously drawn-out way before finally colliding—complete with a steamy bathtub scene that makes it so worth the wait.
🎙️ Dual narrators = perfection. Shane East as Matthias? Chef’s kiss. His deep, sexy voice brought his character to life in the best way. No notes.

😬 Things That Didn’t Work for Me:
👑 Queen Calla as a morally-great main character… is just not it. We’re clearly supposed to root for her, but she does some genuinely terrible things early on—even cackling while doing them. Since we’re in her POV, it’s unsettling to watch her act like a straight-up villain, and it never really changes. I assume the book wants us to sympathize with her because of her grief, but it doesn’t read that way for me. Instead, she comes across as extremely judgmental and speciesist (yikes). It got to the point where I wondered if she was supposed to be the antagonist with a The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes type twist villain-ending. That's not how the plot played out in the end, but I was mentally ready for it, given how her character developed throughout the book.
🌶️ Spice level? Meh. It’s there, but it’s like a 🌶️🌶️.5/ 5 . It felt more like an afterthought than something that legitimately added to the MCs' chemistry. The book would have been just as good if the spicy scenes weren't included, which is a sign that maybe they weren't needed.
🌍 The world-building & magic system needed more explanation. The story casually drops huge magical details—like oh, some people are wolf-shifters? Oh, some can turn into dragons??—without enough setup. I wanted to be immersed in this world, but the lack of clarity made it hard to follow.
🎧 The female audiobook narrator, Zura Johnson, didn’t hit the mark for me. While Shane East (British) nailed Matthias’s character, Zura Johnson's voice as a reader (American using a British accent) felt more transatlantic “wannabe British” than an authentic high-brow The Crown type royal. This could be personal preference, but it really threw me off, especially since Calla was already an iffy protagonist for me. The voice just made her come across as even more unlikeable.

Final Verdict?
This is a tough one to rate because there were things I really loved and things I really didn’t. I’d say it lands around 3.5/5 stars—a solid mid-tier romantasy that, like Until the Stars Fall, will probably receive very split opinions. Some people will absolutely love it, while others might struggle with the execution. If you love high-stakes competitions, court intrigue, and slow-burn romance, give it a shot!

I loved every minute of Once the Skies Fade! The narrations by Zura Johnson and Shane East were fantastically performed and really brought both Calla and Matthias to life! While I read book 1 before this is a standalone in an interconnected world and is easy to follow if you haven't read Until the Stars Fall.

The relationship of Calla and Matthias is both heartwarming and hilarious, the banter between them is golden. I love that we get to see these characters again since Calla was elusive in book 1 and Matthias was my favorite side character of the book.

Overall, I found this book extremely enjoyable and would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves romantasy filled with banter, spice, and enemies to lovers!

Thank you to both NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing the eALC.

I jumped into this novel not having read the first in the series. There was a recap in the opening (similar to “last season on …”), but with the complications of various species, special talents, secrets, and subterfuge, I couldn’t really get into the audiobook until I consumed the first 25%. Then I couldn’t press pause!
The banter between the two primary characters was delicious, enhanced by the male’s very sexy narration. There were high stakes, puzzles, and risks taken. The young Queen recently lost both her parents and her husband in strange circumstances. She reluctantly holds a tournament to find someone to marry lest she lose the throne. The novel is inventive with interesting world building. Romantasy genre at its best.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @DreamscapeMedia, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #OncetheSkiesFade for review purposes. Publication date: 18 March 2025.

The narrators were awesome. I was a little surprised that Zura Johnson was Calla when she was also Sabrina in the last book. Shane did a fantastic job at bringing Matthias to life.

I love when a book has a humorous summary of the previous book read by one of the characters.
I was hooked from the first book and having a major character die at the start of this book was absolutely mind blowing! (I didn’t read the description, clearly.) I’m always worried the second book won’t stand up to the first but this one was just as good plus it’s even darker. I loved the reverse roles going on compared to the traditional ways. (She washes him, she saves him etc) Both MCs had amazing character growth. Matthias’ humor and banter were fantastic. The trials, the betrayals, and the slow burn were fantastic. I did feel like the ending dragged on a tiny bit and was rather slow compared to the rest of the story.

Queen Calla is mourning the loss of her parents and then her husband dies and on her arms. When her husbnd family request for him to be bury where he ws born he travels to his kingdom. where she sees a witch to tell her who kill her husbnd but also wants revenge who kill him. When she is force to remarry she decide its for political reason instead of love.
Matthias is a flirt sarcastic and he can stnd on his own eapecially Because Queen Calla is strong and doesnt let anyone control her.

Oh my stars! Matthias and his mouth! I loved every minute of this book. From the hilarious recap to the very first line, I was flying through it. The slowwwest of slow burns 🔥 The banter is top notch! Calla is such a fierce FMC and I felt her grief right along with her. I couldn't possibly love this book more!

The narrators did an amazing job at bringing this story to life. The emotional depth was absolutely perfection!

I really enjoyed this book with its trials, banter, and slow burn to spiciness.

I love how it is technically a connected standalone, but it did take some remembering to figure out what happened previously even with the 'lead in' by Mathias. Yet, although I liked Mathias and Calla - I did not connect and root for them as much as I did within the previous book.

Audiobook wise, both narrators had great voices that were easy to listen to. I did struggle, especially at first, to differentiate some of the male voices (when the male narrator spoke), the female narrator was better at 'throwing her voice' in comparison.

Overall an enjoyable read and will continue the series if there are more books eventually.

Unfortunately this was just not my jam. The production itself is good, I am just not a fan of the story. I had a really hard time getting into it, and connect with it. I felt there were a lot of plot holes and the pacing was off. The banter is good and the romance is cute, but just not for me.

I was lucky enough to be given an ARC of the audiobook production of Once the Skies Fade. The audio production was done so well. Absolutely loved the narrators but this book overall is just beautiful. Even in the midst of grief resounding throughout, the story and characters keep you wanting more. This is my first time reading a story where the FMC is morally grey and I loved her!! Deadly trials, amazing characters, fated mates, secrets, betrayal. And my new favorite pet name just may be "Killer". This is book 2 of a standalone series. I have not read book 1 but enjoyed this book so much that book 1 is going on my TBR! Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape media for allowing me an ARC of Once the Skies Fade.

4.25 stars
"I'm getting too old for this shit."
"These wouldn't be the last lives I ended."
"What's a deadly competition without a little bit of danger."
"Did they hate me? Did they blame me? The question swirled around my mind like a brewing storm. But the more I pondered them the more my pain and grief shifted into anger."

Thank you so much to Dreamscape Media & Netgalley for an ALC in exchange for an honest review. Wow wow. This audiobook did what needed to be done. I really enjoyed the way Shane East and Zura Johnson brought the characters and world building to life. Their voices truly depicted pain, grief, love, anger, and every emotion the characters were experiencing in each scene. The best way to digest this story is to listen to it for sure, it makes the setting and the entire flow of the story go by very well. Calla being the one with shadow magic was not on my bingo card and I really loved that she was the one with the shadow magic, and the one with the strongest power! I like that Calla was one to not shy away from her rage, i like how that was the center in some of her scenes!! We need to see more women who rage!!!! I loved Calla's inner dialouge and her strong whit to overcome the many obstacles that were in her way throughout the story. Mathias is truly that man, well general!! His hilarious whit and commentary throughout the story was perfect, he was the comic relief always, and his intelligence and empathy definitely showed that he was always the one for Calla.

This story had a very strong and intriguing first and middle section of the story. The world building and funny dear reader in the very beginning of the story set the tone of the story and it was perfect. The world building was very easy to understand & digest, and the point / misconceptions were easy to understand what the core of this story was going to be about. The story kept me on my toes because of the many twists and turns and unknown of what was going to happen next. The deadly trials that occurred and the uncertainty of who was going to live or die captivated me and drew my attention even more. Some scenes were fast paced and then the slow connection and tension between Calla and Mathias was a slow burn and I love the way the author made that depiction of the pacing throughout the book.

With that being said the last part of the book felt a bit too slow, I think that the story could have wrapped up a bit faster and still have the same effect it would have. I do think some scenes were a bit drawn out but I will say this was still a captivating read for me.

I really enjoyed the trial aspect of this book. I'm going to be honest this was hard for me to get into. I realized now that it's the second book so that's probably way. I did originally have it as a 3 star but knowing that now I moved it to a 4 star. Thank you net galley for the arc. 🫶🏻

ARC read - 4/5⭐️ Once the Skies Fade is the second book in the Immortal Reveries series by Vanessa Rasanen. This book is an interconnected standalone. I received an advanced reader copy of the audiobook version. I loved the dual POV and the different narrators. Both narrators did a great job of capturing and keeping the reader/listeners attention and added an elevated listening experience to this book.

Once the Skies Fade portrays Queen Calla, whose husband recently dies and she is forced to remarry or give up her kingdom. At the trials to find her new husband, none other than Calla’s husband’s best friend shows up to compete. A morally grey FMC, a witty/sarcastic MMC, trials, shadow wielders, romance, fated mates…OBSESSED. I really felt for Calla, she was so misunderstood and forced to remarry after just losing her husband. But I loveddd that Calla was the shadow wielder, a shadow mommy if you will. The banter from Matthias was hilarious, he was so quick with his witty responses. The tension between Calla and Mathias had me in a chokehold 🥵 and the spice was giving what it needed to give 👩🏻‍🍳💋🌶️. This is a must read!! Can’t wait til this one comes out so I can purchase a physical copy.