4.5 ⭐️ WOW, a journey worth taking. This book has such a unique pacing, and Carissa did an amazing job balancing an epic journey with a stunning romantic arc. I was invested the entire time. And the way I fell even harder for Mische + Asar’s love!!! Carissa said this is the most romantic book she’s written, and she delivered. It’s probably one of my favorite love stories in a romantasy.

This book was high stakes the majority of the time! I was constantly on the edge of my seat, wondering how everything could possible play out. I love the turmoil between vampires, humans, and gods. The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk sets up a path to an insane Bloodborn duet, I’m not even ready (BUT SO READY, let’s be real.)

This book is everything and more and I can’t wait for y’all to get your hands on it! Thank you so much to Carissa Broadbent and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC. A dream come true!!

🩸I HIGHLY recommend reading Slaying the Vampire Conqueror before reading The Fallen. It will make your experience so much better and you’ll understand a lot more. And while you’re at it, if you haven’t already, PLEASE read the masterpiece that is Six Scorched Roses. The best novella of all time. It will enhance your experience reading The Fallen, trust me.

Let me praface by saying I don't think this book will be a five stars for everyone, but it was for me. This series as a whole has been so wonderful to me. Each book builds on the characters, lore, and world-building of previous books. I love Mische and her story and the healing she was able to have this book. Her and Asar went through so much really great character development. I loved Luce too. I wouldn't change anything about this book personally. I think the average romantasy reader may find this book slower than previous ones in the series, but I appreciated everything it brought to the table.

Thank you Tor for my #gifted ARC.

This breaks my heart, but DNF at 70%

I loved the first 2 books in this series, then struggled to finish book 3. I had high hopes for book 4 because I heard characters from all the other books would be coming back.

The traveling in the story feels long, I’m struggling with the wraith piece and unfortunately just got bored with the story.

This was a great duology and conclusion to Mische and Asar’s story. I loved all the character cameos in here and it really brought the whole Nyaxia world (so far) together. This book did take me longer to finish, and I did struggle through some of the parts as I thought the pacing was off. Some areas were really slow and could have been condensed, but overall I really enjoyed it and I can’t wait to read the next installment! Thank you so much to Carissa and Tor/Bramble for the ARC!!

This was such a great ending to the duology but also a great continuation for n the overall series. The love story between Mische and Asar made me swoon and cry and feel all the feels.
I loved seeing all the characters cameos from the previous books.
I can’t wait for the next instalment!

The love I have for this series cannot be overstated. CB can do no wrong with these characters! I re-read Songbird in anticipation of this ARC, and highly recommend doing this. Getting more Miche and Asar and deeper into their relationship was extremely satisfying. I was so happy when old friends came back into the story. It is full of tension and adventure. Cannot wait for ANYTHING Carissa gives us!!!!

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book. I love this entire series and each book along the way. This one ended up being a 4 star read, and I’m not exactly sure why. I really enjoyed the book and I love the characters, but it took me so much longer than normal to finish it. I feel like it was just unnecessarily long, there were definitely parts that could have been condensed. Again, overall I really did enjoy the book and the storyline! I will always read her books, because they’re great but this one has been my least favorite of the series.

I’m so thankful to have read an e-ARC for this!

Mische and Asar are the epitome of we survive or die together.
The storyline flows very nicely and it's easy to follow along with the characters.
The ending emotionally devastated me but it gave me closure I didn’t know I needed.
I can’t wait for a shelf trophy.

First and foremost, thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Carissa Broadbent for the opportunity to read this ARC. I literally jumped for joy, when I got approved. Now for the good stuff…

OH. MY. GOD. 😍🥵🤯

This is the best installment of the Crowns of Nyaxia series yet! It has the perfect blend of fantasy and romance that is sure to appeal to all readers. The plot twists were twisting, the spice was HOT, and the character development was outstanding!

Mische and Asar go through so much not only has a power couple, but as individuals in this book. Now, fair warning, I feel like a reread of the rest of the series is needed before delving into this book. You will see a lot of characters from previous novels come into play. If you don’t, it will not affect the story, but it does bring this novel up another level emotionally.

Carissa Broadbent knows how to write romantasy. She has easily become one of my favorite authors. I am very excited and intrigued to see where this series goes next. Is the epilogue a hint at to who’s story is next….if so it’s about to get reaallll interesting 👀

HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SERIES!

The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk

Thank you Tor for this ARC. I truly appreciate it

My goodness. Absolutely irrevocably 5 stars. I love this series and this world so much but I never thought someone would be able to beat out Raihn and Oraya but wow, Asar and Mische are MY EVERYTHING.

Carissa Broadbent tells a story like no other and she has been building the incredible world of Nyaxia and everything really started falling into place and coming together in this book. We got to see all of our favorite characters, and everytime Mische mentioned Raihns “stupid sad puppy dog face” I wanted to cry and scream.

The found family in this series is one of my absolute favorites, and we got so many aspects of that in this book. Asar remains my favorite Nyaxia man but like it’s so hard to choose because I love them ALL.. but I love my smart, witty, serious but DRY AND FUNNY man, and he was ready to literally let the entire world burn for his love.

I love LUCE, ASAR and MISCHE in that order. lol. I am so grateful I got this ARC I just wish I loved this duet more. This particular book was complicated, I couldn't follow it. The first book was complex but I was able to follow the story and enjoyed the character development between the leads, however this one I was as lost as a Souleater in the wrong part of the underworld. Am I happy with the ending? Yes. Am I super excited about the epilogue? HECK YES! I just need to be honest with myself that as much as I am a fervent fangirl, I didn't enjoy this one as much as the others in this world. I will always read all of Carissa's books though, forever and always. ♥

Mische and Asar's journey continues in a harrowing tale of longing, sacrifice and mortal peril. This story is full of trials of the heart, the greater good and unending sacrifice. Mische and Asar are willing to do whatever it takes to save what's left of their world; except sacrifice their most precious thing, each other.

I spent the last 30% of this book, with my hand clutched to my chest, wiping away tears as I sobbed so hard I almost threw up. There's something about the way Carissa writes her characters, they are flawed and real so every pain they have physically hurts your heart. The line "That face, in life. That face, in death." will haunt me in ways I cannot explain. I feel as if my heart was stomped on then carefully laid into a bed of poppies.

This is one of those books where you absolutely need to have completed the entire Crowns of Nyaxia series (including the side ones) to fully understand and recognize all the players that take part in this duet. Carissa has fully blown me away and I'm so incredibly thankful to have been given an arc of this book.

Sigh.

Firstly, thank you Netgalley for the ARC, in return for an honest review.

I am 60% in and DNF’ing. I tried so hard, but unfortunately this duet is not for me. However, I did read over half this book so I am rewarding myself by marking it as “read”, lol I don’t wanna hear about it.

I had a really tough time with Mische, in book 1 she was almost unbearable to me. She was like a 12 year old mentally despite being a 50+ year old vampire. That personality trait did bleed over into this book too, which was tough at times for me to read.

The altercation had with Raihn made me upset too.

The pluses in this book are that Asar is just as dreamy as he was in book 1, and Luce is adorable and I am obsessed with her.

The major qualm I really have overall with this duet is that this is labeled the “Shadowborn duet”, yet we are actually barely in the Shadowborn court. We’re in the underworld and other courts a majority of the time, which makes no sense. I also feel like the atmosphere was *almost* fleshed out, but not quite. I couldn’t quite picture anything, and some descriptions of places and creatures genuinely made no sense to me.

This pains me to do, as Carissa Broadbent is one of my favorite authors of all time… but this one, put plainly, was just not for me.

The rich detail in each description in the book made this a really beautiful and enjoyable read. Broadbent is such a talented writer. On top of that, the non-stop action reeled me in and kept me engaged from start to finish. I read this book in just a few sittings, which is super fast for me.

Many series use the first book following an established relationship to divide the couple (either physically or mentally) and use that to push the plot forward; I absolutely loved that this book did not use that device. I already loved Mische and Asar from the first book, and I appreciated that this one kept them front-and-center, rather than pulling them apart.

I also really liked how complex the characters in this series are - the two leads are multidimensional, flawed, and smart. This really sets this series apart from others, for me.

While I liked that other key characters from their world showed up, since their presence was fleeting, it wasn't possible to give them the kind of depth we got from Mische and Asar, which made their interactions feel lacking.

What a great addition to this universe. The first duet is my favorite. But I love Mische and Asar. Stellar romance. Stellar world.

Okay here’s the thing I love her but this is not my fave in the series. I feel like some sections of this book took FOREVER to get through. However, I’m obsessed with this series and am excited to keep reading!!

Continuing Mische & Asar's journey from The Songbird & the Heart of Stone, this book picks up right where the story left off. Mische has killed Atroxus, the sun-god, and BOY are there a lot of consequences for her actions. Mische's mortality is now on the line and Asar must find Alraru's crown, eye, and heart in order to ascend to true divinity and gain the power to save the one he loves the most.

There is SO MUCH story that unravels in this book with many twists and turns that continued to surprise me. It was also a joy to have more scenes with Raihn and Oraya from the first two books. If you liked how the previous book was organized- I think you will really enjoy how the sequel mirrors the formatting.

The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk is the perfect ending to this duet and demonstration of "willing to risk it all for the ones we love the most."

Definitely a great continuation to a very interesting story! Love the chemistry of the main couple, and recalls to other characters in the series. Great heroine whose journey is well written. Very interesting humanity to the gods depicted. I

This was a good conclusion to the duet, my fave is still the first book but I think this had all the adventure, angst, soulmates, gods and fantasy romance. I loved the romance and how despite everything the main characters go through they always find themselves to each other. I liked the world and gods politics and lore. There’s a lot that goes on in this one especially war, planning, partnerships etc and overall it was a good read. Thanks to Bramble for the arc.

I love Carissa Broadbent!! I would read her grocery list at this point!!

I was skeptical at the beginning of this one- it felt like a rehash of Songbird. However, I ended really enjoying this and liking it better than the first in the duology. I loved the expanded universe, and I can’t wait to see how the ramifications here continue to play out in this world. It did feel slow at some points, and I would’ve liked a little more consistent pacing.

The romance is established, and there’s never really a separation or hardship in terms of the relationship. The main focus of this book is definitely religion and politics with our two leads always being very much in love and together. I would’ve personally liked a little more tension between Mische and Asar, but their relationship is very tender. It made sense that there wasn’t a lot of conflict there.

Thank you for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!