A note on the serialization:
You do not need to have read Dark Woods, Deep Water or Ghost Apparent to understand everything in Love Lethal, Death Divine. In fact, this book is a perfect entry point. Each of the books will inform and provide context to each other, but they're not direct and continuous sequels of one another. My personal suggestion is that you start here, then read Dark Woods, Deep Water second, followed by Ghost Apparent last.

Love Lethal, Death Divine was practically written for me. I'm very much its target audience and I loved every word of it. Here's why:

Characters: 11/10
You came for the plot, but you'll stay for the characters. They're just so good. So good.

Liana is headstrong, pragmatic, and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She's a touch selfish, always prioritizing her own purpose, but that's precisely why I love her. Abia is a harsh world, harsher still for women with no status, no background, no support. The gods—quite literally—robbed her of the one person who made her life worthwhile and meaningful, and she's striped of everything by those same gods before she's allowed to try to get him back. And her only resources? Her wits, her determination, and the knowledge of potential futures if certain events are permitted to pass. If Liana didn't fight and defend herself and her own interests, literally no one else will. She's a realist, a pragmatist whose deeply emotional goal drives her into some of fantasy fiction's most dangerous and daring strategies.

Melia is quiet and reserved, a fledgling thrown into the deep and dark waters of courtly politics with no instruction, no training, no mentor nor ally. It's truly "sink or swim" for Melia. I don't normal get attached to fledgling characters, but Melia grew on me really quickly. Her position in the intrigue is inherently passive, but she's constantly fighting the passivity, expectations, and ignorance that's arbitrarily shoved into her. She's trying her damn hardest to carve a place for herself in this brutal world, and when her father throws her squarely into the path of his insurgence, she fully comes into her own. This book would've fallen apart without Melia. She is Liana's foil, the dark and solemn counterweight to Liana's fire and chaos.

Amron is the singularity at the centre of this whirlpool of a story—but he doesn't know it. He is forever the comforting, soothing hearth that one comes home to at the end of a hard long day. I will literally refund your copy of the book if you don't end up swooning over his burning yearning suppressed by his gentle certitude toward his duties. (Unless you're not into men, in which case: You're right, Ferisa is better.) Sidenote: If you've read Dark Woods, Deep Water, you will certainly enjoy how different yet heartachingly familiar Amron is during his younger days.

Plot & Pacing: 10/10
The political intrigue is woven into the very foundation of the characters. This is definitely not a book where the characters merely react to the events. Liana drives the literal trajectory of the world in the first half of the book, and Melia the second. The back cover blurb might make it seem like a star-crossed romantasy, but it's first and foremost a political intrigue. The romance goes hand-in-hand with the political upheaval, and I've genuinely not come across another fantasy where the romance and political plots are so seamlessly integrated.

I don't believe the book is short by any means, but it felt quick and snappy. The story hits the ground sprinting and never sags. Liana and Melia being on opposing sides paints a well-rounded picture of all the events, conflicts, and consequences, and I love the added context and tension. You want both of them to succeed, but everything they do seems to always hurtle the other toward an inevitably tragic end because that's just the nature of opposition...

I won't spoil whether either or both of them end in tragedy. You should find out for yourself. The ending is tremendously satisfying.

Style & Prose: 11/10
I'm also a fantasy writer. I wish I knew how to write like this. I wish I had written this book. The prose is deeply—deeply—emotive. Every pain, every hopelessness, every burning desire and secret yearning, you feel it like a tingle down your back. The prose is laced with subdued elegance and the writing is masterful. You can study this book as an example of deep POV and flashbacks done right.

Worldbuilding: 10/10
Abia is a harsh world, and this is a dark fantasy. It's not Joe Abercrombie's levels of hardcore grimdark, but the darkness here comes from the cruelty and ruthless of the gods that be, the status quo, and all the people surrounding the MCs. If I were to (mis)quote Jean-Paul Sartre, this is a book that makes one realize: darkness is other people. (And the gods.)

I read Dark Woods, Deep Water back when the audiobook came out, and the chilling revelations about the gods stayed with me for a long time afterwards. Love Lethal, Death Divine took those chilling revelations and turned it up to 12. The gods are so bloody cruel. I love every bit of despair and suffering they caused.

But the worldbuilding also goes beyond the darkness. There is a full and vibrant world here. Being the third book in the same universe benefitted this novel greatly. You don't need to have read those other two to understand everything here, but those other books did all the groundwork to give you a refined and polished version of the world that never leaves you feeling like it's a facade with no substance underneath.

A kind thank you to Jelena for proving an ARC of this book.

Oh, I love me some political intrigue.

Love Lethal, Death Divine is a darkly compelling fantasy centered around two women attempting to fight their fates, told expertly through Dunato’s lush prose. Liana has traveled back in time to save the man she loves, while Melia is using the same man to upend a fragile peace treaty and restart a bloody war. Both heroines have their own desires and moral codes, and the resulting clash makes for a spellbinding plot.

Liana’s divine blood gives her that magical edge I adore in fantasy protagonists, and love being her driving force - almost to the point of destruction - is one of my favorite character traits. I definitely prefer her to Melia, since she has both a stronger backbone and the moral high ground. Her determination to change the past raises the question of if the individual actions we take matter in the grand scheme of things, and her ending made me grin ear-to-ear.

I don’t hate Melia, but she is possessed of a certain naïveté she claims to be impervious to, and that makes her vulnerable to poor decisions. Although her ending was equally deserved, the complications of her character meant I didn’t know which direction her story would take until the climax, and that kept me engaged and hoping she’d make the right choice up to the very end.

Love Lethal, Death Divine is a story of love, loss, and the power to choose. I can’t wait to see what Dunato writes next.

I loved this book. By far my favorite read of 2026 so far.

Political intrigue; everlasting love that spans time; excellent world-building; horrible, interfering gods; beautifully fleshed out characters; gorgeous prose; a book that spans only three days (and seventeen years, technically) and is a standalone, completing all of that in under 400 pages. If all of that appeals, this book is for you.

Time-travel doesn't always play well, but this author does it spectacularly. The explanations are concise and easy to follow. The three-day ticking clock on top of the time warp gives everything a sense of urgency. Everything flows smoothly and you find yourself caught up and unable to put it down (I was ready to throw the book (iPad) across the room if I hadn't gotten a satisfactory ending!)

While I could have done with a bit less of Melia's self-loathing and inaction, the forced passivity of her sheltered life, her ultimate realizations, and the finding of her innate strength made her ultimate redemption arc feel worthy.

Liana was everything a half-divine character should be - ultimately a bit one-goal focused and a bit selfish - but she too comes to some realizations about herself and her journey is just as satisfying.

Amron (the man caught between the two FMCs. I dare you not to fall in love with this man's strength and honor. One doesn't always need to be a shadow daddy to be attractive. (He does need to learn the word "no" though.) I loved the representations of love in this book, proving that we don't need steam every other page (not that there is anything wrong with steam) to show how deeply characters can love and what they will risk for that love. In many ways this book felt almost like a throwback to chivalrous love - and I welcomed that wholeheartedly.

I did not know going in that this book fell into a timeline with other books by the author and I plan to go and read those. But you definitely do not need to in order to fully enjoy this as a standalone.

Highly recommended,