The Serpent and the Wings of Night: Crowns of Nyaxia, Book 1

Thrilling, romantic and charged with emotion
I hadn’t even heard of this book when I was offered a review copy, but a few glowing reviews caught my attention and I agreed to read it. And I’m so glad I did! This was a wonderful surprise, a dark, dangerous, vampire tale with intricate world building, great characters and a little bit of spice. Even better, this is the first book in a series, and I’m so excited to see what comes next. Yes, there are some familiar tropes at work here, but I found the combination of all the different elements to work surprisingly well. If you love The Hunger Games or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I guarantee you’ll find a lot to love in The Serpent & the Wings of Night.Oraya was only seven when her village was destroyed and her entire family killed. Plucked out of the wreckage by a vampire king named Vincent, Oraya has been living in the House of Night, one of three vampire factions in the land of Obitraes, for the last sixteen years. Vincent has raised her as his daughter, teaching her how to survive in a land ruled by vampires, and it turns out, preparing her to complete in a once-every-hundred-years competition called the Kejari.The Kejari is made up of five brutal trials, each one winnowing the contestants down until only two remain. Only one victor can be crowned at the end, though, and Oraya is determined to be the last one standing. The reward for victory is sweet: any wish you want, granted by the goddess Nyaxia. Oraya’s wish? To become a vampire herself and fight side by side with her father in the war against the Rishan, a rival vampire clan within the House of Night.But once the trials start, Oraya realizes it’s going to be hard, if not impossible, to win. Luckily, she meets a vampire named Raihn who asks her to ally with him and his friend Mische. Oraya and Raihn work surprisingly well together and they become a formidable team against the other contestants. But, as Oraya must keep reminding herself, only one of them will survive the Kejari, and the more she gets to know Raihn, the less she wants to kill him.This is a lush, complex world, and the author does a very good job of introducing it in this first book, even though I’m certain she’s only scratched the surface. At first it was a little hard to keep everything straight. There are three main vampire “houses,” but within those there are smaller factions. Each house has its own types of power and magic derived from different gods, and the houses don’t usually intermingle with each other, although the Kejari is the exception, because vampires from each house are allowed to join the competition. And it isn’t just vampires in this world. Humans live among them, although they are mostly treated as servants or even food. Because Oraya is under the protection of a vampire king, she’s safer than most, but she still has to watch her back at all times.In addition to the competition plot, which is the main focus of the story, there’s a war brewing in the background that will most likely take on a bigger role in the next book. There’s a lot of Shakespearean drama and tragedy going on too. Vampires will kill their parents to take over as leader, and then they’ll kill their children so they can’t do the same to them. This isn’t a happy world by any means, but luckily there are bright spots in the plot.Which brings me to the characters. The focus of the story is the slow build relationship between Oraya and Raihn, an enemies-to-lovers romance that I thought was very well done. Oraya, who spends her free time stalking vampires and killing them, is horrified to find she’s starting to like and respect one, especially when she discovers he’s one of the Rishan, her father’s enemy. Oraya has a prickly personality, which I quite loved, although she eventually starts to warm up to Raihn. But their banter was so much fun, charged with all sorts of emotions, and I loved how the author gave them time and space to get to know each other before (yup) hopping in bed together.There are a lot of great side characters as well. Mische is the sweetest vampire in the story, and her friendship with Raihn was wonderful. I was rooting for the three of them to be OK, but wow, some of the scenes in this book were so stressful! Vincent was an interesting character as well. I didn’t really like him in the beginning, but you can tell Oraya loves him, even if he’s the one who took her away from her home. I liked him less and less as the story went on, and by the end of the book I hated him, lol. Still, it was interesting to see Vincent and Oraya interact, even if I didn’t always understand her complicated feelings for him.As for the Kejari, it was thrilling and scary, and the trial scenes had me holding my breath, I was so worried about Oraya, Raihn and Mische. I loved that the actual trials felt different from other “fight to the death” stories I’ve read, although don’t worry, there’s plenty of bloodshed!As the end of the last trial approached, I started to get very nervous. After all, there’s only one winner, right? The author managed to completely surprise me with her ending, making me even more excited to read the second book, The Ashes & the Star Cursed-King. And I can’t say enough about Carissa Broadbent’s writing. Her prose breathes life into her characters, and her storytelling skills make this a must read for fans of vampire/fantasy romance.

I NEED ALL THE NEXT 5 BOOKS NOW!
This is one of my favorite books of this year. I loved it. It’s full of action, danger, plot twists, magic, and weapons. If you’re a fan of Sarah J. Maas and Jennifer L. Armentrout, this book is for you, and if this is the first book you read from Charissa, she will immediately become one of your favorite writers. I loved how she wrote this book and I can’t wait for book2. What am I saying?! I NEED ALL THE NEXT 5 BOOKS!✅ Age: 16/17+Be worn ❗️❗️ a lot of blood, a lot of death, sexual abuse, torture, and descriptive wounds/cuts/deaths ❗️❗️✅ Plot twists✅ Full of action✅ Extraordinary written characters✅ Magic✅ Vampires and Gods✅ Tournament to the death => doomed romance and tough decisions✅ Sexual tension✅ Smut✅ Magnificent endingEvery page of this book is filled with action. You won’t get bored, you won’t get tired of it. THESE VAMPIRES HAVE WINGS! The night is a dangerous place, but also one of the most magical places in the course of 24h. I loved Raihn from the start, from his first appearance when his name wasn’t even mentioned. I loved him. I love how his relationship with Oraya starts and how it evolves. The writing is magnificent and it’s very natural. Nothing is forced upon the reader and you discover everything with the characters. You, sometimes, have your doubts and intuitions, and it helps you question some decisions of the characters, but also understand their motives. I even liked Vincent, and at some point, I wanted to see him dead. Well… Yep…I hope we’ll see more of Mische in the next book because I loved her and I think she will be the one who will temper the tension between Oraya and Raihn. I have no doubt, that there will be a lot of tension and uncertainty.The Kejari… well this tournament is a bloody and deadly one. I liked how the trails were written because you can also learn the history AND the story of the main GODDESS. And I think those trials were not just trials for the ultimate goal, for winning a tournament, but also trials for the souls, especially for Raihn and Oraya: trials of trust, creating a strong bond, and life. You can see the similarities between Nyaxia’s history and the present events of Raihn and Oraya.I loved every single page. Charissa has created a magnificent and complex world and mythology. I can’t wait to read more about all three houses and see their stories, and also, to learn more about their past because I think a lot of things will blow in our faces in book 2 of House of Night! Besides, at the end of this one, I came to the conclusion that nothing is what it seems in the case of these Houses, and I’m really intrigued to learn about all of them.Thank you Charissa for this wonderful world you’ve created. I have a feeling this is only the beginning and everything will escalate and blow our minds.

The plot twist in this book was toe curling. A must read!

Ça faisait vraiment longtemps que je n’avais pas trouvé un livre aussi bien écrit, aussi prenant, avec une super intrigue et de vrais questionnements sur les décisions à prendre.On s’attache réellement aux personnages, on veut pleurer pour eux quand ils meurent, on veut les aider quand ils souffrent, on veut les connaître davantage et tout savoir sur eux, …Ce livre est très prenant, l’histoire vous prend aux tripes, vous fait douter de tout et de tout le monde, de toutes les vérités qu’on pensait immuable. C’est vraiment très sympa. Je ne voyais pas venir la plupart des retournements de situation, c’est hyper agréable car ça nous laisse suspendu à chaque phrase. Le suspens était bien présent, l’adrénaline aussi grâce à des scènes superbement décrites qui nous plongent dans l’histoire comme si on y était!La romance est là, mais vraiment en fond de l’histoire. Elle est frémissante à travers tout le livre, juste suffisamment pour faire battre le cœur plus vite, sans jamais nous sortir de l’histoire. Et c’est ce qui la rend encore plus forte au final !Superbe livre !!!