2.5 ⭐️ I was . . . underwhelmed

"A girl who can only love broken things, and a boy so broken he can only love what he cannot have. A perfect match."

WHAT TO EXPECT:⁠
✨ fantasy romance
✨ vicious vampires and meddling gods
✨ quest to the underworld / Dante’s inferno vibes
✨ she's a vampire prisoner once blessed by the sun god
✨ he's the bastard son of the Shadowborn vampire king
✨ captor x captive
✨ enemies to lovers
✨ forced proximity
✨ cold/reserved x sunshine
✨ slow burn
✨ 2/5 spice
✨ action-packed
✨ high stakes
✨ skeleton dog companion
✨ heavy descriptions of world building
✨ found family⁠
✨ secrets
✨ single POV
✨ cliffhanger
✨ TW: OW drama (an ex consistently shows up), violence, grief, religious indoctrination and manipulation, emotional abuse


‼️THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS‼️ but I will announce when they are about to happen.


My Thoughts:

Carissa Broadbent is an auto buy author for me. ⁠I love the Crowns of Nyaxia series and I was so excited for this next installment of the series. Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed and ultimately disappointed by this novel.

But before I disclose what ultimately led to my disappointment, here's what I enjoyed:

This world continues to fascinate me. Throughout the story, we learn more about the relationships between gods, humans, and vampires and dive deeper into divine politics, ancient power, and the precarious balance between the different realms. I specifically enjoyed learning about Mische's relationship with Atroxus (the sun god) and seeing first hand how the gods manipulate for their own pleasure and gain. Additionally, the journey into the underworld, which is inspired by Dante's Inferno, adds a haunting, horror-esque aspect to this story where the characters are forced to face the deepest, darkest parts of themselves.

I like Mische as a character and thought she was such a strong individual to embrace gentleness and kindness when she has been the subject of much cruelty and felt so much grief. It’s an admirable quality that makes her a standout character.

Asar is a sweetheart and has a quiet strength that complements Mische's own vulnerabilities. I like him, but I also don't really feel strongly about him either. I’m still waiting for that deeper emotional pull to make me care more about his personal stakes in the story.

Luce, Asar's skeleton dog sidekick, was the real MVP. Her unwavering loyalty and love to Asar was heartwarming, and it was so adorable when that loyalty and love started to extend to Mische as well. She's also a fearless protector - stepping in to save the day more than once, by fighting off enemies and offering support in moments of crisis. Her presence brought a sense of comfort and security to both Asar and Mische (and even the reader). I hope we get to see more of her in the next book.

So what didn't I enjoy?

The pacing of this book felt like a tedious pendulum, constantly swinging between intense action scenes and painfully slow moments of rest afterwards. This repetitive back-and-forth quickly became exhausting, making the entire experience feel monotonous. Also, the story supposedly spans several months, but the jumps in time made it feel like it only took a few weeks. The timeline was off and negatively impacted the flow of the narrative.

Mische passing out from exhaustion or deadly wounds was overkill. It’s just boring and predictable how many of the high stakes situations ended the same. Also, ending chapters with Mische passing out and starting the next one with her waking up felt like something a less experienced author would do. So I guess I was disappointed with this writing choice.

While I liked the continued world-building and the setting of the underworld, much of it felt overly abstract and took away from the core plot and drama. There were just so many descriptions but instead of grounding me into the story, it was so tedious to get through that I lost interest and ended up confused as to what was being described to me. And even though each level was supposed to be different, they all felt like variations of the same thing. This only added to the sense that the story wasn’t progressing.

While I like the MCs, I wasn't convinced of their romance. They go from indifference to suddenly having a deep emotional connection, which feels abrupt and unearned. I think there should have been more romantic buildup.

‼️MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD‼️
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Do not keep reading unless you want the story spoiled!
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I mean it!!!!
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The OW/ex drama didn't work for me, either. Asar's dead lover being the main villain hunting Asar and Mische through the underworld? Come on.