After Lilith and Vale’s novella, I expected to see them more but they barely had any scenes which was disappointing. (I also suggest that we get a novella like Six Scorched Roses about Vincent and Alana’s past. It would be beautiful and devastating.) This book also uses the same plot devices of the first book, almost exactly the same. I’m sorry but that’s lazy writing. This book is perfect and a masterpiece and I can't thank Carissa enough for it. I can't even describe in words how much I loved it. This has become one of my forever favourite fantasy books.

So I choked out, “Raihn,” against his lips, a question, an answer, a plea. Because that name was all those things, wasn’t it? Raihn. My downfall and my most valuable supporter. My weakness and my strength. My worst enemy and the greatest love I had ever known. In the nearer term, Slaying the Vampire Conqueror, a standalone full-length novel in the Crowns of Nyaxia world, is coming in just two weeks, if you need to ease your book hangover. ;) But I'll save all that rambling for another time. Raihn. My downfall and my most valuable supporter. My weakness and my strength. My worst enemy and the greatest love I had ever known.'the way Oraya was shook after all the events that took place near the end of the previous book. she just broke after all that. but then, she rose from the ashes and then slowly claimed herself, and everything that was meant to be hers. i loved her so much. The second detail is expanding more on the reasons behind Vincent’s decisions towards Oraya as his daughter and his love towards her. But why is he the only exception to how to treat his child? Any father truly loving his daughter or son would try to grow them into a decent human/vampire being. Vincent is the only decent father in the history of “royal” vampires who aims to achieve that? Please.

There may be a lot of political aspects in this world but it doesn't take away from the true nature of the vampires that inhabit it. One of the most interesting new characters for me was her cousin. Girl is loony 👀

Customer reviews

I am queen just as much as he is king. When we’ve reclaimed our kingdom, I intend to rule beside him as such.” The first one is about how Oraya and Raihn unite the House of Night. But why would Oraya want that kind of connection with her FATHER in the first book? It’s portrayed way too sexual to be able to have that kind of connection with father. Furthermore, Nayaxia said: “ask another goddess”. That goddess then grants the wish Nayaxia wanted to grant herself, but couldn’t for some reason, and then says: “Nayaxia will be furious at you later on”… where is the logic?

maybe the king always knew that his greatest love would be his ruination. maybe he knew it the moment he met her. Technicalities, really. Overall, I was very satisfied with all of this, and I'd read it again if I wasn't so afraid of my TBR murdering me in my sleep. And there is even a surprise to her growth but I won’t talk about it. Just know that it was so amazing and unexpected!No one is more upset about this rating than I am, so please don't come for me as I have some explaining to do. Upon finishing a book, I immediately know if I love it or not. Unfortunately, I didn't feel the way I had hoped to about this story. Even though I really liked parts of The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King, my rating reflects my feelings about it as a whole. OKAY THAT WAS SO GOOD 😭😭❤️❤️ Not quite as amazing as the first book imo, but still SUCH a good sequel- the action, the writing, the romance was all *chefs kiss* 😩🤌 First I was wondering how the author would keep me interested as much as in the first book without the deadly competition at the heart of the story. I am a big fan of competitions in books so I dreaded the sequel. This tumultuous father-daughter relationship is the most complicated thing in this book and not just because of the convoluted personality of Vincent it was also because there were so many things he hid from her and how he left Oraya in the dark without any answers which made her question her own existence. He thought he wasn't capable of love because of all the cruelty he's witnessed in their world but Oraya changed that part of him the moment he saw her. He loved her fiercely and all consuming but he also manipulated her life. But that doesn't changes the fact that he tried and tried for her even though he failed because of his selfishness and fear.

Oraya will have to reach for the stars, to take everything and go head first into battle to seize power. My stabby queen 👑👑 Literally love her 😩 Looking for a super fierce female mc who doesn't take crap from anyone? Oraya is your girl 🫶 I loved seeing her struggles relating to #1's ending- the grief rep felt so real and also her doubts about her abilities. She went THROUGH it in this series- but she managed to keep going and i felt so proud of her. SLAY QUEEN 👑👑🫶🫶 The plot was well balanced, with the right amount of action and all the missing lore we didn't get in book one. The twists were a little predictable (the wing thing was so cool, though), but I enjoyed myself nonetheless.I honestly don’t know what happened to Mische, she was completely stripped of any and all personality traits. She just popped then and there to smile and nothing else. We can take her scenes out of this book and nothing would change.