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.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night: Crowns of Nyaxia, Book 1
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Reviews with images
🪽𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕖𝕣𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕠𝕗 ℕ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥🪽
“𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩? 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙗 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨. 𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙥𝙚𝙧. 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙞𝙩.”Oh man did I love diving back into this world. It’s been so long since I’ve been with Raihn and Oraya.Y’all know I’ve entered my re read era. And I’m loving revisiting books I’ve read, but never reviewed. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 was up next on my list.📖 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁✍🏼 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗯𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦: 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘺𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘢🪽ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴇʀᴘᴇɴᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪɴɢꜱ ᴏꜰ ɴɪɢʜᴛ #1 (ᴏʀᴀʏᴀ x ʀᴀɪʜɴ)🪽ꜱɪx ꜱᴄᴏʀᴄʜᴇᴅ ʀᴏꜱᴇꜱ #1.5 (ʟɪʟɪᴛʜ x ᴠᴀʟᴇ)🪽ᴛʜᴇ ᴀꜱʜᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀ-ᴄᴜʀꜱᴇᴅ ᴋɪɴɢ #2 (ᴏʀᴀʏᴀ x ʀᴀɪʜɴ)🪽ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴏɴɢʙɪʀᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴛᴏɴᴇ #3 (ᴍɪꜱᴄʜᴇ x ᴀꜱᴀʀ)🪽ᴛʙᴅ🪽ᴛʙᴅ🪽ᴛʙᴅ𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦🩸ᴅᴇᴀᴅʟʏ ᴛᴏᴜʀɴᴀᴍᴇɴᴛ🩸ᴠᴀᴍᴘɪʀᴇꜱ🩸ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ꜰᴍᴄ🩸ᴅᴀʀᴋ ᴍᴀɢɪᴄ📖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 📖I adore Oraya as a FMC, she is such a strong character. Her walls are high but her heart is larger. I enjoy seeing her hard exterior melt away. And who wouldn’t melt away for Raihn.Raihn constantly uplifts Oraya, and not once has ever pitied her for being human or the traumas she’s endured. He has always made sure she knew how strong she was, on her own. No matter what help she’s received from Vincent.Vincent in book one, man we teeter on a fine line here with love/hate. There’s a quote that summed up my thoughts on him perfectly.𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙙. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙮?Vincent the King and Vincent the father are two completely seperate people in the storyline. You love him, for his love for Oraya. But you hate him for his actions as a king.I have missed this world so much, and I’ve been loving this re read! Onward to 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝘾𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜!“𝙊𝙧𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣,” 𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙. “𝙄 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮. 𝙄 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙. 𝙄 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡. 𝙄 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩. 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨. 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣. 𝙄 𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”
Top reviews from other countries
Melanie
SO GOOD! A Romantasy set in a fictional world of vampires (book 1 of 2)
Reviewed in Canada on June 3, 2024
Pearla
Absolutely in LOVE with this book!!!!!!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2024