The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia #1) by Carissa Broadbent

 

Summary (from the publisher): Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always – always – guard your heart.

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.

Review: Oraya is the adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king. Raised among predators, she knows that her only chance to gain power and some safety is by entering and winning the Kejari, a tournament to the death. But being a weak human puts her at a distinct disadvantage and she is ultimately forced to make an alliance with a rival - a powerful vampire named Raihn. Despite being a threat to her own safety and an enemy of her father, Oraya finds that she and Raihn work well together. As she grows to trust him, she is increasingly drawn to him, all while knowing that if she wants to win, she must ultimately kill him. 

Well, I absolutely loved this. At every turn, Oraya is fighting for her life in gruesome challenges to the death, which was thrilling in and of itself. But in between competitions, the contestants of the Kejari are allowed to rest. And it is in these periods that the relationship between Oraya and Raihn grow closer. The characters have great chemistry and the tension between their mistrust of one another, the threats to their lives, and their hidden agenda to protect their steadily growing alliance is palpable. 

The author's choice to set this within a great competition functioned very well as it allowed for lots of spectacular fighting scenes and drama but didn't require quite as much time consuming world building and back story that most fantasies struggle to establish, since in this the scenes could all be explained by the goddess's having fun with creating twisted scenarios for her contestants to battle it out within. But at the same time, tension in the world outside of the competition is felt, as Oraya knows her father is being drawn into a violent war. 

Mostly of course, I was here for the growing tension and attraction between Oraya and Raihn. 

I did wonder why Oraya asked so little questions about her own past. It made no sense to me from the beginning why a ruthless vampire, who thinks nothing of killing humans at the slightest provocation, would have saved a tiny human girl and raised her as his daughter. Something bigger was obviously going on. But for whatever reason Oraya never wonders this herself. It also seemed clear that Raihn had a bigger backstory and more complicated motivations than he let on. But at the same time, I loved the depth to the characters and the stories, which is sometimes lacking in other books within the fantasy/romantasy genre. 

I enjoyed reading this book so much. I flew through it and stayed up way too late reading it. A highly entertaining read. Can't wait to read book two. 

Stars: 4