Fall of Ruin and Wrath: 1 (Awakening)

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I know.” Naomi lowered herself to her knees on the floor beside me, the skirt of her gown pooling around her. “And I know the Baron doesn’t like it when someone asks you to do this, but I swear he will never know.”

To make it TikTok worth it, you add smut every chance you get. If everything goes right, nobody will notice they are reading recycled material without any story behind. I … I wanted to talk to you about my sister,” she began—tentatively, and Naomi was never tentative in anything she did. There were few who were as brave and bold as her. “Laurelin has been unwell.” A book shouldn’t be classed as 'adult’ purely because it has a high level of smut. What you’re looking for is erotica, ma’am. (And it still ain’t good).I loved that there where so many different mythologies and bits and pieces from other creatures. It made it interesting and unpredictable. But maybe Naomi was right about many of them being what they claimed to be—Protectors of the Realm. Archwood flourished partly because of the ones in Primvera, the Hyhborn Court that sat just beyond the woods outside of the manor, and my Hyhborn had punished the Mister. Though he had done so rather brutally, so I wasn’t sure that was a good example of a kind and caring Hyhborn. The Baron of Archwood led, well, an unorthodox life compared to most mortals, but then again, Claude wasn’t just a mortal. He was a caelestia—a mortal that descended from the rare joining of a lowborn and Hyhborn. Caelestias were born and caelestias aged, just like us lowborn, and at twenty-six, Claude had no plans to marry. Instead, he preferred to spread his affection upon many. He, much like the Hyhborn, was a collector of anything beautiful and unique. And one would be unwise if one thought to compare oneself to any of the Baron’s paramours, but it was doubly foolish to measure oneself against Naomi.

But I feared I’d break her heart, and I was as terrified of losing her friendship as I was of losing the life I’d finally carved out for myself in Archwood. Because more times than not, people really didn’t want the answers they sought, and the truth of what was to come was often far more destructive than a lie.The world building I have to say was impressive, I wasn't expecting to to be that immersive. The good thing about it was that it was complex but not too complex like there was this perfect amount of complexity that the author achieved.

I stopped as something . . . something like hope swelled inside me. Hope for what? I really couldn’t say as I looked over my shoulder at him. Shoving that little truth aside, I drew in a breath that tasted of the chamomile as I set the bowl on a small table. “Give me your hand.”Long ago, the world was destroyed by gods. Only nine cities were spared. Separated by vast wilderness teeming with monsters and unimaginable dangers, each city is now ruled by a guardian—royalty who feed on mortal pleasure.

Although the book is quite long and has an extra slow burn, which is the only reason I lowered my rating, it is definitely worth your time. It features a plethora of well-developed supporting characters who are easy to connect with. The detailed and vividly depicted dystopian meets high fantasy world building, along with the intricately crafted magic system, is executed flawlessly. Personally, I found myself more attached to the main characters in this series than those in her previous works (especially Poppy, as mentioned before). The cliffhanger at the end left me reeling, and I am eagerly anticipating what will happen next in the story. I simply cannot wait to read the next book.

I did love our hero, Prince Thorne, and he’s what carried the book for me. I loved his interactions with Calista and their banter in their alone moments were the best. I almost laughed out loud right then. Hyhborn were the Protectors of the Realm, but I wasn’t exactly sure how they served us. Even though the Hyhborn were mostly like absentee landlords who came around only when the rent was due, the Hyhborn controlled everything about the lowborn’s lives—from who could obtain an education to who could own land or companies. And I was of the mind that the Feasts were more of a way to provide the Hyhborn with what they wanted. Our indulgence in all manner of things, from gorging on food to indulging in the delights of each other during the Feasts, also fed the Hyhborn. Strengthened them. Empowered them. Our pleasure was their sustenance. Their life force. It was more for them than it was us. From the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of From Blood and Ash , this is a searing new romance. Besides the book being a bit confusing, especially in the beginning and a bit unclear at times to what exactly this book and characters/creatures want to be or are, I did really enjoy it. To me that made me want to figure it out and it was intreguing. But I could get inside her mind if I wanted to and find out if she spoke the truth. All I would need to do was open my senses to her and allow that connection to snap to life.