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Book: “The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King” by Carissa Broadbent
Publishing Info: Bramble, June 2024
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: In the wake of the Kejari, everything Oraya once thought to be true has been destroyed. A prisoner in her own kingdom, grieving the only family she ever had, and reeling from a gutting betrayal, she no longer even knows the truth of her own blood. She’s left only with one certainty: she cannot trust anyone, least of all Raihn.
The House of Night, too, is surrounded by enemies. Raihn’s own nobles are none too eager to accept a Turned king, especially one who was once a slave. And the House of Blood digs their claws into the kingdom, threatening to tear it apart from the inside.
When Raihn offers Oraya a secret alliance, taking the deal is her only chance at reclaiming her kingdom–and gaining her vengeance against the lover who betrayed her. But to do so, she’ll need to harness a devastating ancient power, intertwined with her father’s greatest secrets.
But with enemies closing in on all sides, nothing is as it seems. As she unravels her past and faces her future, Oraya finds herself forced to choose between the bloody reality of seizing power – and the devastating love that could be her downfall.
Previously Reviewed: “The Serpent and the Wings of Night”
Review: “The Serpent and the Wings of Night” was one of those rare books where I actually could see what all the hype was about! Were there familiar concepts employed? Sure. Was the romance fairly straight-forward? Yes. Was the twist a bit predictable? Yeah. But you know what? The characters were interesting, thought had clearly went into the world-building, and the writing was compelling. And most of all, I simply had a fun time reading it! All of that to say, this was one of my most highly anticipated sequels for the first half of the year!
So, this book didn’t quite reach the highs of the first book, but overall, it was still an excellent sequel! For one thing, I appreciated the way some of the reveals at the end of the first book were followed up on here, most especially Oraya’s relationship with her recently deceased father. While most readers are here for the romantic relationship, I think it is this complicated father/daughter relationship that really holds the true character arc of this story. As the story progresses, we peal back layers of trauma and crippling expressions of love. There is clearly darkness in this relationship, and much of this book is Oraya attempting to reconcile the man she grew up with with the man her father truly was. But instead of taking the easy way out, Broadbent doesn’t simply vilify this character and go from there. Instead, the story explores the nuances of this relationship, the way that love, hatred, and fear can become so wrapped up in one another as to be nearly indistinguishable. How people can hurt those they love best, all while convincing themselves that they are protecting them.
As for the plot, while the “Hunger Games” style competition of the first book was a fairly familiar device, I did find myself missing it some here. I often enjoy books that get into the nitty gritty of court politics, but for some reason I struggled to enjoy this elements as much here. For one thing, I felt like most of the players were fairly obvious, with the reader largely already knowing who stands where, who can be trusted, and what must be done. That being the case, much of the story then feels like a waiting game for our main characters to catch up.
I did enjoy the romance, for the most part. Again, due to the events of the first book, there’s definitely a slow build up in this area. Oraya’s trust has been broken badly, so it takes quite a while for her to come around again. And while this is understandable and necessary for good characterization, it did make the first half of the book drag a bit. I did appreciate, however, that Raihn was simply all-in on this relationship and simply spent the majority of the relationship wooing Oraya back to him.
I’m not sure how I feel about the decision to include POV chapters for Raihn in this book. On one hand, we learn more about his own history, which was very interesting. But on the other hand, his POV lead to one of my biggest annoyances with the book: the repetition of the phrase “there she is.” He would say this whenever Oraya seemed to return to her fierce, feisty self. The first time, it was kind of cute. The second time…ok, I see what we’re doing here. But then it just kept happening! Seriously, I stopped counting the number of times he said this at a certain point. All of the romance of the line was completely sapped and it instead turned into one of those annoying phrases that immediately threw me out of the book whenever it came up. I wish an editor had flagged this as something that needed to be paired back. Broadbent is a talented writer, so I know she’s capable of better writing then this level of repetition indicates.
Overall, however, I found this to be a completely satisfying sequel! It came through in all of the ways I wanted (a satisfying conclusion to the romance and central conflict) and even tackled a level of depth and nuance with regards to Oraya and her father’s relationship that I wasn’t expecting. There were a few writing quirks that got on my nerves, and I do think the plot dragged a bit in the first half. But that said, I think book will likely please fans of the first book, and I’ll be on the lookout for the next book Broadbent releases!
Rating 8: Full to the brim with romance, court politics, and family trauma, an excellent sequel all around!
Reader’s Advisory:
“The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King” is on these Goodreads lists: New Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy and Romance Novels with King in the Title.
The Library Ladies 