Serena’s Review: “The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk”

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Book: “The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk” by Carissa Broadbent

Publishing Info: Bramble, August 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Mische made the ultimate sacrifice to save those she loves – and plunged the world into an eternal night. Now, imprisoned by the gods and obsessed with revenge, Asar is desperate to find her again.

When a goddess offers them a final path to redemption – and back to each other – Asar and Mische embark on an extraordinary mission. Together, they must seize the power of the god of death so Asar may do the impossible: ascend to true divinity.

Their journey will take them through mortal and immortal realms, alongside both old friends and ruthless enemies. But as the underworld teeters on the brink of collapse and the gods prepare for a war, Asar and Mische must decide what they are willing to sacrifice for the power to defy death. In a game of vengeful gods and ancient betrayals, there are some debts that even love may not be able to repay.

Previously Reviewed: “The Songbird and the Heart of Stone”

Review: This was definitely one of my most anticipated reads for the summer! The first book left off on a fairly massive cliffhanger, but luckily it’s only been about a six month wait between. And, in most ways, everything wrapped up nicely in this second half of the duology!

Like the first book, the two lead characters anchored my enjoyment of the story. Following the pattern of Broadbent’s first duology in this world, while the first book followed Mische’s perspective exclusively, this one opens things up, introducing chapters from the romantic lead, Asar’s, perspective as well. While I still have mixed feelings about how well this shift in perspectives worked in the first duology, it definitely worked well here. Much of Mische’s internal journey was covered in the first book, and while there were still aspects of her growth to cover here, her story is more straightforward. However, there was much still to learn about Asar’s own history and the ways in which the events of this book shaped his internal arch. Indeed, this story is largely his, with Mische serving more as a supporting, secondary character. I really enjoyed Asar in the first book, and he was even more interesting here, so I think this change worked out well.

I also really enjoyed the numerous cameo appearances from tons of characters from previous books. While it’s not strictly necessary to have read those other books, readers who have read them all will definitely get the most out of this book. Characters show up from not only the first duology, but also the other stand-alone novel and the novella as well. I really enjoyed spending time with them all! In particular, I was reminded how much I enjoyed the main couple from “Slaying the Vampire Conqueror;” we only got one book of them and I wish we had more! I also really enjoyed the return of Vincent, who played a surprising role in this book. He’s such an interesting character, and I liked the way pieces of his story that had felt like they were still left hanging were more neatly wrapped up here.

All of that said, there were parts of this book that I struggled with. As I said, I enjoyed seeing all of these other characters on the page, but unfortunately, there were times where I felt like I was becoming more invested in these other characters again than I was in the main two of the current duology. Part of this, I think, came down to the fact that Mische often felt as if she didn’t have a lot going on in this book. It’s kind of an odd thing, becomes she demonstratively did have things happening throughout it all (most notably, you know, being dead), but her internal arc still felt rather static.

The romance itself also didn’t feel as if it had anywhere to really go. I’m not a fan of forced drama and angst to increase tension, but as the story continued, the love story felt a bit flat and deflated at times (and I just finished reading a few books that navigate solid relationships throughout without falling into this trap, so I know it’s possible without unnecessary angst). One simple thing was that I thought there were perhaps one or two too many spicy scenes. I know this is probably an unpopular opinion, but I definitely fall on the “higher quality but less” side of the spice debate. At a certain point, an increased number of these scenes simply fail to add anything new to the story, and that was definitely the case here.

Lastly, the plot felt all over the place. There is a ton of action in this book, with our characters hopping all over the place, not only within the world, but in the heavens and the underworld as well. While the first book felt tightly paced and plotted, this one felt a bit scattered. I could never really latch on to any single current event before I was whisked away into the next location and conflict. The balance simply felt off, and it was one of those odd situations where, because there was always so much going on, I began to disconnect from the story and even became a bit bored at times. Always weird how that can happen, but I’ve found it’s definitely a phenomenon that can happen.

Overall, however, I still very much enjoyed this book! It does feel like there is a bit of a pattern developing here, where the first book in these duologies is noticeably stronger than the second. But the quality overall is still quite high. There were also a lot of major changes on a world-wide scale in this book, so I’m incredibly excited to see how events play out in the next duology! We’ve also already met the next leading male character, and I’m definitely intrigued. Fans of the first book in this duology are sure to enjoy this one as well!

Rating 8: Perhaps a bit more scattered than the first in the duology, but still a satisfying conclusion to the story, while also setting up a strong setting for the next stage in this series!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Epic High Fantasy/Romance/Mythology in 2025 and August 2025 Most Anticipated Romance Releases.