REVIEW: “The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King” by Carissa Broadbent

"The king knew, in this moment, that his greatest love would also be his ruination, and that both would come in the unlikely form of a young human woman."

The parallells between this beginning and that of the first book made me smile. Two different Kings talking about the same human woman, a woman that could be seen as insignificant, or lesser than them. But to them she is everything, their love, and their 'ruin'. I LOVE it.

Exciting battles for the crown (exciting and deadly) | Compelling magic system

Even spicier romance (you might need to hide your page this time)

Daddy issues (from the grave) | Fated lovers | GODDESSES! (in the flesh!)

The basics

“The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King”, released in mid-2022, is part of the Crowns of Nyaxia series by Carissa Broadbent and is the second and final book in the Nightborn duet. The main series is planned to consist of 6 books, plus some standalone novellas and full-length novels. There are a lot of names and terms throughout the book and throughout this review that are exclusive to the world, so I’ve made an info post about the series, along with a glossary. I’ve tried to go through this review with minimal spoilers for now, so I hope none slip through and the review is still comprehensive enough! 

The setting

Our setting is focused more on the Nightborn capital and castle. Throughout the story, we see more of the world, including human settlements and Rishan strongholds. I enjoyed seeing more of the worlds and the 

Who is our cast?

We still have our two main characters, Oraya, now the Heir to the Hiaj vampires after the King’s death, and Raihn, now King of the Nightborn vampires. Their relationship is fraught with political issues, misunderstandings, and so much angst. Ruling a people and dealing with rebellions and ‘friends’ conspiring against you has its affect on you and your relationships and their relationship suffers as a result. 

Other notable characters:

• We once again have the wonderful Mische, though her story is a little sadder and more difficult in this one. 

• There is also a lot of Vincent in this book, despite him dying in the last one. We get back story through stories, and flashbacks.

• We are introduced to members of the other houses in this as well - House of Blood and House of Shadow.

My thoughts

There were a few times throughout this book that I wanted to totally smack Oraya for her decisions and the way she treated Raihn when he was obviously trying to save her life. But other times I could totally see her point of view and he had just turned her world upside down and was basically holding her loosely captive... so yeah.

The romance in this one is even spicier than the first, making it a little more NSFW than the first but holy moley... yes! Hahaha.

Once again one of my favourite characters was Mische. Though I have to say her story arc is a little more heartbreaking in this one. I'm pretty sure the next book is about her, so I'm even more excited for it!

The battles were larger scale in this book, literally and figuratively, and we see not one but TWO goddesses. It's all there... something for everyone!

This was a beautiful follow up to Book One, and a great ending for the Nightborn Duet. I can't wait for the next one!