4/5 ⭐

After many of the suggestions that bookstagram has suggested to me, I went into this book very weary. However, I’m very glad to say that I found this book to be a very pleasant surprise. I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to, evident by the fact that I devoured this book.

Plot: +1
The book follows Oraya, an orphaned human girl who was adopted by a Vampire King when she was found in the middle of carnage. She's been trained her entire life to be strong and to despise the fact that she is a human, which comes with weakness and disadvantage. However, she is now ready to enter a bloodthirsty competition that could grant her a wish from the goddess herself. During the competition, she finds herself allying with Raihn, but there's more that just platonic allies brewing between them. Despite being taught to stay away from vampires to protect herself, she can't seem to stay away from him.

The plot was one of the things that seemed the most interesting to me. Think Hunger Games meets ACOTAR. Though the premise isn't the most unique in the world, I think the execution brought it back. It did start a little slow for me, but it quickly picked up pace and I was intrigued.

There were a couple of twists, and looking back now, I might have been able to notice them earlier. However, when I read about it, I was absolutely shocked. The ending was a little cliché but had my heart aching nevertheless.

Writing: +0.75
The writing wasn't the absolute greatest, but it definitely wasn't bad. Broadbent wrote clearly and it wasn't overly flowery as some fantasy authors tend to make it. There were moments where I did cringe a little or roll my eyes, but it wasn't enough to affect the enjoyment of the book. In fact, I found parts of it slightly endearing.

Characters: +0.75
There are three main characters you learn about: Oraya, Raihn and Vincent (Oraya’s adoptive vampire father). And I did love every single one of them, even if some are a little bittersweet to love.

Oraya is the typical strong female main character. However, despite her being very strong, she isn't immune to struggle and fear and that's what I love. However, I wouldn't say I absolutely fell head over heels in love with her character. She is stubborn and can be a little bit irritating but that's part of her character and how she was raised.

Raihn was a character I really loved. Initially he comes across as cocky and mysterious, but as Oraya gets to know him, alongside us, you learn that he's not as surface level as you expect. I thought it was going to be that cringy, cliché male main character, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Vincent was a very morally complex character, and though I think I wasn't supposed to like him as much as I did, I did enjoy reading about him. The love he has for Oraya is so incredibly clear but sometimes love isn’t always as sweet as it seems; I think his character really does show this.

The relationships are also well built, particularly between Vincent and Oraya. Their relationship is bittersweet and it's got quite a bit of depth and complexity that I loved. Oraya and Raihn also has an intriguing relationship. The banter they have feel natural and the build up is casual and not overly rushed. There are parts which I felt were a little forced but they were far and few between.

By the end, I was slightly emotionally invested but I wasn’t close to shedding tears for any of these characters. However, I definitely didn't dislike them and even started rooted for Raihn and Oraya which is always a win.

Rating: 4/5
Overall, I think this book is a decently written romantasy that is unique enough in its own sense but also has some of those cliches that have a lot of us romantasy readers in a vice grip. The characters are likable and relationships are well-paced enough to avoid too much eye-rolling. I would highly recommend it to ACOTAR lovers and I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.