A dark and mysterious tale that winds up spinning its wheels with repetition.
In this Beauty and the Beast–inspired dark fantasy romance, a princess who possesses dangerous magic is forced into marriage by a cursed emperor to save his kingdom.
Theon Felix Osiris, known as the Shadow Emperor of Eldiria, is desperate to save his kingdom from doom. With her dying breath, Felix’s mother cursed him and his father’s lands, having been forced into marriage and kept captive. Black, poisonous veins spread across his body, a sign that he may suffer his father’s fate—to slowly rot away. As he fights to stave off the encroaching ice and darkness that threatens to starve and freeze his citizens, his only hope rests in a prophecy that a union between him and the Princess Arabella of Althea will break the curse. There’s only one catch: The union must be made for love. Ignoring that little detail, Felix forces Arabella into marriage by threatening to conquer Althea. Arabella’s father is all too happy to marry her off. Magic is forbidden in Althea, and Arabella’s mysterious powers have made her a pariah. There’s a dark undertone to this romance; Arabella is very much a prisoner, and Felix is repeating his father’s mistakes. Consent is dubious at best. The worldbuilding and character development start out strong; the supporting cast enlivens the frozen wasteland setting and adds depth to Felix’s singular goal, making the perfect fodder for future installments. Sadly, though, the momentum stalls, halting a promising start. Felix’s boasts about the danger and violence he’s capable of become rote once they surpass a dozen. The romance, while steamy and possibly tempting for fans of alpha heroes, is ultimately uneven and tedious.
A dark and mysterious tale that winds up spinning its wheels with repetition.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781538772973
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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