Format: Hardcover, 608 pages
Release Date: June 4, 2024
Publisher: Bramble
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Dark Fantasy / Romance
Love is a sacrifice at the altar of power.
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.
The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King, by Carissa Broadbent, is the second installment in the authors Crowns of Nyaxia series. The Crowns of Nyaxia series will be 6 books total, broken up into three duologies: The Nightborn Duet, which follows the House of Night, The Shadowborn Duet, which follows the House of Shadow, and the Bloodborn Duet, which follows the House of Blood. This book starts right after the events of The Serpent & the Wings of Night.
It alternates first POV past tense between Oraya of the Nightborn, daughter of Vincent, the fallen leader of the House of Night, and Raihn Ashraj a former human turned vampire 200 years ago who is now King thanks to Oraya's wish after winning the Kejari to get his long awaited revenge against the House. In the wake of the Kejari, everything Oraya once thought to be true has been destroyed. She's a prisoner in her own kingdom, grieving the only family she ever had, and no longer knowing the truth of her own blood or her parentage. She’s left only with one certainty: she cannot trust anyone, least of all Raihn.
Raihn’s own nobles are none too eager to accept a Turned king,
especially one who was once a slave. As the House of Blood schemes to rip the kingdom
apart, Raihn proposes a secret alliance that could help Oraya reclaim
her throne and get revenge on her traitorous lover. To pull it off, she’ll need to tap into an
ancient power linked to her father's dark secrets. But with enemies
lurking everywhere, Oraya faces tough choices: go for the ruthless power
she craves or risk everything for a love that might just lead to her
undoing.
This book also includes Vale, once a General for the House, and the human he turned into a vampire in Six Scorched Roses, Lilith. One of the positives of this book is actually getting to know who Vincent is, and the love he lost, and the daugher that he did everything in his power to protect from losing to those who hated him. Not everything he did was right or justifiable,
but you can truly see his efforts to make amends with Oraya. That
struggle adds an interesting complexity, revealing that he’s not purely
evil but rather a flawed individual trying to navigate his way through
his mistakes.
The most disappointment for me in this book is Oraya. In the last book, Oraya went out and night and killed vampires who preyed on humans. This time around, she really loses what I loved about her. Yes, Oraya had every right to be mad at Vincent, and the reasons will become crystal clear why he tried to protect her. If people knew the actual truth about Oraya, which again, comes out later in the book thanks to Raihn pushing her buttons, they would have likely killed her leaving Vincent without a legitimate heir. In this book, there are interludes, and if you don't pay attention, you will have no clue who is telling the story.
This book spends a majority of the time going back and forth between Oraya and Raihn as they put aside their hurts, and expectations, and realize that there is more to what is happening in this world, than Oraya's hurt feelings about being forced to becoming Raihn's wife, and apparent Queen. As I sad before, this series features (3) Houses. House of Blood, House of Night, and House of Shadows. We meet all three in this story when a huge betrayal happens that causes Oraya to finally grow up and discovers that she is more than a puny human, but a powerhouse.
While the book is allegedly the final book in the Nightborn duology, and the ending still leaves room for questions as to what happens next, it's not the end of the the world that the author has created. Next up is The Songbird and the Heart of Stone which takes place in the House of Shadow which was briefly mentioned in this story. That story will focus on Raihn's best friend Mische who has a similiar horror story when it comes to being forcibly changed from human to vampire.
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