s.b. nova – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 940 pages
Author: S.B. Nova
Publisher: Night Owl Publishing
Release Date: January 29th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

As the darkness grows, so must the light…

Branded as enemies of the fae kingdom, Serena and her friends are on the run from the witch queen, Morgan. They reach sanctuary, only to discover shocking secrets that separate them.

Serena’s newfound destiny takes her to a land plagued by endless war. To survive there, she is forced to bloody her sword, escape an evil king, and confront a god.

But when her brother is captured, she faces her greatest challenge yet. She must harness a deadly magic and embrace the wild witch within. Not only to free her kin, but to save her mate and protect the realm from a queen who’d murder the world just to wear a crown.

WAY TOO LONG.

I don’t think I would have gotten through this if it wasn’t for buddy reading it and listening to it on audio. I just don’t know why this needed to be nearly 1,000 pages long? It’s basically one very long-winded travel story with out a whole lot happening until the last 20%.

Not to mention, I waited WAY TOO FLIPPIN’ LONG to find out more about how the romance is working out. I won’t say details for spoiler reasons. But I’m very conflicted and was hoping for a different angle. I don’t know, maybe book three will work this issue out.

There’s some good moments throughout. The plot did eventually move forward at a glacial pace. I still needed more action and more general things happening. There’s random POV’s of some of the side characters thrown in and I also don’t think this added to the story.

I have been waiting for this sequel for years and I really wish it had worked out as a better read for me. Will I read book three? Probably so.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy + Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: 2-3 open door
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: battle scenes, blood/gore depiction, sexual assault, murder, physical and weapons violence, loss of loved ones

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult fantasy
Length: 600 pages
Author: S.B. Nova
Publisher: Night Owl Publishing
Release Date: December 17th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The brightest of stars are always born on the darkest of nights.

Serena Smith is unusual.

Growing up in a backwoods village, her life is lonely and dull. Then, on her eighteenth birthday, she’s gifted a magical heirloom only to be snatched by fae and condemned to a lifetime in chains.

Dragged to Aldar, a fae kingdom ruled by a tyrant witch, Serena discovers a forbidden love, and meets fellow outcasts, each with their own dark secrets.

As the lives of warriors, rebels, and witches clash, they find a shared destiny. For only together, and with Serena’s unique gifts, can they survive long enough to build the flames of a revolution. Only together can they go to war …

DID SOMEONE SAY FAE?

Yes, I come running to a book when I hear that. And this was no different, and was a great read!

Oooo boy, finally finished this one. I read it through Amazon Prime so I didn’t pay attention to the page count, did you know this book is 600 pages? NEITHER DID I. Yet, somehow, I consistently found myself wanting to come back and read this. I would put it down to read a few chapters from another book and wouldn’t feel as invested because I wanted to dive into this story more. Yes it’s long, but it somehow feels like everything was a necessary piece of the puzzle.

I would desperately like to know who Serena’s mate is though y’all. WHO WHO WHO…who. There was kind of a roulette situation happening with multiple fae where I was convinced each time, oh this is her endgame, and then was thrown off that to someone else! I still have no inkling. The romance in this book is a bit all over the place. Her relationship (that’s supposed to be family based) seems way more than that. The one that was more romantic, didn’t have me really shipping them, AND I’m JUST LOST. If you can’t tell by my rambling sentences.

Serena is definitely a work in progress. Since this is only the first book, I am totally cool with not LOVING her character, but seeing where she can go. I wish she could do a little more for herself, yet I see that she needed to form all of the bonds because she was dealt a crappy hand in the human world. This allowed her to have friendships and people truly close to her.

I love the bit of squad goals we had with Serena’s pack. Frazer (LOVE HIM) needs to be my best friend. I would love him so! I love the team dynamics and the protectiveness that forms through the trials they go through at the military training camp.

The setting and world-building is a bit confusing at times. I really wasn’t grasping the view of the world until way deeper into the book (and a thorough read through of the map). I love maps, but feel like when I’m reading the book itself I shouldn’t have to keep checking back to confirm where I am. The story should be able to narrate that.

Some of the twists near the end had me stunned. I genuinely didn’t see them coming. I thought the lead up was great and can’t wait to get the villain on screen.

I also spent some time looking up information on the next book and stumbled upon the fact that this is supposed to be a four book series. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT THAT LONG.

Overall audience notes: