Carissa Broadbent

The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King

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. Full of heartbreak, redemption, bloody intrigue, and heart-pounding action, The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King is the gutting second installment of the Crowns of Nyaxia series, and the conclusion of the Nightborn Duet 

alexys <3

He gave me a gentle smile. "Don't forget those teeth of yours, little serpent.” 

And Goddess, despite everything, I hesitated.

Despite everything, I was not ready to let him go. 

But what I was not expecting was to love you do devastatingly much. It hits me do suddenly, so overwhelmingly, that I don't even have time to brace myself against it.

Because that name was all those things, wasn't it? Raihn. My downfall and my most valuable supporter. My weakness and my strength. My worst enemy and the greatest love I had ever known.

All of that in one name. One person. One soul I knew as well as my own, just as confusing, just as flawed.

thag sounds like a goodbye. that’s not funny. 

I could feel his breath on my forehead. "Just want you to know, Oraya," he murmured, "that you were the best part of it. The best part of all of it." al

I still wasn't sure if it would be enough. But Goddess, it was something, wasn't it?

Did you really think, Vincent whispered in the back of my mind, that I wouldn't account for you, too, my little serpent? 

"Everything has just gotten interesting," I said, "and you think I'm just going to run away? When there's a fight to fight? When that piece of shit has 

"You are so impossibly beautiful," he murmured in my ear.

And then I spread my wings, and we hurled ourselves over the edge of the balcony.

“So should I be afraid? Are you going to kill me, princess?”

"I already did. I don't know why you keep giving me chances."

“I’d spend a lifetime at the tip of your blade, and it would have been worth it.”

Maybe I just imagined that the entire world stopped when my wife wallked into the ballroom.

He chuckled and leaned closer, his face only a few inches from mine, and murmured, "You sound so disappointed, my murderous queen.”

“Your father, Oraya, felt all those things, too. He was just as broken as the rest of us, and he was so determined not to acknowledge it that he flayed you with those sharp edges and then berated you for having skin instead of steel."

"You were fucking dying," he snapped. "I had more impartant things to worry about than your father's games.

I hated these dreams, the ones where I dreamed of the way Raihn had once looked at me, when we fought together in the Kejari. Like his heart was outside his body.

i hope this is elaborated on later bc lmfaoooo

If you are, I thought, you'd better help me here. You owe me that. 

That's a rude way to speak to your father Vincent replied

And I missed him too much to hate him the way I wanted to.

"You are too precious to be taken away by such a mundane danger, my little serpent," he said gently. "I wish it were different.”

"Do you remember, " he whispered, "that time you threw me out of the window?"

He gave me a firm, forceful push, and then I was falling.

When Mische pulled back the covers of her bed and several roaches ran out, she simply stared down at it with a look of utter disgust on her face, threw the covers back into place, and said brightly, "This can be Septimius' room.”

His gaze flicked over her impassively before returning to me. Dawn's coming," he said. "Forgive me if I need to steal my wife away, Lady Evelaena."

"A king shouldn't leave his queen unguarded, either, especially not one as prone to getting into trouble as you." He gave me a sly grin. "Besides, if you think I'm going to miss the chance to get out of this damned place and go get my hands dirty, you don't know me at all." 

At my flat stare, Raihn laughed. "ly, how you've adjusted to royal life, Your Highness."

But I would always regret this. Brealking Oraya. That was a sin that I'd never be able to atone for.

But none of those reasons bothered me as much as the others-not protecting my crown from Oraya, but protecting Oraya from my crown. 

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. Full of heartbreak, redemption, bloody intrigue, and heart-pounding action, The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King is the gutting second installment of the Crowns of Nyaxia series, and the conclusion of the Nightborn Duet - perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Would have left this at zero stars but had to give it at least one since reading this is entirely on ME.

Guys, it is dire. The prose is so bad, so juvenile. If we took out the word "fucking" used as an adjective, we'd probably easily be down 200 pages. I am not exaggerating when I say the characters sound like a bunch of 13-year-olds that have just discovered swear words.

Worse still is the compulsive use of the "Enter" key. I suspect Broadbent believes this builds up tension or highlights the importance of certain phrases. But then that would be every phrase here, and what it actually does is break up the rhythm of the narration where it does not need to be broken up.

In this novel, there seems to be a fundamental lack of understanding of writing. From the poor plotting to the lack of complexity of the characters (or chemistry between them) to the above choices in regards to the plot, it is difficult to believe this is more than someone's pet project. This is fine. It is just rude to make people pay money for it. (Not all writing needs to be published, by the way - or at least, traditionally published).

In her Author's Note, Broadbent mentions that she found writing the novel challenging since in the first one, she could rely on the structure of the trials. I'd argue that the planning of each novel should have not been that different in terms of the beats the author wants it or it needs to hit. But yeah, we could tell.

I just... I do not know why I did this to myself. At least I was at the beach

Would have left this at zero stars but had to give it at least one since reading this is entirely on ME.

Guys, it is dire. The prose is so bad, so juvenile. If we took out the word "fucking" used as an adjective, we'd probably easily be down 200 pages. I am not exaggerating when I say the characters sound like a bunch of 13-year-olds that have just discovered swear words.

Worse still is the compulsive use of the "Enter" key. I suspect Broadbent believes this builds up tension or highlights the importance of certain phrases. But then that would be every phrase here, and what it actually does is break up the rhythm of the narration where it does not need to be broken up.

In this novel, there seems to be a fundamental lack of understanding of writing. From the poor plotting to the lack of complexity of the characters (or chemistry between them) to the above choices in regards to the plot, it is difficult to believe this is more than someone's pet project. This is fine. It is just rude to make people pay money for it. (Not all writing needs to be published, by the way - or at least, traditionally published).

In her Author's Note, Broadbent mentions that she found writing the novel challenging since in the first one, she could rely on the structure of the trials. I'd argue that the planning of each novel should have not been that different in terms of the beats the author wants it or it needs to hit. But yeah, we could tell.

I just... I do not know why I did this to myself. At least I was at the beach

Still not obsessed with the series but did enjoy. Felt slightly long winded at times. I just want to be a vampire pls

Nicole Mills

Was good but not my favourite! Really enjoyed it though! Got better as it went on

Femke

The complexity of Oraya dealing with grief as well as her emotions towards her father all while dealing with her emotions towards Raihn AND with all the chaos she was thrown into was very well done. 

Raihn’s POV was also a nice addition, adding that depth to his character. 

The ending was well done, it didn’t feel rushed for me. I enjoyed reading Oraya break free of everything she’s had to deal with her whole life. 

I did enjoy this peak at the world Carissa Broadbent has created here and I am very intrigued into continuing exploring through her other books! 

Roxanne Ramirez

Dual POV 

Enemies to lovers all over again

The complexity of Oraya dealing with grief as well as her emotions towards her father all while dealing with her emotions towards Raihn AND with all the chaos she was thrown into was very well done. 

Raihn’s POV was also a nice addition, adding that depth to his character. 

The ending was well done, it didn’t feel rushed for me. I enjoyed reading Oraya break free of everything she’s had to deal with her whole life. 

I did enjoy this peak at the world Carissa Broadbent has created here and I am very intrigued into continuing exploring through her other books! 

Liked the focus on the characters’ conflicting emotions, and the world is more sharply drawn than in the previous book. However, it felt over-long and dragged a bit in places.

Laura Dobie

Sigh… I won’t even lie that after reading the first book this was a little disappointing. Finishing this book was painful and it was like 200 pages too long for what was going on. Although there was still a lot going on I just feel like it’s a lot more slow paced than the first book and as someone with a TERRIBLE attention span I was struggling. I still did enjoy reading it but at one point I was just starting to get bored. Lowkey don’t know if I’ll read the third book.

mikki ☆

not as amazing as book one but still a fun read!! felt a little drawn out at some points that had me skimming paragraphs and i feel i have a few questions about plot holes… the first 60% had me draggggging getting through it… but the last 40% i literally stayed up till 3am finishing it!!

BROOKE A

The beginning was such a page turner, but I found that the end seemed rushed. Everything of importance ended up occurring in around 100 pages which seemed off to me. I loved seeing the evolution of so many relationships, but in some instances the consequences to actions felt naive and very YA. I still really enjoyed the fast-paced storyline and felt many aspects were very unique although I can’t say this series is in my top 10.

Anna

i was entertained and i did thoroughly enjoy raihn and orayas relationship and i am SO sad about vincent bht this took me 2-3 months to finish and it could’ve been idk shorter 

I think I enjoyed the first book a bit more but this was still a fun read. I’m torn between 3-4 stars but rounding up since I did enjoy! I do think Oraya came off a bit helpless in the beginning which wasn’t what I’d expect but ya know she did just go through a huge betrayal so maybe I’m being harsh. I do think that a lot of this book felt like the same action sequence over and over again but I guess that is war?

Ashley Denktas

I liked the way she wrapped it up but the writing style isn’t my favourite 

Alissa 

Esmé Mackaay

The political aspects were a bit all over the place, but I liked the character development.   

Jenny Engel

Better paced than the first one, but also still doesn’t outgrow its “booktok”-ness, which what I hoping for.

Rabia Sitabi

Better paced than the first one, but also still doesn’t outgrow its “booktok”-ness, which what I hoping for.

Solid Romantasy nonetheless 

I really loved this book and seeing the progression of the characters, I actually think this was much better than the first 

The plot line of a war/ politics of the world and the relationship between Oraya and Raihn being rekindled is what I live for in fantasy books- there was actually a few twists and turns in here that I didn’t see coming and made the story so much more interesting 

the romance depicted in this book is described so beautifully and I have never highlighted so many quotes that just showed Raihns love for Oraya so well 

Also the character development of Oraya is so special and I love to see how she’s gone from thinking she’s weak to the strong queen she is in 2 books 

Holly Lake

I really loved this book and seeing the progression of the characters, I actually think this was much better than the first 

The plot line of a war/ politics of the world and the relationship between Oraya and Raihn being rekindled is what I live for in fantasy books- there was actually a few twists and turns in here that I didn’t see coming and made the story so much more interesting 

the romance depicted in this book is described so beautifully and I have never highlighted so many quotes that just showed Raihns love for Oraya so well 

Also the character development of Oraya is so special and I love to see how she’s gone from thinking she’s weak to the strong queen she is in 2 books 

Definitely enjoyed it better than the first, despite it having some of the same issues (repetition, for instance). I'm glad that Broadbent is expanding the 'religious' side of things. It's exciting to see more of the deities of the universe, and what they offer. Furthermore, I cannot hate Septimus, he an evil little mink and I love that. 

Kiersten

Overall, I think the story was good but I feel like dragged on a bit and had a few slow spots throughout. 

Hannah Williams

Everything I could’ve dreamed for and more. If I hadn’t rated the first one five stars as well, this one would be higher. 

Jillian Roberts

This book is everything the first book could have been and so much more. The description of love and everything that comes with the emotion is so deep and meaningful and heartbreakingly accurate that I felt it in my soul. 10/10

Camille Mounce

AHHHHHH I forgot how good this storyline was. I took like a 8 month gap between reading the first in the series and this one. But SO HAPPY I read it. Seriously amazing story and the love between Oraya and Raihn is just devastatingly beautiful. Like no spoilers but here’s a dialogue between oraya and raihn that destroyed my soul:

“You have nothing but me,” I said. “And yet, you’d let me go?”

“I have nothing but you,” he murmured. “So I am letting you go.” 😭😭😭

I literally cried when I read that line because in that Moment you could see how much Raihn loved Oraya and how everything around it was destroying him.

I’m soooooo excited for the next book even though this was the official end of Oraya and Raihms story. Love this world and all its concepts 

Jordan Leatherdale

AHHHHHH I forgot how good this storyline was. I took like a 8 month gap between reading the first in the series and this one. But SO HAPPY I read it. Seriously amazing story and the love between Oraya and Raihn is just devastatingly beautiful. Like no spoilers but here’s a dialogue between oraya and raihn that destroyed my soul:

“You have nothing but me,” I said. “And yet, you’d let me go?”

“I have nothing but you,” he murmured. “So I am letting you go.” 😭😭😭

I literally cried when I read that line because in that Moment you could see how much Raihn loved Oraya and how everything around it was destroying him.

I’m soooooo excited for the next book even though this was the official end of Oraya and Raihms story. Love this world and all its concepts 

I love this series and this world. I haven’t read really any books that have vampires but I ended up really enjoying this one. This particular book was a little bit slower to get into but I understand it because of how the first book ended. This world  is so easy to understand and the plot is very enjoyable. I really enjoy the characters and think they are both so strongly written. I honestly can’t wait for the next book and part of me is happy that waited to read it but another part is mad at myself for not reading it sooner. 

Priscilla Stanfield

Listen, i really do not think their story had to have two books about their story, or maybe it did, but this second book was very unecessary. I don't know how tk feel about this book like i cant tell if i even enjoyed it at all, it was just addicting to read and i couldn't put it down. The books plot was just basically pretty basic and it may be because book one was amazing, but likeeee this one was so average I don't even know what to think about it. I didnt like the idea of the war, and the random god blood was just so spontaneous i was so confused. It wasn't bad it was just over done. 

surtified™

such a perfect ending to this part of the series, I really enjoyed the enemies to lovers part ii of it all, I docked half a point because I was really hoping for some more political tension and the first quarter really gave it to me, I was hoping this one would have a little less blind fighting and more scheming and coming together through that way because the first one was them fighting and falling in love through their shared love of fighting and their violent pasts without regard for the larger political consequences, I thought the second would maybe have them reconciling with that, and it did mostly! which is why it was very very good, I was just hoping for more rebellious scheming on oraya’s part. however I was truly gripped by this series and this was an amazing end to this part, I am so excited for more! 

The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King

Reviews

Highlights