Book Review: The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk

The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk is the fourth book in the Crowns of Nyaxia series and second book in the Shadownborn Duet by Carissa Broadbent. It is the conclusion for the Mische and Asar storyline, but the overarching storyline fo the Crowns of Nyaxia series continues.

This novel picks up where The Songbird & the Heart of Stone left off. Mische has sacrificed her life and plunged the world into an eternal night to save the ones she loves including Asar, the bastard son of the now dead Shadowborn King and wraith warden. Now Mische is more wraith than vampire and Asar has been imprisoned by the Gods. They must find their way back to one another and embark on a journey to find relics of Alarus, the god of death, so Asar can ascend to divinity and save both him and Mische, and save the underworld which is collapsing. Along the way they, along with Luce, rely on each other, their love for each other, old friends (yay for being reunited with Raihn and Oraya!), and some they used to think were enemies.

I enjoyed the book and Mische and Asar’s relationship and deep love for each other is so beautiful. I do think the book was a lot slower than the previous book even though a lot was happening and there’s a lot of action so I’m not sure why it felt slow at times. I loved being reunited with Raihn and Oraya and the little cameos by Lilith and Vale! And also Sylina and Atrius! And to find out their ties to Septimus was really cool and now I can’t wait for his books that are coming next. What surprised me the most though is that I really loved Vincent’s role in this book. He was such a complex character earlier in the series and morally grey, but he was such a great character in this book and actually made me a little emotional in his scenes.

Overall, I did like this book, but I wasn’t as hooked on it as I was with the previous books. I still think the storyline was really interesting, it was action packed, and Mische and Asar’s love for each other is beautiful.

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