Fourth Wing had me in a reading slump and I had seen The Serpent and the Wings of Night a lot on booktok, being recommended as the perfect book to read if you enjoyed Fourth Wing. It seems I wasn’t the only one struggling to find something that was as enjoyable. What was more exciting is that Carissa Broadbent is an indie author! This book was self-published so although it was a little more expensive, I was keen to support a fellow author. (Since writing this, Carissa and The Serpent and The Wings of Night have been picked up by a traditional publisher).
The Serpent and the Wings of Night duology follows Oraya, a human girl who is taken in by the Vampire King (Vincent) and is under his protection. Once she reaches the age of twenty, she has to partake in something called the Kejari which is basically a trial to get granted one wish from their goddess (Nyaxia). The Kejari is a trial for vampires and since Oraya is human, she is at a huge disadvantage. Vampires from the different kingdoms come to compete in this trial and that is where she meets Raihn.
The first book follows Oraya as she goes through the various challenges and it becomes clear that contestants die in each round. The only way to survive is to win. Raihn takes an interest in Oraya immediately, not only because she is human, but because she is the King’s ‘human pet’.
Raihn and Oraya form an alliance to get through the Kejari and as the story progresses, their feelings for each other grow more complicated. There’s also Mische who is Raihn’s best friend and the reason that he entered the Kejari (but you can find out more about that if you read it).
Without giving too many spoilers about the first book, the second book follows the enemies to lovers trope between Oraya and Raihn as she ends up his captive. The second book also follows a more political stance as we find out what has been happening in the kingdom and how they plan to repair it.
I loved the first book as it reminded me of so many other books I loved growing up, like The Hunger Games and Divergent. The vampire element was well done as there is this ever looming threat on Oraya but she knows how to handle herself which means she isn’t actually a vulnerable princess. The second book I didn’t enjoy so much as it was more political and the pace was a bit slower. Most book series go this way and it’s not something I’ve personally been a fan of but I get it.
The relationship between Raihn and Oraya is well constructed and it feels natural. We see both the killer side and the compassionate side to both characters which allows us to see their compatibility. There is the awkward issue of age which I personally decided to ignore as I was reading. Oraya is twenty and Raihn is a few hundred years old but he presents as a man in his thirties. The way the characters interact with each other doesn’t give off the feeling that there is an age gap but it feels disingenuous as Raihn is so much older than Oraya. It’s just an age difference that doesn’t sit well since she is barely an adult and Raihn isn’t a young vampire.
Overall, it’s a good duology that’s well rounded but the second book could have been shorter. I love the characters and the complexity of all of them. They each have been developed well enough that you can understand them and their incentives which is a great experience when reading. If you like fantasy worlds, forbidden love, enemies to lovers, vampires, etc. then this one is for you.
My Rating - 8/10