THE SERPENT AND THE WINGS OF NIGHT - Carissa Broadbent

4.5 stars

This was an addictive read--fun and flashy, yet still a normal "competition" fantasy romance...until it surprised me and ripped open into something devastating and shiny. Then it became a new favorite.

Setting: ★★★
Plot/Pacing: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★
Enjoyment: ★★★★★

Before we begin, a rambled note on TikTok:
In my opinon, TikTok is an odd zone for the book community. It's large, obviously, and a lot of people love it. I love that for them. But overall... I struggle. I almost never agree with the flashy/quick recommendation videos based on hype and aesthetics vs. actual similarities between books. I think they're formed on the fly in the hype culture of fast recs vs. quality recs, and I also think it's often the same books in the rec pot across the board. (This isn't a TikTok specific hate, I've always grumbled about Instagram and YouTube too when it comes to "if you like this, try this" content.) So usually, I avoid all TT recommendations like the plague until someone I trust and/or actually know takes a bite of the apple.

In a totally unexpected and surprising turn of events, Amy read a TikTok-recommended fantasy romance. (Did you hear that? It was the reality paradigm, it cracked in half when I typed that sentence.)

No, seriously, it's true. This ridiculous anti-platform gremlin/stick-in-the-mud reader picked up The Serpent and the Wings of Night because it refused to leave her alone, and there was something deep down that made her go... maybe they're right, maybe this is awesome.

And it WAS.

Imagine if you took everything you liked and stirred it into one pot. For me, it's a combination of the following ingredients (let's make a potion together):

-A deadly game, competition, or high-stakes survival scenario
-A female protagonist with *actual* hard edges/reasons to be a badass
-A male love interest who has more character traits than 1) I Am Powerful/Deadly/The Black Sheep, and 2) Relentlessly Attracted to FMC" (it's amazing how many SFF men fail this test—even some of my favs.)
-A unique world, bonus points for a clever twist of the usual tropes
-A sense of actual doom/high stakes/death impending
-Realistic fighting
-Actually consequences/death
-A well-done, slower-burn romantic pacing
-Decent dialogue for the steamy scenes
-Great writing all around
-More than 1 side character with a backstory and personality

And that's it. I'm a simple girl, with simple needs.... and a longgg laundry list of things that need to hit right for me to love the fantasy romances. I usually love books that include at least two thirds of my list—it's not like I sit there with my checklist, but anecdotally, I've noticed I tend to follow this list subconsciously in my book selections.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night hit every. single. one.

I read this book in ONE DAY and then read all of book two two days after that. Don't sleep on this one, fellow fantasy fans and those who like those things on my checklist. This book has it all.