The Serpents and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

This book has many, many good reviews online. So much so that I didn’t see one negative review until after finishing it. It’s safe to say that the criticism was rather eye opening though I wish I could seal my eyes shut and never read a book ever again after some of the outrageously and mind-numbingly banal descriptions.

The protagonist of the book is Oraya. She is a human and was rescued from a collapsed house by the King of the House of Night, one of the three kingdoms of vampires. She was raised as his adopted daughter and grew up learning to never trust anyone and to stab first think after. She enters the Keijuri, a fight to the death ‘survival of the fittest’ (or most fit in this scenario), so she can become a Coritae meaning her life would be bonded to her father and it’d grant her his powers. As a human she’s an obvious target and painfully underestimated. She begrudgingly forms an allegiance with Rahin and Mische, long story short, they fall in love, she gives up everything for him, he betrays her, she forgives him (?!). 

Despite the slightly harsh comments I made the beginning and few (or many) exasperated sighs I let out as I read this book, I did enjoy a few aspects. Firstly, I was intrigued by the concept of the book; a mix between twilight and the hunger games. I liked Mische, Raihn’s friend, and found her character to be very likeable and endearing. Though of course she’s almost fatally wounded and makes only a brief appearance in the book, unfortunately. Upon reflection, this might be the only thing I really liked. 

As for the negatives…first of all, aren’t fantasy worlds supposed to have some sort of allure and appeal that entices readers, making them want to escape our world and into the fantastical realm? It says a lot when I say I’d choose our world over this vampire world any day. The world building is incoherent and lacks depth. Many aspects of the story didn’t make any sense to me. Such as: why would the contestants be allowed to leave the Moon Palace (grounds of the Keijuri) at all? Could they not just meet people and hoard food and blood? Doesn’t that undermine the efficacy of the competition, defeating the purpose of finding the strongest and most competent and instead rendering it a battle of wealth? Yet this glaringly obvious loophole is somehow not addressed which is more than just a little frustrating.

Furthermore, the challenges themselves are so infuriatingly short. I was reading this book to get excited about the perilous and precarious challenges contestants are forced to endure. But the way Broadbent depicts each challenge grows progressively less detail-oriented. It's almost as if she haphazardly wrote a few hundred words (and that's being generous) to get what should be the most interesting part out of the way in favour of the romance. Disappointing. Also, this man murdered her father, uprooted her kingdom, forced her into marriage, committed genocide against her people…yet she still loves him? That is betrayal on a whole other level. Who in their right mind would condone such an atrocious breaking, or rather shattering, of trust?

Why is it so hard to write a female protagonist who realises her own worth and doesn’t fall victim to this sanctimonious, inane, pathetic, measly obsession masquerading as love. The bar for contemporary fantasy writing is non-existent, this is why people don’t take this genre seriously anymore. Disappointing yet not surprising.