Bonne lecture - Globalement j'ai passé un moment agréable.

Sur certains aspects, j'ai retrouvé un peu de Nevernight dans ma lecture, notamment pour le côté badass de Oraya et son impertinence à peine déguisée.

L'univers était plutôt intéressant, même si j'aurais aimé plus d'explications sur les enjeux de ce royaume, la politique et les différents pouvoirs qu'on peut rencontrer.

Certains personnages ont montré une facette assez complexe d'eux-mêmes. Mention spéciale à Vincent qui m'a paru être un protagoniste tout en subtilité dont j'aimerais en savoir plus par la suite.
Oraya est un personnage complexe mais j'ai regretté la naïveté qui la caractérisée pendant tout le long du roman (il y a des choses évidentes à côté desquelles elle est complètement passée, elle ne semble pas plus s'intéresser que cela à la politique, aux différents enjeux et aux motivations de son père par exemple). Par certains aspects je comprends sa froideur, la distance qu'elle prend avec les évènements mais d'un autre côté j'ai eu plus de mal à m'attacher à elle comme à Raihn.

Justement, parlons du plot principal (autour duquel gravite d'autres intrigues secondaires) : je n'ai pas ressenti cette tension tout au long du roman, la faute à de trop nombreuses épreuves traversées en 1 ou 2 chapitres, résolues en 1/4 de secondes. Je n'ai donc pas éprouvé la peur qu'Oraya aurait dû ressentir face à ces vampires de légende prêts à combattre contre elle, à ces épreuves qui auraient pu être un peu plus grandioses.

Pour conclure, je dirai qu'il y a pas mal de potentiel pour qu'on se détache un peu du côté redondant de certaines romantasy, mais qu'il est un peu éclipsé par l'absence de tension dans le récit et le faible attachement que j'ai ressenti vis-à-vis des personnages.
Je ne sait pas si je me laisserai séduire par la suite maintenant que les enjeux ont été posés et grâce aux révélations finales. Mais il est clair que si on retombe un peu dans les mêmes travers je n'irai pas au bout des 5 tomes annoncés par l'autrice. ( )

This book has been all over BookTok since I first discovered the app over a year and a half ago. Many reviewers say this book has the best presentation of vampires. Now, I have read many books, both fantasy and bodice rippers with the vampire theme prominent in their main characters, but here we have a human female as our main lead. A young woman named Oraya filled with rage toward the vampires because they had killed her family long ago. She would have probably even died that night if it had not been for a vampire king named Vincent who ends up taking her in as his adopted daughter.

The King did not know then that his greatest love would be his ruination - nor that either would come in the form of a tiny, helpless child
Vampires are normally known for their arrogance and maybe Vincent did believe himself untouchable or that the child he raised, trained, and saw as his own was too weak of a human to do anything against him. But we never know anything he is thinking, what he is doing, or much about him except what we get from our main female lead.

Oraya is human in her world. A world where humans are treated as nothing more than blood banks and cattle for the vampires. When she was twelve, she was almost killed until she was found by Vincent. He saved her and took her to his home. I loved the chemistry they had. You could see he loved her in his way. He taught her to survive his world and even saw her as his own. So, when she enters the Kejari tournaments she is pitted against other vampires in a set of brutal games in which she will have to survive to win.

It is here we meet Raihn, who offers Oraya an alliance and a nicer place to stay that would offer her far more protection than the greenhouse she was at. I enjoyed that their romance was slow and the chemistry between them burned deeper than the tournament itself. I was happy to see that was not something instant but that the romance was slow and steady offering up steamy moments between them whenever they were together.

I love fantasy romance novels with vampires at its core. The Serpent and the Wings offers an intriguing and refreshing take on the classic vampire love story. The novel is full of thrilling action, steamy romance, and intricate world-building that will keep readers hooked from beginning to end. The author does a fantastic job of balancing the fantasy elements with the romance, creating a captivating story that will keep readers wanting more. ( )

This was an enjoyable read and I actually really loved the MC. The writing style was the most beautiful aspect of this book. Sure, the competition trope and betrayal trope has been done time and time again. Do I care? No. I loved every bit of it. ( )

THE SERPENT AND THE WINGS OF NIGHT by Carissa Broadbent brings you more vampires, and I am once again thankful that vampires are popular again. These are proper vampires - beautiful killing machines who look at humans the way we look at cows and not a sparkle in sight. There are three sects of vampires, each with a different power. Magic exists in this world, and goddesses grant favors. I am in love!

Nestled among them is the very human Oraya. How she comes to live among vampires, not as food, but as a princess, is only a fraction of the story. THE SERPENT AND THE WINGS OF NIGHT occurs many years after Oraya's adoption, but Ms. Broadbent allows us to experience Oraya's life growing up in a vampire court through interludes, short chapters that begin each section. Not only do we get insight into Oraya's past, but we can also see where Oraya's youth and innocence helped form her current opinions and loyalties.

All this comes into play as Oraya participates in the Kejari, a once-every-two-hundred-years contest among vampires. What follows is your typical storyline wherein Oraya partners with another vampire who just so happens to not meet her expectations. The Kejari itself is exciting and suspenseful, even if it is a bit predictable. The sparks occur in the last few chapters as Oraya and her partner reach the final battle. The truth will out, and the consequences are spectacular.

While I didn't find THE SERPENT AND THE WINGS OF NIGHT as compelling as Fourth Wing, I still had a lot of fun reading it. Scary vampires, political intrigue, lots of secrets and deliberate misdirection, and one lone human, fierce and every bit as lethal as the vampires that surround her - there is a lot to love here. The ending upset me if only because I didn't share her feelings about what happened, an attitude I suspect Ms. Broadbent deliberately sought to make her readers feel. With the final book in the duology set for a June 2024 release, we don't have to wait long to find out the rest of Oraya's story. I can't wait! ( )

I was hooked right up to the last ten pages or so. Intriguing plot, equally intriguing characters and plenty of action. I hope the next installment takes off and keeps flying. ( )