Book: The Lion & the Deathless Dark The Bloodborn Duet, Book One by Carissa Broadbent
Reviewed by plotdrunk
Rating: 5/5
I don't know how Carissa does it, but she raised the bar even higher with this one. Five books in and the world still blows me away. Easy, easy five stars.
Let's talk about Septimus first. He's been lurking in the periphery of the story for four books now, and I'd been dying to know what his motivations were. Carissa delivered on all fronts again, because he became the morally grey/black character I love most. His choices were usually indefensible, but I always understood why he was doing what he did. The weight of saving his family and his kingdom, and more secondarily his own survival, pushed the entire plot forward.
Then we have Kyrene, who was such a fun heroine to follow. She's messy AF, morally grey, and stubborn to her own detriment, but it made her feel human and relatable. The twist in the book completely subverted the chosen one trope, and made me look at a lot of scenes that came before totally differently. I also loved their growing tension throughout the book as they were forced to trust each other more and more. By the time we got to the end of the book, their relationship felt natural and completely unforced.
And the ending???? No spoilers, but Carissa really pulled a switcharoo that has further escalated the major conflict of the series. I have no idea how she's going to resolve everything, but I have full faith that she will. It was a joy to step back into this world, and Carissa remains on my auto-buy list. Now we just need book 6 to see how it all wraps up!