“I’ve lived through some injustices in the last couple of centuries. Seen some fucking travesties. But one of the biggest, Oraya, is that anyone taught you that you should become anything other than exactly what you are.”
The Serpent and the Wings of Night reaffirmed for me that I am, indeed, just a sucker for any romantasy with a deadly royal competition, dangerous yet alluring vampires, delicious slow-burn romance full of banter and tension, and some amusingly dramatic twists and turns; why yes, the booktok girlies are right, this deserves the hype!
Now, I have to admit that the start was a bit rough for me, mostly because Broadbent just dives straight into the chaos before solidly establishing the world, characters and stakes. And while I immediately liked Oraya as a protagonist with her spunky, angry and stabby personality, I also can’t deny that it took me a frustratingly long time to get connected to her, which was not helped by the fact that girlie has this whole complex of “emotions? we don’t do those” for a large part of the book. Moreover, there’s relatively little dialogue in the initial stages of the story, which slightly hindered my enjoyment as a reader who thrives on digging into characters’ interpersonal relationships.
However, I think it is a testament to Broadbent’s skill as an author that I still couldn’t stop myself from devouring The Serpent and the Wings of Night despite my little quibbles. There’s so much intrigue and tension woven into the narrative, and I loved exploring all the unique intricacies of this vampire-ruled world, especially through Oraya’s human perspective. While the magic remained a bit too vague and elusive to me, I did really enjoy how organically the lore deepened as the Trials progressed, really letting us experience both the deceptive beauty and the alluring darkness of this world instead of being told about it all.
But ultimately, I was here for the romance, and Broadbent delivered on that! Raihn quite literally captured my heart with his devilishly dark charm the moment he first graced us with his presence on the page, and I really loved the slow development of the unconventional bond between him and Oraya; unexpected reluctant allies to friends to lovers… ooooh the tension was so good. And that cave scene? WEAK in the knees!
The main duo definitely stole the show for me in The Serpent and the Wings of Night, but I also came to really appreciate some of the supporting characters, namely the endearingly unhinged Mische and the delicious daddy vampire Vincent. There’s quite a bit of intriguing backstory either hinted at or slowly revealed throughout the story, and I was eating up all the trauma and complicated feelings between everyone.
In a way, this book read a bit like a vampire-infested mix of Throne of Glass and The Hunger Games, yet it somehow also felt so refreshingly unique. Sure, there were some predictable plot beats and twists, but that didn’t make this book any less fun, engaging and addictive. And after that epicly bittersweet ending, I am so ready for the drama that is sure to come in book 2. If you, like me, have been sleeping under a rock and haven’t read The Serpent and the Wings of Night yet, then I’d highly recommend sinking your teeth into this action-packed and well-balanced romantasy.
