About The Book
Oraya, the adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, enters the deadly Kejari tournament to prove herself. Among ruthless vampire warriors, she must form an uneasy alliance with a mysterious rival to survive.
Buy The Book: https://amzn.to/4a5GyKh
My Rating
To be completely honest, I had no idea that this book was about vampires and a Hunger Games type competition. And, yes I understand that the comparison to ‘The Hunger Games’ is getting old, but when I think of a book that has a fight to the death tournament element, it is the first book that comes to mind. Especially since it is one of the books that did the competition plot well. However, this book does a fantastic job with it, too!
The story follows Oraya, a human girl raised by a vampire king. She must enter deadly contest where the winner is granted a wish. However, her alliance, and her connection to another competitor, Raihn, could just be her undoing. The two characters form this bond, and their chemistry was undeniable. Throughout the story you watched them grow from frenemies, to partners, to friends.
Oraya was such a strong female character, and you could tell that she felt out of place in her life. I loved how she didn’t feel like she fit in with the vampires, but also didn’t connect with humans either. She was a character that put up walls, and was looking for some sort of family unit. As for Raihn, I loved him. He was charming, funny, and for a vampire, so full of life. He has been added to my list of book crushes for sure.
The plot for the book was very strong and well developed. I loved the mixture of vampires, a competition, magic, and even romance. Although I do think that the book was little long, I have come to except that in first books in fantasy series. The author wants to take the time to build the world and characters. However, I think that the book would have still be able to get the story across in 400 pages verse 500 pages. But, that is just a personal opinion.
“A dead lover can never break your heart.”
The book borders the line between romantasy and traditional fantasy. Personally, I would say that this is more of a high fantasy yet I could see why other would consider it a romantic fantasy. Speaking on the romance side of things, there isn’t a ton of spicy in this book, since I’d consider it to be a slow burn romance. Still, we do get one steamy scene closer to the end.
The atmosphere was amazing, and the author did a great job bringing this world to life. The writing style was very captivating, and you were immersed into the story. Throughout the book, I was not only intrigued by what was going to happen next, but enjoying ever minute of the story. I felt that it was different enough from other books that follow similar plots that it kept me engaged and guessing.
Overall, this is a great read, and I think more seasoned fantasy readers might really appreciate it. If you aren’t someone that tends to read a lot of fantasy, you might find it a little slow at some parts. Still, the ending is phenomenal, and I am not sure where the author is going to take the story next. I will admit that I did suspect one of the twists early on, but the final twist came as a complete shock to me.
In the comments, let me know if you have read this book. I do believe that it was originally a self published novel, and it is available on KU. Before you go, please like and share this post with others. Don’t forget that you can always hit the follow button so that you receive post notifications.
Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny