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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
An assassin, a soldier, a prince … And a deadly game of power
When Darling Seabreak’s family were murdered by the ruthless House Dragon, she swore she’d get revenge. And first to die will be their bloodthirsty war general, Talon Goldhoard.
Talon Goldhoard will defend his family at any cost. So when he meets Darling - a ferocious girl who looks exactly like the one his brother, the High Prince Caspian, has painted obsessively for years - Talon is instantly on his guard.
Neither could have anticipated the thrilling chaos they will bring to the other’s life. With their world catching fire around them, they must navigate betrayal, prophecy - and love.
This is a game where nobody knows the rules, and everything is to play for.
When the consort of the regent of House Dragon was murdered, the regent accused agents of the rival House Sphinx of being responsible and waged war. The land of Pyrlanum was thrown into chaos by the ensuring conflict between all the Houses - Dragon, Sphinx, Cockatrice, Kraken, Barghest and Gryphon - until eventually Sphinx was completely destroyed, its members all put to the sword by House Dragon, which also forced most of the other Houses to submit to it. The House Dragon regent declared himself to be High Prince regent of Pyrlaneum and with the disappearance of House Phoenix (the House that used to keep the peace but which vanished a century earlier during previous inter-House wars), ruled Pyrlanum with an iron fist.
It’s now 12 years later.
Darling Seabreak is the last surviving member of House Sphinx. A nursemaid got her out of the Sphinx compound as a toddler when House Dragon attacked and she survived in the sewers of Nakumba for a few years before being rescued and adopted by Leonetti Seabreak, regent of House Kraken. Too young to know her name and with few memories of her family, she has gown up with only purpose: to take revenge on House Dragon. In this she has helped by the fact that she has a healing boon (a magical talent that means she can heal any wounds she suffered - although not the damage to her eyesight that she suffered from her time in the sewers) and she works with the Kraken Barbs (elite assassins) to wage a guerrilla war against House Dragon. But lately she has grown tired of the killing and her current mission - to rescue Leonetti who has been kidnapped by House Dragon operatives - will be her last.
Talon Goldhoard is the War Prince, the younger brother of Caspian, the High Prince regent of Pyrlaneum. He serves his brother faithfully, but worries about him as well. For as long as he can remember, Caspian has been painting pictures of an eyeless girl and such is Caspian’s obsession with her, that Talon sometimes worries about whether he is fit to rule. Together with his aunt Aurora (who has a boon for prophecy), he seeks to manage the affairs of the kingdom and quash speculation about Caspian’s mental state.
When Darling’s mission to rescue Leonetti goes wrong, she’s captured by Talon who takes her back to meet Caspian. As the last of House Sphinx, everyone - including Talon - expects Caspian to have her executed in order to destroy House Sphinx once and for all but instead he announces that House Sphinx is to be restored under Darling’s leadership and that they are to engage in a grand tour of Pyrlaneum. As Talon tries to work out what his brother is trying to achieve, he and Darling and increasingly thrown together. Neither are particularly happy about this - Talon because he is sure that his brother’s paintings warn of a threat and Darling because House Kraken has charged her with using her new proximity to Caspian to murder him - but the more time they spend together, the more they find themselves beginning to understand each other, and maybe something more …
Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland’s YA fantasy romance (the first in a series) is a solidly constructed enemies-to-lovers story with thoughtful (if generic) world building including an interesting mythology based around magical beasts. However the pacing, for me, was uneven with the authors focusing largely on set-up so that the story doesn’t really get going until the final quarter, although it does set up an intriguing premise for the sequel.
I picked this up because I’ve read a number of short stories by Gratton and Ireland, which I have enjoyed and so was intrigued to read something in a longer form.
The world building here is solid, if a little generic. The people of Pyrlanum are associated with various Houses, each Houses having a set of generic characteristics/skills. To be honest, it was all a bit too Hogwarts-light for me and I would have liked a bit more sophistication in the world building - it particularly grated when Talon kept using dragon imagery in his narrated sections because it’s just a bit hackneyed. The other area of the world building that was a bit hokey is the way that everyone in Pyrlanum has some kind of magical talent, which at times becomes a bit of a get-out-of-jail-free card to deal with certain scenes. It’s particularly contrived in the case of Caspian, whose gift for prophecy is something that he hides from everyone (instead they think his talent is for art) and I didn’t quite believe that Talon would not have guessed his brother’s real gift (even allowing for his aunt’s lies) given Caspian’s obvious obsession with Darling and some of the dialogue between the two.
On the plus side, I did find Caspian to be an interesting character - gay (or possibly bisexual), driven slightly mad by his visions and utterly obsessed with Darling, I wish there’d been more of him in the book. This is especially the case given that his plan doesn’t start to become apparently until the final third of the book and I wanted to know more about his motivation (just as I wanted to know more about the importance of the various House artefacts as it all feels a bit rushed). I’m hoping that this will come out more in the sequel as there is plenty of set-up there.
The book is told in chapters alternating between Talon and Darling’s point of view. They’re well written and give a sense of the respective characters. One of my issues with YA romance is that they’re based on instant physical attraction with little character interaction to justify it. That’s not the case here where there is a fair amount of development and although I found the enemies element to be over-egged, Gratton and Ireland hit the expected romance beats in a way that convinced me.
Darling and Talon are well drawn and have some depth to them. Each feels conflicted about what they do - Darling is turning against the constant killing she has to do as a Kraken Barb and although she understands why the Krakens want her to use her closeness to Caspian to kill him, I did understand why she was reluctant. Similarly, I believed in Talon’s conflicted feelings about his brother - the way he wants to feel closer to his brother and is frustrated at being kept at arm’s length but equally wondering if maybe Caspian is too erratic to rule.
The book ends on a bit of a cliff hanger, with an intriguing set up for the sequel. Based on this book, I would definitely want to check that out.
The Verdict:
Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland’s YA fantasy romance (the first in a series) is a solidly constructed enemies-to-lovers story with thoughtful (if generic) world building including an interesting mythology based around magical beasts. However the pacing, for me, was uneven with the authors focusing largely on set-up so that the story doesn’t really get going until the final quarter, although it does set up an intriguing premise for the sequel.
CHAOS AND FLAME was released in the United Kingdom on 30th March 2023. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
When Darling Seabreak’s family were murdered by the ruthless House Dragon, she swore she’d get revenge. And first to die will be their bloodthirsty war general, Talon Goldhoard.
Talon Goldhoard will defend his family at any cost. So when he meets Darling - a ferocious girl who looks exactly like the one his brother, the High Prince Caspian, has painted obsessively for years - Talon is instantly on his guard.
Neither could have anticipated the thrilling chaos they will bring to the other’s life. With their world catching fire around them, they must navigate betrayal, prophecy - and love.
This is a game where nobody knows the rules, and everything is to play for.
When the consort of the regent of House Dragon was murdered, the regent accused agents of the rival House Sphinx of being responsible and waged war. The land of Pyrlanum was thrown into chaos by the ensuring conflict between all the Houses - Dragon, Sphinx, Cockatrice, Kraken, Barghest and Gryphon - until eventually Sphinx was completely destroyed, its members all put to the sword by House Dragon, which also forced most of the other Houses to submit to it. The House Dragon regent declared himself to be High Prince regent of Pyrlaneum and with the disappearance of House Phoenix (the House that used to keep the peace but which vanished a century earlier during previous inter-House wars), ruled Pyrlanum with an iron fist.
It’s now 12 years later.
Darling Seabreak is the last surviving member of House Sphinx. A nursemaid got her out of the Sphinx compound as a toddler when House Dragon attacked and she survived in the sewers of Nakumba for a few years before being rescued and adopted by Leonetti Seabreak, regent of House Kraken. Too young to know her name and with few memories of her family, she has gown up with only purpose: to take revenge on House Dragon. In this she has helped by the fact that she has a healing boon (a magical talent that means she can heal any wounds she suffered - although not the damage to her eyesight that she suffered from her time in the sewers) and she works with the Kraken Barbs (elite assassins) to wage a guerrilla war against House Dragon. But lately she has grown tired of the killing and her current mission - to rescue Leonetti who has been kidnapped by House Dragon operatives - will be her last.
Talon Goldhoard is the War Prince, the younger brother of Caspian, the High Prince regent of Pyrlaneum. He serves his brother faithfully, but worries about him as well. For as long as he can remember, Caspian has been painting pictures of an eyeless girl and such is Caspian’s obsession with her, that Talon sometimes worries about whether he is fit to rule. Together with his aunt Aurora (who has a boon for prophecy), he seeks to manage the affairs of the kingdom and quash speculation about Caspian’s mental state.
When Darling’s mission to rescue Leonetti goes wrong, she’s captured by Talon who takes her back to meet Caspian. As the last of House Sphinx, everyone - including Talon - expects Caspian to have her executed in order to destroy House Sphinx once and for all but instead he announces that House Sphinx is to be restored under Darling’s leadership and that they are to engage in a grand tour of Pyrlaneum. As Talon tries to work out what his brother is trying to achieve, he and Darling and increasingly thrown together. Neither are particularly happy about this - Talon because he is sure that his brother’s paintings warn of a threat and Darling because House Kraken has charged her with using her new proximity to Caspian to murder him - but the more time they spend together, the more they find themselves beginning to understand each other, and maybe something more …
Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland’s YA fantasy romance (the first in a series) is a solidly constructed enemies-to-lovers story with thoughtful (if generic) world building including an interesting mythology based around magical beasts. However the pacing, for me, was uneven with the authors focusing largely on set-up so that the story doesn’t really get going until the final quarter, although it does set up an intriguing premise for the sequel.
I picked this up because I’ve read a number of short stories by Gratton and Ireland, which I have enjoyed and so was intrigued to read something in a longer form.
The world building here is solid, if a little generic. The people of Pyrlanum are associated with various Houses, each Houses having a set of generic characteristics/skills. To be honest, it was all a bit too Hogwarts-light for me and I would have liked a bit more sophistication in the world building - it particularly grated when Talon kept using dragon imagery in his narrated sections because it’s just a bit hackneyed. The other area of the world building that was a bit hokey is the way that everyone in Pyrlanum has some kind of magical talent, which at times becomes a bit of a get-out-of-jail-free card to deal with certain scenes. It’s particularly contrived in the case of Caspian, whose gift for prophecy is something that he hides from everyone (instead they think his talent is for art) and I didn’t quite believe that Talon would not have guessed his brother’s real gift (even allowing for his aunt’s lies) given Caspian’s obvious obsession with Darling and some of the dialogue between the two.
On the plus side, I did find Caspian to be an interesting character - gay (or possibly bisexual), driven slightly mad by his visions and utterly obsessed with Darling, I wish there’d been more of him in the book. This is especially the case given that his plan doesn’t start to become apparently until the final third of the book and I wanted to know more about his motivation (just as I wanted to know more about the importance of the various House artefacts as it all feels a bit rushed). I’m hoping that this will come out more in the sequel as there is plenty of set-up there.
The book is told in chapters alternating between Talon and Darling’s point of view. They’re well written and give a sense of the respective characters. One of my issues with YA romance is that they’re based on instant physical attraction with little character interaction to justify it. That’s not the case here where there is a fair amount of development and although I found the enemies element to be over-egged, Gratton and Ireland hit the expected romance beats in a way that convinced me.
Darling and Talon are well drawn and have some depth to them. Each feels conflicted about what they do - Darling is turning against the constant killing she has to do as a Kraken Barb and although she understands why the Krakens want her to use her closeness to Caspian to kill him, I did understand why she was reluctant. Similarly, I believed in Talon’s conflicted feelings about his brother - the way he wants to feel closer to his brother and is frustrated at being kept at arm’s length but equally wondering if maybe Caspian is too erratic to rule.
The book ends on a bit of a cliff hanger, with an intriguing set up for the sequel. Based on this book, I would definitely want to check that out.
The Verdict:
Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland’s YA fantasy romance (the first in a series) is a solidly constructed enemies-to-lovers story with thoughtful (if generic) world building including an interesting mythology based around magical beasts. However the pacing, for me, was uneven with the authors focusing largely on set-up so that the story doesn’t really get going until the final quarter, although it does set up an intriguing premise for the sequel.
CHAOS AND FLAME was released in the United Kingdom on 30th March 2023. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
