Loving people gets them killed. This was the simple, and horrifyingly accurate, concept Delilah had always lived by. Until losing her sister led her to Mythaven. When the people who agreed to help her became more than acquaintances, the wall she built around her heart failed. Pieces of it broke away, letting her love escape. Now every horror that tries to eviscerate them reminds her why it wasn’t supposed to.
Chloe
The Bleeders took everything. Her life, her freedom–her family. They infiltrated and carved her existence into one of agony from the inside out. She survived it all. The cage, the torture, even the death of who she used to be. Still, Chloe needs them to take one last thing from her. The binds on her power. She needs them to change her from a Myth into something dark—something twisted and unrestricted, like them. To eradicate her monsters, she’ll become the worst one of all.
I love to read and create stories that highlight the complexities of the mind and spirit. With a few fantasy or sci-fi elements, of course. I'm a big believer in finding the light within the darkness and that all people are capable of being the hero in someone's story, especially their own.
I am a blissfully married mother of three amazing creatures...er...children, three amazing children. A lifelong absorber of fiction, lover of dragons, and all things supernatural. Basically, I’m a full-fledged fantasy nerd forever roasting in the desert sun. I've always had a bone-deep love of literature and creating worlds where the mundane becomes magical. I hope you join me in the worlds I create and find the same comfort in them I've always found in fantasy novels.
OK, I'm going to try to make this review make sense, so bare with me because I'm still trying to form words around this amazing story.
We pick up where we left off in Vol 1, Born of Fire If you haven't read that yet, I highly recommend you stop reading this and go grab it before continuing with this review.
This one is a lot darker. (Please read the TWs that Carter provides for you.) There were definitely times where I cried, threw my fist in the air at the justice that was being served, and feared for my favorite character's life. This was an emotional rollercoaster for sure. Her world building and character development is incredible. Lots of characters to love and no one gets left behind. You get to know them all. She ends the story leaving you eager for the next one but not pissed off with a nail biter cliffhanger. (My anxiety can't handle those, cheers to you if you do. You're awesome!)
Needless to say this is definitely a 5 star read. READ THIS BOOK!!! I think we've only seen the beginning of what R.R. Carter is going to give us!
I received this as an arc and this is my honest review
This series has it all (except spice which I'm good with lol)! Book one was absolutely amazing and book two did not disappoint. I cannot wait to see what book three has in store for us.
I started this series as an ARC reader for book one after I found it on my FYP on TikTok and that was probably the best decision I've ever made. Ms. Carter has earned her place on my favorite author list!
If you like fantasy then I definitely recommend you try this series, you will not be disappointed! Urban Fantasy at its very best, with zero spice which is a nice change when everything now seems to have some spice in.
Blood and Water is such an amazing read! As a sequel to Born of Fire it has far exceeded all my expectations! I will not give anything away but if you love dragons and magical powers all wrapped up in the perfect book then this is definitely for you!!! It immediately went on display beside Born of Fire on my favorites shelf! If you haven’t read RR Carters work yet get them NOW!! Trust me she is an author who will hopefully be giving us many many more perfect books to read in the future! Also she is the keeper of the Numen… want to know more go check out her author page!!!!!!
If you're worried about a series slump (which is pretty common after an epic first book), then don't be. The amount of emotions and events packed and woven into this sequel is WOW and getting to really know some newer characters just added to it. It builds upon book one and doesn't let you go for a second. Captivating, dark, thrilling, emotional...Blood and Water is a sequel must-read. In fact, this whole series is one you need to have on your TBR!
Blood and Water is the 2nd book in the Myths & Whispers series. It was even better than the first book! I was up. I was down. I was a little traumatized, just for a minute, and I loved every minute of it! New characters enriched this story and I can't wait to walk alongside the Mythhaven crew as their stories continue!
Fantasy and reality collide in this series of Myths and Whispers and book 2 refuses to slow the pace. No, picking up from where book 1 ended and passing the baton to some newer faces, it races forwards wrestling with battle, emotion, meaning, and fate. A darker but really exciting continuation to the series!
Book one (Born of Fire) was great but Book two went on a deep dive to darker places and I'm here for it! Chloe definitely wasn't what I was expecting at all but in the best possible morally grey revenge type of way. 10/10 highly recommend reading and I can't wait to see what's next in this series!!!!
This sequel starts where the first left off, but from a new perspective. It gives us a morally gray fmc, which is a nice change. There are a lot of heavy topics addressed, so please check triggers. I did like the character growth in this book, and am interested in where the plot will go from here.
This is the second book in the series and it picks up a bit into the future. You really become part of the world. The descriptions are so vivid, and the characters feel so real. I can’t wait to see how things end up.
I loved Born of Fire when I read it in preparation for Blood and Water. And I adored Blood and Water. I read the whole of the novel in a little under 6 hours - who needs sleep right? But as a neurospicy person (anxiety and a few other things) three things about the story itself bothered me. *THIS IS NO FAULT OF THE AUTHOR** The start of this story is a minimum of close to a year after the end of the last book. This tale introduced new characters that had never been mentioned/seen before. Finally, this story doesn’t really conclude in a satisfying way (for me). ~This review will contain SPOILERS!~ You have been warned.
While Blood and Water continues the story set forth by Born of Fire, the way it picks everything up strikes a bitter note for me. Born of Fire (minus its bonus/sneak peek) ends with the Mythaven group having only really just met Delilah - who plays a very leading role in Blood and Water. However, the issue comes in the form of the character one gap. The sneak peek in Born of Fire indicated to me that there would be either a time skip between the books, or during the second one. I was hoping for it to be during the novel, rather than between them, however, because of the importance of the attack spoken about in the sneak peek. Starting the story after a significant amount of time passed, while the new characters just kind of got thrown at us was a little unnerving. I wish we had gotten even a single chapter/prologue of the missing time, where the stories could’ve been talked about for just a moment. Seeing it all as flashbacks of memories, it just felt off to me.
But even more shocking to me were Brienne, Leo, Brandon, and Chloe. Brienne was a villain as we learn through the mention of her in the sneak peek, but until the flashback of her attack, we know nothing of her character aside from the (manipulative) friendship she had with Brandon. Leo seems interesting enough and somehow connected to Delilah’s story - but not knowing anything about him has me unnerved by his character. Sadly, sometimes Brandon feels like an afterthought. Leo mentions seeing him in a vision, but beyond that vision, and Brienne’s “friendship” so she could get close to the group and then turn on them, he feels… unimportant at present. And Chloe seems… so disjointed from the story. In a similar way to Brandon - she is connected to a new villain/group, but she feels so hollow and angry. Yes we knew about Chloe through Delilah’s story in Born of Fire, but I just struggled to feel her as a character.
And finally - as much as Chloe got a partial resolution to her issue, as well as Anna reuniting with Fenrir, there wasn’t really a conclusion to any of the conflict started in this novel. Chloe still has more she’s got to do because she didn’t get her full revenge. Inga wasn’t able to unlock her full powers. And while Chloe’s journey gave Delilah and the other Myths of Mythaven a new threat in addition to the Root, it isn’t being actively looked into currently. The story was left without a truly satisfying “conclusion” in my option.
I have no trouble saying this is a series that I will be watching closely. R R Carter had me hooked on the Myths and Whispers series. Blood and Water is a great addition to the series and the world and presents more wonder and world-building than other urban fantasy I’ve seen. She didn’t just take existing places and use them building by building - she gave life to her world while adding something new and unique to it as well. I love this series so far… my anxiety just doesn’t like how it was handled.