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Blood and Salt #4
Queen of Serpents and Shadows
Are you ready for the final installment of the Blood and Salt series?Ara's life is on the line as she faces down her greatest challenge yet. More details coming soon to prevent spoilers.
332 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 21, 2024
1191 people are currently reading
5185 people want to read
About the author
Alexis Calder
31 books1,024 followersAlexis Calder writes sassy heroines and sexy heroes with a sprinkle of sarcasm. She lives in the Rockies and drinks far too much coffee and just the right amount of wine.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 186 reviews
June 28, 2024
I wanted more Bahar and Cora and got less of them 😭 Overall this was a fun series and I liked the conclusion.
June 27, 2024
I was so super excited for this book to come out after reading the first 3. I can say I'm glad this was the conclusion, but it did feel a little rushed. There were like all these things coming to a head, and then a couple of quick solutions to fix it? I think the author relied heavily on making her character too self-sacrificing.
All in all though it was a really good series and I enjoyed reading it.
All in all though it was a really good series and I enjoyed reading it.
June 29, 2024
Little bit of a let down but good overall
The end was a bit anticlimactic, I didn't like how it ended I felt it was a bit of a disappointing end. I also feel like there was a bit of a loose end with Sophia and her half vamp status, and poor girl is the only one not gaining a crown in this series. Overall the book was good, but it was just good and didn't feel like it had enough oomph for a final book in a series.
The end was a bit anticlimactic, I didn't like how it ended I felt it was a bit of a disappointing end. I also feel like there was a bit of a loose end with Sophia and her half vamp status, and poor girl is the only one not gaining a crown in this series. Overall the book was good, but it was just good and didn't feel like it had enough oomph for a final book in a series.
July 10, 2024
Once again a stinker, it's slightly better than book 3 on account of not having a dreadful pace, but seriously did the author even like writing this serie past book 2?
Worldbuilding adds surface level stuff that doesn't really do anything past filler writing. Like the random magic dome around Athos that's there to write a battle scene without the battle, seriously, if it wasn't there, Ara could have gone in the Fae encanpment the first night and once the real climax starts they all go out of it, the dome was kinda useless. Likewise the super powers the King gets by way of one of the three Fates is just there so Ryvin and Vanth can fill in page space with a bunch of nothing, Nona's complains and reasons to rebel are brushed to the side and the quest accomplished absolutely nothing outside of "don't be a bad girl anymore" from the other two Fates, which was something they should have done already, like seriously how the fuck did you miss your sister handing infinite powers to the Fae King?
Lastly, the Medusa Stone:
Ugh. We had two entire books to learn anything about Ceto's gift and that's how we solve it? "Here daughter, have this ball that can kill the Fae king if you shove it down his throat. No I will not explain it and will only tell you possibly misleading instruction" (like seriously, what if she tried to use it underground in the caving tunnels of Drakuos?)
See what I mean? Was Ceto trying to kill a random person Ara was nearby? Oh and by the way, it's still not needed. Ara could have drowned the king with her mother's powers or got a sea snake to eat him, would be much better in terms of reafferming her once lost powers.
As far as the politics go, the queen of the Fae coming for an alliance with the Vampires is completely meaningless, once again here just to fill page time, none of them have an impact of the story.
For new places we visited Drakuos and....yeah there was nothing new about it, just "hey this is Drakuos".
Plot is once again the worst part of the book, with random bullshit happening to fill in the page count. When the gang arrives to the dragon encampment a random dude just tries to murder Laera because he doesn't like that she knows stuff...? And then a woman is like "why does she know things?" As if information gathering is a foreign concept. Even worse, she implies Laera's a spy because...she told them informations about the Fae? Do dragon spies work backwards? If anything, they should have been suspicious of Laera because she has a bad reputation and was playing the bad guy up until the midpoint of book 2, so she would be seen as a villain by outsiders. But I guess we forgot that.
The plan to walk into the palace saying "You know, dragons are actually sentient being" so that the Fae King cannot kill them is ridiculous. As if the allies who went to war with them would just say "oh we invaded this country, sacked it's capital and are currently torturing it's princess, but if you kill their delegates we're not supporting you anymore", as if they wouldn’t already know the dragons are not just mindless beasts, since...you know...they have a socety?
Then of course we forget about it because it's meaningless and then...
Holy shit. I don’t think i've ever seen a major plot point being resolved off screen by an off screen character with litterally zero apparitions. And this was completely unneeded by the way, the Fae could have retreated because their king was dead, remember when we enstablished they only followed him because of fear and would run when he died? Why didn't we USE that?
Meanwhile the gang is split up because Nyx just wanted to waste some time and then Vanth and Ryvin go to the random island because we needed to waste more page count (as i said before, how did the the gods miss the new superpowers of the Fae King? Why did all of them sleep until now?)
The final battle is really underwhelming since nothing really happens until Ara kills the king and the rest has no tension because the king's already dead, so...?? We had litterally one antagonist so once he died we had to conjure a random fae soldier to give us a mini-boss fight for no reason. Spectacular. We didn't even get to see Ara and Ryvin's wedding
Characters are essentially non existent. Honestly, let's just skip Ara, she did a whole bunch of nothing new, the only meaningful decision was letting her sisters die to save Athos in the illusion, but it's not really explored past the vision itself and she never even recongnizes she would kill them to save the random people who hate her guts and wanted to kill her a couple of months ago.
Let's also skip Ryvin as the book was really not interested in him, he did essentially nothing (yeah he saved Ara when she was poisoned, but is that even worth mentioning? "Your lover is dieing after having saved you, there is a way to save her with no cost to anyone, do you save her or no?" does not even qualify as a question really)
Laera is, as usual, just there to make snide remarks and throw random insults and it's a shame the author didn't write a plotline about her facing the obvious insecurities leading to this kind of behavior, which probably means she thinks Laera's just fine as she is. Food for thought.
Lagina is, as usual, the best and probably the only real character
Good god she's so based, this is nothing like Laera's random snipes, she has a job to do and many people depending on her, do not waste her time and get to the meat of the issue. Even handling the arrival of Iris and later on Nyx like an absolute champ despite having never seen any god, while clearly being half scared half reverent is really a nice touch, she's essentially the only real human being in the story
I maintain, for the fourth and last time, that Sophie and Cora could and should have been one character combined. No better example of this is book 4 specifically. Can you tell me one thing Sophie did in this book? You cannot. She did nothing. And i don't mean it like Ryvin or Ara's "Nothing", that's on a character level. I mean litterally, Sophie was just...around. Honestly, where does she even go from now? Her three sisters are all queens, why did she exists? Where did the vapire plot go? Was there any resolution to killing her mother? Was there any resolution to "I want to be powerful" from last book? Yeah I haven't forgotten that, but someone clearly did. The obvious problem (mentioned in book 3's review) was too many characters so Sophie got axed. Oh, by the way:
What? No, get the guards. Tell the citizens you're going to save them. Remember the people do not hate you, they only attacked Ara for sympathyzing with the Fae
Vanth is Ryvin's extra guy this book, I have no clue why he didn't die for shock value, there was a distinct need for death and he seems like a prime candidate, but no, he's just there
Aunt Katerina informs us the old king was always awful, despite book 1's existence, this is essentially all she does. I'm not kidding
I mean, not really thought. Bahar was going to come for his mate either way
Speaking of him, Dragon King is has a weird relationship with Cora where he's like "Yeah i'm gonna come flying for you but i don't actually want you if you don't want me", then Cora kisses him and they marry the day after. Wow, what a great character.
The Serpent Queen and Selena are just there in the background, she tells Lagina some fake shit about Ryvin that leads nowhere and provides Vampires that do nothing, great.
The Fae King is just...evil. There is nothing to him and none of his off screen feats like getting Nona on his side or bringing all the lords under his banner and winning against the dragons, matter, when confronted, he's just scared of Ara.
Ah...Themes? There wasn't anything going on for most of the serie, so we baked in a random one for feminism points
This seems to be the theme, but there isn't really much of anything supporting it. Bad guy's the only one who uses women to get what he wants, but it's not women specifically, he uses everyone. The fact that more than one woman say "oh he's bad because he used me" doesn't really mean he used them because they were women since he used Ryvin just as much if not more and since he's the only bad guy, the theme cannot be applied at large, Nyx was the only other one even coming close to being a villain since the old king of Athos died three books ago and she's been 'redeemed'. That's what happens when you make only one villain in your story: no lesson can be applied generally since there's only one example (and in the specific case, not even correct).
No, the reasoning for Nona's betrayal does not match, she says she's "Done being a tool of the Gods", not men, so even if one wanted to spin this into "Be yourself, not someone else's tool", it still wouldn't match what the Queen of Konos and Ara say, still it doesn't have a resolution, Medusa's Stone might as well have been planted on Ara so she could rid Ceto of the Fae King, so in a sense, Ara IS a tool of the gods, even going as far as representing the whole human race with Nyx.
Worldbuilding adds surface level stuff that doesn't really do anything past filler writing. Like the random magic dome around Athos that's there to write a battle scene without the battle, seriously, if it wasn't there, Ara could have gone in the Fae encanpment the first night and once the real climax starts they all go out of it, the dome was kinda useless. Likewise the super powers the King gets by way of one of the three Fates is just there so Ryvin and Vanth can fill in page space with a bunch of nothing, Nona's complains and reasons to rebel are brushed to the side and the quest accomplished absolutely nothing outside of "don't be a bad girl anymore" from the other two Fates, which was something they should have done already, like seriously how the fuck did you miss your sister handing infinite powers to the Fae King?
Lastly, the Medusa Stone:
I wasn’t sure what the object was or why I knew I was supposed to shove it into his mouth, but it was instantly clear I’d made the right choice.
My mother had given me a medusa stone. I thought they were a myth. The stories said they were given by a gorgon and could only be used by women who were in danger.
Ugh. We had two entire books to learn anything about Ceto's gift and that's how we solve it? "Here daughter, have this ball that can kill the Fae king if you shove it down his throat. No I will not explain it and will only tell you possibly misleading instruction" (like seriously, what if she tried to use it underground in the caving tunnels of Drakuos?)
Only the bearer would be unharmed by the stone. If I’d opened this around anyone else, it would have been catastrophic.
See what I mean? Was Ceto trying to kill a random person Ara was nearby? Oh and by the way, it's still not needed. Ara could have drowned the king with her mother's powers or got a sea snake to eat him, would be much better in terms of reafferming her once lost powers.
As far as the politics go, the queen of the Fae coming for an alliance with the Vampires is completely meaningless, once again here just to fill page time, none of them have an impact of the story.
For new places we visited Drakuos and....yeah there was nothing new about it, just "hey this is Drakuos".
Plot is once again the worst part of the book, with random bullshit happening to fill in the page count. When the gang arrives to the dragon encampment a random dude just tries to murder Laera because he doesn't like that she knows stuff...? And then a woman is like "why does she know things?" As if information gathering is a foreign concept. Even worse, she implies Laera's a spy because...she told them informations about the Fae? Do dragon spies work backwards? If anything, they should have been suspicious of Laera because she has a bad reputation and was playing the bad guy up until the midpoint of book 2, so she would be seen as a villain by outsiders. But I guess we forgot that.
The plan to walk into the palace saying "You know, dragons are actually sentient being" so that the Fae King cannot kill them is ridiculous. As if the allies who went to war with them would just say "oh we invaded this country, sacked it's capital and are currently torturing it's princess, but if you kill their delegates we're not supporting you anymore", as if they wouldn’t already know the dragons are not just mindless beasts, since...you know...they have a socety?
Then of course we forget about it because it's meaningless and then...
“We’ve retaken Drakous! My brother Zyan was hiding in the palace. He poisoned the wine in our stores and those stupid fae drank themselves to death. He signaled Kabir and our forces liberated the city before the Fae King even arrived here.”
Holy shit. I don’t think i've ever seen a major plot point being resolved off screen by an off screen character with litterally zero apparitions. And this was completely unneeded by the way, the Fae could have retreated because their king was dead, remember when we enstablished they only followed him because of fear and would run when he died? Why didn't we USE that?
Meanwhile the gang is split up because Nyx just wanted to waste some time and then Vanth and Ryvin go to the random island because we needed to waste more page count (as i said before, how did the the gods miss the new superpowers of the Fae King? Why did all of them sleep until now?)
The final battle is really underwhelming since nothing really happens until Ara kills the king and the rest has no tension because the king's already dead, so...?? We had litterally one antagonist so once he died we had to conjure a random fae soldier to give us a mini-boss fight for no reason. Spectacular. We didn't even get to see Ara and Ryvin's wedding
Characters are essentially non existent. Honestly, let's just skip Ara, she did a whole bunch of nothing new, the only meaningful decision was letting her sisters die to save Athos in the illusion, but it's not really explored past the vision itself and she never even recongnizes she would kill them to save the random people who hate her guts and wanted to kill her a couple of months ago.
Let's also skip Ryvin as the book was really not interested in him, he did essentially nothing (yeah he saved Ara when she was poisoned, but is that even worth mentioning? "Your lover is dieing after having saved you, there is a way to save her with no cost to anyone, do you save her or no?" does not even qualify as a question really)
Laera is, as usual, just there to make snide remarks and throw random insults and it's a shame the author didn't write a plotline about her facing the obvious insecurities leading to this kind of behavior, which probably means she thinks Laera's just fine as she is. Food for thought.
Lagina is, as usual, the best and probably the only real character
“You said you had allies for us. And information,” Lagina cut in. “Whatever this pissing contest is, it’s done. You help us, or you leave.”
Good god she's so based, this is nothing like Laera's random snipes, she has a job to do and many people depending on her, do not waste her time and get to the meat of the issue. Even handling the arrival of Iris and later on Nyx like an absolute champ despite having never seen any god, while clearly being half scared half reverent is really a nice touch, she's essentially the only real human being in the story
I maintain, for the fourth and last time, that Sophie and Cora could and should have been one character combined. No better example of this is book 4 specifically. Can you tell me one thing Sophie did in this book? You cannot. She did nothing. And i don't mean it like Ryvin or Ara's "Nothing", that's on a character level. I mean litterally, Sophie was just...around. Honestly, where does she even go from now? Her three sisters are all queens, why did she exists? Where did the vapire plot go? Was there any resolution to killing her mother? Was there any resolution to "I want to be powerful" from last book? Yeah I haven't forgotten that, but someone clearly did. The obvious problem (mentioned in book 3's review) was too many characters so Sophie got axed. Oh, by the way:
“Remember, you can’t force anyone. If they won’t listen, move on. We won’t be able to save them all.”
“You sound like a queen,”
What? No, get the guards. Tell the citizens you're going to save them. Remember the people do not hate you, they only attacked Ara for sympathyzing with the Fae
Vanth is Ryvin's extra guy this book, I have no clue why he didn't die for shock value, there was a distinct need for death and he seems like a prime candidate, but no, he's just there
Aunt Katerina informs us the old king was always awful, despite book 1's existence, this is essentially all she does. I'm not kidding
“That aunt of yours is something special,” Mortagan said. “If not for her bargaining with the dragons, I don’t think any of us would even have a chance.”
I mean, not really thought. Bahar was going to come for his mate either way
Speaking of him, Dragon King is has a weird relationship with Cora where he's like "Yeah i'm gonna come flying for you but i don't actually want you if you don't want me", then Cora kisses him and they marry the day after. Wow, what a great character.
The Serpent Queen and Selena are just there in the background, she tells Lagina some fake shit about Ryvin that leads nowhere and provides Vampires that do nothing, great.
The Fae King is just...evil. There is nothing to him and none of his off screen feats like getting Nona on his side or bringing all the lords under his banner and winning against the dragons, matter, when confronted, he's just scared of Ara.
Ah...Themes? There wasn't anything going on for most of the serie, so we baked in a random one for feminism points
"Doesn’t seem to matter where you come from. Men see us as a threat and find a way to chain us, to dull our shine, to use our gifts for themselves."
I was done being used by the men around me while they strove for power they didn’t deserve. It was time to do things on my terms.
This seems to be the theme, but there isn't really much of anything supporting it. Bad guy's the only one who uses women to get what he wants, but it's not women specifically, he uses everyone. The fact that more than one woman say "oh he's bad because he used me" doesn't really mean he used them because they were women since he used Ryvin just as much if not more and since he's the only bad guy, the theme cannot be applied at large, Nyx was the only other one even coming close to being a villain since the old king of Athos died three books ago and she's been 'redeemed'. That's what happens when you make only one villain in your story: no lesson can be applied generally since there's only one example (and in the specific case, not even correct).
No, the reasoning for Nona's betrayal does not match, she says she's "Done being a tool of the Gods", not men, so even if one wanted to spin this into "Be yourself, not someone else's tool", it still wouldn't match what the Queen of Konos and Ara say, still it doesn't have a resolution, Medusa's Stone might as well have been planted on Ara so she could rid Ceto of the Fae King, so in a sense, Ara IS a tool of the gods, even going as far as representing the whole human race with Nyx.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2024
4.5 stars rounded UP
I honestly really love this series 🫶
I enjoy the world Alexis has written and all the different magic and gods and twists and turns. So many different characters and magical beings - Fae, Humans, Vampires, Dragon shifters. It's fantastic!!
I LOVE Ryvin so so much and think Ara's character development throughout the series was *chefs kiss* she really came into her own and just changed so much overall as a person.
As always, I LOVE books with multiple POVs and this absolutely delivered in that aspect.
I did think that the book could have been longer though 🤣 I always want more. I honestly NEED more Cora and Bahar chapters asap. I need a whole extra book actually, please 🙏🏼 I'll settle for a Novella. But I feel like I must know what happens with everyone, and I felt Sophia needed some more page time too!
I would 1000% recommend this series, I thoroughly enjoyed all the books and think they are SO Underrated ❤️
I honestly really love this series 🫶
I enjoy the world Alexis has written and all the different magic and gods and twists and turns. So many different characters and magical beings - Fae, Humans, Vampires, Dragon shifters. It's fantastic!!
I LOVE Ryvin so so much and think Ara's character development throughout the series was *chefs kiss* she really came into her own and just changed so much overall as a person.
As always, I LOVE books with multiple POVs and this absolutely delivered in that aspect.
I did think that the book could have been longer though 🤣 I always want more. I honestly NEED more Cora and Bahar chapters asap. I need a whole extra book actually, please 🙏🏼 I'll settle for a Novella. But I feel like I must know what happens with everyone, and I felt Sophia needed some more page time too!
I would 1000% recommend this series, I thoroughly enjoyed all the books and think they are SO Underrated ❤️
November 4, 2024
ok i dont usually write anything but
1. really really cool world and characters that the author DID NOT have the writing chops to execute satisfyingly whatsoever
2. WHY SO MANY POVS??? and like, one chapter of one person and then never again
3. killing the king with some random ass medusa stone at the last second when it was never hinted at or mentioned also HE CAN SENSE DANGER why would he let her get that close literally so dumb
4. DID U HAVE AN EDITOR? multiple sentences starting with no cpaitals, characters name "sofia" once but "sophia" every other time. one page ara is mentioning how happy she is to not be wearing a dress and to be in a tunic and literally 3 paragraphs later shes "shedding her dress" like cmon
5. no mates ever in the history of the world shared magic but these two could? BOOOOO
6. i enjoyed it tho
1. really really cool world and characters that the author DID NOT have the writing chops to execute satisfyingly whatsoever
2. WHY SO MANY POVS??? and like, one chapter of one person and then never again
3. killing the king with some random ass medusa stone at the last second when it was never hinted at or mentioned also HE CAN SENSE DANGER why would he let her get that close literally so dumb
4. DID U HAVE AN EDITOR? multiple sentences starting with no cpaitals, characters name "sofia" once but "sophia" every other time. one page ara is mentioning how happy she is to not be wearing a dress and to be in a tunic and literally 3 paragraphs later shes "shedding her dress" like cmon
5. no mates ever in the history of the world shared magic but these two could? BOOOOO
6. i enjoyed it tho
July 8, 2024
the end of this book was so rushed i’m pissed ??? like why there was so much character development and so many side plots still going on and then BAM it’s just over ??? no that does not fly with me.
i did overall like all the different kinds of magic in this series, the gods, the fae, the dragons, the shifters and the vampires. BUT i think then there was so much going on that the plot got lost at times
i did overall like all the different kinds of magic in this series, the gods, the fae, the dragons, the shifters and the vampires. BUT i think then there was so much going on that the plot got lost at times
July 19, 2024
This was such a good series! But in my personal opinion the final battle was a little anticlimactic especially after the dragons loss and all the build up of how scary Ara was supposed to be. It was over incredibly easily however I really enjoyed the characters and the story itself.
February 10, 2025
I NEED MORE OF CORA AND BAHAR!!! I was really hoping for certain scenes to be from their POV’s. But this was a great series! It has everything you’d want in a romtansy series - shadow daddy, powerful & likeable FMC’s, magic, shifters, dragons and enemies to lovers! Thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
Read
November 8, 2024Dnf because of school and I’m not bothered to recap and continue😭
December 28, 2024
I liked the series but I think that the ending was super rushed and the hyped up battle scene at the end of the series was very underwhelming!!
June 22, 2024
4.25⭐️ pacing was really good because final books can get super slow for me personally. I thought there was a good amount of POVs while keeping the story going too. It was missing a little something to make it a 5, but overall a really good book and series!
August 9, 2024
Debated giving four stars because I desperately want an epilogue but who am I?? The vibes were good and I’m sad to leave this world
December 29, 2024
What a ride
This series was such a ride. I absolutely loved it! All the heartbreak, deceit, hope, and love. I would definitely recommend this series.
This series was such a ride. I absolutely loved it! All the heartbreak, deceit, hope, and love. I would definitely recommend this series.
July 25, 2024
3.5⭐️
July 19, 2024
Cora and Bahar better have a spin off that's all I care about at this point. You're kidding me with a wedding in ARA'S POV.
That aside, this was so good. FAST paced so if you don't like that just don't read it. I loved that though. I am just over books that take F*ing forever to get to the point. This was such a breath of fresh air. Also, this book does introduce a LOT of new POVs in the writing. I personally really enjoy that because it keeps the story fresh and gives a lot of insight on the mindsets of other supporting characters. Bu it's definitely giving ZA vibes with all the POVs! <3
Alexis writes with clarity and precision. She says exactly what she wants to tell the story and doesn't add a lot of fluff when it's not necessary. Her writing is smart, well edited, and she moves her stories along rather than getting hung up on trivial side quests. Yes, I did read all four of the books in this series in less than a week. Yes, I will read any follow ups she has to this.
That aside, this was so good. FAST paced so if you don't like that just don't read it. I loved that though. I am just over books that take F*ing forever to get to the point. This was such a breath of fresh air. Also, this book does introduce a LOT of new POVs in the writing. I personally really enjoy that because it keeps the story fresh and gives a lot of insight on the mindsets of other supporting characters. Bu it's definitely giving ZA vibes with all the POVs! <3
Alexis writes with clarity and precision. She says exactly what she wants to tell the story and doesn't add a lot of fluff when it's not necessary. Her writing is smart, well edited, and she moves her stories along rather than getting hung up on trivial side quests. Yes, I did read all four of the books in this series in less than a week. Yes, I will read any follow ups she has to this.
September 5, 2024
4.5/5 ⭐️
I honestly knocked this a bit only because I think there needed to be more of Cora or Bahar POV. We got a small glimpse of their relationship and the buildup, but I wanted at least one scene of them on their wedding night or something, anything! They honestly became my favorite characters and I just didn’t have enough of them! I’d love to honestly to see a book dedicated to them and Cora’s adjustment to the Drakos court.
I will say the ending felt a bit rushed, but overall it was a good ending to the series. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and its characters.
I honestly knocked this a bit only because I think there needed to be more of Cora or Bahar POV. We got a small glimpse of their relationship and the buildup, but I wanted at least one scene of them on their wedding night or something, anything! They honestly became my favorite characters and I just didn’t have enough of them! I’d love to honestly to see a book dedicated to them and Cora’s adjustment to the Drakos court.
I will say the ending felt a bit rushed, but overall it was a good ending to the series. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and its characters.
August 11, 2024
Very unappreciated series. Highly recommend giving this series a read!
January 4, 2025
This series started out decent for me but in the end it just didn't hit the spot.
It must be difficult in today's politically correct minefield for writers to figure out how to write conflict between the love interests because of people accusing them of making abusive main characters. If you have a character mess up and do something terrible, you have an audience who says they shouldn't be forgiven. Especially so if he's male. One of the new cliques writers seem to be using is when the Hero does something to save the Heroines life but it requires making a life changing decision for her without her consent. This is to create conflict. But in my humble opinion, this plot device requires the Heroine to be a massive idiot.
While different, it reminds me of the Snow White debacle. I'd much rather be kissed without my consent than be in an eternal sleep. But hey, maybe that's just me.
I'm also getting really tired of all the female characters that fight. I loved it at first, novel after novel of these badass women who are taking on the world. It was neat and different. But now we're coming into territory of it being overused. I'm so bored of it. Heaven forbid you have a female who can't fight and characters who don't have a casual view of sex. Both these troops are today's norms.
I just want something different sometimes. But all these novels seem to be following the same patterns, possibly because they're considered "safe".
So, I guess what I'm saying is that in a vacuum on it's own, I think this novel would be great. But I've read so many novels along the same vein and none of them are branching out to make characters more interesting with their flaws. It's all the same strengths, flaws and weaknesses because those are the acceptable ones to have by today's standards.
I'm just bored of it now.
It must be difficult in today's politically correct minefield for writers to figure out how to write conflict between the love interests because of people accusing them of making abusive main characters. If you have a character mess up and do something terrible, you have an audience who says they shouldn't be forgiven. Especially so if he's male. One of the new cliques writers seem to be using is when the Hero does something to save the Heroines life but it requires making a life changing decision for her without her consent. This is to create conflict. But in my humble opinion, this plot device requires the Heroine to be a massive idiot.
While different, it reminds me of the Snow White debacle. I'd much rather be kissed without my consent than be in an eternal sleep. But hey, maybe that's just me.
I'm also getting really tired of all the female characters that fight. I loved it at first, novel after novel of these badass women who are taking on the world. It was neat and different. But now we're coming into territory of it being overused. I'm so bored of it. Heaven forbid you have a female who can't fight and characters who don't have a casual view of sex. Both these troops are today's norms.
I just want something different sometimes. But all these novels seem to be following the same patterns, possibly because they're considered "safe".
So, I guess what I'm saying is that in a vacuum on it's own, I think this novel would be great. But I've read so many novels along the same vein and none of them are branching out to make characters more interesting with their flaws. It's all the same strengths, flaws and weaknesses because those are the acceptable ones to have by today's standards.
I'm just bored of it now.
August 10, 2024
ARC for review.
This is the epic conclusion to the Blood and Salt series. After the end of the third volume, I was chomping at the bit to get to this one.
Ara and Ryvin are trying to find their way back to each other since he stole her magic. They are both self-sacrificing trying to protect the other, which nearly cost each of them their life at one point or another. The spice is definitely still there between Ara and Ryvin as they work through their issues. I so love these two together. i kept hoping for a side fling between Vanth and Laera, but alas no such luck.
There are plot twists and turns and even more new characters in this volume. We also get deeper into the lives of Lagina and Cora, as well as Bahar. Lagina has really stepped up and is rocking the Queen role. Cora comes out of her shell to embrace her ass kicker side and her budding relationship with the Dragon King. New worlds and new challenges aplenty.
There were a few things I would have possibly changed or wanted more of from the plot/characters but overall I really enjoyed this book. I did feel as though the great battle with the Fae and Fae King fell a little flat. I was waiting for more or another surprise twist, but none came. it felt a little anti-climactic after a nearly 4 book buildup and that is really the reason for the 4 versus 5 star rating. As with the previous three books, I read this quickly due to the engaging writing. I just love the imagination of Alexis Calder, she comes up with some unbelievable things and makes them believable and it keeps the pages turning.
I really loved all four books and would real it all over again and would recommend reading it. I am really hoping Cora and Bahar get their own series next.
This is the epic conclusion to the Blood and Salt series. After the end of the third volume, I was chomping at the bit to get to this one.
Ara and Ryvin are trying to find their way back to each other since he stole her magic. They are both self-sacrificing trying to protect the other, which nearly cost each of them their life at one point or another. The spice is definitely still there between Ara and Ryvin as they work through their issues. I so love these two together. i kept hoping for a side fling between Vanth and Laera, but alas no such luck.
There are plot twists and turns and even more new characters in this volume. We also get deeper into the lives of Lagina and Cora, as well as Bahar. Lagina has really stepped up and is rocking the Queen role. Cora comes out of her shell to embrace her ass kicker side and her budding relationship with the Dragon King. New worlds and new challenges aplenty.
There were a few things I would have possibly changed or wanted more of from the plot/characters but overall I really enjoyed this book. I did feel as though the great battle with the Fae and Fae King fell a little flat. I was waiting for more or another surprise twist, but none came. it felt a little anti-climactic after a nearly 4 book buildup and that is really the reason for the 4 versus 5 star rating. As with the previous three books, I read this quickly due to the engaging writing. I just love the imagination of Alexis Calder, she comes up with some unbelievable things and makes them believable and it keeps the pages turning.
I really loved all four books and would real it all over again and would recommend reading it. I am really hoping Cora and Bahar get their own series next.
September 25, 2024
I really like the world and characters the author created. I just feel like the last 2 books were rushed. Character development was cut and the ending is anticlimactic. The last book almost feels like it ended with a cliffhanger without resolution. I feel like the author lost passion for the series a little, and unfortunately, thats why it seems like we got a rough draft version. Truthfully, i think there needs to be at least one more book to close the series. Literally every character storyline needs more explaining. What happens with each sister being a queen? My biggest thing is that it is mentioned a few times that Ara is more powerful than Ryvin with her powers alone. I would assume she would be catastrophic using both. Especially when we have already seen a glimpse of her using both abilities a few books back on the ship. I feel like using a few of Ryvins shadows and an undisclosed stone was weak for taking out the all mighty Fae King. That would have been a prime opportunity to show how powerful she could have been. I also feel like we got that one scene where Ryvins shadows came through during an intimate moment and never got that again. That would have definitely spiced those scenes up more. I have more opinions, but i dont feel the need to type it all. I feel like the author had a really good idea. The series has soo much potential especially with the abilities chosen. We just didnt get to see them used much. Every character deserves more storyline. I would have loved to see how their stories pan out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 30, 2024
Okay, now that this is the last book in the series, I feel like I can say all my thoughts in this series and not ruin anything. But there will be spoilers just fyi.
I really truly loved this entire world created by Alexis Calder. I especially love that the sisters are all so devoted to one another. It seems like there’s always some kind of betrayal happening amongst family in these books and although that certainly happens even in this book? The sisters remain faithfully devoted to one another. Love that! The author does such a good job of getting you to love the secondary characters. The shifter?! Love him! Cora and the dragon king? Yes please! Actually, that’s one of my beefs with this book. Cora didn’t get a honeymoon scene. Seriously? After all the build up with them (totally loved their story) and all we saw after was Cora eating some grapes on the counter? Ugggh. I wish there was an epilogue too. The ending felt rushed. Buuut, I will most definitely read these books again in the future. I’m already missing the peeps in the books and that’s the best compliment I can give any author. Yes, I wanna renter the world you created more than once. I will def miss these characters and want to visit them again.
I really truly loved this entire world created by Alexis Calder. I especially love that the sisters are all so devoted to one another. It seems like there’s always some kind of betrayal happening amongst family in these books and although that certainly happens even in this book? The sisters remain faithfully devoted to one another. Love that! The author does such a good job of getting you to love the secondary characters. The shifter?! Love him! Cora and the dragon king? Yes please! Actually, that’s one of my beefs with this book. Cora didn’t get a honeymoon scene. Seriously? After all the build up with them (totally loved their story) and all we saw after was Cora eating some grapes on the counter? Ugggh. I wish there was an epilogue too. The ending felt rushed. Buuut, I will most definitely read these books again in the future. I’m already missing the peeps in the books and that’s the best compliment I can give any author. Yes, I wanna renter the world you created more than once. I will def miss these characters and want to visit them again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 12, 2024
This book is the one where I felt the length issue the most. I started off liking that these books were shorter, but they don’t feel complete in a way. They really do feel like half of a book and for the shorter length to work, I think the plot needed to have been contained within each book (with an overarching epic plot) instead of having each book arguably be ¼ of the ideal novel. Especially at the end of the book, the main conflict ended all of two pages before the book did. It felt rushed. I saw that there is an epilogue if you sign up for Alexis Calder’s newsletter, but we should’ve gotten the epilogue regardless - it’s part of the book! I mean, what happened with the Court of Vipers? Sophia? The Fae Court? What about the gods? I would’ve liked to see how everything settled down and (I’m being a bit selfish here) some side character relationships pop up post-war (*cough* Laera and Kabir *cough*).
Along with the ending feeling rushed, the action didn’t really do it for me. The main conflict with the Fae King (did we ever learn his name?) only took like a page to resolve. There wasn’t enough tension in the actual fight itself, it was all in the buildup to the fight which was a bit anticlimactic.
Along with the ending feeling rushed, the action didn’t really do it for me. The main conflict with the Fae King (did we ever learn his name?) only took like a page to resolve. There wasn’t enough tension in the actual fight itself, it was all in the buildup to the fight which was a bit anticlimactic.
April 23, 2025
This has everything I love in a fantasy romance. The plot was amazing and the characters drew me in.
I did take off a star on book one as it took me a bit to like the FMC Ara. At times she came off as self important and petulant. As the books developed I started to appreciate her character a lot more.
Ryvin represents all the amazing qualities of a dark “touch her and die” MMC who will do anything for the woman he loves.
The inclusion of vampires, Fae, shifters and the gods was very interesting. I wish we had seen more from some of these groups but it was still done very well.
This last book I did remove a star as it seemed to end rather abruptly. You get all this plot and then the end just felt rushed. I would have also liked to see the storylines of other side characters, especially ones who got POV chapters, fleshed out more. An extended epilogue to know how Vance, Laera, and the sisters would have been nice since they all contributed quite a lot to the story,
Aside from what I’ve said above, this was a great read and I hope the author writes more like these in the future.
I did take off a star on book one as it took me a bit to like the FMC Ara. At times she came off as self important and petulant. As the books developed I started to appreciate her character a lot more.
Ryvin represents all the amazing qualities of a dark “touch her and die” MMC who will do anything for the woman he loves.
The inclusion of vampires, Fae, shifters and the gods was very interesting. I wish we had seen more from some of these groups but it was still done very well.
This last book I did remove a star as it seemed to end rather abruptly. You get all this plot and then the end just felt rushed. I would have also liked to see the storylines of other side characters, especially ones who got POV chapters, fleshed out more. An extended epilogue to know how Vance, Laera, and the sisters would have been nice since they all contributed quite a lot to the story,
Aside from what I’ve said above, this was a great read and I hope the author writes more like these in the future.
September 16, 2024
Queen of Serpents and Shadows was a great read. The gang is gathering forces to defeat the Fae King and Ara has something to make that happen in the palm of her hands. Nyx is determined to but Ara through trials to prove to her that all humans are not the same and Ara is determined to show her the truth even if she has to give up her life. Cora is willing and determined to accept her role as the Queen to the Dragons with King Bahar and I enjoyed them together. Their chemistry was off the charts, but I do wish that there were more moments between just the two of them. However, it was good that we did get their ceremony in this book. I expected the war with the fae king to last longer and was a little disappointed that there wasn't more action, but I enjoyed the ending of the story. I hate that we have to sign up for the newsletter to get a free epilogue. Even though I am signed up for the newsletter, I wish the author had included the epilogue in this book. Overall, this was a great paranormal series and I'm looking forward to reading more books from this author.
September 17, 2024
3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was relieved to discover that the final installment in the Blood and Salt series was much more enjoyable than the first three books. While I made it through this series, it was not an easy journey and, many times, I wanted to stop 🛑 But, I hate not finishing something when I start it, so here we are.
The finale was the best part of the entire series and, while I still believe there is room for changes within Calder’s writing style, I feel as if there was a great amount of improvement evident in this book 📖 The ending felt a bit anti-climatic and there were a lot of loose ends that were not addressed, but the conclusion was better than expected considering where the series started.
I would be interested in learning more about Cora and Bahar, as well as see what transpires in Sophia’s life following the bonus epilogue scene from Calder’s newsletter. If her writing style developed a bit more and she brought back these characters with their own stories, I would definitely consider reading them 📚
I was relieved to discover that the final installment in the Blood and Salt series was much more enjoyable than the first three books. While I made it through this series, it was not an easy journey and, many times, I wanted to stop 🛑 But, I hate not finishing something when I start it, so here we are.
The finale was the best part of the entire series and, while I still believe there is room for changes within Calder’s writing style, I feel as if there was a great amount of improvement evident in this book 📖 The ending felt a bit anti-climatic and there were a lot of loose ends that were not addressed, but the conclusion was better than expected considering where the series started.
I would be interested in learning more about Cora and Bahar, as well as see what transpires in Sophia’s life following the bonus epilogue scene from Calder’s newsletter. If her writing style developed a bit more and she brought back these characters with their own stories, I would definitely consider reading them 📚
August 5, 2024
I have not written reviews of the beginning of the series as I was waiting to write them all in one at the end. On the whole this series had an interesting world and an interesting story. However, each book was very short and did not really develop quite enough of anything - either characters, storyline, plot, world building etc. Everything was touched upon but with no depth. The end of the series was rather underwhelming - the final war with the Fae King amounted to nothing. There is a lot of explaining still left to do. The author could not make up her mind how to write some of the characters and as a result, and they seemed to change from good to bad to good, from evil to witty, loyal and honest to dishonest and back again etc. Nothing seemed consistent. I think this was an easy read but it could have been a great series with just a bit more development of world building, plot, character building and relationships.
December 1, 2024
The happy ending for Ara and Ryvin
This is book four and the final for the series Blood and Salt. I was pleased with the outcome and the happy ending for all. I don’t want to spoil anything by mentioning too much in the review of this final book, but the author did wrap up most things. I had really hoped that she would have given an epilogue or let us have scenes in the future with Ara and Ryvin and the cast of characters. I really liked Bahar the Dragon King and his family as they fought for the rights and not the greed or favor. I wanted the adult fun between Bahar and Cora and wished the author would have given that slice of happiness to us readers. Also, Vanith, Laera, Sophia, Cora, Dion, Nyx, the fate sisters, and Ceto were integral story characters and provided the background to this entertaining series. I enjoyed the series overall and should you be inclined to read it do it from book one. Read On!
This is book four and the final for the series Blood and Salt. I was pleased with the outcome and the happy ending for all. I don’t want to spoil anything by mentioning too much in the review of this final book, but the author did wrap up most things. I had really hoped that she would have given an epilogue or let us have scenes in the future with Ara and Ryvin and the cast of characters. I really liked Bahar the Dragon King and his family as they fought for the rights and not the greed or favor. I wanted the adult fun between Bahar and Cora and wished the author would have given that slice of happiness to us readers. Also, Vanith, Laera, Sophia, Cora, Dion, Nyx, the fate sisters, and Ceto were integral story characters and provided the background to this entertaining series. I enjoyed the series overall and should you be inclined to read it do it from book one. Read On!
March 4, 2025
More like a 3.5 for me for this one.
I liked how everything concluded but there were definitely still some pacing issues for me. Also, still a lot that didn’t make a ton of sense or wasn’t really flushed out in my opinion.
I like Ara’s journey in this book I just wish she would have stepped into her power sooner so it would have flowed better the ending felt rushed given how drawn out other parts were.
We got multiple POVs in this one again but some of them felt unnecessary and didn’t exactly fit. This was definitely a reading it for the vibes series and I liked the vibes overall. I can look past some of these things that annoyed me and appreciate it for the story it is but I can see how not everyone would be a fan of this. There was slightly more spice in this book than the others and again it was good. If you can enjoy a book purely based on vibes I think you could enjoy this series.
I liked how everything concluded but there were definitely still some pacing issues for me. Also, still a lot that didn’t make a ton of sense or wasn’t really flushed out in my opinion.
I like Ara’s journey in this book I just wish she would have stepped into her power sooner so it would have flowed better the ending felt rushed given how drawn out other parts were.
We got multiple POVs in this one again but some of them felt unnecessary and didn’t exactly fit. This was definitely a reading it for the vibes series and I liked the vibes overall. I can look past some of these things that annoyed me and appreciate it for the story it is but I can see how not everyone would be a fan of this. There was slightly more spice in this book than the others and again it was good. If you can enjoy a book purely based on vibes I think you could enjoy this series.
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