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Warring Tides
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522 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 4, 2025
407 people are currently reading
1355 people want to read
About the author
M.K. Ahearn
23 books387 followersMK Ahearn grew up in Massachusetts as one of three sisters. She now lives in Maryland with her husband and their three cats. She received her bachelor of arts in international relations and is now completing a master of professional studies in homeland security. When not writing or studying she can be found planning her next travel adventure.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
August 15, 2025
2 stars! ⭐️
I wanted to like this book so much more than I was able to. I adored the first one, but the second book was disappointing to be honest. 🙃
This book is proof that proofreading is NECESSARY. There were a LOT of grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and wrong edits. It irritated me SO MUCH. I just couldn’t enjoy this book because of all the errors!! And the English language isn’t even my mother language.
This story has so much potential. But the writing lacks depth, it all felt superficial to me. It makes me sad though, because I like the world in this book and the characters. This whole book felt so rushed to me, like it was written with not much effort.
I read it seriously until 70% and then I skipped a whole part and read the last chapter because I couldn’t take it anymore.
Now I’m going to cry in a corner and just watch Zutara edits on TikTok I guess. 😅🙃
I wanted to like this book so much more than I was able to. I adored the first one, but the second book was disappointing to be honest. 🙃
This book is proof that proofreading is NECESSARY. There were a LOT of grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and wrong edits. It irritated me SO MUCH. I just couldn’t enjoy this book because of all the errors!! And the English language isn’t even my mother language.
This story has so much potential. But the writing lacks depth, it all felt superficial to me. It makes me sad though, because I like the world in this book and the characters. This whole book felt so rushed to me, like it was written with not much effort.
I read it seriously until 70% and then I skipped a whole part and read the last chapter because I couldn’t take it anymore.
Now I’m going to cry in a corner and just watch Zutara edits on TikTok I guess. 😅🙃
February 12, 2025
Just could not get through it. I loved the first one but this one, just didn’t do it for me.
March 10, 2025
I’m gonna start this by saying I enjoyed the idea behind the story being a fan of Avatar the Last Airbender and a Zutara shipper. That is the only reason this book got a rating of 2 stars as it can use a few improvements.
This book needs a lot of editing. I can look past the few grammatical errors I noticed while reading, however the sentence structure in the book was hard to follow. Many sentences were too wordy, making things confusing. I would have to re read a lot to fully understand what was happening. The author would also forget character names and even forget she hadn’t introduced us to characters so all of a sudden there would be this new name and I would have to re read once again to figure out who that character was.
The pacing was fast but also dragged on at the same time. I didn’t feel a connection to the characters as many important character developments were glanced over. Even the main love interests, Koraine and Bellamy, hardly knew each other after the first book. There was no time spent developing their relationship and what makes them care for each other beyond what was necessary for the plot. There was too much focus on other aspects of the book, and I found myself often skimming as many povs repeated the same descriptions of locations or battles which was unnecessary.
I did enjoy Koraines relationship with her brothers. Their interactions felt natural and you can tell the siblings all care for each other.
I really wanted to enjoy this book, but the writing prevented the story and characters to really shine. I wish we had more interactions than those necessary for the plot between characters to really show the relationships and trust being built. However, the writing has improved since the first book, but I hope for the next book, it improves even more as the plot is original and interesting.
This book needs a lot of editing. I can look past the few grammatical errors I noticed while reading, however the sentence structure in the book was hard to follow. Many sentences were too wordy, making things confusing. I would have to re read a lot to fully understand what was happening. The author would also forget character names and even forget she hadn’t introduced us to characters so all of a sudden there would be this new name and I would have to re read once again to figure out who that character was.
The pacing was fast but also dragged on at the same time. I didn’t feel a connection to the characters as many important character developments were glanced over. Even the main love interests, Koraine and Bellamy, hardly knew each other after the first book. There was no time spent developing their relationship and what makes them care for each other beyond what was necessary for the plot. There was too much focus on other aspects of the book, and I found myself often skimming as many povs repeated the same descriptions of locations or battles which was unnecessary.
I did enjoy Koraines relationship with her brothers. Their interactions felt natural and you can tell the siblings all care for each other.
I really wanted to enjoy this book, but the writing prevented the story and characters to really shine. I wish we had more interactions than those necessary for the plot between characters to really show the relationships and trust being built. However, the writing has improved since the first book, but I hope for the next book, it improves even more as the plot is original and interesting.
March 8, 2025
Listen, I think the reviews hate this book because it wasn't as romance-heavy as the first one. That's fine, but this book lived up to the 'fantasy romance' name. I admit that I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did in book one because the romance was meh for me, but the fantasy element and politics were 20x better in this book. I did find myself bored at times, especially since this one was quite repetitive in plot for the sake of character development.
There were so many fight scenes and journeys that were interesting at first, but because it kept happening, it ended up just being boring due to the fact you knew it'd just happen again. Certain characters would make sacrifices for each other that were epic, until it wasn't.
Nyla was one of my favorite characters in the first book, and she still is as this one ended, but the beginning made me so upset. She kept blaming her brother and exclaiming that if he pushed her more she would have gone. That is not how that works. She was manipulated by her father and that I understand, but I feel like M.K. Ahearn could have done without that. The manipulation could have been used about him leaving, versus that, it just felt cheap.
The pacing in this sequel was also heaps better than book one. It flowed well and seriously impressed me. In the end, I stopped really caring for Koraine and Bellamy. Since their entire love story is in book one, you just get them happy and in love here. Which, yes, is great and I'm glad the author didn't do something stupid just for the sake of angst, but because of that the romance side of this book lacks for me since there were no stakes. On one hand, I loved seeing the fluff, but on the other hand, I was bored with it.
Overall, from an objective standpoint, this book is way better than its predecessor, but enjoyment wise, this book wasn't as page-turning as the first for me, hence the three-star rating.
I look forward to the third book, which is Nyla's love story!
There were so many fight scenes and journeys that were interesting at first, but because it kept happening, it ended up just being boring due to the fact you knew it'd just happen again. Certain characters would make sacrifices for each other that were epic, until it wasn't.
Nyla was one of my favorite characters in the first book, and she still is as this one ended, but the beginning made me so upset. She kept blaming her brother and exclaiming that if he pushed her more she would have gone. That is not how that works. She was manipulated by her father and that I understand, but I feel like M.K. Ahearn could have done without that. The manipulation could have been used about him leaving, versus that, it just felt cheap.
The pacing in this sequel was also heaps better than book one. It flowed well and seriously impressed me. In the end, I stopped really caring for Koraine and Bellamy. Since their entire love story is in book one, you just get them happy and in love here. Which, yes, is great and I'm glad the author didn't do something stupid just for the sake of angst, but because of that the romance side of this book lacks for me since there were no stakes. On one hand, I loved seeing the fluff, but on the other hand, I was bored with it.
Overall, from an objective standpoint, this book is way better than its predecessor, but enjoyment wise, this book wasn't as page-turning as the first for me, hence the three-star rating.
I look forward to the third book, which is Nyla's love story!
May 19, 2025
DNF'd at 65%
Full of grammatical errors and mistakes in names and places, the plot was completely lost, and the characters were not deep at all; there were surface feelings and emotions all around.
Even the original characters this was based on were butchered, Azula would NOT have gone through that, just making a fist and engulfing her emotions.
Smut scenes felt very out of context in the "rush" through kingdoms the protagonists were facing, and so were not enjoyable (even when this is a "Zutara" based SECOND book)
Overall very disappointed in this duology, will not read the third one.
Full of grammatical errors and mistakes in names and places, the plot was completely lost, and the characters were not deep at all; there were surface feelings and emotions all around.
Even the original characters this was based on were butchered, Azula would NOT have gone through that, just making a fist and engulfing her emotions.
Smut scenes felt very out of context in the "rush" through kingdoms the protagonists were facing, and so were not enjoyable (even when this is a "Zutara" based SECOND book)
Overall very disappointed in this duology, will not read the third one.
March 6, 2025
Take a shot every time Koraine refers to Bellamy in her internal monologue as ‘my prince’ instead of literally anything else
Read
March 7, 2025I'm really sad I didn't enjoy this. I loved the first book and quite literally couldn't wait to get my hands on this! I was over Nyla's storyline 2 chapters in... and i felt like the story just dragged on.
August 26, 2025
I was really excited for this book, but it just wasn’t as good as the first one. The grammar mistakes were also bothering me 🥲
May 3, 2025
Okay, so, I really wanted to like this book. I absolutely adored the first book, so much so that I read it in a day, but this one? I didn't even finish it, I skipped a solid 10 chapters (36-46).
1) there were so many grammatical and spelling errors.
Usually I don't mind a spelling error, they happen and sometimes people miss them which I get, no ones perfect. But when there's an error every other chapter? That's when I begin to worry. It honestly just made the book so much harder to read. In case you're wondering, here are a few:
"He same forgiveness" - I'm not even sure what this was actually supposed to be
"Irvin" - If this was a background character maybe I would be fine with this but Ervin is a pretty predominate character for a lot of the book.
"prince, the guard" - this one I'm pretty sure was supposed to be in the dialogue before.
"I clung to my best" - Pretty sure 'best' was supposed to be 'beast'
"Reversing his father had implemented" - that was the whole sentence. It doesn't even make sense.
And overall, there were many just weirdly worded sentences that just didn't seem to flow correctly.
2) I honestly hated most of the characters.
I hated Nyla the most. I understand she was supposed to be an Azula type character but she really sucked overall. Like, she was just whiny and annoying the entire time and honestly all those times she missed Bellamy, it was her fault. I know her character is supposed to be this broken girl that only wants to live her dream, but she was perfectly willing to sacrifice her brother even after talking about how she loved him? AND the only reason she hates her brother is because the second he left, their fathers abuse fell onto her, I don't understand why it was okay for Bellamy to be abused and burned but not for Nyla? why should fixing everything be Bellamy's job? honestly I just hated her.
Now Bellamy and Korraine were a bit better but this book they were so shallow and went through almost no character development. Also, the ONLY thing Bellamy calls Korraine is "My moon" like sir, I believe you can call your wife by her name or literally anything else.
The only characters I somewhat liked were Caspian and Ervin. Caspian was literally just a more mature Sokka and Ervin (Supposed to be Iroh I think?) just seemed like a nice guy who wanted to drink tea.
Overall this book was not what I hoped it would be, the first book had me enraptured with the beautiful worldbuilding and connection between the characters, but this book was just missing all of it. I also really hope that this author either gets an editor, or hires a new one because I feel like I just read the first draft to a book that maybe could have been good.
1) there were so many grammatical and spelling errors.
Usually I don't mind a spelling error, they happen and sometimes people miss them which I get, no ones perfect. But when there's an error every other chapter? That's when I begin to worry. It honestly just made the book so much harder to read. In case you're wondering, here are a few:
"He same forgiveness" - I'm not even sure what this was actually supposed to be
"Irvin" - If this was a background character maybe I would be fine with this but Ervin is a pretty predominate character for a lot of the book.
"prince, the guard" - this one I'm pretty sure was supposed to be in the dialogue before.
"I clung to my best" - Pretty sure 'best' was supposed to be 'beast'
"Reversing his father had implemented" - that was the whole sentence. It doesn't even make sense.
And overall, there were many just weirdly worded sentences that just didn't seem to flow correctly.
2) I honestly hated most of the characters.
I hated Nyla the most. I understand she was supposed to be an Azula type character but she really sucked overall. Like, she was just whiny and annoying the entire time and honestly all those times she missed Bellamy, it was her fault. I know her character is supposed to be this broken girl that only wants to live her dream, but she was perfectly willing to sacrifice her brother even after talking about how she loved him? AND the only reason she hates her brother is because the second he left, their fathers abuse fell onto her, I don't understand why it was okay for Bellamy to be abused and burned but not for Nyla? why should fixing everything be Bellamy's job? honestly I just hated her.
Now Bellamy and Korraine were a bit better but this book they were so shallow and went through almost no character development. Also, the ONLY thing Bellamy calls Korraine is "My moon" like sir, I believe you can call your wife by her name or literally anything else.
The only characters I somewhat liked were Caspian and Ervin. Caspian was literally just a more mature Sokka and Ervin (Supposed to be Iroh I think?) just seemed like a nice guy who wanted to drink tea.
Overall this book was not what I hoped it would be, the first book had me enraptured with the beautiful worldbuilding and connection between the characters, but this book was just missing all of it. I also really hope that this author either gets an editor, or hires a new one because I feel like I just read the first draft to a book that maybe could have been good.
February 6, 2025
Let me preface by saying I really liked book one, Broken Flames. I thought the story and characters were genuinely good and I enjoyed both the pacing and the writing.
Unfortunately, this book did not live up to the first. In many ways, it felt like it wasn’t even written by the same person.
⚠️SPOILERS BELOW⚠️
⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
1. The writing style doesn’t seem the same at all? Aside from needing a lot of editing, there were continuity issues, and certain things were worded sooo strangely. Example: “He shook his head in response, and I knew the answer wasn’t what I hoped to hear.” The first time I saw this sentence structure, I ignored it. After the third time… it’s very odd and clunky.
Other examples:
“I smelt it before my eyes located it: a chimney carried puffs of smoke from a fire I knew I would find burning inside.”
“‘You can tell Mother yourself,’ I said, knowing he meant the love of his life.”
2. Nyla. Honestly, what a mess of a character. Her whole transformation in book two was so shallow it was unbelievable. I severely disliked her in this book, from her first POV chapter, all the way to the end. She needed far deeper development. It felt like the author just wrote whatever they wanted to support an Azula style plunge into madness and it was 0% effective. There’s no way I will be reading her book. Why would I?
3. The romance. I let the weird intimate scenes slide in book one, but they did not get any better in book two. I do not like the way this author writes romance or intimacy, tbh. I was hoping that the actual romance itself would deepen in this book, but it did not. Again, it’s very surface level, zero real emotions. Awkward. Not good.
Unfortunately, this book did not live up to the first. In many ways, it felt like it wasn’t even written by the same person.
⚠️SPOILERS BELOW⚠️
⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
1. The writing style doesn’t seem the same at all? Aside from needing a lot of editing, there were continuity issues, and certain things were worded sooo strangely. Example: “He shook his head in response, and I knew the answer wasn’t what I hoped to hear.” The first time I saw this sentence structure, I ignored it. After the third time… it’s very odd and clunky.
Other examples:
“I smelt it before my eyes located it: a chimney carried puffs of smoke from a fire I knew I would find burning inside.”
“‘You can tell Mother yourself,’ I said, knowing he meant the love of his life.”
2. Nyla. Honestly, what a mess of a character. Her whole transformation in book two was so shallow it was unbelievable. I severely disliked her in this book, from her first POV chapter, all the way to the end. She needed far deeper development. It felt like the author just wrote whatever they wanted to support an Azula style plunge into madness and it was 0% effective. There’s no way I will be reading her book. Why would I?
3. The romance. I let the weird intimate scenes slide in book one, but they did not get any better in book two. I do not like the way this author writes romance or intimacy, tbh. I was hoping that the actual romance itself would deepen in this book, but it did not. Again, it’s very surface level, zero real emotions. Awkward. Not good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2025
Great second book! Love that Book 1 and 2 could be stand alone if you want but so happy it will continue! I really enjoyed both the love and the friendships that were forged in the characters. It’s a definite read!
February 26, 2025
I think this is my guilty pleasure book. It's not incredible writing, but all the avatar inspiration and Katara ❤️ Zuko vibes are just too easy to get lost in.
April 2, 2025
3.5 stars
I loved the first book a lot I was so excited when the second one came out. I knew kinda what I was getting into with the dedication saying ‘ what if zutara was canon’. I was intrigued but really liked that book because while it clearly drew inspiration from the ATLA world it was still its own thing.
However in this sequel it seems to have leaned way more onto the Avatar references and inspiration. So let’s break this down
Bellamy and Korraine:
Don’t get me wrong I love them and still do they were probably the best part of this book. But if I took a shot everytime he calls her my moon I’d be in a hospital by chapter 5. You can in fact call her by her name. That said they were cute. The spice scenes could have been better but I’ll cut some slack since they were usually in danger.
Nyla
I liked her in the first book. Part of what made me like her is that she wasn’t Azula and was someone different and felt a bit dynamic. So imagine my surprise when we got her pov and it’s just basically Azulas inner monologue with an annoying guy as well. At first I thought maybe I didn’t care for it because I never cared much for Azula in the show ( which btw I shouldn’t have to be comparing it to a completely different media this much) but after finishing it and thinking it over I’ve realized that’s not it. I just got tired of her chapters. The same thing over and over again. If I’m supposed to care about her descent into madness I need to see the torture where she tried to hold out. Having that be the past made me not care.
Other character:
Cyrus. We get it bro you suck ass and are brown nosing the kings ass since you were little. You hate Bellamy and want to burn everything to the ground. Though I guess I can’t judge for making a despicable character so despicable he’s on the pay and my blood starts boiling. He was honestly more insane the Nyla
Caspian: so 100% just sokka but a little more mature right? Also I couldn’t tell if there was something with him and the princess or not but it seemed like she was hinting at it and there was NO CLOSURE. Nothing suggesting they may have acted on their feelings or that they’re just friends. If they’re in an upcoming book I need something to go off of.
Asena: it wasn’t even subtle that it was Sokkas 2 gfs combined. Also her character change was a 180 and I truly don’t know why they took her to Abelon other than star power and political conflict.
Plot:
So the goddesses are involved involved now? We barely mentioned them on the first book.
Bellamy: My wife turned into the moon.
Girl what? Also we take away FMC crazy power. This shit again?! Also I still cannot understand how giving up her power saved Nyla when really what she needed was therapy and maybe house arrest for a bit so they can talk to her. She doesn’t need the moon goddess’s blessing she needs therapy.
Conclusion/TLDR
I regret telling my friend this wasn’t just fan fiction because while the first book had inspiration this just felt like a straight canon divergence fix it fic.
I loved the first book a lot I was so excited when the second one came out. I knew kinda what I was getting into with the dedication saying ‘ what if zutara was canon’. I was intrigued but really liked that book because while it clearly drew inspiration from the ATLA world it was still its own thing.
However in this sequel it seems to have leaned way more onto the Avatar references and inspiration. So let’s break this down
Bellamy and Korraine:
Don’t get me wrong I love them and still do they were probably the best part of this book. But if I took a shot everytime he calls her my moon I’d be in a hospital by chapter 5. You can in fact call her by her name. That said they were cute. The spice scenes could have been better but I’ll cut some slack since they were usually in danger.
Nyla
I liked her in the first book. Part of what made me like her is that she wasn’t Azula and was someone different and felt a bit dynamic. So imagine my surprise when we got her pov and it’s just basically Azulas inner monologue with an annoying guy as well. At first I thought maybe I didn’t care for it because I never cared much for Azula in the show ( which btw I shouldn’t have to be comparing it to a completely different media this much) but after finishing it and thinking it over I’ve realized that’s not it. I just got tired of her chapters. The same thing over and over again. If I’m supposed to care about her descent into madness I need to see the torture where she tried to hold out. Having that be the past made me not care.
Other character:
Cyrus. We get it bro you suck ass and are brown nosing the kings ass since you were little. You hate Bellamy and want to burn everything to the ground. Though I guess I can’t judge for making a despicable character so despicable he’s on the pay and my blood starts boiling. He was honestly more insane the Nyla
Caspian: so 100% just sokka but a little more mature right? Also I couldn’t tell if there was something with him and the princess or not but it seemed like she was hinting at it and there was NO CLOSURE. Nothing suggesting they may have acted on their feelings or that they’re just friends. If they’re in an upcoming book I need something to go off of.
Asena: it wasn’t even subtle that it was Sokkas 2 gfs combined. Also her character change was a 180 and I truly don’t know why they took her to Abelon other than star power and political conflict.
Plot:
So the goddesses are involved involved now? We barely mentioned them on the first book.
Bellamy: My wife turned into the moon.
Girl what? Also we take away FMC crazy power. This shit again?! Also I still cannot understand how giving up her power saved Nyla when really what she needed was therapy and maybe house arrest for a bit so they can talk to her. She doesn’t need the moon goddess’s blessing she needs therapy.
Conclusion/TLDR
I regret telling my friend this wasn’t just fan fiction because while the first book had inspiration this just felt like a straight canon divergence fix it fic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2025
I had this preordered and read it on release day in less than 7 hours. It was easy to get through. I am not as big a fan of this one as I was book #1. Nyla was insufferable and I was rolling my eyes during every chapter of hers. Like I felt bad but she kinda brought it on herself and was so whiny, blaming everyone but herself. The author states at the end of this book that Nyla’s story will continue in summer 2025. This was a good conclusion as a duology and I will not be holding my breath for book #3 because I can’t stand Nyla.
December 28, 2025
3.2⭐️ i mainly kept reading bc i needed to know what happened but TBH i felt like things that didn’t need all them details got a lot of details and things we could’ve spent more time on were rushed but that’s just me. battle scenes weren’t all that and idk a lot of things were either too easy or too difficult w/o explanation so def loved book 1 and im glad i know how their story ends just obsessed with it
July 30, 2025
They're lucky I love Avatar the Last Airbender that much.
March 2, 2025
*Spoilers further down* I was really looking forward to this book because I genuinely did like the first one. I think a lot of people say they don't like this series because they had preconceived ideas because it is being marketed as something based on Avatar. I do not know anything about Avatar so I was able to just take this as-is so I think that's why I enjoyed the first one so much.
This book was riddled with typos, continuity errors, bad sentence formatting and it was difficult to follow some of the dialogue. If the errors were not present I think I would have enjoyed it more but it felt like every chapter I found a handful of errors and it was really distracting.
The characters
- Nyla is insufferable. I hate her character so much. She was comfortable sitting back and doing nothing for Bellamy as he was tortured for their entire lives. The minute he left and the heat and pressure of their father's expectations were set on her she blamed Bellamy instead of her father, the actual real perpetrator of all the abuse. She only worked so hard to get Bellamy back to selfishly save herself because she knew if he was home she would soon be left in the shadows once more away from her father's wrath. She has no problem turning him in to save her own skin. I did not like how easily she was forgiven for her literal war crimes in the end. I feel she deserved some punishment or at the very least not be fully trusted and forgiven within their family. I think what she did was unforgivably selfish. She fought for her own self preservation to her literal death and even then she was bailed out by Korraine and was immediately forgiven.
-Bellamy... Was he even in this book?? I feel like the first book gave such an incredible and detailed view into his own personal thoughts and feelings only for it to fall flat in this book.
-Korraine... Finally she got a chance to show her power. Everyone spoke of how powerful she was in the first book and she never got the chance to prove it until now. I do feel bummed that she gave up her moon powers so easily to save Nyla. She literally risked the entire world for 1 person that was not very deserving of it. She only did it out of misplaced guilt, she felt personally responsible for Nyla's descent into madness.
Final thoughts: All the supporting characters were great and I wish we had more opportunities to get to know them more in depth vs having them just jump in when needed.
I wish there were more scenes with Bellamy and Korraine as a unit, I feel like they barely even talked to each other the whole book and when they did they barely scratched the surface.
This book was riddled with typos, continuity errors, bad sentence formatting and it was difficult to follow some of the dialogue. If the errors were not present I think I would have enjoyed it more but it felt like every chapter I found a handful of errors and it was really distracting.
The characters
- Nyla is insufferable. I hate her character so much. She was comfortable sitting back and doing nothing for Bellamy as he was tortured for their entire lives. The minute he left and the heat and pressure of their father's expectations were set on her she blamed Bellamy instead of her father, the actual real perpetrator of all the abuse. She only worked so hard to get Bellamy back to selfishly save herself because she knew if he was home she would soon be left in the shadows once more away from her father's wrath. She has no problem turning him in to save her own skin. I did not like how easily she was forgiven for her literal war crimes in the end. I feel she deserved some punishment or at the very least not be fully trusted and forgiven within their family. I think what she did was unforgivably selfish. She fought for her own self preservation to her literal death and even then she was bailed out by Korraine and was immediately forgiven.
-Bellamy... Was he even in this book?? I feel like the first book gave such an incredible and detailed view into his own personal thoughts and feelings only for it to fall flat in this book.
-Korraine... Finally she got a chance to show her power. Everyone spoke of how powerful she was in the first book and she never got the chance to prove it until now. I do feel bummed that she gave up her moon powers so easily to save Nyla. She literally risked the entire world for 1 person that was not very deserving of it. She only did it out of misplaced guilt, she felt personally responsible for Nyla's descent into madness.
Final thoughts: All the supporting characters were great and I wish we had more opportunities to get to know them more in depth vs having them just jump in when needed.
I wish there were more scenes with Bellamy and Korraine as a unit, I feel like they barely even talked to each other the whole book and when they did they barely scratched the surface.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2025
Would I read this again? no. Would I recommend it? no. Overall, the story wasn't bad, but the book was very slow moving, there wasn't a lot of romance, there were a lot of typos and spelling/grammar issues, I had a hard time feeling connected to the characters who lacked depth and personality, the Nyla chapters felt forced, the references to Avatar felt more cringey than reminiscent, and it felt like an entirely different book than the first in the series. The ending of the book was the saving grace of it all; I found myself more connected to the characters than ever and felt a lot of emotion. I just wish the whole book could've been like that.
April 9, 2025
I really wanted to like this book, because Zutara is the hill I am willing to die on, but this just didn’t do it for me. Firstly, I can overlook some spelling errors and some grammar, but when you forget how to spell your own characters names I get a bit annoyed. This book is proof that proof-reading is so valuable, because all of the mistakes kind of took me out of the story if I’m being honest. In terms of plot, this book somehow felt both rushed and dragging??? There were so many things kind of skated past and the characters lacked any real depth for me. Again, I realllllly wanted to like this book, so this was unfortunate, and I don’t think I I’ll continue reading Nyla’s story.
March 1, 2025
Who ever was the editor of this book needs to be fired. This story had so much potential but the author over explained plots and there were many grammatical errors that took away from the story. I felt like I was reading a first draft of a story. The spelling of characters name changed. At one point I thought there were two a priestess because the author spelled Oleena’s name Aleena in one chapter. Not to mention quotation marks misplacement and interchanged plural vs singular nouns incorrectly.
Again, the plot in of itself wasn’t terrible. However this book could’ve been more condensed and read more smoothly had someone proofread and gave the author constructive criticism.
Again, the plot in of itself wasn’t terrible. However this book could’ve been more condensed and read more smoothly had someone proofread and gave the author constructive criticism.
February 7, 2025
Bad consistency and spelling
[There are spoilers lower in thid review] I was so excited for this book. I reread the first one in anticipation right before this one came out. Starting the book off, Korraine suddenly has 2 older brothers instead of the 1 older and 1 younger that she had in the first book. She mentions multiple times in this book that they are both older. So that was a bit irritating but I got over it. Then came the spelling and punctuation and grammatical errors riddled throughout the book. The first book had a couple errors but this one has so many. It is irritating to come across them while reading because it ruins the flow. Also I feel like Nyla's constant jumping to conclusions and irrational behavior and selfishness doesn't come across very well. [SPOILERS] Like when Korraine suffocated her with her water and then when she wakes up she is apologetic? Like none of that thinking was there before she suffocated, why did she wake up suddenly realizing she was wrong? Simply because her father died? Because she even said she didn't want Bellamy running the kingdom so that doesn't seem realistic. I'm not sure if I will buy the next book or not because of my disappointment in this one. I liked the concept but all these issues ruined it for me.
[There are spoilers lower in thid review] I was so excited for this book. I reread the first one in anticipation right before this one came out. Starting the book off, Korraine suddenly has 2 older brothers instead of the 1 older and 1 younger that she had in the first book. She mentions multiple times in this book that they are both older. So that was a bit irritating but I got over it. Then came the spelling and punctuation and grammatical errors riddled throughout the book. The first book had a couple errors but this one has so many. It is irritating to come across them while reading because it ruins the flow. Also I feel like Nyla's constant jumping to conclusions and irrational behavior and selfishness doesn't come across very well. [SPOILERS] Like when Korraine suffocated her with her water and then when she wakes up she is apologetic? Like none of that thinking was there before she suffocated, why did she wake up suddenly realizing she was wrong? Simply because her father died? Because she even said she didn't want Bellamy running the kingdom so that doesn't seem realistic. I'm not sure if I will buy the next book or not because of my disappointment in this one. I liked the concept but all these issues ruined it for me.
February 11, 2025
I really enjoyed the first book and the bones of a good story are there for this one. However, there were MAJOR continuity errors. In the first book, she’s the middle child and in this one, she’s the youngest.
It’s mentioned in reference to the Asena character at one point that she’s from Abelon? Excuse me? “Did the princess of Abelon just use the phrase serpent shit?” yikes.
The amount of spelling and grammatical errors made it really hard to get through. This book lacked the rigorous editing that it needed, and it felt like the author didn’t even remember the first book they wrote.
I could go on. At the end of the day, I was bummed out by all the mistakes that ruined the reading experience for me
It’s mentioned in reference to the Asena character at one point that she’s from Abelon? Excuse me? “Did the princess of Abelon just use the phrase serpent shit?” yikes.
The amount of spelling and grammatical errors made it really hard to get through. This book lacked the rigorous editing that it needed, and it felt like the author didn’t even remember the first book they wrote.
I could go on. At the end of the day, I was bummed out by all the mistakes that ruined the reading experience for me
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 9, 2025
Proofreading is necessary
I wanted to like this book so much more than I was able to. It wasn't proofread to make sure it was error free and it shows. There's an entire chapter where the familial relationships are wrong, places where sentences haven't been edited for clarity or it's clear they were rewritten but have extra words.
The concept is fantastic, but the execution was lacking.
I wanted to like this book so much more than I was able to. It wasn't proofread to make sure it was error free and it shows. There's an entire chapter where the familial relationships are wrong, places where sentences haven't been edited for clarity or it's clear they were rewritten but have extra words.
The concept is fantastic, but the execution was lacking.
February 9, 2025
This book was such a fun time! I had to start over and just say as a Zuko and Katara shipper, it filled my cup of tea in such a fun way! This book was so easy to read, and it reminded me a lot of what I’ve wanted for them.
I wish there was more of a glance of their future together tho! I hope to see it in Nyla’s books 🫶🏻
I wish there was more of a glance of their future together tho! I hope to see it in Nyla’s books 🫶🏻
February 9, 2025
I was really excited for this book but I felt like the writing style changed . The first book had me drawn in. But this second one felt like it was lacking emotional depth to the characters. I felt some scenes were surface level. But there were some scenes that were really good.
March 1, 2025
This is an action-packed follow up to Broken Flames. I was invested in these characters coming into this story because of Broken Flames. There may have been too much plot for a sequel like this though. It gave the story an odd rhythm and really weird pacing issues. There were several big issues I'll detail that brought this story down to 2 stars for me.
1) Several Typos and misspellings - this is kind of small, but it makes a big difference for me
2) Characters that were previously established changed too much and too quickly in a way that didn't make sense to me and was pushed by the plot, not by the inner workings of the character. This particularly happens with Nyla. Her whole arc in this book is obviously supposed to evoke Azula, but after the way we saw her in Broken Flames, it just didn't work for me. I can appreciate the intent and can see the author's intentions, but it needed a lot more invested in turning the tide for me to buy into it in a way that would emotionally impact that story. Something that bothered me a lot is the one single passage that depicts Nyla as struggling with some sort of addiction to pain medication following an injury. It is never mentioned again. It doesn't contribute to her storyline or her redemption. It only serves as a way for us to feel sorry for her. Which STILL doesn't make sense because she was literally just injured horribly! Of course she is going to be in pain and be reliant on pain medication while she is healing. Just wildly misplaced in my opinion.
3) The Moon Goddess Power. I loved the concept of this. It takes a principle established in ATLA and changes it to suit this story and these characters. Initially I loved the introduction, even if it felt quick and lacked fleshing out. Really what bothers me about this is the fact that we are quickly introduced to this concept, which is then acquired with almost no effort or sacrifice, only for the FMC to immediately lose all her yoked power to save her friend. NO ONE LIKES THIS TROPE. I will never understand the impulse to give a woman god-like abilities for .5 seconds and for her to sacrifice her abilities to save the world/her friend/her husband. Especially in this instance where it seems like it's in her blood. That she is destined for this power and this special relationship with the Moon Goddess, but only for a few days, cause you've got to win a war. A huge miss for me.
I know this seems like I'm really ragging on this book but I did enjoy the experience of reading it and will still probably read the next one.
1) Several Typos and misspellings - this is kind of small, but it makes a big difference for me
2) Characters that were previously established changed too much and too quickly in a way that didn't make sense to me and was pushed by the plot, not by the inner workings of the character. This particularly happens with Nyla. Her whole arc in this book is obviously supposed to evoke Azula, but after the way we saw her in Broken Flames, it just didn't work for me. I can appreciate the intent and can see the author's intentions, but it needed a lot more invested in turning the tide for me to buy into it in a way that would emotionally impact that story. Something that bothered me a lot is the one single passage that depicts Nyla as struggling with some sort of addiction to pain medication following an injury. It is never mentioned again. It doesn't contribute to her storyline or her redemption. It only serves as a way for us to feel sorry for her. Which STILL doesn't make sense because she was literally just injured horribly! Of course she is going to be in pain and be reliant on pain medication while she is healing. Just wildly misplaced in my opinion.
3) The Moon Goddess Power. I loved the concept of this. It takes a principle established in ATLA and changes it to suit this story and these characters. Initially I loved the introduction, even if it felt quick and lacked fleshing out. Really what bothers me about this is the fact that we are quickly introduced to this concept, which is then acquired with almost no effort or sacrifice, only for the FMC to immediately lose all her yoked power to save her friend. NO ONE LIKES THIS TROPE. I will never understand the impulse to give a woman god-like abilities for .5 seconds and for her to sacrifice her abilities to save the world/her friend/her husband. Especially in this instance where it seems like it's in her blood. That she is destined for this power and this special relationship with the Moon Goddess, but only for a few days, cause you've got to win a war. A huge miss for me.
I know this seems like I'm really ragging on this book but I did enjoy the experience of reading it and will still probably read the next one.
November 1, 2025
I wanted to enjoy this book bc of the fact that it was inspired by Avatar, but the whole time I was reading it I was just trying to finish it to simply say I finished it. I think I preferred book 1 to book 2 for a few different reasons. The first was the fact that all the characters seemed to shift so much in such a short time. Like Nyla was tortured for a short bit of time but it completely shifted who she was as a character - which yes I know torture can do that but she did a 180. She was friends with the FMC but she acted like they were forever sworn enemies. The shift to try and act like Azula was too much; she should’ve been mean in the first book if this was how she was gonna act bc then at least it would make sense. Next, the FMC acted like she was always this warrior girl but like she grew up on a farm. And her dad seemed like he was retired and ignored by the king but then all of a sudden at the end he’s leading again. Bellamy (MMC) took a step back with regard to him being powerful and the big focus was on our FMC gaining the moon power.
Also the build up to the war at the end was the focus the whole book and the battle scenes gave me nothing. It was grazed past and bounced around to randomly. Plus the king dying wasn’t even major - I literally had to re read it to make sure it actually happened bc of how quickly we moved on.
It just felt like a bunch of conflicting things in comparison to the first book. I know Nyla has her book coming but I don’t see myself continuing with it.
Also the build up to the war at the end was the focus the whole book and the battle scenes gave me nothing. It was grazed past and bounced around to randomly. Plus the king dying wasn’t even major - I literally had to re read it to make sure it actually happened bc of how quickly we moved on.
It just felt like a bunch of conflicting things in comparison to the first book. I know Nyla has her book coming but I don’t see myself continuing with it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2025
Warring Tides, the second book in M.K. Ahearn’s The Elemental Arrangement series, published in 2024, builds on Broken Flames with its Avatar: The Last Airbender-inspired elemental world, enemies-to-lovers romance, strong female main character (FMC), and “touch her and die” vibes. It follows Koriane, the water-wielding FMC, and Bellamy, the fire-prince, as fugitives fleeing the fire kingdom of Abelon, pursued by Bellamy’s sister, Nyla, amid looming war.
Koriane’s development is a highlight, evolving from a duty-bound noble into a fierce, strategic warrior who defies her kingdom for love and survival. Her strength and loyalty make her a standout FMC, though her backstory could be fleshed out more. The Avatar-style elemental magic—water, fire, air, earth—shines with vivid battles and mythical creatures like dragons, but their roles remain limited, which may disappoint dragon fans. The enemies-to-lovers romance between Koriane and Bellamy deepens, delivering heartfelt moments and protective “touch her and die” intensity that echoes Zuko-Katara dynamics, though pacing can feel uneven due to plot-heavy sections.
The world expands with political intrigue and ancient secrets, but the lore feels thin at times, and some side characters lack depth. Despite a slower middle, the action-packed climax and cliffhanger ending keep you hooked. Perfect for Fourth Wing or ACOTAR fans craving Avatar-inspired romantasy, Warring Tides is a solid, trope-filled sequel
Koriane’s development is a highlight, evolving from a duty-bound noble into a fierce, strategic warrior who defies her kingdom for love and survival. Her strength and loyalty make her a standout FMC, though her backstory could be fleshed out more. The Avatar-style elemental magic—water, fire, air, earth—shines with vivid battles and mythical creatures like dragons, but their roles remain limited, which may disappoint dragon fans. The enemies-to-lovers romance between Koriane and Bellamy deepens, delivering heartfelt moments and protective “touch her and die” intensity that echoes Zuko-Katara dynamics, though pacing can feel uneven due to plot-heavy sections.
The world expands with political intrigue and ancient secrets, but the lore feels thin at times, and some side characters lack depth. Despite a slower middle, the action-packed climax and cliffhanger ending keep you hooked. Perfect for Fourth Wing or ACOTAR fans craving Avatar-inspired romantasy, Warring Tides is a solid, trope-filled sequel
October 29, 2025
This book honestly took me almost a whole year to finish. I tried reading it so many times, but it just didn’t pull me in the way Broken Flames did. I even grabbed the audiobook on Audible thinking it would help but I still struggled to stay hooked. My only real critique about the audiobook is Bellamy’s narrator. His delivery felt a bit flat, like he was whispering too much or forcing a husky tone, which made it hard to connect emotionally.
Story-wise, I actually liked Bellamy and Corraine way more as enemies than as lovers. The beginning had me intrigued, but somewhere around the middle, things started to feel a little rushed. I wish there had been more worldbuilding and depth to really let the story breathe.
One thing that threw me off was some of the dialogue especially when words like “bitch” popped up toward the end. It didn’t feel like it belonged in that world at all. I know the story takes a lot of inspiration from Avatar The Last Airbender, but I wish it had leaned a lot more into creating its own universe instead of staying so close to ATLA. Also, calling element-users “manipulators” just didn’t sit right with me it felt a bit too plain for such a creative concept.
The ending between Bellamy and Corraine was fine, a bit predictable but I’m glad they got their happy ending. Even with its flaws, I have to give the author credit for publishing a solid Zutara inspired story. I’ll definitely be picking up Eternal Moorlands when I’m ready for my next fantasy fix.
Story-wise, I actually liked Bellamy and Corraine way more as enemies than as lovers. The beginning had me intrigued, but somewhere around the middle, things started to feel a little rushed. I wish there had been more worldbuilding and depth to really let the story breathe.
One thing that threw me off was some of the dialogue especially when words like “bitch” popped up toward the end. It didn’t feel like it belonged in that world at all. I know the story takes a lot of inspiration from Avatar The Last Airbender, but I wish it had leaned a lot more into creating its own universe instead of staying so close to ATLA. Also, calling element-users “manipulators” just didn’t sit right with me it felt a bit too plain for such a creative concept.
The ending between Bellamy and Corraine was fine, a bit predictable but I’m glad they got their happy ending. Even with its flaws, I have to give the author credit for publishing a solid Zutara inspired story. I’ll definitely be picking up Eternal Moorlands when I’m ready for my next fantasy fix.
August 7, 2025
So the only thing that kept this from being a one star is I did finish it and I did like the story/plot. Execution was trash. The plot was so undeveloped. The sex scenes felt very try hard, like the author wanted them to be spicy but they fell so flat. I ended up checking the acknowledgments for an editor thank… Alexa, girl wtf. Idk what she paid you, but it was too much. There were so many basic grammatical errors in this book it was distracting, it’s not giving proficient. I felt like I was editing the damn thing. It’s so painfully Avatar fanfic, like there’s “retelling” for a ship and then there’s this. Ex. at one point the Iroh character’s name is misspelled and it’s like you forgot to erase his whole name. Ervin was Irvin for a sec…that was crazy. The Azula character switched from red to black hair a couple of times like bestie we must do better than this. I feel like I somehow got a published first draft? You had “name” in place of a minor character’s name. Now that I’ve typed this out it’s actually rounded up from a 1.5 to a 2. We must do better. Definitely won’t be jumping to buy the 3rd book like I was this one. Disappointed is an understatement, just glad the ending didn’t leave me wanting more. 👎🏽
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