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Fear the Flames #2
Wrath of the Dragons
The second novel in Olivia Rose Darling's thrilling and steamy romantic fantasy series, following Fear the Flames.
In the explosive sequel to the bestselling romantasy Fear the Flames, two fated lovers must unite against warring kingdoms to defend their home and crowns from those who wish to destroy them.
Cayden Veles, renowned Demon Commander of Vareveth, overthrew the throne to save Elowen Atarah, the woman he searched for since childhood. Now he’s determined to fulfill his quest for revenge against her father, even if it means forcing the only person he’s ever wanted into a marriage of political convenience.
Elowen Atarah has everything she thought she’d ever want. Finally reunited with her dragons, she now has an army to enact vengeance, but as events transpire, she begins contemplating if she wants more. As her father’s only living heir, the Imirath throne is her right and destiny. But fighting and winning a war will require trusting Cayden Veles, her partner in crime and now king to her queen; the man she both longs for and doubts, especially after opening her heart only to become a pawn in his game.
Navigating the shifting allegiances amongst all the kingdoms of Ravaryn will require all their strategy and strength, with devastating and bloody attacks on one side and cutthroat diplomacy for alliances on the other. But Elowen and Cayden must find a way to stand strong within the power they’ve gained, or risk losing everything.
Delving deeper into a vast and ever-changing world, Wrath of the Dragons will take you on a journey filled with epic battles and a tender, angsty love for the ages.
In the explosive sequel to the bestselling romantasy Fear the Flames, two fated lovers must unite against warring kingdoms to defend their home and crowns from those who wish to destroy them.
Cayden Veles, renowned Demon Commander of Vareveth, overthrew the throne to save Elowen Atarah, the woman he searched for since childhood. Now he’s determined to fulfill his quest for revenge against her father, even if it means forcing the only person he’s ever wanted into a marriage of political convenience.
Elowen Atarah has everything she thought she’d ever want. Finally reunited with her dragons, she now has an army to enact vengeance, but as events transpire, she begins contemplating if she wants more. As her father’s only living heir, the Imirath throne is her right and destiny. But fighting and winning a war will require trusting Cayden Veles, her partner in crime and now king to her queen; the man she both longs for and doubts, especially after opening her heart only to become a pawn in his game.
Navigating the shifting allegiances amongst all the kingdoms of Ravaryn will require all their strategy and strength, with devastating and bloody attacks on one side and cutthroat diplomacy for alliances on the other. But Elowen and Cayden must find a way to stand strong within the power they’ve gained, or risk losing everything.
Delving deeper into a vast and ever-changing world, Wrath of the Dragons will take you on a journey filled with epic battles and a tender, angsty love for the ages.
544 pages, Hardcover
First published July 29, 2025
1446 people are currently reading
44817 people want to read
About the author
Olivia Rose Darling
3 books2,635 followersOlivia split her time growing up between New York and Manchester, VT. She developed a passion for writing from a very young age- always scribbling poems onto napkins and short stories into her school notebooks. She graduated from Pace University and attained a degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. Lord of the Rings were her favorite movies growing up and formed her fantasy obsession. Being an author and living a life filled with words and magic has always been her dream.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,673 reviews
August 5, 2025
GIRL?????? the yearning, the battles, the politics, the found family, THE ENDING ???? adding this to the very small list of books that have made me cry
August 17, 2025
➸ 5 stars
thank you to netgally, random house publishing / dell romance and olivia rose darling for the advanced readers copy!! <3
⚔️ dual pov
🌙 political intelligence
⚔️ marriage of inconvenience (but also convenient)
🌙 epic battles
⚔️ oversea journeys
🌙 celestial symbolism
⚔️ YEARNING
“The queen who brought dragons back into the world, and the king who conquered a kingdom to have her.”
if you know me, you know fear the flames is one of my favorite books of all time. that book and that story has been on my mind everyday and has been kept close to my heart since i first opened the first page. wrath of the dragons has been my most anticipated read and it did not disappoint one bit. it outdid. i loved being back in this world, it felt like coming home. seeing these characters on the pages again brought me so much happiness!!
the first half of this book was so much fun!! i loved the little gentle moments and my face actuallly hurt from smiling so wide!! once part 3 started, my heart was RACING tears were STREAMING and i was clutching at my chest once i got to the end. i’m still speechless. this book took a turn i was not expecting when i first read book one and i have SO many theories!!! i am beyond excited for the next book and i NEED it in my hands this second because i fear i will never recover from the ending of wrath. it’s been keeping me up at night and UGHHHH it was just so fucking good and so painful!!!! olivia truly outdid with this book and i can’t wait to see where the story goes!!!
━━━━━━━━━ ✦❘༻༺❘✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
𓈀 🌙 𓄹𓂃 intro
“If you wish to discuss one of my kills, specify which. Corpses get added to my list by the day.”
when i first opened up the book and saw cayden’s pov as the first chapter, i screamed, giggled, turned my kindle off, and mentally prepared myself for a day before starting to read (my literal reaction i’m not kidding) being inside his head showed a whole new different perspective on cayden! this man is LETHALLL and he really showed us why he’s called the demon of ravaryn and is the most feared man in the realm!! chapter 3? clawing through the mf walls AND THE ART OF HIM IN THE RINGGGGG ugh fine asf anyways
“She’s the poison I’d willingly lift to my lips without an antidote in sight, and force myself to survive, knowing death would offer me no relief if it cleaves me from her.”
“I look for her in everything, everywhere. I see her eyes in the mundane details of my day that make me crave the moment I’ll be with her again.”
CAYDEN THE NUMBER ONE YEARNER!!!! this man LOVES his woman and would do anything for her!!!
“This world took and took until I had nothing left to give, and darkness filled the shell of who I was.”
𓍢⊹ ࣪
“Besides, I’ve never had a bad day that couldn’t be improved by a sweet treat.”
i love how the first time we see our dear elowen again, she’s surrounded with pastries and getting cakes for her dragons, it’s so her!!!
“Sometimes I pretend to be something I’m not for so long I think I’ll be able to become that version of myself, but no matter how much I’ve tried, I can’t simply force myself to be fine. I don’t want to hurt, but I do, and I hate that I do.”
my girl is HURTING :( elowen has the kindest soul ever and cares for everyone around her but excludes herself. she’s been through so much and yet keeps pushing forward; her development has been amazing and she’s so strong!!!
“I wonder what it would feel like to be enough exactly as you are. Sometimes it feels like I could fight until I’m an inch away from death and still fall short even then.”
“I know I can’t help everyone, but if more people realized how far one act of kindness can go, we’d live in a much better world.”
━━━━━━━━━ ✦❘༻༺❘✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
𓈀 ⚔️ 𓄹𓂃 the groveling, banter, & bickering
“Be angry at me all you wish, but you’ll never be rid of me.”
“Has anyone ever told you it’s rude to stare?”
“Has anyone ever told you that I’m rude?”
“Nobody had to. I caught on rather early.”
“Flattery and flowers will get you nowhere.”
“I’m right where I want to be.”
“Vos essa un nunti tasuri.” You are a stupid man.
“Vet vos essa tesis mas ulessi ardama en Ravaryn.” And you are the most beautiful woman in Ravaryn.
i love how that addictive banter from book one didn’t disappear; it was DELICIOUS and i ate up every moment with these two! their bickering and back and fourths had me laughing so much and grinning so wide my cheeks would hurt!! cayden and elowen are my favorites everrrr and im so happy we got so many moments of them!!
“Trying to cut him out of me would be like trying to rip my soul in half.”
“When we were at the inn did I not say I’d never let you go? For months, have I not said I’ll do anything for you and to have you? What did you think that would entail for people in our position? Nothing in this world will ever be more valuable than you in my eyes. I did what I had to do to keep you safe, and I will not apologize for something that I don’t regret.”
both elowen and cayden’s feelings/actions in this situation are SO VALID!!! elowen’s entire life has been filled with lies and betrayal; trust is a huge thing for her and her being upset is OKAY! meanwhile cayden made a move that was needed in that moment!! he did what he had to do and never meant any ill intent towards el!! i loved watching them go through this and i feel like this made them even stronger!! their relationship is amazing yet unreal!! i love them so much.
“You know me, El. Come back to me.”
“Do I?”
“More than anyone.”
━━━━━━━━━ ✦❘༻༺❘✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
𓈀 🌙 𓄹𓂃 found family
“Life is made up of a series of moments and can change in a minute. I’ve never known what tomorrow or even the next hour will bring—death, tragedy, or something else entirely. But on my worst days, sometimes it’s the people I’m with that make it better.”
every single scene where the group was together genuinely had me laughing my ass off. their bickering is hilarious and i loved every single moment!! not only are they funny asf, they hold so much love for each other and would honestly die for each other; I LOVE THEIR LITTLE FOUND FAMILY SOOO MUCH!!!!
“I didn’t survive exile because of the anger that lived within me, I survived because of you.”
“Aestilian was where I grew up, but Finnian was my home.”
the found family in this book is truly one of my FAVORITES especially elowen and finnian. they may not share blood but their bond goes far beyond that!! el will always take care of finnian and he will always stand right next to her i love them sm!!!
“Have you spent enough time gazing longingly at each other?”
“I’ll find a mirror so you don’t feel left out,”
cayden and ryder’s dynamic had me ON THE FLOOOOOOR!!!! ryders jabs at cayden made me laugh and cayden returning them tenfold made me laugh even more. i absolutely loved how we got to see more of them, especially their brotherhood.
“Ryder and Saskia are the closest things I have to a family. Before them, I had absolutely nothing in this world and nobody to care if I died. Ryder loved life enough to remind me I was human, and Saskia was always there to rein us back in when we were too reckless.”
━━━━━━━━━ ✦❘༻༺❘✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
𓈀 ⚔️ 𓄹𓂃 the battles and world
i absolutely loved exploring the world of ravaryn further, meeting all these new characters, and finding out more of the lore on the gods and magic!! my favorite of all this would definitely be the new characters!! i’m sensing romance brewing between certain someone’s and i’m so exited for more!!
“You shouldn’t have gone for the face. My wife likes me pretty.”
as soon as i began part 3 my heart was pounding out of my chest THE STAKES WERE SO HIGH!!!! we got to see these characters on the battlefield and it was badass fr!!! they know they’re skill and they aren’t afraid to show it!!! as much as i was hehe-ing i was also screaming and not in a good way because WOW were so many of those moments scary!!! i genuinely could not see through my tears after finding out what ‘sirantia’ meant.
“I am Elowen Veles, and I’m coming for my throne with blades and dragonfire.”
━━━━━━━━━ ✦❘༻༺❘✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
𓈀 🌙 𓄹𓂃 elayden
“Make your choice, sirantia, because all I have ever chosen is you.”
“I’ll sacrifice myself at your altar a thousand times over to be the man you deserve, knowing I’ll always fall short because a man good enough for you doesn’t exist.”
“I’m—”
“The most beautiful woman to exist? Never apologize to me.”
CAYDEN IS SOOOOO IN LOVE WITH ELOWEN UGHHHHH #needthat fr this man was making is KNOWN it has only ever and will only ever be her i ate it up!!
the quotes will do the talking for me:
“He’s always been able to do that. To see me when no one else can. Cayden is bound to me in the same way the moon and stars are bound to the night: we remain together no matter how much darkness surrounds us.”
“I fought. Because I knew you existed. I kept telling myself to survive until I found you. The princess with a bond to five dragons that was wronged by the same man that ruined my life. I thought of you on my worst nights, and you kept me alive.”
“When I look at her, it’s like I know what it is to see my heart beating outside of my body.“
“Elowen is the ivy that consumes me. Her vines are strong and latch on to me, as they have for years, but now she’s not only wrapped around my mind but also embedded into the soul I didn’t know I had until I met her.”
“My love.
My wife.
My Elowen.”
“Souls don’t meet by chance, and once I encountered his, it was like I found something I didn’t know was missing. A wrong had been righted. Being with him feels like light spills into the dark cracks in my heart as if the stars themselves were meant to live in my body.”
“Every part of me belongs to you, even the broken shards, and I never want them back.”
i have over 500 highlights in this book and can only fit so many in this review…
elayden’s love is truly beautiful. they have an all consuming type of love that will always bring tears to my eyes. my words will never be able to describe just how deep their love is; cayden and elowen have my entire heart.
elowen has the softest heart and loves so deeply. she’s someone who time and time again has been hurt and therefore believes she’s not enough; then there’s cayden, the cold man who loves her like it’s breathing and is only soft for her. cayden would do anything for elowen but so would she. it’s like their love transcends worlds. every vulnerable and intimate interaction between them felt like a love confession every. single. time.
“The only time I let myself feel anything is when I’m with you. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that I’m incapable of love because you’re living proof that something beats within my chest, and it beats for you.”
“I love you. Even when our souls are forgotten wisps in the wind and the world ceases to exist, I’ll love you. Amito evidani.”
“Amito evidani, mia sirantia.”
“She’s the most precious thing in the world to me.”
“There’s not a single place in the world that’s ever felt more at home for me than his arms. I’ve been lost for so long, but when he looks at me, it’s like I’ve finally been found.”
“It’s always been easy for me to spot her. My gaze is often drawn to her in any room she enters and even seeks her out when she’s not there. It doesn’t matter how many people separate us. I was blessed with the ability to see only to catch sight of her, it’s wasted on anything else.”
“I love the very bones of you. You know that, right?”
“I do.”
“The world could be caving in right now, and I’d still stay right here with you, Elowen Veles. If this is my last night in this world, I need you to know that meeting you has been the most wonderful part of my life.”
━━━━━━━━━ ✦❘༻༺❘✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
𓈀 ⚔️ 𓄹𓂃 ending thoughts
“For you, my love, I’ll break the world.”
okay i was going to keep writing my thoughts on this amazing book but i just reread the ending and one quote just broke me so therefore im crying again so that’s it from me enjoy the quotes and i’ll probably let the tears flow for a bit while i reread one more time because i fear im still not over it and i will never be over it and OH MY GOD IM SPIRALING
i know i mentioned this at the beginning, but this series took a turn i wasn’t expecting it to take and going through my highlights of this book i caught SO much foreshadowing wrath’s ending was staring at my face THE ENTIRE TIME!!! my hand is reaching for my throat automatically i swear. im fucking GAGGED. oh it hurts and it hurts so good and i will be spiraling until i have book 3 in my hands. i am SO EXCITED!!!!
“In every lifetime, Elowen Veles, and in every world.”
“To war, my love.”
thank you to netgally, random house publishing / dell romance and olivia rose darling for the advanced readers copy!! <3
⚔️ dual pov
🌙 political intelligence
⚔️ marriage of inconvenience (but also convenient)
🌙 epic battles
⚔️ oversea journeys
🌙 celestial symbolism
⚔️ YEARNING
“The queen who brought dragons back into the world, and the king who conquered a kingdom to have her.”
if you know me, you know fear the flames is one of my favorite books of all time. that book and that story has been on my mind everyday and has been kept close to my heart since i first opened the first page. wrath of the dragons has been my most anticipated read and it did not disappoint one bit. it outdid. i loved being back in this world, it felt like coming home. seeing these characters on the pages again brought me so much happiness!!
the first half of this book was so much fun!! i loved the little gentle moments and my face actuallly hurt from smiling so wide!! once part 3 started, my heart was RACING tears were STREAMING and i was clutching at my chest once i got to the end. i’m still speechless. this book took a turn i was not expecting when i first read book one and i have SO many theories!!! i am beyond excited for the next book and i NEED it in my hands this second because i fear i will never recover from the ending of wrath. it’s been keeping me up at night and UGHHHH it was just so fucking good and so painful!!!! olivia truly outdid with this book and i can’t wait to see where the story goes!!!
━━━━━━━━━ ✦❘༻༺❘✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
𓈀 🌙 𓄹𓂃 intro
“If you wish to discuss one of my kills, specify which. Corpses get added to my list by the day.”
when i first opened up the book and saw cayden’s pov as the first chapter, i screamed, giggled, turned my kindle off, and mentally prepared myself for a day before starting to read (my literal reaction i’m not kidding) being inside his head showed a whole new different perspective on cayden! this man is LETHALLL and he really showed us why he’s called the demon of ravaryn and is the most feared man in the realm!! chapter 3? clawing through the mf walls AND THE ART OF HIM IN THE RINGGGGG ugh fine asf anyways
“She’s the poison I’d willingly lift to my lips without an antidote in sight, and force myself to survive, knowing death would offer me no relief if it cleaves me from her.”
“I look for her in everything, everywhere. I see her eyes in the mundane details of my day that make me crave the moment I’ll be with her again.”
CAYDEN THE NUMBER ONE YEARNER!!!! this man LOVES his woman and would do anything for her!!!
“This world took and took until I had nothing left to give, and darkness filled the shell of who I was.”
𓍢⊹ ࣪
“Besides, I’ve never had a bad day that couldn’t be improved by a sweet treat.”
i love how the first time we see our dear elowen again, she’s surrounded with pastries and getting cakes for her dragons, it’s so her!!!
“Sometimes I pretend to be something I’m not for so long I think I’ll be able to become that version of myself, but no matter how much I’ve tried, I can’t simply force myself to be fine. I don’t want to hurt, but I do, and I hate that I do.”
my girl is HURTING :( elowen has the kindest soul ever and cares for everyone around her but excludes herself. she’s been through so much and yet keeps pushing forward; her development has been amazing and she’s so strong!!!
“I wonder what it would feel like to be enough exactly as you are. Sometimes it feels like I could fight until I’m an inch away from death and still fall short even then.”
“I know I can’t help everyone, but if more people realized how far one act of kindness can go, we’d live in a much better world.”
━━━━━━━━━ ✦❘༻༺❘✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
𓈀 ⚔️ 𓄹𓂃 the groveling, banter, & bickering
“Be angry at me all you wish, but you’ll never be rid of me.”
“Has anyone ever told you it’s rude to stare?”
“Has anyone ever told you that I’m rude?”
“Nobody had to. I caught on rather early.”
“Flattery and flowers will get you nowhere.”
“I’m right where I want to be.”
“Vos essa un nunti tasuri.” You are a stupid man.
“Vet vos essa tesis mas ulessi ardama en Ravaryn.” And you are the most beautiful woman in Ravaryn.
i love how that addictive banter from book one didn’t disappear; it was DELICIOUS and i ate up every moment with these two! their bickering and back and fourths had me laughing so much and grinning so wide my cheeks would hurt!! cayden and elowen are my favorites everrrr and im so happy we got so many moments of them!!
“Trying to cut him out of me would be like trying to rip my soul in half.”
“When we were at the inn did I not say I’d never let you go? For months, have I not said I’ll do anything for you and to have you? What did you think that would entail for people in our position? Nothing in this world will ever be more valuable than you in my eyes. I did what I had to do to keep you safe, and I will not apologize for something that I don’t regret.”
both elowen and cayden’s feelings/actions in this situation are SO VALID!!! elowen’s entire life has been filled with lies and betrayal; trust is a huge thing for her and her being upset is OKAY! meanwhile cayden made a move that was needed in that moment!! he did what he had to do and never meant any ill intent towards el!! i loved watching them go through this and i feel like this made them even stronger!! their relationship is amazing yet unreal!! i love them so much.
“You know me, El. Come back to me.”
“Do I?”
“More than anyone.”
━━━━━━━━━ ✦❘༻༺❘✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
𓈀 🌙 𓄹𓂃 found family
“Life is made up of a series of moments and can change in a minute. I’ve never known what tomorrow or even the next hour will bring—death, tragedy, or something else entirely. But on my worst days, sometimes it’s the people I’m with that make it better.”
every single scene where the group was together genuinely had me laughing my ass off. their bickering is hilarious and i loved every single moment!! not only are they funny asf, they hold so much love for each other and would honestly die for each other; I LOVE THEIR LITTLE FOUND FAMILY SOOO MUCH!!!!
“I didn’t survive exile because of the anger that lived within me, I survived because of you.”
“Aestilian was where I grew up, but Finnian was my home.”
the found family in this book is truly one of my FAVORITES especially elowen and finnian. they may not share blood but their bond goes far beyond that!! el will always take care of finnian and he will always stand right next to her i love them sm!!!
“Have you spent enough time gazing longingly at each other?”
“I’ll find a mirror so you don’t feel left out,”
cayden and ryder’s dynamic had me ON THE FLOOOOOOR!!!! ryders jabs at cayden made me laugh and cayden returning them tenfold made me laugh even more. i absolutely loved how we got to see more of them, especially their brotherhood.
“Ryder and Saskia are the closest things I have to a family. Before them, I had absolutely nothing in this world and nobody to care if I died. Ryder loved life enough to remind me I was human, and Saskia was always there to rein us back in when we were too reckless.”
━━━━━━━━━ ✦❘༻༺❘✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
𓈀 ⚔️ 𓄹𓂃 the battles and world
i absolutely loved exploring the world of ravaryn further, meeting all these new characters, and finding out more of the lore on the gods and magic!! my favorite of all this would definitely be the new characters!! i’m sensing romance brewing between certain someone’s and i’m so exited for more!!
“You shouldn’t have gone for the face. My wife likes me pretty.”
as soon as i began part 3 my heart was pounding out of my chest THE STAKES WERE SO HIGH!!!! we got to see these characters on the battlefield and it was badass fr!!! they know they’re skill and they aren’t afraid to show it!!! as much as i was hehe-ing i was also screaming and not in a good way because WOW were so many of those moments scary!!! i genuinely could not see through my tears after finding out what ‘sirantia’ meant.
“I am Elowen Veles, and I’m coming for my throne with blades and dragonfire.”
━━━━━━━━━ ✦❘༻༺❘✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
𓈀 🌙 𓄹𓂃 elayden
“Make your choice, sirantia, because all I have ever chosen is you.”
“I’ll sacrifice myself at your altar a thousand times over to be the man you deserve, knowing I’ll always fall short because a man good enough for you doesn’t exist.”
“I’m—”
“The most beautiful woman to exist? Never apologize to me.”
CAYDEN IS SOOOOO IN LOVE WITH ELOWEN UGHHHHH #needthat fr this man was making is KNOWN it has only ever and will only ever be her i ate it up!!
the quotes will do the talking for me:
“He’s always been able to do that. To see me when no one else can. Cayden is bound to me in the same way the moon and stars are bound to the night: we remain together no matter how much darkness surrounds us.”
“I fought. Because I knew you existed. I kept telling myself to survive until I found you. The princess with a bond to five dragons that was wronged by the same man that ruined my life. I thought of you on my worst nights, and you kept me alive.”
“When I look at her, it’s like I know what it is to see my heart beating outside of my body.“
“Elowen is the ivy that consumes me. Her vines are strong and latch on to me, as they have for years, but now she’s not only wrapped around my mind but also embedded into the soul I didn’t know I had until I met her.”
“My love.
My wife.
My Elowen.”
“Souls don’t meet by chance, and once I encountered his, it was like I found something I didn’t know was missing. A wrong had been righted. Being with him feels like light spills into the dark cracks in my heart as if the stars themselves were meant to live in my body.”
“Every part of me belongs to you, even the broken shards, and I never want them back.”
i have over 500 highlights in this book and can only fit so many in this review…
elayden’s love is truly beautiful. they have an all consuming type of love that will always bring tears to my eyes. my words will never be able to describe just how deep their love is; cayden and elowen have my entire heart.
elowen has the softest heart and loves so deeply. she’s someone who time and time again has been hurt and therefore believes she’s not enough; then there’s cayden, the cold man who loves her like it’s breathing and is only soft for her. cayden would do anything for elowen but so would she. it’s like their love transcends worlds. every vulnerable and intimate interaction between them felt like a love confession every. single. time.
“The only time I let myself feel anything is when I’m with you. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that I’m incapable of love because you’re living proof that something beats within my chest, and it beats for you.”
“I love you. Even when our souls are forgotten wisps in the wind and the world ceases to exist, I’ll love you. Amito evidani.”
“Amito evidani, mia sirantia.”
“She’s the most precious thing in the world to me.”
“There’s not a single place in the world that’s ever felt more at home for me than his arms. I’ve been lost for so long, but when he looks at me, it’s like I’ve finally been found.”
“It’s always been easy for me to spot her. My gaze is often drawn to her in any room she enters and even seeks her out when she’s not there. It doesn’t matter how many people separate us. I was blessed with the ability to see only to catch sight of her, it’s wasted on anything else.”
“I love the very bones of you. You know that, right?”
“I do.”
“The world could be caving in right now, and I’d still stay right here with you, Elowen Veles. If this is my last night in this world, I need you to know that meeting you has been the most wonderful part of my life.”
━━━━━━━━━ ✦❘༻༺❘✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
𓈀 ⚔️ 𓄹𓂃 ending thoughts
“For you, my love, I’ll break the world.”
okay i was going to keep writing my thoughts on this amazing book but i just reread the ending and one quote just broke me so therefore im crying again so that’s it from me enjoy the quotes and i’ll probably let the tears flow for a bit while i reread one more time because i fear im still not over it and i will never be over it and OH MY GOD IM SPIRALING
i know i mentioned this at the beginning, but this series took a turn i wasn’t expecting it to take and going through my highlights of this book i caught SO much foreshadowing wrath’s ending was staring at my face THE ENTIRE TIME!!! my hand is reaching for my throat automatically i swear. im fucking GAGGED. oh it hurts and it hurts so good and i will be spiraling until i have book 3 in my hands. i am SO EXCITED!!!!
“In every lifetime, Elowen Veles, and in every world.”
August 16, 2025
writing this review through tears. a million/10 recommend. the ending is TORTURE BTW.
July 29, 2025
��𝑾𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚. 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆.”
I never knew a book could make me crave deep friendships with dragons and also want a man that would burn the world for you.. literally two in one combo 🔥🐉 This is the second book in the series, so I’ll keep it light and spoiler-free but just know: I’m feral for this series.
Unhinged review: IT HAS DRAGONS 🐉 AND A MAN WHO WORSHIPS HIS LADY SO HARD 😩 that after years of searching and finally having her, he stops at nothing for their revenge plans. That, my friends, is dedication. Commitment. Devotion. We love to see a woman get her revenge and a man back her up in a "let me slice open your enemies for ya" type of way.
Anywayyyy Cayden and Elowen give us everything in this book: the yearning, the tension, the love, the flirtatious banter we fell in love with in book one. I missed him so much!!!! (yes, I’m a bit obsessed with him, sue me 😅)
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”
One of my favorite parts as a fan of the first book? The character development Elowen goes through, especially in her bond with her dragons 🐉 The friendship?? The loyalty?? The POWER?? Don’t even get me started on Sorin AGHHHH I’m unwell.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴.
And yes, the romance and spice are delicious, but what really got me was how both Cayden and Elowen start breaking down the walls they built in book one. We begin to truly understand their traumas, specially my poor boy Cayden 😭💔 Not only that but their love and how it blossoms over time, we love it to see it duh.
𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘴. 𝘐’𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
The world expands beautifully in this book, and we even get a war. For me it was such an easy way to learn the kingdoms and their important characters, that as I reader I did appreciate the occasional repetition.
The way the book ended had me gasping, crying, and fully spiraling. So OBVIOUSLY I need book three immediately. BABYYYYYYY I’M SO READY 💥📖🔥
I do want to say that the ending even though my emotions were all over the place, the knowledge we get thrown at the last minute confused me a bit and def made it more complex of what it needed to be, hopefully we get a better explanation in book 3. Another reason for my rating is that 544 pages is a lot so some of the yarning or slowburn was good but then other times it was too much for me :(
I still enjoyed and I hope you do too!
tropes
⚔️ arranged marriage
⚔️ dual pov
⚔️ dragons + god lore
⚔️ touch her and you die
Thank you DellRomance for my earc
⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.
well the last 30 minutes of this book made me cry and get confused at the same time
➳ 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ I just received the eARC for this and i'm here looking at dell romance like "you sure?" ANYWAY NO TAKE BACK AHHHH!!!
Commander Cayden is my ruin and I can't wait to go back to this world AGH.
I never knew a book could make me crave deep friendships with dragons and also want a man that would burn the world for you.. literally two in one combo 🔥🐉 This is the second book in the series, so I’ll keep it light and spoiler-free but just know: I’m feral for this series.
Unhinged review: IT HAS DRAGONS 🐉 AND A MAN WHO WORSHIPS HIS LADY SO HARD 😩 that after years of searching and finally having her, he stops at nothing for their revenge plans. That, my friends, is dedication. Commitment. Devotion. We love to see a woman get her revenge and a man back her up in a "let me slice open your enemies for ya" type of way.
Anywayyyy Cayden and Elowen give us everything in this book: the yearning, the tension, the love, the flirtatious banter we fell in love with in book one. I missed him so much!!!! (yes, I’m a bit obsessed with him, sue me 😅)
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”
One of my favorite parts as a fan of the first book? The character development Elowen goes through, especially in her bond with her dragons 🐉 The friendship?? The loyalty?? The POWER?? Don’t even get me started on Sorin AGHHHH I’m unwell.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴.
And yes, the romance and spice are delicious, but what really got me was how both Cayden and Elowen start breaking down the walls they built in book one. We begin to truly understand their traumas, specially my poor boy Cayden 😭💔 Not only that but their love and how it blossoms over time, we love it to see it duh.
𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘴. 𝘐’𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
The world expands beautifully in this book, and we even get a war. For me it was such an easy way to learn the kingdoms and their important characters, that as I reader I did appreciate the occasional repetition.
The way the book ended had me gasping, crying, and fully spiraling. So OBVIOUSLY I need book three immediately. BABYYYYYYY I’M SO READY 💥📖🔥
I do want to say that the ending even though my emotions were all over the place, the knowledge we get thrown at the last minute confused me a bit and def made it more complex of what it needed to be, hopefully we get a better explanation in book 3. Another reason for my rating is that 544 pages is a lot so some of the yarning or slowburn was good but then other times it was too much for me :(
I still enjoyed and I hope you do too!
tropes
⚔️ arranged marriage
⚔️ dual pov
⚔️ dragons + god lore
⚔️ touch her and you die
Thank you DellRomance for my earc
⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.
well the last 30 minutes of this book made me cry and get confused at the same time
➳ 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ I just received the eARC for this and i'm here looking at dell romance like "you sure?" ANYWAY NO TAKE BACK AHHHH!!!
Commander Cayden is my ruin and I can't wait to go back to this world AGH.
July 23, 2025
❤️🔥 “When I look at her, it’s like I know what it is to see my heart beating outside of my body.” ❤️🔥
listen, when i say that this book had me in a CHOKEHOLD!! more importantly, CAYDEN VELES HAD ME IN A CHOKEHOLD!! know that i mean this with every fiber of my being. the characters are so good, the romance is undefeated because of Cayden alone. Elowen is a force to be reckoned with, driven by revenge against her father and everything he has taken from her. she made sure he felt her wrath and her dragons were burning down everyone and everything in her path. the battle scenes were so good, dying for book 3 already.
❤️🔥 “She’s the poison I’d willingly lift to my lips without an antidote in sight, and force myself to survive, knowing death would offer me no relief if it cleaves me from her.” ❤️🔥
Cayden is the standard, the blueprint, the definition of yearning, groveling, if he wanted to he would and everything else. the lengths this man went to for Elowen is exactly the type I’m obsessed with in books and the ending literally sent me spiraling into another dimension. technically, there were issues with the pacing and i wish Elowen had more of a speaking-type bond with her dragons but those were my only minor complaints and for THAT ENDING ALONE?! FIVE STARS!! i love the side characters and the friendships too, especially Finnian and his bond with Elowen. Elowen might be able to handle her own but I love that she doesn’t shy away from the parts that make her feel soft and cared for by the people she loves. my mind is just Cayden Veles, demon of Ravaryn 24/7 .. clearly.
❤️🔥 “All my life I warded myself against vulnerability, but I’d strip off every piece of armor and hand her a blade.” ❤️🔥
➵ many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Random House—Ballantine for the arc, all opinions are my own.
listen, when i say that this book had me in a CHOKEHOLD!! more importantly, CAYDEN VELES HAD ME IN A CHOKEHOLD!! know that i mean this with every fiber of my being. the characters are so good, the romance is undefeated because of Cayden alone. Elowen is a force to be reckoned with, driven by revenge against her father and everything he has taken from her. she made sure he felt her wrath and her dragons were burning down everyone and everything in her path. the battle scenes were so good, dying for book 3 already.
❤️🔥 “She’s the poison I’d willingly lift to my lips without an antidote in sight, and force myself to survive, knowing death would offer me no relief if it cleaves me from her.” ❤️🔥
Cayden is the standard, the blueprint, the definition of yearning, groveling, if he wanted to he would and everything else. the lengths this man went to for Elowen is exactly the type I’m obsessed with in books and the ending literally sent me spiraling into another dimension. technically, there were issues with the pacing and i wish Elowen had more of a speaking-type bond with her dragons but those were my only minor complaints and for THAT ENDING ALONE?! FIVE STARS!! i love the side characters and the friendships too, especially Finnian and his bond with Elowen. Elowen might be able to handle her own but I love that she doesn’t shy away from the parts that make her feel soft and cared for by the people she loves. my mind is just Cayden Veles, demon of Ravaryn 24/7 .. clearly.
❤️🔥 “All my life I warded myself against vulnerability, but I’d strip off every piece of armor and hand her a blade.” ❤️🔥
➵ many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Random House—Ballantine for the arc, all opinions are my own.
dnf
August 24, 2025Okay guys… I have to be honest, every time you say the words “reading slump,” I’m like “what are you on about?” I swear to God, I love reading so much. I want to read every single day, and I do. If a book sucks, I just blame the book and move on… but THIS BOOK was trying so hard to make me hate reading. I literally didn’t want to read anything and watched tv instead for like two days (this is unheard of for me 🤪). I don’t know why I try so hard to force myself to read some of these books, but I literally CANNOT continue this one. Why are you guys rating this so high?! The characters are insufferable. Seriously, how many times is she gonna say the words “My dragons”?!! She has literally zero personality without them and they feel about as interesting as a pack of dogs. And the MMC… I’m legit kind of scared of him. He is obsessed with her for reasons I simply can’t comprehend. I kept asking myself if I would be into his behavior if he were ugly and the answer is 1000% NO. He is basically forcing her to like him. He has made it abundantly clear that he will just wait her out but by then can she even be sure she actually likes him? It feels more like emotional manipulation to me. I need the fated mates trope to make this kind of plot work and so far there’s no sign of it. (Unless I forgot? Please tell me I did 😂) They did sleep together in book one, but it felt more like a weak moment than actual interest. Crazy to go back to this level or slow burn in book two! Anyway… calling it quits at 38%. I should have let this one go a lot sooner! Two DNF’s in one month. Who even am I? 😆
Pre-read:
20% in and thinking about DNFing.
This is so boring so far…
Pre-read:
20% in and thinking about DNFing.
This is so boring so far…
May 15, 2025
This took me on an emotional ride! This is the second book in the Fear The Flames series. This is a full on romantic fantasy book that I devoured! It comes with lovable characters, especially Cayden. This is a medium paced read that has a diverse cast of characters. I honestly had no idea what was going to come next in the book. It is steamy, thrilling and adventurous. I was fully immersed while reading this book. It took me into a completely different world.
It comes with action, drama and a whole lot of banter! It also includes spice, dragons, war, magic and power. It has love and political turmoil. It is well written, has a clear thesis, a well executed plot and great world building! I loved the dual point of views in this book. It had twists and turns that I did not see coming! It has a morally grey male main character, an epic storyline and battles! I really hope that there will be a third book in this series! Overall, I rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars!
I think people that like the books “Game of Thrones” and the “Forth Wing” would enjoy this one. However, I do find this book to be unique in its own way. Content warnings include death, gore, child abuse, misogyny, animal cruelty, sexual content, torture and confinement.
Thank you to NetGalley, author Olivia Rose Darling and Ballantine | Delacorte Press for this digital advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
This book is expected to be published on July 29, 2025!
It comes with action, drama and a whole lot of banter! It also includes spice, dragons, war, magic and power. It has love and political turmoil. It is well written, has a clear thesis, a well executed plot and great world building! I loved the dual point of views in this book. It had twists and turns that I did not see coming! It has a morally grey male main character, an epic storyline and battles! I really hope that there will be a third book in this series! Overall, I rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars!
I think people that like the books “Game of Thrones” and the “Forth Wing” would enjoy this one. However, I do find this book to be unique in its own way. Content warnings include death, gore, child abuse, misogyny, animal cruelty, sexual content, torture and confinement.
Thank you to NetGalley, author Olivia Rose Darling and Ballantine | Delacorte Press for this digital advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
This book is expected to be published on July 29, 2025!
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September 9, 2025
........ 😐
what did i just read? what was that ending? what was anything in this book? am i the only one who was disappointed? did anyone else feel this way? i actually cannot comprehend anything. like don't get me wrong, i did enjoy certain parts of this book, especially the cute romantic bits and the battles. however, everything else? it felt so much like a filler book and the plot did a whole 180. i did not expect any part of that ending which stil makes zero sense to me. now i'm wondering if it's even worth continuing the series. i loved book one so much but now i just feel robbed of everything.
pre-read: pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. JUST PLS BE GOOD.
what did i just read? what was that ending? what was anything in this book? am i the only one who was disappointed? did anyone else feel this way? i actually cannot comprehend anything. like don't get me wrong, i did enjoy certain parts of this book, especially the cute romantic bits and the battles. however, everything else? it felt so much like a filler book and the plot did a whole 180. i did not expect any part of that ending which stil makes zero sense to me. now i'm wondering if it's even worth continuing the series. i loved book one so much but now i just feel robbed of everything.
pre-read: pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. pls be good. JUST PLS BE GOOD.
December 19, 2025
5☆ 💜 🐉 🍰 ⚔️ 📚 👑 🪴
“𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙”
𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝒹𝓇𝒶ℊℴ𝓃𝓈
𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 ℯ𝓁ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓃
𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝒸𝒶𝓎𝒹ℯ𝓃
· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
this book hit so hard 💘 i just love the overall story and vibe
𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘮𝘤, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝟻 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 🤝🏻 𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝗠𝗘 𝗨𝗣
the world expansion in this? beautiful
the plot? so fucking good
oh! and it’s dual pov in this one hehehe
also the found family is so good ILY💓
～♡～*～♥～*～♡～*～♥～*～♡～*～♥～
꧁ᬊᬁ 𝒸𝒶𝓎𝒹ℯ𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℯ𝓁ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓃 ᬊ᭄꧂
i love them your honor!! the YEARNING in this oh my!!! the way 𝒸𝒶𝓎𝒹ℯ𝓃 takes care of ℯ𝓁ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓃 🥹💕 (the house, the book?!! MY HEART) a new fav couple!!
➵ “𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜. 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍”
➵ “𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸’𝚖 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍, 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜.“
➵ “𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝙲𝚊𝚢𝚍𝚎𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.”
～♡～*～♥～*～♡～*～♥～*～♡～*～♥～
this is actually becoming a personal fav of mine to the point i might go change my rating on book 1 to a 5☆ listen, i know ✋🏻 it does lack a bit of world building BUT you don’t get it!!! (i prob won’t but yk) but really what an improvement from book 1 in world building LFG!!
that ending… *𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑* what do you mean?? WHAT DO YOU MEANNN?? *𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙*
so yeah i have a feeling book 3 is going to destroy me? heal me? idk but i will impatiently be waiting
✨ “𝓘 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭 𝓼𝓮𝓮𝓴 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓮 𝓶𝓮, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓭𝓼 𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓶𝓮 𝓪 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓷” 📚
· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
“𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙”
𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝒹𝓇𝒶ℊℴ𝓃𝓈
𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 ℯ𝓁ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓃
𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝒸𝒶𝓎𝒹ℯ𝓃
· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
this book hit so hard 💘 i just love the overall story and vibe
𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘮𝘤, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝟻 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 🤝🏻 𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝗠𝗘 𝗨𝗣
the world expansion in this? beautiful
the plot? so fucking good
oh! and it’s dual pov in this one hehehe
also the found family is so good ILY💓
～♡～*～♥～*～♡～*～♥～*～♡～*～♥～
꧁ᬊᬁ 𝒸𝒶𝓎𝒹ℯ𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℯ𝓁ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓃 ᬊ᭄꧂
i love them your honor!! the YEARNING in this oh my!!! the way 𝒸𝒶𝓎𝒹ℯ𝓃 takes care of ℯ𝓁ℴ𝓌ℯ𝓃 🥹💕 (the house, the book?!! MY HEART) a new fav couple!!
➵ “𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜. 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍”
➵ “𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸’𝚖 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍, 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜.“
➵ “𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝙲𝚊𝚢𝚍𝚎𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.”
～♡～*～♥～*～♡～*～♥～*～♡～*～♥～
this is actually becoming a personal fav of mine to the point i might go change my rating on book 1 to a 5☆ listen, i know ✋🏻 it does lack a bit of world building BUT you don’t get it!!! (i prob won’t but yk) but really what an improvement from book 1 in world building LFG!!
that ending… *𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑* what do you mean?? WHAT DO YOU MEANNN?? *𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙*
so yeah i have a feeling book 3 is going to destroy me? heal me? idk but i will impatiently be waiting
✨ “𝓘 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭 𝓼𝓮𝓮𝓴 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓮 𝓶𝓮, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓭𝓼 𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓶𝓮 𝓪 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓷” 📚
· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
September 14, 2025
how dare olivia rose darling do this to us. i cried twice & my jaw will remain in the underworld until book 3 comes out.
August 5, 2025
1.5⭐️
1🌶️ (but make it cringe)
I didn’t like the first book. But people said the traditionally published version of Fear the Flames was a big step up from the indie one, so I figured Wrath of the Dragons would at least show some improvement. Instead, it crashes, burns, and then keeps smoldering for 500 pages.
This book is over 500 pages, yet somehow, the entire first half is just… nothing. No major plot progression. No war. No politics. Just baking, shopping, and aimless, meandering conversations. Characters spend a shocking amount of time doing absolutely nothing of importance while supposedly preparing for a kingdom-defining conflict.
This book takes way too much time telling us when it’s a certain character’s birthday—side characters, main characters, everyone’s birthday is noted like it’s supposed to mean something, but it just drags the pacing to a crawl
Elowen is constantly in the kitchen despite being the queen of two kingdoms. And how did she learn to bake, you ask? By watching others do it. No training, no trial-and-error, just instant pâtissière status. I wish I were kidding. Sorry, but no—pastry-making is not osmosis.
Meanwhile, a war is brewing, but you wouldn’t know it from the way our protagonists avoid doing literally anything productive. Elowen is either moping, reading, or baking. Cayden spends his chapters simultaneously infantilizing her and worshiping the ground she walks on, and I still have no clue why he holds her in such high regard.
The romantic tension from book one—centered around their arranged marriage and lack of trust—continues to drag on and on. By the time they finally say “I love you” (at 60%, after the wedding), it’s framed like some massive revelation. But by that point, I was just rolling my eyes. Of course they love each other—but also, why?
Cayden’s backstory? Classic “brooding bastard with daddy issues” template, sleepily executed. Elowen, on the other hand, is suddenly revealed to have experienced a ton of trauma from her uncle, but all of the specific abuse is newly inserted and comes out of nowhere. It felt like a last-minute attempt to add depth by telling us about past suffering we were never shown.
And then there’s the plot—or lack thereof. The political stakes are muddy. Aestilian is briefly mentioned, something major happens to it, and then… silence. No follow-up. No exploration. Just dropped. The rest of the worldbuilding is equally shallow. We’re suddenly on “godly land,” which is never clearly explained. There’s also a half-baked magic system that throws in new powers for the protagonists with zero rules or development. Elowen can now see through dragons, manipulate fire when it’s convenient, and even soul-heal sometimes? Okay.
Cayden, of course, gets shadow magic after Elowen’s dramatic “death” scene (spoiler: she’ll be back later… shock), and within minutes he’s a pro at it. Because of course he is. Every beat of this book is predictable. Every plot twist is expected. There’s no real tension, no real cost, no real emotional payoff.
And the dragons? For a book titled Wrath of the Dragons, you’d expect them to be central, right? Think again. Elowen has five dragons—and yet somehow, she is the only person who rides them. Not her trusted crew. Not her inner circle. Not her co-ruler or generals. Just her. In a story where war is looming and people are literally dying, the strategic choice is... one girl solo-piloting an entire squad of dragons like she’s hoarding Uber accounts.
It makes no sense. You’d think if your kingdom was under threat, maybe—just maybe—let someone else hop on a fire-breathing monster and help out? But no, everyone just stands back and watches while Elowen “commands” them all like some Dragon Queen cosplay.
Elowen keeps insisting to others that she doesn’t actually command the dragons—they just listen to her willingly. But what we see in the book tells a completely different story. There are constant mentions of her commanding them to do this or that, and not once do we see a dragon disobey her. It’s a strange contradiction that feels like the author wasn’t sure how to portray their bond clearly. So despite Elowen’s protests, she definitely commands them—and the dragons always obey without question.
Speaking of which—yes, the Game of Thrones parallels are painfully obvious. The author introduces a random fantasy language just for commanding dragons, clearly trying to create a “Dracarys” moment... except the dragons already understand her perfectly well in plain Common. She never actually uses the language meaningfully. It’s just there for aesthetics, a flair of Daenerys wannabe energy that completely misses the point. Unlike Daenerys, who had dragons with agency, personalities, and tactical value, these ones are just winged set pieces. They fetch snacks, they fly her places, they mope around with nightmares. That’s it.
And we still don’t know why she has five or what makes her special enough to bond with them—none of it is explained. They're not really characters. They’re glorified accessories.
The writing style made this worse. It’s overwritten and tries far too hard to be poetic. Everything is told, not shown. There are endless inner monologues, repetitive phrases, and way too many scenes that explain things as if we didn’t just see them happen. It’s like the author wanted to write high fantasy with lyrical prose, but forgot to edit for flow, clarity, or pacing. The info-dumping is relentless, and so much of the dialogue is straight up filler.
There’s a character described as having naturally white hair, but Elowen notices gray hairs mixed in with the white—something that makes absolutely no sense. When someone has white hair, it’s impossible to tell which hairs are gray and which are white because gray hair isn’t literally “gray” in color; it’s more of a blend or transition caused by pigment loss. The author seems to think gray hair means distinctly gray strands you can pick out, even on someone with white hair, which is just plain inaccurate and shows a lack of understanding of basic hair color. It’s a small detail, but it really highlights how careless and uninformed some of the writing is.
Even the audiobook couldn’t salvage this experience—and in some ways, it actually made it worse. The narration setup is one of the most awkward and inconsistent I’ve ever encountered. It’s billed as dual POV, but it tries to be duet-style—just not in any way that makes sense.
When we're in Elowen’s POV, her narrator handles the narration as expected, but she also reads the lines for every single character, except Cayden. The male narrator will suddenly pop in only for Cayden’s dialogue—within the same scene, same chapter, and sometimes even the same paragraph. So, say there’s a scene with Elowen, Cayden, and another male character. The female narrator will do the voices for Elowen and the other male character... and then Cayden will randomly be voiced by the male narrator.
It’s incredibly disorienting. There's no consistency, no logic to the choices, and instead of feeling immersive, it just constantly pulls you out of the story. It’s like the audiobook is trying to be cinematic but forgot to coordinate the cast.
To be fair, the narrators themselves weren’t the problem. The female narrator, in particular, tried to bring some emotion to Elowen’s POV, but the material gave her nothing to work with. Elowen is written as the most insufferably self-important character imaginable. She has zero humility, zero growth, and zero compelling traits—yet the prose frames her like some tragic, powerful queen figure we should be in awe of. That disconnect between tone and content makes her internal monologue painful to sit through.
The male narrator fared a little better in Cayden’s chapters, mostly because Cayden, for all his cliché, actually has some clear emotions and character beats to work with. But even he’s weighed down by the overwrought writing and all the dramatic “my wife” energy packed into every scene.
This book is bloated, repetitive, and packed with every fantasy cliché imaginable. Instead of growing the world or deepening its characters, it throws in random powers, shallow political intrigue, and tired romance drama. There are far better books out there doing what this tries to do—books with emotional weight, grounded relationships, actual worldbuilding, and yes, dragons that matter.
The book’s only little, tiny saving grace is Cayden. As much of a cardboard-cutout fantasy boyfriend as he is—complete with every cliché imaginable: reading glasses, swirling tattoos, pierced ear, brooding inner monologues, “my wife” obsession, and now of course, shadow powers—he still carried the book for me. Yes, he’s a literal walking stereotype, but at least he made me feel something, even if it was just eye-roll affection. I’ll take that over Elowen’s emotionally flat royal pout-fest any day. The author clearly threw every trope into the blender with him, and while the result wasn’t original, it was at least entertaining in that guilty-pleasure sort of way. Cayden is the one thing that kept me from DNF-ing. He’s overdone, dramatic, and frustratingly overprotective—but compared to the chaotic, info-dumpy mess around him, he felt like some kind of anchor.
Despite a few decent Cayden moments (he’s hot, okay), Wrath of the Dragons is a mess. It's Fourth Wing meets Throne of Glass meets Game of Thrones—but only the fanfic versions, stripped of substance and weighed down by filler.
I wanted to give it a chance. I really tried. But I was bored through 90% of it, and by the time things finally happened, I just didn’t care anymore.
1🌶️ (but make it cringe)
I didn’t like the first book. But people said the traditionally published version of Fear the Flames was a big step up from the indie one, so I figured Wrath of the Dragons would at least show some improvement. Instead, it crashes, burns, and then keeps smoldering for 500 pages.
This book is over 500 pages, yet somehow, the entire first half is just… nothing. No major plot progression. No war. No politics. Just baking, shopping, and aimless, meandering conversations. Characters spend a shocking amount of time doing absolutely nothing of importance while supposedly preparing for a kingdom-defining conflict.
This book takes way too much time telling us when it’s a certain character’s birthday—side characters, main characters, everyone’s birthday is noted like it’s supposed to mean something, but it just drags the pacing to a crawl
Elowen is constantly in the kitchen despite being the queen of two kingdoms. And how did she learn to bake, you ask? By watching others do it. No training, no trial-and-error, just instant pâtissière status. I wish I were kidding. Sorry, but no—pastry-making is not osmosis.
Meanwhile, a war is brewing, but you wouldn’t know it from the way our protagonists avoid doing literally anything productive. Elowen is either moping, reading, or baking. Cayden spends his chapters simultaneously infantilizing her and worshiping the ground she walks on, and I still have no clue why he holds her in such high regard.
The romantic tension from book one—centered around their arranged marriage and lack of trust—continues to drag on and on. By the time they finally say “I love you” (at 60%, after the wedding), it’s framed like some massive revelation. But by that point, I was just rolling my eyes. Of course they love each other—but also, why?
Cayden’s backstory? Classic “brooding bastard with daddy issues” template, sleepily executed. Elowen, on the other hand, is suddenly revealed to have experienced a ton of trauma from her uncle, but all of the specific abuse is newly inserted and comes out of nowhere. It felt like a last-minute attempt to add depth by telling us about past suffering we were never shown.
And then there’s the plot—or lack thereof. The political stakes are muddy. Aestilian is briefly mentioned, something major happens to it, and then… silence. No follow-up. No exploration. Just dropped. The rest of the worldbuilding is equally shallow. We’re suddenly on “godly land,” which is never clearly explained. There’s also a half-baked magic system that throws in new powers for the protagonists with zero rules or development. Elowen can now see through dragons, manipulate fire when it’s convenient, and even soul-heal sometimes? Okay.
Cayden, of course, gets shadow magic after Elowen’s dramatic “death” scene (spoiler: she’ll be back later… shock), and within minutes he’s a pro at it. Because of course he is. Every beat of this book is predictable. Every plot twist is expected. There’s no real tension, no real cost, no real emotional payoff.
And the dragons? For a book titled Wrath of the Dragons, you’d expect them to be central, right? Think again. Elowen has five dragons—and yet somehow, she is the only person who rides them. Not her trusted crew. Not her inner circle. Not her co-ruler or generals. Just her. In a story where war is looming and people are literally dying, the strategic choice is... one girl solo-piloting an entire squad of dragons like she’s hoarding Uber accounts.
It makes no sense. You’d think if your kingdom was under threat, maybe—just maybe—let someone else hop on a fire-breathing monster and help out? But no, everyone just stands back and watches while Elowen “commands” them all like some Dragon Queen cosplay.
Elowen keeps insisting to others that she doesn’t actually command the dragons—they just listen to her willingly. But what we see in the book tells a completely different story. There are constant mentions of her commanding them to do this or that, and not once do we see a dragon disobey her. It’s a strange contradiction that feels like the author wasn’t sure how to portray their bond clearly. So despite Elowen’s protests, she definitely commands them—and the dragons always obey without question.
Speaking of which—yes, the Game of Thrones parallels are painfully obvious. The author introduces a random fantasy language just for commanding dragons, clearly trying to create a “Dracarys” moment... except the dragons already understand her perfectly well in plain Common. She never actually uses the language meaningfully. It’s just there for aesthetics, a flair of Daenerys wannabe energy that completely misses the point. Unlike Daenerys, who had dragons with agency, personalities, and tactical value, these ones are just winged set pieces. They fetch snacks, they fly her places, they mope around with nightmares. That’s it.
And we still don’t know why she has five or what makes her special enough to bond with them—none of it is explained. They're not really characters. They’re glorified accessories.
The writing style made this worse. It’s overwritten and tries far too hard to be poetic. Everything is told, not shown. There are endless inner monologues, repetitive phrases, and way too many scenes that explain things as if we didn’t just see them happen. It’s like the author wanted to write high fantasy with lyrical prose, but forgot to edit for flow, clarity, or pacing. The info-dumping is relentless, and so much of the dialogue is straight up filler.
There’s a character described as having naturally white hair, but Elowen notices gray hairs mixed in with the white—something that makes absolutely no sense. When someone has white hair, it’s impossible to tell which hairs are gray and which are white because gray hair isn’t literally “gray” in color; it’s more of a blend or transition caused by pigment loss. The author seems to think gray hair means distinctly gray strands you can pick out, even on someone with white hair, which is just plain inaccurate and shows a lack of understanding of basic hair color. It’s a small detail, but it really highlights how careless and uninformed some of the writing is.
Even the audiobook couldn’t salvage this experience—and in some ways, it actually made it worse. The narration setup is one of the most awkward and inconsistent I’ve ever encountered. It’s billed as dual POV, but it tries to be duet-style—just not in any way that makes sense.
When we're in Elowen’s POV, her narrator handles the narration as expected, but she also reads the lines for every single character, except Cayden. The male narrator will suddenly pop in only for Cayden’s dialogue—within the same scene, same chapter, and sometimes even the same paragraph. So, say there’s a scene with Elowen, Cayden, and another male character. The female narrator will do the voices for Elowen and the other male character... and then Cayden will randomly be voiced by the male narrator.
It’s incredibly disorienting. There's no consistency, no logic to the choices, and instead of feeling immersive, it just constantly pulls you out of the story. It’s like the audiobook is trying to be cinematic but forgot to coordinate the cast.
To be fair, the narrators themselves weren’t the problem. The female narrator, in particular, tried to bring some emotion to Elowen’s POV, but the material gave her nothing to work with. Elowen is written as the most insufferably self-important character imaginable. She has zero humility, zero growth, and zero compelling traits—yet the prose frames her like some tragic, powerful queen figure we should be in awe of. That disconnect between tone and content makes her internal monologue painful to sit through.
The male narrator fared a little better in Cayden’s chapters, mostly because Cayden, for all his cliché, actually has some clear emotions and character beats to work with. But even he’s weighed down by the overwrought writing and all the dramatic “my wife” energy packed into every scene.
This book is bloated, repetitive, and packed with every fantasy cliché imaginable. Instead of growing the world or deepening its characters, it throws in random powers, shallow political intrigue, and tired romance drama. There are far better books out there doing what this tries to do—books with emotional weight, grounded relationships, actual worldbuilding, and yes, dragons that matter.
The book’s only little, tiny saving grace is Cayden. As much of a cardboard-cutout fantasy boyfriend as he is—complete with every cliché imaginable: reading glasses, swirling tattoos, pierced ear, brooding inner monologues, “my wife” obsession, and now of course, shadow powers—he still carried the book for me. Yes, he’s a literal walking stereotype, but at least he made me feel something, even if it was just eye-roll affection. I’ll take that over Elowen’s emotionally flat royal pout-fest any day. The author clearly threw every trope into the blender with him, and while the result wasn’t original, it was at least entertaining in that guilty-pleasure sort of way. Cayden is the one thing that kept me from DNF-ing. He’s overdone, dramatic, and frustratingly overprotective—but compared to the chaotic, info-dumpy mess around him, he felt like some kind of anchor.
Despite a few decent Cayden moments (he’s hot, okay), Wrath of the Dragons is a mess. It's Fourth Wing meets Throne of Glass meets Game of Thrones—but only the fanfic versions, stripped of substance and weighed down by filler.
I wanted to give it a chance. I really tried. But I was bored through 90% of it, and by the time things finally happened, I just didn’t care anymore.
April 22, 2025
Firstly, thank you Netgalley for the ARC! I am beyond honored.
The ending of this book is SO shocking? That is not the turn I expected to take, omg.
Cayden carried this book on his mf BACK! Loved him!
What I struggled with, was the pacing of this book. The beginning was strong, but once you hit the 60% mark, the story lulls a bit. It’s a lot of info dump vibes, and then the story picks back up at 90% and it’s all action from there.
I also, sometimes struggled with the politics and magic system. They felt a bit messy.
The dialogue would get a bit confusing and I didn’t know who was saying what, which could also be jarring.
However, I love the love story in this, and the found family. Which is what saved this book for me, and after that ending I do plan to read book 3, because WTF!!?
3.75-4 stars ⭐️
The ending of this book is SO shocking? That is not the turn I expected to take, omg.
Cayden carried this book on his mf BACK! Loved him!
What I struggled with, was the pacing of this book. The beginning was strong, but once you hit the 60% mark, the story lulls a bit. It’s a lot of info dump vibes, and then the story picks back up at 90% and it’s all action from there.
I also, sometimes struggled with the politics and magic system. They felt a bit messy.
The dialogue would get a bit confusing and I didn’t know who was saying what, which could also be jarring.
However, I love the love story in this, and the found family. Which is what saved this book for me, and after that ending I do plan to read book 3, because WTF!!?
3.75-4 stars ⭐️
August 6, 2025
❌ DNF at 50%
*NOTE: This DNF is for the writing quality, not the actual plot or story line so if you aren't a stickler for writing quality, this review isn't for you ◡̈
You know what really bothers me so much...
There were TWO senior-level editors and THREE proofreaders assigned to the release of this book....and yet....AND YET...what do we get??
- Clunky writing quality. Sentences were structured like IKEA furniture instructions...technically functional if you squint and reread three times, but not exactly smooth or enjoyable to assemble.
- Stiff & awkward dialogue (not ALL of the time, but enough to notice) It read like characters were practicing for a middle school play: unnatural pauses, weird phrasing, and zero rhythm.
- Oddly placed “wisdom drops”. Let’s talk about these. At random intervals, characters would suddenly spout off vague, fortune-cookie philosophy in the middle of their inner monologues. It didn’t match the tone, didn’t serve the plot, and worst of all, every single character did it. They all sounded like they shared one brain cell and a Pinterest board full of inspirational quotes. It was giving “copy-paste, pseudo-deep” energy.
In short: the prose tripped over itself, the dialogue had no pulse (just angry and angsty the whole time), and the voice of the story was as scattered as those misplaced motivational nuggets.
I can't tell you how much this pisses me off. What are these people getting paid to do? Nothing. That's what.
Does the storyline still have legs? Yes. Are there still fun and interesting moments? Yes. However, with the conflicts constantly feeling recycled, the voices having the same bland tone, it was hard to stay immersed...
I expected some of these pitfalls after rereading book 1, but NOT at this level of frustrating.
This was a super difficult DNF for me. I think Olivia Rose Darling is the cutest little thing, and I am rooting for her to succeed. I will probably, HOPEFULLY, have the patience to pick this back up when the series is complete (we're on book 2, and I think there's FOUR in the series. Sigh...)
___________________________________________
Preread
1. We get dual PoV in book 2, can’t wait for that!
2. I’m expecting WAY more on-page dragon time
3. Honestly Elowen being butt hurt by Cayden’s ”betrayal” at the end of book 1…was way over dramatized.
4. I feel like someone, who’s not a bad guy, is gonna die
📚
*NOTE: This DNF is for the writing quality, not the actual plot or story line so if you aren't a stickler for writing quality, this review isn't for you ◡̈
You know what really bothers me so much...
There were TWO senior-level editors and THREE proofreaders assigned to the release of this book....and yet....AND YET...what do we get??
- Clunky writing quality. Sentences were structured like IKEA furniture instructions...technically functional if you squint and reread three times, but not exactly smooth or enjoyable to assemble.
- Stiff & awkward dialogue (not ALL of the time, but enough to notice) It read like characters were practicing for a middle school play: unnatural pauses, weird phrasing, and zero rhythm.
- Oddly placed “wisdom drops”. Let’s talk about these. At random intervals, characters would suddenly spout off vague, fortune-cookie philosophy in the middle of their inner monologues. It didn’t match the tone, didn’t serve the plot, and worst of all, every single character did it. They all sounded like they shared one brain cell and a Pinterest board full of inspirational quotes. It was giving “copy-paste, pseudo-deep” energy.
In short: the prose tripped over itself, the dialogue had no pulse (just angry and angsty the whole time), and the voice of the story was as scattered as those misplaced motivational nuggets.
I can't tell you how much this pisses me off. What are these people getting paid to do? Nothing. That's what.
Does the storyline still have legs? Yes. Are there still fun and interesting moments? Yes. However, with the conflicts constantly feeling recycled, the voices having the same bland tone, it was hard to stay immersed...
I expected some of these pitfalls after rereading book 1, but NOT at this level of frustrating.
This was a super difficult DNF for me. I think Olivia Rose Darling is the cutest little thing, and I am rooting for her to succeed. I will probably, HOPEFULLY, have the patience to pick this back up when the series is complete (we're on book 2, and I think there's FOUR in the series. Sigh...)
___________________________________________
Preread
1. We get dual PoV in book 2, can’t wait for that!
2. I’m expecting WAY more on-page dragon time
3. Honestly Elowen being butt hurt by Cayden’s ”betrayal” at the end of book 1…was way over dramatized.
4. I feel like someone, who’s not a bad guy, is gonna die
📚
October 2, 2025
this book reminded me a lot of reckless by lauren roberts (derogatory)
i thought fear the flames, the first book, was a fun and silly romantasy, so i wasn't expecting any high fantasy book or anything like that but just a good time. however...it was so cringey and just...not good
the romance took up most of the book. i could not tell you the plot (if there even is one). there's supposedly a war going on and elowen and cayden are in charge of two kingdoms and yet all they do is flirt. don't get me wrong, i LOVE tension, banter, etc. but it felt so forced. 90% of cayden's pov was him being so down bad for her (for reasons i still don't know), but it felt so unnatural, forcing in phrases that readers love, ("i will go to the ends of the earth for you", "she's my salvation" etc etc, (these aren't exact quotes but you get the picture)), but when these phrases are every sentence, it's ridiculous. anyway, that's cayden's only personality trait. on top of these repetitive flirtations, there would just randomly be an inspirational quote ?? everything about the writing felt forced, like it was trying too hard.
i feel like this could've been a solid duology. the audiobook was 18+ hrs and yet it's all fluff. the two main characters are leading two kingdoms, "a war is brewing" and yet they do NOT give a gaf!!!!!!! they spend their time baking, wandering around and going at it every other chapter like 😭 😭 maybe do your job so your people don't die??
it's also called "wrath of the dragons" and there's like no dragons besides the fact that elowen has 5 (cuz she's so unique and different 🤩) . it really felt like powerless x fourth wing fanfic
i thought fear the flames, the first book, was a fun and silly romantasy, so i wasn't expecting any high fantasy book or anything like that but just a good time. however...it was so cringey and just...not good
the romance took up most of the book. i could not tell you the plot (if there even is one). there's supposedly a war going on and elowen and cayden are in charge of two kingdoms and yet all they do is flirt. don't get me wrong, i LOVE tension, banter, etc. but it felt so forced. 90% of cayden's pov was him being so down bad for her (for reasons i still don't know), but it felt so unnatural, forcing in phrases that readers love, ("i will go to the ends of the earth for you", "she's my salvation" etc etc, (these aren't exact quotes but you get the picture)), but when these phrases are every sentence, it's ridiculous. anyway, that's cayden's only personality trait. on top of these repetitive flirtations, there would just randomly be an inspirational quote ?? everything about the writing felt forced, like it was trying too hard.
i feel like this could've been a solid duology. the audiobook was 18+ hrs and yet it's all fluff. the two main characters are leading two kingdoms, "a war is brewing" and yet they do NOT give a gaf!!!!!!! they spend their time baking, wandering around and going at it every other chapter like 😭 😭 maybe do your job so your people don't die??
it's also called "wrath of the dragons" and there's like no dragons besides the fact that elowen has 5 (cuz she's so unique and different 🤩) . it really felt like powerless x fourth wing fanfic
July 12, 2025
The first half of the book was boring but the second half picked up and kept me interested till the end.
The fmc was annoying but I learned to ignore it. She’s so bland like idk I didn’t feel a single thing towards her this entire book.
Cayden carried this book. His poor back 💔
Omg his povs were EVERYTHING. The way he doted on her 😫 also we finally do discover the reason behind his obsession with finding her, it was kinda anticlimactic but I appreciated there not being any sort of betrayal in his heart. Otherwise it would’ve been hella cliche.
This book was again very centred on the romance. The fantasy element took a backseat but the elements that were written were somewhat interesting.
That ending was diabolical tho and I loveeeeeeed it omfds like this was the perfect way to bring this book back to life. Now a part of me is excited to see where she’s gna take the story.
ೃ⁀➷ Thank you NetGalley and Zaffre for the ARC! ♥︎
The fmc was annoying but I learned to ignore it. She’s so bland like idk I didn’t feel a single thing towards her this entire book.
Cayden carried this book. His poor back 💔
Omg his povs were EVERYTHING. The way he doted on her 😫 also we finally do discover the reason behind his obsession with finding her, it was kinda anticlimactic but I appreciated there not being any sort of betrayal in his heart. Otherwise it would’ve been hella cliche.
This book was again very centred on the romance. The fantasy element took a backseat but the elements that were written were somewhat interesting.
That ending was diabolical tho and I loveeeeeeed it omfds like this was the perfect way to bring this book back to life. Now a part of me is excited to see where she’s gna take the story.
ೃ⁀➷ Thank you NetGalley and Zaffre for the ARC! ♥︎
August 2, 2025
THAT ENDING WAS CRIMINAL BUT ALSO SO GOOD.
it makes me so excited for the next book!!!! 💫
it makes me so excited for the next book!!!! 💫
October 4, 2025
GOOSEBUMPS!!!!!!!!!
November 29, 2025
« Sometimes I feel like I’m drowning but I don’t know where the water is coming from, and I don’t know how to make it stop. »
The wins
🔹 Excellent set of characters. Elowen, Cayden, Finnian, Ryder and Saskia are amazing.
🔹 The romance was well done. He loves her so much it hurts. The longing was well done too.
🔹 Found family.
🔹 more dragon time.
What I disliked
🔻 bear with me on this one but in my review for book one, I mentioned that there were way too many inspirational quotes and it felt forced. I couldn’t remember what I meant by that but then this book reminded me lol. It’s actually kind of insane, at some point it gets cringe. Not every chapter should have one, it’s definitely something that bothered me.
🔻 the worldbuilding in book one was almost absent and it’s still something that continues in this one. It was slightly more present but not quite there yet.
🔻 Sorin was the only dragon with a personality. The others were all interchangeable.
🔻 the plot draggedddddddd so much. Nothing happened, really ☹️
🔻 the slowest pace ever, it was so underwhelming and I was bored.
🔻 the sex scenes… 🥴
🔻 over explanations about things that didn’t need to be & under clarifications for things that needed to be clarified.
🔻 needed editing
🔻 I really didn’t like the ending
« If they don’t know anything different, they’ll find comfort in what they know rather than fighting for something they could have. »
—-•pre read
Reading this for Krysta 👀
The wins
🔹 Excellent set of characters. Elowen, Cayden, Finnian, Ryder and Saskia are amazing.
🔹 The romance was well done. He loves her so much it hurts. The longing was well done too.
🔹 Found family.
🔹 more dragon time.
What I disliked
🔻 bear with me on this one but in my review for book one, I mentioned that there were way too many inspirational quotes and it felt forced. I couldn’t remember what I meant by that but then this book reminded me lol. It’s actually kind of insane, at some point it gets cringe. Not every chapter should have one, it’s definitely something that bothered me.
🔻 the worldbuilding in book one was almost absent and it’s still something that continues in this one. It was slightly more present but not quite there yet.
🔻 Sorin was the only dragon with a personality. The others were all interchangeable.
🔻 the plot draggedddddddd so much. Nothing happened, really ☹️
🔻 the slowest pace ever, it was so underwhelming and I was bored.
🔻 the sex scenes… 🥴
🔻 over explanations about things that didn’t need to be & under clarifications for things that needed to be clarified.
🔻 needed editing
🔻 I really didn’t like the ending
« If they don’t know anything different, they’ll find comfort in what they know rather than fighting for something they could have. »
—-•pre read
Reading this for Krysta 👀
April 21, 2025
⚔️ 𝐖𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐬 ⚔️
♾️⭐️ | 3🌶️
-marriage of convenience (but not)
-celestial symbolism
-DUAL POV 😮💨
-overseas journey
-epic battles
-“my wife”
-lots of breadcrumbs
-morally grey/black MMC
I have never had a book affect me as deeply as this one did.
Olivia Darling creates the epic and dream-worthy world that any romantasy girlie who grew up watching LOTR fantasized about, for those of us who want to wear ethereal gowns but also stab some people and slay armies on our dragons, and make a man skilled with a sword yearn.
Both our characters introspection and development are so emotionally impactful and inspiring. Elowen, is a top tier FMC, who overcomes so much, but at no point in the story did she ever feel unrelatable. I would follow her into battle without a doubt.
“𝙈𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨.”
And Cayden… I could write a separate post for him. He’s so damaged but devoted to Elowen, he’s the ruthless Demon Commander, but he’s good to her. He’s possessive but never holds her back. He would destroy anyone who stands between them. And he’s officially been bumped up to Slade/Kingfisher level book boyfriend. I said what I said.
“𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙𝙨.”
And side characters are becoming so involved that I’m dying for their POVs because I’m so deeply invested in what happens to them too.
Furthermore, the fantasy elements in this are the best of the best and I’m so excited for all of it. There are breadcrumbs galore sprinkled throughout the book but you still won’t be prepared for what’s to come. The mystery and lore will have you highlighting and theorizing like crazy.
To sum it up, this book was EASILY my top read of the year and I’ll never be the same.
Get your preorders in now! Wrath of the Dragons releases July 29th, 2025. Thank you Liv, Random House and NetGalley for the advanced copy!
♾️⭐️ | 3🌶️
-marriage of convenience (but not)
-celestial symbolism
-DUAL POV 😮💨
-overseas journey
-epic battles
-“my wife”
-lots of breadcrumbs
-morally grey/black MMC
I have never had a book affect me as deeply as this one did.
Olivia Darling creates the epic and dream-worthy world that any romantasy girlie who grew up watching LOTR fantasized about, for those of us who want to wear ethereal gowns but also stab some people and slay armies on our dragons, and make a man skilled with a sword yearn.
Both our characters introspection and development are so emotionally impactful and inspiring. Elowen, is a top tier FMC, who overcomes so much, but at no point in the story did she ever feel unrelatable. I would follow her into battle without a doubt.
“𝙈𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨.”
And Cayden… I could write a separate post for him. He’s so damaged but devoted to Elowen, he’s the ruthless Demon Commander, but he’s good to her. He’s possessive but never holds her back. He would destroy anyone who stands between them. And he’s officially been bumped up to Slade/Kingfisher level book boyfriend. I said what I said.
“𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙𝙨.”
And side characters are becoming so involved that I’m dying for their POVs because I’m so deeply invested in what happens to them too.
Furthermore, the fantasy elements in this are the best of the best and I’m so excited for all of it. There are breadcrumbs galore sprinkled throughout the book but you still won’t be prepared for what’s to come. The mystery and lore will have you highlighting and theorizing like crazy.
To sum it up, this book was EASILY my top read of the year and I’ll never be the same.
Get your preorders in now! Wrath of the Dragons releases July 29th, 2025. Thank you Liv, Random House and NetGalley for the advanced copy!
May 2, 2025
One of my most anticipated reads of the year and it pains me to say it falls somewhere in the 3-4star range.
I enjoyed it don’t get me wrong but it felt like it was trying way too hard to make our FMC khaleesi from Game of Thrones. The first 200-250 pages were honestly a bit of a struggle to get through. The last half was better however it had so many more elements of GoT, Fourth Wing and even a Pirates of the Caribbean scene (almost movement for movement) that just left a bitter taste.
I was expecting a bit more originality like what we had in Fear the Flames.
I enjoyed it don’t get me wrong but it felt like it was trying way too hard to make our FMC khaleesi from Game of Thrones. The first 200-250 pages were honestly a bit of a struggle to get through. The last half was better however it had so many more elements of GoT, Fourth Wing and even a Pirates of the Caribbean scene (almost movement for movement) that just left a bitter taste.
I was expecting a bit more originality like what we had in Fear the Flames.
June 10, 2025
“𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩, 𝙞’𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”
wrath of the dragons picks up on the heels of fear the flames. cayden and elowen are gearing up for war as they are simultaneously trying to navigate their new life, and boundaries of their new betrothal. her dragons are free and elowen is re-forging her bonds with them, discovering things hidden deep within her in the process.
i really appreciated how the time was taken to explore cayden and elowens relationship, especially in the aftermath of the events in book one. elowen made that man work for her forgiveness and trust and it took a good chunk of the book to do so, as it should have. and the dual povs??? i mean, we know that man had endless love and devotion for elowen (to the point of murdering hundreds, if not thousands of people for her to get her kingdom back), but his perspective really drove it home and had me on my knees for him.
“𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞’𝙢 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙞 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞’𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙨.”
if there is one thing that olivia rose darling knows how to do, it’s write an epic ending. and just like the ending of book one, the ending of wrath of the dragons is absolutely shocking. i’m not sure where i expected the story to go, but i am so excited for what the next book is going to bring. 👀
in the times that we’re living in, all books are political. darlings commentary on women, the fear of strong women and the right to education was incredibly relevant and struck me deep in my bones.
𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩:
⚔️ found family
⚔️ groveling
⚔️ “my wife”
⚔️ dual povs
⚔️ morally grey/black mmc
𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨:
“𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙞’𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙙𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙚𝙧.”
“𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠. 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨.”
“𝙞’𝙢 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣. 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮.”
“𝙞 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙣𝙤 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣. 𝙞 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝.”
“𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙪𝙥 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨, 𝙗𝙖𝙣, 𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢. 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙜����𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨. 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙮𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩. 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚.“
thank you olivia rose darling, delacorte press and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. 🫶🏻
wrath of the dragons picks up on the heels of fear the flames. cayden and elowen are gearing up for war as they are simultaneously trying to navigate their new life, and boundaries of their new betrothal. her dragons are free and elowen is re-forging her bonds with them, discovering things hidden deep within her in the process.
i really appreciated how the time was taken to explore cayden and elowens relationship, especially in the aftermath of the events in book one. elowen made that man work for her forgiveness and trust and it took a good chunk of the book to do so, as it should have. and the dual povs??? i mean, we know that man had endless love and devotion for elowen (to the point of murdering hundreds, if not thousands of people for her to get her kingdom back), but his perspective really drove it home and had me on my knees for him.
“𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞’𝙢 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙞 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞’𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙨.”
if there is one thing that olivia rose darling knows how to do, it’s write an epic ending. and just like the ending of book one, the ending of wrath of the dragons is absolutely shocking. i’m not sure where i expected the story to go, but i am so excited for what the next book is going to bring. 👀
in the times that we’re living in, all books are political. darlings commentary on women, the fear of strong women and the right to education was incredibly relevant and struck me deep in my bones.
𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩:
⚔️ found family
⚔️ groveling
⚔️ “my wife”
⚔️ dual povs
⚔️ morally grey/black mmc
𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨:
“𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙞’𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙙𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙚𝙧.”
“𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠. 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨.”
“𝙞’𝙢 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣. 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮.”
“𝙞 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙣𝙤 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣. 𝙞 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝.”
“𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙪𝙥 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨, 𝙗𝙖𝙣, 𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢. 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙜����𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨. 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙮𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩. 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚.“
thank you olivia rose darling, delacorte press and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. 🫶🏻
May 31, 2025
Oh what another grand ol’ time in the Fear the Flames series! Feels like a good 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to me & I had a ton of fun revisiting our characters. Thank you to NetGalley & the author for providing me with an ARC! Plot, pros, & cons below 👇🏼
PLOT
Now that Elowen has her dragons back & has agreed to Cayden’s surprise marriage plan, her trust in him has plummeted & she feels used once again. However she feels about him, they must work together for their common goal of overthrowing her father. This includes finding allies, getting married, building an army, & figuring out how the other person in said marriage actually feels. This book has:
- dragonnnnns LOTS OF ‘EM, mages, sleeping gods
- tension & longing
- a smart FMC with a broken heart
- a KINGGGGG of an MMC simping for his girl’s forgiveness
- good found family once again
- med & excellent spice
PROS
- Cayden has cemented himself as an all-time favorite book boyfriend. I just love that man. His POVs are written so well & his characterization I really like. A lot of times MMCs can kind of lose any personality or personhood to being a new in-love-&-nothing-else version of them now that they’re with their girl. But Cayden was still very Cayden. His POVs, for me, carried this book. I just love him. I love him being a sneak. I love him being ruthless. I love him being a total softy. I love his slutty little reading glasses. Team Cayden forever.
- I do remain loving Elowen as well. She’s smart & snarky & a bit reckless but in a fun way vs. an annoying way, if that makes sense. She was giving Dany Targaryen in a few very amazing ways.
- Cayden & Elowen had such fun banter. I just love them so much. The way they tease each other can feel so real. Their ongoing dynamic & relationship evolution is just such a highlight of this series.
- Exploring the dragon bond & getting way more dragon time was awesome.
- The found family reaaaaally shined this book. I liked them quite a lot.
- The ending was FUNNNNNN & action-packed! I’m extremely interested in the next book considering how this ended because we are going for A RIDE.
- The world is definitely expanding which is fun. I liked the introduction of some new characters into the fold as they try to find allies.
CONS
- My main complaint is the same as book 1 which has to do with the world building. It was light in book 1, which wasn’t a huge deal because our world was very singularly focused on the heist & we hadn’t really dealt much with much magic or gods yet. But with book 2 expanding so much in both of those areas, I found it a bit messy. The mages & gods & people having magic just kind of felt there all the sudden but played a huge role. Felt a little underdeveloped.
- I found myself having to go back & be sure I understand what was being said & by whom more often than I remember in the first book. Like it just wasn’t clear initially. A fair amount of “wait who is saying this?” & “wait what is happening?” happened for me & while that definitely doesn’t ruin a read for me it does make it a little more challenging.
I’ll absolutely keep reading this series & am very excited for book 3 whenever that comes out! 🙌🏼
⚠️ SPOILERS ⚠️
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
No really
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- So Cayden has… what magic now exactly? Death? Which includes shadows & water? I knew he’d have something (there were many hints in these books) but yeah I’m not 100% sure on what it is but that’s okay I know he probably doesn’t quite know yet either.
- Elowen’s dad’s death almost felt anti-climactic with everything else that was actively happening. Like shit was just hitting the fan but he also died & then his mage became enemy number one.
- The post-“I love you” spice scene being in Cayden’s POV was a chef’s kiss & I’d personally like to thank Olivia for that. You divine angel thank you. 😆
- We know Cayden will figure some way to bring Elowen back but I’m super interested in what them going to the underworld entails! I want them to become an unkillable zombie duo 😆. But also now that daddy is dead, what’s the plot of the 3rd book!? Navigating the underworld & going on the Goddess of Souls’ mission? I’m very intrigued.
- Where did the dragons go when they were all on the ships lol am I just an idiot who missed that? I kept being like “do they each have their own ship? Where do they go?”
PLOT
Now that Elowen has her dragons back & has agreed to Cayden’s surprise marriage plan, her trust in him has plummeted & she feels used once again. However she feels about him, they must work together for their common goal of overthrowing her father. This includes finding allies, getting married, building an army, & figuring out how the other person in said marriage actually feels. This book has:
- dragonnnnns LOTS OF ‘EM, mages, sleeping gods
- tension & longing
- a smart FMC with a broken heart
- a KINGGGGG of an MMC simping for his girl’s forgiveness
- good found family once again
- med & excellent spice
PROS
- Cayden has cemented himself as an all-time favorite book boyfriend. I just love that man. His POVs are written so well & his characterization I really like. A lot of times MMCs can kind of lose any personality or personhood to being a new in-love-&-nothing-else version of them now that they’re with their girl. But Cayden was still very Cayden. His POVs, for me, carried this book. I just love him. I love him being a sneak. I love him being ruthless. I love him being a total softy. I love his slutty little reading glasses. Team Cayden forever.
- I do remain loving Elowen as well. She’s smart & snarky & a bit reckless but in a fun way vs. an annoying way, if that makes sense. She was giving Dany Targaryen in a few very amazing ways.
- Cayden & Elowen had such fun banter. I just love them so much. The way they tease each other can feel so real. Their ongoing dynamic & relationship evolution is just such a highlight of this series.
- Exploring the dragon bond & getting way more dragon time was awesome.
- The found family reaaaaally shined this book. I liked them quite a lot.
- The ending was FUNNNNNN & action-packed! I’m extremely interested in the next book considering how this ended because we are going for A RIDE.
- The world is definitely expanding which is fun. I liked the introduction of some new characters into the fold as they try to find allies.
CONS
- My main complaint is the same as book 1 which has to do with the world building. It was light in book 1, which wasn’t a huge deal because our world was very singularly focused on the heist & we hadn’t really dealt much with much magic or gods yet. But with book 2 expanding so much in both of those areas, I found it a bit messy. The mages & gods & people having magic just kind of felt there all the sudden but played a huge role. Felt a little underdeveloped.
- I found myself having to go back & be sure I understand what was being said & by whom more often than I remember in the first book. Like it just wasn’t clear initially. A fair amount of “wait who is saying this?” & “wait what is happening?” happened for me & while that definitely doesn’t ruin a read for me it does make it a little more challenging.
I’ll absolutely keep reading this series & am very excited for book 3 whenever that comes out! 🙌🏼
⚠️ SPOILERS ⚠️
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
No really
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- So Cayden has… what magic now exactly? Death? Which includes shadows & water? I knew he’d have something (there were many hints in these books) but yeah I’m not 100% sure on what it is but that’s okay I know he probably doesn’t quite know yet either.
- Elowen’s dad’s death almost felt anti-climactic with everything else that was actively happening. Like shit was just hitting the fan but he also died & then his mage became enemy number one.
- The post-“I love you” spice scene being in Cayden’s POV was a chef’s kiss & I’d personally like to thank Olivia for that. You divine angel thank you. 😆
- We know Cayden will figure some way to bring Elowen back but I’m super interested in what them going to the underworld entails! I want them to become an unkillable zombie duo 😆. But also now that daddy is dead, what’s the plot of the 3rd book!? Navigating the underworld & going on the Goddess of Souls’ mission? I’m very intrigued.
- Where did the dragons go when they were all on the ships lol am I just an idiot who missed that? I kept being like “do they each have their own ship? Where do they go?”
July 31, 2025
Please know this absolutely PAINS me to say, but this was the most frustrating book to read. I was absolutely bored through 88% of it. i know that's very specific, but 85 felt too little and 90 to much.
This is a mid book and it shows. What really ruined this was the constant explaining of things, it almost felt like a footnote in the middle of the story that i never cared to read.
The romance. sigh. The big conflict in the romance in this one is that...they love each other? i hate to be that person, but i don't want to see my couples together for this long all happy and shit. maybe happy is a strong word, but TOGETHER. it just felt like there was no conflict to iron out. just a lot of talking and ribbing each other.
The battles are cool but they were very few and far between. Just lots of talking, preparing, and more definitions to explain.
AND THE DRAGONS. we wanted more dragons, we certainly got them. but they are treated more like scenery rather than characters. they are just there, for treats and fun rides and stuff.
the ending was of course the best part and i cannot wait to read the next one. but i am gonna say i'm very hesitant. Maybe the problem is I had too high of expectations for this one. Everything just felt like one long filler book to get to what's to come and it made me SAD.
the writing is good. the characters are still good. but this is 100% and execution thing for me that did not pan out as expected. i'm still reading books from this author, and i will read the next.
shoot, editing to add that i DID get this as an arc from Netgalley. but all my sad thoughts throughout the 3 weeks i slogged through this are unfortunately my own.
This is a mid book and it shows. What really ruined this was the constant explaining of things, it almost felt like a footnote in the middle of the story that i never cared to read.
The romance. sigh. The big conflict in the romance in this one is that...they love each other? i hate to be that person, but i don't want to see my couples together for this long all happy and shit. maybe happy is a strong word, but TOGETHER. it just felt like there was no conflict to iron out. just a lot of talking and ribbing each other.
The battles are cool but they were very few and far between. Just lots of talking, preparing, and more definitions to explain.
AND THE DRAGONS. we wanted more dragons, we certainly got them. but they are treated more like scenery rather than characters. they are just there, for treats and fun rides and stuff.
the ending was of course the best part and i cannot wait to read the next one. but i am gonna say i'm very hesitant. Maybe the problem is I had too high of expectations for this one. Everything just felt like one long filler book to get to what's to come and it made me SAD.
the writing is good. the characters are still good. but this is 100% and execution thing for me that did not pan out as expected. i'm still reading books from this author, and i will read the next.
shoot, editing to add that i DID get this as an arc from Netgalley. but all my sad thoughts throughout the 3 weeks i slogged through this are unfortunately my own.
December 8, 2025
Dragons , possessive MMC and just a bit of wars between nations. What more could you need ? Oh yah some magic !! This book two was easy to fall back into the world again and become immersed. The plot and action was steady with some really great movement throughout. I definitely adored the banter between Cayden and Eloden. His protectiveness and burn the world down energy for her was intense. Looking forward to continuing the saga.
September 18, 2025
Summary:
Two fated lovers, a throne drenched in blood, and dragons that can tip the scales of war. In Wrath of the Dragons, Elowen Atarah must embrace both her light and darkness as the rightful heir while Cayden Veles, the fierce Demon Commander turned king, burns with vengeance and devotion. As kingdoms clash, loyalties fracture, and diplomacy turns deadly, their love is tested against power, betrayal, and destiny. This sequel soars higher, sharper, and more heartbreaking than the first, delivering an intoxicating mix of fire-breathing battles and slow-burn passion.
Tropes & Vibes:
🔥 Touch her and die
🐉 Dragon rider
👑 Enemies to reluctant allies to lovers
💍 Political marriage of convenience
❤️🔥 Possessive MMC who is soft for his FMC
⚔️ Epic battles, shifting loyalties, cutthroat diplomacy
🖤 Fierce, powerful heroine embracing her destiny
😭 Angst, heartbreak, found family, healing
⸻
Review:
Holy smokes, what a book 😮💨 That ending left me in absolute tears and I could barely pull myself together. This story is everything: love, strength, found family, and breathtaking growth.
Cayden has officially stolen the crown as my TOP MMC of all time. He is the pure definition of touch her and die. His boldness, his unwavering devotion, his bravery, and the way he softens only for Elowen—it was all utterly beautiful. 🫶🏽😭
And Elowen? She is the embodiment of duality, delicate yet fierce, soft yet relentless, light and dark braided together. Her arc in this book was masterfully written and I adore her beyond words. Watching her step fully into her power gave me chills. She is seriously so relatable.
I honestly have nothing else to say except read this immediately. The first book was amazing, but this one is an infinity-star read. ♾️⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the arc!
Two fated lovers, a throne drenched in blood, and dragons that can tip the scales of war. In Wrath of the Dragons, Elowen Atarah must embrace both her light and darkness as the rightful heir while Cayden Veles, the fierce Demon Commander turned king, burns with vengeance and devotion. As kingdoms clash, loyalties fracture, and diplomacy turns deadly, their love is tested against power, betrayal, and destiny. This sequel soars higher, sharper, and more heartbreaking than the first, delivering an intoxicating mix of fire-breathing battles and slow-burn passion.
Tropes & Vibes:
🔥 Touch her and die
🐉 Dragon rider
👑 Enemies to reluctant allies to lovers
💍 Political marriage of convenience
❤️🔥 Possessive MMC who is soft for his FMC
⚔️ Epic battles, shifting loyalties, cutthroat diplomacy
🖤 Fierce, powerful heroine embracing her destiny
😭 Angst, heartbreak, found family, healing
⸻
Review:
Holy smokes, what a book 😮💨 That ending left me in absolute tears and I could barely pull myself together. This story is everything: love, strength, found family, and breathtaking growth.
Cayden has officially stolen the crown as my TOP MMC of all time. He is the pure definition of touch her and die. His boldness, his unwavering devotion, his bravery, and the way he softens only for Elowen—it was all utterly beautiful. 🫶🏽😭
And Elowen? She is the embodiment of duality, delicate yet fierce, soft yet relentless, light and dark braided together. Her arc in this book was masterfully written and I adore her beyond words. Watching her step fully into her power gave me chills. She is seriously so relatable.
I honestly have nothing else to say except read this immediately. The first book was amazing, but this one is an infinity-star read. ♾️⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the arc!
Read
September 6, 2025Incredible! Show stopping! Immaculate!
July 18, 2025
This romantasy has some of the best found family I have read this year.
Book one made my favourite romantasy list of last year, and whilst this one didn’t quite hit that high, I binged it and had such a good time.
Cayden is down bad for Ellowen. He will do anything for her. They are both broken, but their pieces fit together.
The Demon King and the Dragon Queen.
“If we were merely a political agreement, I wouldn’t have committed the details I adore about you to memory. I wouldn’t have tasted you and realized I was starving. I wouldn’t know where to touch you, how to touch you, or give a fuck about any of it and yet I do, and I can’t stop.”
This honestly had the best love declarations.
The relationship between Cayden and Ellowen reminds me Aelin and Rowan.
The found family reminded me of Throne of Glass.
This was a mix between high action scenes and cozy, homey scenes. Battles vs baking.
I did think that where was too much angst. Like it is slow burn, but it is a book two and they’re engaged.
I think there needed to be more communication from Ellowen, especially as Cayden is so understanding.
I also wanted more Finnian. And Ryder, who am I kidding?
Highly addictive, recommend almost 4 stars!🌟
Physical arc gifted by Zaffre Books.
Bookstagram
Tiktok
Book one made my favourite romantasy list of last year, and whilst this one didn’t quite hit that high, I binged it and had such a good time.
Cayden is down bad for Ellowen. He will do anything for her. They are both broken, but their pieces fit together.
The Demon King and the Dragon Queen.
“If we were merely a political agreement, I wouldn’t have committed the details I adore about you to memory. I wouldn’t have tasted you and realized I was starving. I wouldn’t know where to touch you, how to touch you, or give a fuck about any of it and yet I do, and I can’t stop.”
This honestly had the best love declarations.
The relationship between Cayden and Ellowen reminds me Aelin and Rowan.
The found family reminded me of Throne of Glass.
This was a mix between high action scenes and cozy, homey scenes. Battles vs baking.
I did think that where was too much angst. Like it is slow burn, but it is a book two and they’re engaged.
I think there needed to be more communication from Ellowen, especially as Cayden is so understanding.
I also wanted more Finnian. And Ryder, who am I kidding?
Highly addictive, recommend almost 4 stars!🌟
Physical arc gifted by Zaffre Books.
Bookstagram
Tiktok
September 28, 2025
1 million stars!
Wow.
Also. So fuckin rude. Leaving me on the cliffy with no book 3 yet!
I have like 8 trillion questions.
I stayed up way past my bed time on a work night for this.
This is everything i love in a romantasy. It has the fluff is has the war. It has domestic bliss. It has an incredible cast if characters. Main characters unhinged as fuck in the best way. This is definitely a romantasy made for me.
I loved the rebuild of their relationship. I loved the new additions to our group. Do i sense some side romances a brewing???
Cayden🔥🔥🗡🩸🗡🩸🗡🩸
Elowen🔥🗡🩸🔥🗡🩸🔥🗡🩸 they are insane. They love each other so much i just cant even😭😭😭 cayden would kill anyone and everyone for her and she stands on business when it comes to how you talk to her man.
That ending??? Im ruined. I didnt see that coming. How could you do that to me???? No my babies😭😭😭 i need answers!!!!
Utterly sublime. Im obsessed. This is probably going to be my whole personality for a while.
Next books asap!
Fear the Flames: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Wrath of the Dragons: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Safety&Info:
First person dual Pov
Spice: 🔥🔥🔥 and some partials.
Romance meter:💚🧡💚🧡💚🧡💚🧡💚🧡💚🧡💚🧡/5
Magic meter:✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️/5
◇Ow drama: none. Fmc is jealous with ow ogle mmc at a fighting ring but he has 0 eyes for anyone else.
◇Om drama: mild jealousy but thats cause no man can talk to elowen🤣
◇No cheating/sharing/love triangle
◇ 3rd act breakup: nope
◇Seperation: eh ish? Not by choice
◇Neither virgins, mmc not a manhoe
◇Ages: fmc 24/25, mmc 26 ish
◇Protection: none? Maybe a tea but its never mentioned
◇cliffhanger 😭😭😭😭
Wow.
Also. So fuckin rude. Leaving me on the cliffy with no book 3 yet!
I have like 8 trillion questions.
I stayed up way past my bed time on a work night for this.
This is everything i love in a romantasy. It has the fluff is has the war. It has domestic bliss. It has an incredible cast if characters. Main characters unhinged as fuck in the best way. This is definitely a romantasy made for me.
I loved the rebuild of their relationship. I loved the new additions to our group. Do i sense some side romances a brewing???
Cayden🔥🔥🗡🩸🗡🩸🗡🩸
Elowen🔥🗡🩸🔥🗡🩸🔥🗡🩸 they are insane. They love each other so much i just cant even😭😭😭 cayden would kill anyone and everyone for her and she stands on business when it comes to how you talk to her man.
That ending??? Im ruined. I didnt see that coming. How could you do that to me???? No my babies😭😭😭 i need answers!!!!
Utterly sublime. Im obsessed. This is probably going to be my whole personality for a while.
Next books asap!
Fear the Flames: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Wrath of the Dragons: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Safety&Info:
First person dual Pov
Spice: 🔥🔥🔥 and some partials.
Romance meter:💚🧡💚🧡💚🧡💚🧡💚🧡💚🧡💚🧡/5
Magic meter:✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️/5
◇Ow drama: none. Fmc is jealous with ow ogle mmc at a fighting ring but he has 0 eyes for anyone else.
◇Om drama: mild jealousy but thats cause no man can talk to elowen🤣
◇No cheating/sharing/love triangle
◇ 3rd act breakup: nope
◇Seperation: eh ish? Not by choice
◇Neither virgins, mmc not a manhoe
◇Ages: fmc 24/25, mmc 26 ish
◇Protection: none? Maybe a tea but its never mentioned
◇cliffhanger 😭😭😭😭
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2025
I loved this book, it was a great second installment to the series. It had action, emotions, the push and pull i expected between the main characters, an obsessed mmc, a strong af fmc, dragons and romance. I loved that it picked up right after the last book and that i got to see both characters pov and how they processed the marriage proposal. I liked the banter between the mc's especially when the fmc was fighting her attraction to him. I love when they finally realized the bond and feelings between each other and because true lovers. The battle planning, political intrigue, magic and dragon lore was great and that ending agh, i cant wait to read the next book. Thank you to Dell for this arc for an honest review.
4.5/5
4.5/5
Want to read
November 25, 2024
BEEN WAITING FOR NEWS SINCE 2022! From her recent IG post:
Some things to expect in WOTD:
🐉Dual POV between Elowen & Cayden
🐉a marriage of inconvenience that’s also somehow convenient?
🐉epic battles filled with dragon riding, magic, swordsmanship, and strategy
🐉 reluctant heir stepping into power
🐉 tender, angsty, and steamy power couple romance
🐉 morally grey is my favorite color
🐉 new characters that expand both the core 5, story, and world
🐉 traveling to a new kingdom overseas (🌺🌴🥥🌊🏝️)
🐉 whimsical world building, dragon lore, myths looming over the story, and dormant magic slowly awakening
🐉 Showcasing how platonic love is just as powerful as romantic love
🐉 political intrigue & the introduction of all Ravaryn kingdoms
We’re entering our blue, black, & gold era, babyyyyy!!! House Veles rise up🌊⚔️🔥
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