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Immortals Untold #1
Ravenous
From #1 New York Times bestseller Kresley Cole comes a darkly seductive new series where immortal passion collides with ruthless power.
Beyond the mortal world lies the Skein, a realm of mythic beauty and savage desire ruled by creatures of legend. Here, vampires, witches, demons, and wolves wage war-and hunt their pleasures just as fiercely.
Now, the Accession has begun, an ancient cycle of chaos and destiny that reignites old hostilities and forges fated bonds too hot to resist.
A witch queen on the rise defies the brutal wolf king who stands in her way. But when fate twists their battlefield into a bed of temptation, sworn enemies become something far more perilous. Lovers.
A vampire princess trades her crown for freedom, only to be bound to a scarred Berserker, a man whose possessive touch both terrifies and tempts her.
Beyond the mortal world lies the Skein, a realm of mythic beauty and savage desire ruled by creatures of legend. Here, vampires, witches, demons, and wolves wage war-and hunt their pleasures just as fiercely.
Now, the Accession has begun, an ancient cycle of chaos and destiny that reignites old hostilities and forges fated bonds too hot to resist.
A witch queen on the rise defies the brutal wolf king who stands in her way. But when fate twists their battlefield into a bed of temptation, sworn enemies become something far more perilous. Lovers.
A vampire princess trades her crown for freedom, only to be bound to a scarred Berserker, a man whose possessive touch both terrifies and tempts her.
438 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 28, 2026
About the author
Kresley Cole
74 books27.8k followersKresley Cole is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the electrifying Immortals After Dark paranormal series, the young adult Arcana Chronicles series, the erotic Gamemakers series, and five award-winning historical romances.
A master’s grad and former athlete, she has traveled over much of the world and draws from those experiences to create her memorable characters and settings.
Her IAD books have been translated into 23 foreign languages, garnered three RITA awards, a RWA Hall of Fame induction, and consistently appear on the bestseller lists, in the U.S. and abroad.
Cole lives in Florida with her family. Learn more about Kresley at: www.kresleycole.com & www.thearcanachronicles.com
A master’s grad and former athlete, she has traveled over much of the world and draws from those experiences to create her memorable characters and settings.
Her IAD books have been translated into 23 foreign languages, garnered three RITA awards, a RWA Hall of Fame induction, and consistently appear on the bestseller lists, in the U.S. and abroad.
Cole lives in Florida with her family. Learn more about Kresley at: www.kresleycole.com & www.thearcanachronicles.com
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Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
⤅ This is VERY different from the usual KC fare, in ways I both liked and didn't.
Bear with me, I have a lot of thoughts so this might get long... also, do NOT open the spoiler tags if you're not prepared to see spoilers, I am being so serious!!! Mild spoilers in the rest of the review too.
So: what we have here in this series is essentially a parallel world to 'Gaia' (i.e. the real world) where the main IAD series is set. It's called the Skein, and it's a bloodthirsty, violent hellhole world made up of all the immortal mythical species we encountered in the IAD series - vampires, berserkers, werewolves, Valkyries and more - with one glaring exception, no humans. The Skein also experiences an Accession every 500 years, when all the various species factions start warring with each other, and those events are just starting as the book begins.
It's immediately apparent as you begin reading that this is a multi-POV book. Each chapter is written in a different perspective, and while most of them are from the main 'recurring' characters (on which more later), some are from peripheral characters. I'm not generally a fan of multi-POV books, but I was able to tolerate it here because at least it's third person; had it been first person I probably would have been out by chapter 3.
Even in third person, there's some initial whiplash, as the reader has to deal simultaneously with getting accustomed to brand-new characters as well as brand-new worldbuilding (although of course, a lot is reprised from IAD). This gets better as the book progresses and you learn who everyone is.
At a very high level, the plot revolves around the following characters/pairings who are POV characters (but more on the romance aspect later too):
⤅ Lia: a 22-year-old vampire princess, the only innocent born to the depraved vampire royal family. I initially thought I'd dislike her, and my hopes were certainly not high when I discovered that she's essentially a vampire in name only: she doesn't drink blood AT ALL and doesn't even really have fangs. She ends up in an arranged marriage with...
⤅ Arctos: a 40-year-old berserker who hates vampires because they killed his family. To my surprise, the budding friendship between Lia and Arctos, as they move from distrust to respect, became unexpectedly a highlight of the book. One of Arctos's trusted friends and sources is...
⤅ Inkletter: an ancient incubus who seduces his targets for information. One of his marks is...
⤅ Nadje: a vampire handmaiden and Lia's former servant, who has made a name for herself bartering and smuggling goods throughout the Skein. One ultimate customer of her services is...
⤅ Thane: king of the werewolves. 1500 years old, jaded, and devoted to his people's safety, he's both horrified and grateful when he discovers his mate is...
⤅ Ditch: half demon, half witch, and the new high priestess of the witches, determined to destroy the werewolves and crush them under her heel. She's plagued by a shy, lovelorn second-in-command who is...
⤅ Meera: nerdy and with negligible magical powers, compared to the showy and dramatic Ditch, Meera has stayed a virgin for almost a century - but her resolve is tested by...
⤅ Lowell: a charming werewolf and Thane's second-in-command, Lowell hasn't previously felt drawn to the plump witch, but now he's under Meera's spell. Too bad she's not his fated mate, but surely he'll never meet his mate so is free to pursue the pretty witch?
And that doesn't even cover all the POV characters, those are just the central ones!
Some of the characters are much better drawn than others; Ditch for instance shines through, I suspect because KC has form writing characters like her - honestly, she's basically Sabine, who is one of my all-time favourite characters so that's no bad thing. Someone like Inkletter frankly pales in comparison. Which leads me to the observation that, if what you want is good character development, not just a convenient media to convey plot events to the reader, you'd do better to have way fewer main characters and lavish more attention on them. Mathematically speaking, each character/relationship consists of just a fraction of the book, while a standard KC novel devotes all 400 pages to just one couple!
This means that some of the romances were unrealistically turbocharged while others dragged or lacked chemistry because they hadn't had enough attention. The blurb is INCREDIBLY misleading: Arctos does not have a 'possessive touch' for Lia, it's mildly protective at most; 'lust' does not feature as a 'gamble' for Inkletter and Nadje in any meaningful sense; and Meera and Lowell do not by any stretch of the imagination have a 'love that defies the gods.' I'm actually so baffled by these exaggerations (if not outright mistruths) that I've circled round to amused.
Speaking of the romance...
Right, if you're a veteran KC reader, I'm going to cut to the chase now and say something a bit shocking: I enjoyed the plot in this novel MUCH more than I did the romances, and that is also because KC has completely subverted some of the romance here in ways I honestly didn't like. If I am reading what I believe to be a romance novel, I HATE not knowing which character will end up with who; I was the sort of person who rejoiced when reverse harem novels became popular about a decade ago because it meant escape from the torment of the love triangle. I still won't read novels with love triangles, I just can't stand not knowing who the hero will be. And it honestly feels a bit cheap to me when authors play bait and switch with their heroes.
Okay, I've listed the negatives, so what did I like? First of all, the last 20% is GREAT from a purely plot perspective. It's fast-paced, dramatic, and full of twists and action. This definitely felt like the vintage KC which kept me hooked, compared to the weak watered-down versions of her I DNFed (like Mina's book). She absolutely hasn't shied away from portraying blood and gore.
Secondly, the book is genuinely funny in places. There are some good one-liners of the sort it feels KC hasn't written in years. It helps that the writing standard overall is high,
There's also a touch more diversity; the main IAD MCs, from what I recall, are all white, but here we have one Indian main character, a peripheral Japanese one, and even a budding lesbian romance.
Overall
If you go into this one without expecting to love the romance and while prepared for the cliffhanger - basically, read it as a fantasy novel really IMO - you should be good. It's certainly closer to Old KC than her most recent works.
___
Pre-review: Okay. So. This is obviously going straight onto my TBR list, but I'm also like... KC has now been writing the same Immortals After Dark series for almost 20 years, and it's nowhere NEAR completion. The latest books have either (i) taken ages to be released, (ii) featured characters we don't care about, (iii) not been as good as her earlier works, or (iv) all of the above. And now you tell me there's an entirely new spinoff series, when as far as we know there's not even been a title / couple reveal for the next IAD book yet, let alone a release date???
Bear with me, I have a lot of thoughts so this might get long... also, do NOT open the spoiler tags if you're not prepared to see spoilers, I am being so serious!!! Mild spoilers in the rest of the review too.
So: what we have here in this series is essentially a parallel world to 'Gaia' (i.e. the real world) where the main IAD series is set. It's called the Skein, and it's a bloodthirsty, violent hellhole world made up of all the immortal mythical species we encountered in the IAD series - vampires, berserkers, werewolves, Valkyries and more - with one glaring exception, no humans. The Skein also experiences an Accession every 500 years, when all the various species factions start warring with each other, and those events are just starting as the book begins.
It's immediately apparent as you begin reading that this is a multi-POV book. Each chapter is written in a different perspective, and while most of them are from the main 'recurring' characters (on which more later), some are from peripheral characters. I'm not generally a fan of multi-POV books, but I was able to tolerate it here because at least it's third person; had it been first person I probably would have been out by chapter 3.
Even in third person, there's some initial whiplash, as the reader has to deal simultaneously with getting accustomed to brand-new characters as well as brand-new worldbuilding (although of course, a lot is reprised from IAD). This gets better as the book progresses and you learn who everyone is.
At a very high level, the plot revolves around the following characters/pairings who are POV characters (but more on the romance aspect later too):
⤅ Lia: a 22-year-old vampire princess, the only innocent born to the depraved vampire royal family. I initially thought I'd dislike her, and my hopes were certainly not high when I discovered that she's essentially a vampire in name only: she doesn't drink blood AT ALL and doesn't even really have fangs. She ends up in an arranged marriage with...
⤅ Arctos: a 40-year-old berserker who hates vampires because they killed his family. To my surprise, the budding friendship between Lia and Arctos, as they move from distrust to respect, became unexpectedly a highlight of the book. One of Arctos's trusted friends and sources is...
⤅ Inkletter: an ancient incubus who seduces his targets for information. One of his marks is...
⤅ Nadje: a vampire handmaiden and Lia's former servant, who has made a name for herself bartering and smuggling goods throughout the Skein. One ultimate customer of her services is...
⤅ Thane: king of the werewolves. 1500 years old, jaded, and devoted to his people's safety, he's both horrified and grateful when he discovers his mate is...
⤅ Ditch: half demon, half witch, and the new high priestess of the witches, determined to destroy the werewolves and crush them under her heel. She's plagued by a shy, lovelorn second-in-command who is...
⤅ Meera: nerdy and with negligible magical powers, compared to the showy and dramatic Ditch, Meera has stayed a virgin for almost a century - but her resolve is tested by...
⤅ Lowell: a charming werewolf and Thane's second-in-command, Lowell hasn't previously felt drawn to the plump witch, but now he's under Meera's spell. Too bad she's not his fated mate, but surely he'll never meet his mate so is free to pursue the pretty witch?
And that doesn't even cover all the POV characters, those are just the central ones!
Some of the characters are much better drawn than others; Ditch for instance shines through, I suspect because KC has form writing characters like her - honestly, she's basically Sabine, who is one of my all-time favourite characters so that's no bad thing. Someone like Inkletter frankly pales in comparison. Which leads me to the observation that, if what you want is good character development, not just a convenient media to convey plot events to the reader, you'd do better to have way fewer main characters and lavish more attention on them. Mathematically speaking, each character/relationship consists of just a fraction of the book, while a standard KC novel devotes all 400 pages to just one couple!
This means that some of the romances were unrealistically turbocharged while others dragged or lacked chemistry because they hadn't had enough attention. The blurb is INCREDIBLY misleading: Arctos does not have a 'possessive touch' for Lia, it's mildly protective at most; 'lust' does not feature as a 'gamble' for Inkletter and Nadje in any meaningful sense; and Meera and Lowell do not by any stretch of the imagination have a 'love that defies the gods.' I'm actually so baffled by these exaggerations (if not outright mistruths) that I've circled round to amused.
Speaking of the romance...
Right, if you're a veteran KC reader, I'm going to cut to the chase now and say something a bit shocking: I enjoyed the plot in this novel MUCH more than I did the romances, and that is also because KC has completely subverted some of the romance here in ways I honestly didn't like. If I am reading what I believe to be a romance novel, I HATE not knowing which character will end up with who; I was the sort of person who rejoiced when reverse harem novels became popular about a decade ago because it meant escape from the torment of the love triangle. I still won't read novels with love triangles, I just can't stand not knowing who the hero will be. And it honestly feels a bit cheap to me when authors play bait and switch with their heroes.
Okay, I've listed the negatives, so what did I like? First of all, the last 20% is GREAT from a purely plot perspective. It's fast-paced, dramatic, and full of twists and action. This definitely felt like the vintage KC which kept me hooked, compared to the weak watered-down versions of her I DNFed (like Mina's book). She absolutely hasn't shied away from portraying blood and gore.
Secondly, the book is genuinely funny in places. There are some good one-liners of the sort it feels KC hasn't written in years. It helps that the writing standard overall is high,
There's also a touch more diversity; the main IAD MCs, from what I recall, are all white, but here we have one Indian main character, a peripheral Japanese one, and even a budding lesbian romance.
Overall
If you go into this one without expecting to love the romance and while prepared for the cliffhanger - basically, read it as a fantasy novel really IMO - you should be good. It's certainly closer to Old KC than her most recent works.
___
Pre-review: Okay. So. This is obviously going straight onto my TBR list, but I'm also like... KC has now been writing the same Immortals After Dark series for almost 20 years, and it's nowhere NEAR completion. The latest books have either (i) taken ages to be released, (ii) featured characters we don't care about, (iii) not been as good as her earlier works, or (iv) all of the above. And now you tell me there's an entirely new spinoff series, when as far as we know there's not even been a title / couple reveal for the next IAD book yet, let alone a release date???
maybe
July 28, 2026Kresleyy darling, why are we on a new series when I've been waiting on the IAD series to be completed for half my lifetime? 🥴
August 1, 2026
Am I TOO DUMB to keep up with this storyline? It’s doing too much 😭😭
Impossible world building with 15 different POVs that change with every chapter. This book drops you in the middle of unknown events without much context and before you can figure out what’s happening BOOM another POV with a completely different storyline 💣 I was 25% into the book but still had no idea what was happening. With constant POV switches I also didn’t get invested into any of the characters…at least not enough to continue.
I’m a huge Kresley Cole reader with an addiction to Immortals After Dark (and her mafia series!) so I was immensely excited for this book. However, this one feels like a completely different writing style/narration that just isn’t for me. I would literally have to make a ‘detective board string map’ to help me get through this book and honestly…I can’t be bothered.
Impossible world building with 15 different POVs that change with every chapter. This book drops you in the middle of unknown events without much context and before you can figure out what’s happening BOOM another POV with a completely different storyline 💣 I was 25% into the book but still had no idea what was happening. With constant POV switches I also didn’t get invested into any of the characters…at least not enough to continue.
I’m a huge Kresley Cole reader with an addiction to Immortals After Dark (and her mafia series!) so I was immensely excited for this book. However, this one feels like a completely different writing style/narration that just isn’t for me. I would literally have to make a ‘detective board string map’ to help me get through this book and honestly…I can’t be bothered.
July 28, 2026
My biggest heads up for anyone is this is not a Romance this is more of a fantasy with some romantic subplots that don't fully pay off in book one.
I lost my mind the last 5-8% or so probably with what all happened.
Audio ARC Provided by publisher via Netgalley
I lost my mind the last 5-8% or so probably with what all happened.
Audio ARC Provided by publisher via Netgalley
June 22, 2026
6⭐️
This was exceptional in every way possible. A dark and deadly world filled with Vampires, Witches and werewolves among other paranormal creatures.
I’m so speechless right now, everything about this book was incredible - I don’t even know where to start or how I can make a review justice for what this book contains.
This is a multi POV dark paranormal fantasy romance. I would say the first 100 pages are heavily filled with the world building and getting to know the characters and their schemes. But when it clicks into place it hits you with so much power, I was predicting it was going to be a five star read, then by the time I finished it was immediately a six star. The world itself is so unique and the plot was layers on layers of complexity.
The multi POV was hard to get to grips with but simply put you have two people who are trying to figure out their own situations in one place and then the next two people are somewhere else etc - they all link together by the smallest fractions that gave me goosebumps. Constantly on edge to see how this plot will unfold.
The character development will seriously surprise you, in fact everything will. You will think I know for sure what’s happening and then it all gets turned over. The spice in this was delicious and loved Ditch’s & Thanes connection, the epitome of enemies to lovers. The constant yearning and touch her and die was exceptional.
I think I actually went through every emotion possible, it was so intense. Can’t wait for book two to see how this will unfold!
Thank you so much Head of Zeus & Rachel Quin Marketing for the advanced early copy.
This was exceptional in every way possible. A dark and deadly world filled with Vampires, Witches and werewolves among other paranormal creatures.
I’m so speechless right now, everything about this book was incredible - I don’t even know where to start or how I can make a review justice for what this book contains.
This is a multi POV dark paranormal fantasy romance. I would say the first 100 pages are heavily filled with the world building and getting to know the characters and their schemes. But when it clicks into place it hits you with so much power, I was predicting it was going to be a five star read, then by the time I finished it was immediately a six star. The world itself is so unique and the plot was layers on layers of complexity.
The multi POV was hard to get to grips with but simply put you have two people who are trying to figure out their own situations in one place and then the next two people are somewhere else etc - they all link together by the smallest fractions that gave me goosebumps. Constantly on edge to see how this plot will unfold.
The character development will seriously surprise you, in fact everything will. You will think I know for sure what’s happening and then it all gets turned over. The spice in this was delicious and loved Ditch’s & Thanes connection, the epitome of enemies to lovers. The constant yearning and touch her and die was exceptional.
I think I actually went through every emotion possible, it was so intense. Can’t wait for book two to see how this will unfold!
Thank you so much Head of Zeus & Rachel Quin Marketing for the advanced early copy.
July 28, 2026
This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart”
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I have read and enjoyed almost every book from the Immortals After Dark series, which is set in an alternate world from this one. What I thought we were going to get was another formulaic story that you know will end in happily ever after for the couple involved. What I got was a much darker version of the stories I usually expect from Kresley Cole. Ravenous is the first book in the new Immortals Untold series. You don't have to have read the Immortals After Dark series to enjoy this but the basic character and some lore structures are similar, so it would help your foundational knowledge if you have.
Ravenous is different from its parent series in that instead of focusing on one couple, the author has given us four potential couples. A few of those couples get a little more page time than the others and are more clearly in a romantic type paring, but all are unusual pairings that are slightly chaotic because the Ascension is coming. One thing I noted is that some of the couples might not work out...gasp. I can't say for sure but there are some pretty big obstacles in the way for them and some trickery too if what we read isn't true. I'm going to give Kresley Cole some props for stepping outside her normal formula as it enabled her to hit me with some pretty large surprises. This is a darker side of her writing.
Out of all the potential couples, I enjoyed the play between Thane, King of the werewolves and the new leader of the Witches a half demon named Ditch. To me, Ditch was hilarious. She doesn't play by anyone else's rules, when everyone else is panicking, she is having the best time and most people's nightmares are her comfort zone. Thane on the other hand has been alive for over fifteen hundred years and was completely jaded until he met Ditch. Now he is trying to figure out how they can be together when their factions are ready to go to war.
The other couple stories were also a lot of fun though not as intense in the romance department. A Berserker whose parents were killed by a Vampire hunting party is wedded to a vampire by his leader. The enemies to potential love story there was great and wow did that plot line have some of the bigger twists. Thane's brother Lowell, was also playing with the enemy and courting a a reluctant witch and Ditch's right hand woman, Meera. I can't wait to see how that one plays out because where it left off was insane. And last but not least, was an incubus spy and the vampire who scammed him. An unusual partnership was started there that I'm pretty sure will lead to more if they can both stay alive. There are other species from the Lore running around like Valkyries and some other shifters but we didn't get a lot of page time with them yet.
This seems like it is going to read more like a duology or trilogy than the single book single couple stories I had gotten used to from this author. At the end of the book, I wasn't sure how to feel as so many of the characters are in really precarious places and everything is still a bit open right now. I was thinking it would all be wrapped up in the end but Kresley is going to make us wait to see if fate, that fickle bitch, is going to be friend or foe to any and all of these couples and I'm ready to play along to see what happens. With the Ascension ramping up and no Nix (I missed her) to direct things, I think anything is possible.
Narration:
Performance: ★★★★★
Character Separation: ★★★★★
Diction: ★★★★
Pacing/Flow: ★★★★★
Sound Effects: None
Robert Petkoff is a pro narrator and it shows. I have loved his voice throughout the Immortals After Dark series so I was excited to see he would also be the voice for the new Immortals Untold series. He has so many great deeper voice selections for the various alpha males that run rampant through Cole's writing and he covers the female voices well too which I think is a hard ask sometimes. The cast is rather large and I found it easy to tell who was talking when. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I have read and enjoyed almost every book from the Immortals After Dark series, which is set in an alternate world from this one. What I thought we were going to get was another formulaic story that you know will end in happily ever after for the couple involved. What I got was a much darker version of the stories I usually expect from Kresley Cole. Ravenous is the first book in the new Immortals Untold series. You don't have to have read the Immortals After Dark series to enjoy this but the basic character and some lore structures are similar, so it would help your foundational knowledge if you have.
Ravenous is different from its parent series in that instead of focusing on one couple, the author has given us four potential couples. A few of those couples get a little more page time than the others and are more clearly in a romantic type paring, but all are unusual pairings that are slightly chaotic because the Ascension is coming. One thing I noted is that some of the couples might not work out...gasp. I can't say for sure but there are some pretty big obstacles in the way for them and some trickery too if what we read isn't true. I'm going to give Kresley Cole some props for stepping outside her normal formula as it enabled her to hit me with some pretty large surprises. This is a darker side of her writing.
Out of all the potential couples, I enjoyed the play between Thane, King of the werewolves and the new leader of the Witches a half demon named Ditch. To me, Ditch was hilarious. She doesn't play by anyone else's rules, when everyone else is panicking, she is having the best time and most people's nightmares are her comfort zone. Thane on the other hand has been alive for over fifteen hundred years and was completely jaded until he met Ditch. Now he is trying to figure out how they can be together when their factions are ready to go to war.
The other couple stories were also a lot of fun though not as intense in the romance department. A Berserker whose parents were killed by a Vampire hunting party is wedded to a vampire by his leader. The enemies to potential love story there was great and wow did that plot line have some of the bigger twists. Thane's brother Lowell, was also playing with the enemy and courting a a reluctant witch and Ditch's right hand woman, Meera. I can't wait to see how that one plays out because where it left off was insane. And last but not least, was an incubus spy and the vampire who scammed him. An unusual partnership was started there that I'm pretty sure will lead to more if they can both stay alive. There are other species from the Lore running around like Valkyries and some other shifters but we didn't get a lot of page time with them yet.
This seems like it is going to read more like a duology or trilogy than the single book single couple stories I had gotten used to from this author. At the end of the book, I wasn't sure how to feel as so many of the characters are in really precarious places and everything is still a bit open right now. I was thinking it would all be wrapped up in the end but Kresley is going to make us wait to see if fate, that fickle bitch, is going to be friend or foe to any and all of these couples and I'm ready to play along to see what happens. With the Ascension ramping up and no Nix (I missed her) to direct things, I think anything is possible.
Narration:
Performance: ★★★★★
Character Separation: ★★★★★
Diction: ★★★★
Pacing/Flow: ★★★★★
Sound Effects: None
Robert Petkoff is a pro narrator and it shows. I have loved his voice throughout the Immortals After Dark series so I was excited to see he would also be the voice for the new Immortals Untold series. He has so many great deeper voice selections for the various alpha males that run rampant through Cole's writing and he covers the female voices well too which I think is a hard ask sometimes. The cast is rather large and I found it easy to tell who was talking when. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
Currently Reading
July 28, 202615 different character povs for a book that is only 352 pages is crazy. and for the first book of a series so it’s a brand new universe with all brand new characters? she’s finally lost her goddamn mind.
1. Emilia
2. Inkletter XII
3. Meera
4. Thane
5. Arctos
6. Ditch
7. Lia
8. Torben
9. Nadje
10. Lowell
11. Ven
12. Eyrun
13. Dagny
14. Rose
15. Firis
1. Emilia
2. Inkletter XII
3. Meera
4. Thane
5. Arctos
6. Ditch
7. Lia
8. Torben
9. Nadje
10. Lowell
11. Ven
12. Eyrun
13. Dagny
14. Rose
15. Firis
audiobooks-to-read
August 4, 2026A NEW SERIES????? AAAAAhhhh I'm so excited!!
August 4, 2026
4.5 ⭐️
(Subtracted .5 of a star because the dialogue got a little lame at the end)…
Anyway!
What the fuck did I just read? I’m irritated. I’m outraged. I’m hooked under the gills and guts with absolutely no chance of getting loose.
I’m seeing a lot of “meh” reviews, but honestly? The chaos was refreshing. I had no idea what was happening half the time, everyone is completely deranged, and literally every relationship is a disaster.
It’s such a mess.
I loved it.
Now…if you’re coming here for a cozy romantasy with one central couple to root for, warm fuzzies, satisfying romance, or a neat little HEA at the end…respectfully, wrong address. See yourself out.
The romance is dark. Murky. Uncomfortable. Purposefully unsatisfying. Nobody is riding off into the sunset holding hands.
Also: holy multi-POV madness. I lost count somewhere around ten….yes TEN…and there’s even more than that. It pissed me off. It also made it impossible to stop reading. If juggling that many storylines sounds like your personal hell, you’ll probably hate this book.
This isn’t a clean, linear romantasy. It’s controlled chaos. It genuinely felt like Kresley Cole sat down, cackled to herself while she clacked away on her keyboard, and decided to trust her readers to keep up instead of spoon-feeding the same predictable plot beats that every other romantasy seems to recycle lately.
So…thanks, Kresley Cole, for assuming we have more than two brain cells to rub together. Personally, I took it as a compliment.
Happy reading, little book demons.
✔️ witches, vampires, werewolves, berserkers, valkyrie…the magical creatures are endless!!
✔️ good writing, solid dialogue, witty banter (gets a little sloppy at the end)
✔️ Fated Mates
✔️ Battles Brewing
✔️ No spoon fed plot for you!
✔️ !!!CLIFFHANGER!!!
✔️ Some spice 🌶️🌶️ (felt more lusty than lovey at this point)
❌ I have no idea who’s staying alive, who’s dying, or who to root for. Oh well.
❌ IMO should have been longer. I wanted more!!!
_____________________________
Kresley Cole, don’t embarrass me in front of my Goodreads shelf.
The woman launched a paranormal romance series in 2006 and somehow here we are, twenty years later, and she’s still getting added to TBRs instead of “classics” lists. She really said, “I’ll just be relevant, indefinitely.”
(Subtracted .5 of a star because the dialogue got a little lame at the end)…
Anyway!
What the fuck did I just read? I’m irritated. I’m outraged. I’m hooked under the gills and guts with absolutely no chance of getting loose.
I’m seeing a lot of “meh” reviews, but honestly? The chaos was refreshing. I had no idea what was happening half the time, everyone is completely deranged, and literally every relationship is a disaster.
It’s such a mess.
I loved it.
Now…if you’re coming here for a cozy romantasy with one central couple to root for, warm fuzzies, satisfying romance, or a neat little HEA at the end…respectfully, wrong address. See yourself out.
The romance is dark. Murky. Uncomfortable. Purposefully unsatisfying. Nobody is riding off into the sunset holding hands.
Also: holy multi-POV madness. I lost count somewhere around ten….yes TEN…and there’s even more than that. It pissed me off. It also made it impossible to stop reading. If juggling that many storylines sounds like your personal hell, you’ll probably hate this book.
This isn’t a clean, linear romantasy. It’s controlled chaos. It genuinely felt like Kresley Cole sat down, cackled to herself while she clacked away on her keyboard, and decided to trust her readers to keep up instead of spoon-feeding the same predictable plot beats that every other romantasy seems to recycle lately.
So…thanks, Kresley Cole, for assuming we have more than two brain cells to rub together. Personally, I took it as a compliment.
Happy reading, little book demons.
✔️ witches, vampires, werewolves, berserkers, valkyrie…the magical creatures are endless!!
✔️ good writing, solid dialogue, witty banter (gets a little sloppy at the end)
✔️ Fated Mates
✔️ Battles Brewing
✔️ No spoon fed plot for you!
✔️ !!!CLIFFHANGER!!!
✔️ Some spice 🌶️🌶️ (felt more lusty than lovey at this point)
❌ I have no idea who’s staying alive, who’s dying, or who to root for. Oh well.
❌ IMO should have been longer. I wanted more!!!
_____________________________
Kresley Cole, don’t embarrass me in front of my Goodreads shelf.
The woman launched a paranormal romance series in 2006 and somehow here we are, twenty years later, and she’s still getting added to TBRs instead of “classics” lists. She really said, “I’ll just be relevant, indefinitely.”
July 7, 2026
This review is for Ravenous by Kresley Cole which releases in the UK on the 28th July! Thanks so much to Netgalley and Aria for giving me an eArc copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I am a massive Kresley Cole fan, and have read most of her previous series, so when I heard she was writing a new series… that also features immortals?? You know I was in.
This was a little different to what I was expecting tbh, but definitely not in a bad way. It was very similar to her Immortals Untold series, with a lot of witty and badass FMC’s and a wide variety of immortal creatures (of course the Valkyries are my favourite, how can they not be???). However there seemed to be a lot more different POV’s then we usually see. Because of this, it did feel a little disjointed and when we were getting to the juicy bits of one POV, of course it then had to jump to another. It does however do a great job of showing all the discord happening throughout the Skein from all the different angles and building tension 👀
The world building was really detailed and I loved being able to see all the different parts of the Skein through the beings that lived there.
The romance was of course delicious as per usual, it was nice to see her step away from her usual ‘fated mates’ trope and explore some different options. But poor Meera though, my heart broke for her 🥹 we see a lot of different romances form across all the different Immortals trapped in the Skein too, with a lot of them being the same types of Immortals we’ve seen in previous series. But again, because of the jumps between the POV’s some of the romances fell a little flat and felt a little underdeveloped.
However, I still managed to devour this fairly quickly and cannot wait to see what happens in the next in the series. That cliffhanger is intense!!
I am a massive Kresley Cole fan, and have read most of her previous series, so when I heard she was writing a new series… that also features immortals?? You know I was in.
This was a little different to what I was expecting tbh, but definitely not in a bad way. It was very similar to her Immortals Untold series, with a lot of witty and badass FMC’s and a wide variety of immortal creatures (of course the Valkyries are my favourite, how can they not be???). However there seemed to be a lot more different POV’s then we usually see. Because of this, it did feel a little disjointed and when we were getting to the juicy bits of one POV, of course it then had to jump to another. It does however do a great job of showing all the discord happening throughout the Skein from all the different angles and building tension 👀
The world building was really detailed and I loved being able to see all the different parts of the Skein through the beings that lived there.
The romance was of course delicious as per usual, it was nice to see her step away from her usual ‘fated mates’ trope and explore some different options. But poor Meera though, my heart broke for her 🥹 we see a lot of different romances form across all the different Immortals trapped in the Skein too, with a lot of them being the same types of Immortals we’ve seen in previous series. But again, because of the jumps between the POV’s some of the romances fell a little flat and felt a little underdeveloped.
However, I still managed to devour this fairly quickly and cannot wait to see what happens in the next in the series. That cliffhanger is intense!!
July 30, 2026
2/5 Stars
I hate to say it but I’m actually very disappointed. I waited months for this to come out only to not even get a finished story? Kresley girl what are we doing? Every one of the 100 points of view we get throughout the story all end up miserable? This can’t be right. I much prefer the Immortals After Dark series where we focus on one couple and actually get a resolution to the plot at the end. It feels mean spirited and tricksy to leave every single character dangling by a thread with absolutely no resolution in sight. I’m honestly in shock over this.
I hate to say it but I’m actually very disappointed. I waited months for this to come out only to not even get a finished story? Kresley girl what are we doing? Every one of the 100 points of view we get throughout the story all end up miserable? This can’t be right. I much prefer the Immortals After Dark series where we focus on one couple and actually get a resolution to the plot at the end. It feels mean spirited and tricksy to leave every single character dangling by a thread with absolutely no resolution in sight. I’m honestly in shock over this.
August 2, 2026
3.75 Stars ⭐️
I think that I have read Ms. Cole's books for over a decade - possibly even two. I am a fan of her Immortals After Dark series which started 20 years ago and is still ongoing. Because of that, this book - which is a spin off of IAD - made it easier to build the world in my head.
Even though it is set in a different world (a kind of bubble dimension off of the mortal world) the classes of paranormals, and the basic premise of the story was already something that the reader (and by reader I mean me) was already used to. Things like "The Ascension" which happens every 500 years, Valkyrie's having a sleeping "Seer" who constantly had spoken of prophecies (think Nyx)......all of those things felt familiar.
The realm was called Skein, and the focus of the story featured several couples who were dealing with the ramifications of finding their mates. And none of these couples were of the same species. In this world, the Ascension has begun so things are EXTREMELY chaotic. So many of the different creatures were at war or thinking about going to war and allies were being tested.
Ms. Cole wrote an intriguing premise where we got several POV's - from an Alpha Wolf, and his Beta, to a Witch Queen, and her right hand Witch, to a Vampire Princess, and her psychopathic brother, to a Berserker Queen, and her Captain of the Guard. Oh, and I forgot an Incubus and a couple of Valkyrie's. All of these were different stories with different POV's, and you didn't really know how everyone fit together until we got deeply into the book. It was fun watching everything unfold and there were also some crazy twists that were unexpected as well.
Other than an absolutely crazy scene where one character was in the middle of s*x and somehow scented his mate for the first time - and it was NOT the woman he had just professed his love to.....I had a fun time trying to figure things out. I really enjoyed jumping in and going along for the ride. That scene I just mentioned above was so unexpected and so callous, that it pulled me out of the story. To say more runs into the spoiler range so I'll just say that I was not a fan of that entire scene.
This book, while being labeled a romance or romantasy really kind of fell short in that aspect. To me, it shined more from the actual plot. There were several storylines going on at the same time and in the end, several of these actually were revealed to tie into one another. In terms of the romances, some were stronger than others with more time being focused on them, while others fell a bit flat.
I am definitely excited for the next book in the series because we left things in an interesting place - and I have lots of questions!
Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books | Bloom Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. This book will be out for publication on July 28, 2026.
I think that I have read Ms. Cole's books for over a decade - possibly even two. I am a fan of her Immortals After Dark series which started 20 years ago and is still ongoing. Because of that, this book - which is a spin off of IAD - made it easier to build the world in my head.
Even though it is set in a different world (a kind of bubble dimension off of the mortal world) the classes of paranormals, and the basic premise of the story was already something that the reader (and by reader I mean me) was already used to. Things like "The Ascension" which happens every 500 years, Valkyrie's having a sleeping "Seer" who constantly had spoken of prophecies (think Nyx)......all of those things felt familiar.
The realm was called Skein, and the focus of the story featured several couples who were dealing with the ramifications of finding their mates. And none of these couples were of the same species. In this world, the Ascension has begun so things are EXTREMELY chaotic. So many of the different creatures were at war or thinking about going to war and allies were being tested.
Ms. Cole wrote an intriguing premise where we got several POV's - from an Alpha Wolf, and his Beta, to a Witch Queen, and her right hand Witch, to a Vampire Princess, and her psychopathic brother, to a Berserker Queen, and her Captain of the Guard. Oh, and I forgot an Incubus and a couple of Valkyrie's. All of these were different stories with different POV's, and you didn't really know how everyone fit together until we got deeply into the book. It was fun watching everything unfold and there were also some crazy twists that were unexpected as well.
Other than an absolutely crazy scene where one character was in the middle of s*x and somehow scented his mate for the first time - and it was NOT the woman he had just professed his love to.....I had a fun time trying to figure things out. I really enjoyed jumping in and going along for the ride. That scene I just mentioned above was so unexpected and so callous, that it pulled me out of the story. To say more runs into the spoiler range so I'll just say that I was not a fan of that entire scene.
This book, while being labeled a romance or romantasy really kind of fell short in that aspect. To me, it shined more from the actual plot. There were several storylines going on at the same time and in the end, several of these actually were revealed to tie into one another. In terms of the romances, some were stronger than others with more time being focused on them, while others fell a bit flat.
I am definitely excited for the next book in the series because we left things in an interesting place - and I have lots of questions!
Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books | Bloom Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. This book will be out for publication on July 28, 2026.
July 28, 2026
***I did receive an ARC of this book via NetGalley***
Oh my gosh you guys, the QUEEN OF THE LORE is back! When I tell you I absolutely loved AND devoured this book, I mean it. I honestly do not think there is anyone who does paranormal romance quite like K Cole. Truly, it was spectacularly written and left me wanting SO much more. Which I definitely expected, I mean it's Kresley Cole!
By now, if you have read any of my reviews you know I am a longtime reader and a longtime lover of Kresley Cole. I love her storytelling and I am just a big fan of her writing overall. Ravenous, the first book in the Immortals Untold series had everything you could ever want or expect in a K Cole paranormal romance. It has incredibly witty banter, it's so funny, it's SO sexy, and it is filled with LORE. She writes the BEST and most fearsome, badass women.
Now, I will say you do not need to read any of the IAD (Immortals After Dark) books to read this one but, I do feel like I had a better understanding of the history of all the different character types going into this book and how the Immortal world works. Now, in this series The Skein is a different world and they are not on a mortal plain like IAD but, the basics are still the same. We have our Valkyries, our Witches, our Vampires, our Demons, our Lykae, our Incubus, our Berserkers, some hybrids thrown in there, and so much more.
There are multiple POV's in this book, multiple. And, I know that it can be hard for some to read a story that is happening from so many different points of view but, when I tell you it works, it totally works. There is a lot of information happening but, the way it is broken up between the characters is really refreshing and it doesn't feel like you are getting world info dumped on at all and it is easy to follow.
What you NEED to know, The Accession is here and it is coming fast. Essentially, it is a big battle or culmination if you will, of all the Immortals that happens every 1500 years or so (give or take a few) and not everyone makes it out alive. Those who do, make it out with forged and fated bonds and come out stronger. Those who don't... well let's just say magic kills and we won't see them in next book..
I have to say first, I absolutely LOVED Ditch, our Demon-Witch Queen. She was so hilarious and so conceited and I just loved her confidence. All of her interactions with Thane, King of Lykae had me laughing, kicking my feet and blushing so much, I loved it. Their chemistry? *Chefs Kiss*. Could she possibly be a villain? Perhaps. Do I care? Nope! Haha, I love her and I want to see where she goes with her character. Essentially, she is a big bad and wants to rule over The Skein and come out of this Accession as Queen... we shall see.
I also LOVED learning more about Berserkers and their history. Arctos is a BADASS. But, I also feel like he is a softie too but, I KNOW he is going to be important. While his family was slaughtered by Vampires.. he just might be forming a friendship with one, and possibly a chance at a real relationship with The Vampire Princess, Lia. She's so sweet and she is learning to become strong with Arctos help.. I can't wait to see where they end up.
The Valkyrie sisters? Equally as badass and insane and so hilarious. We also have a Valkyrie here that is asleep.. a seer.. sound familiar? Will she wake up this Accession? I know they are going to play HUGE roles here.
Now there is of course, badness intertwined with all the funny and loveable moments between our characters too. We have a really evil Vampire Prince, Costin who has been plotting for a lot longer than anyone realizes and wants Lia for himself. But, what he doesn't know is that betrayal brings Immortals together faster than anything. We have Berserkers, Witches, Lykae, Valkyries gunning for each other here but, they might have a common enemy in him... will they fight with each other.. or fight for themselves? I can't wait to find out more!!
If you love Paranormal romance, world building, fated mates, epic battles and love? Then you will LOVE this book. I wholeheartedly recommend it and I would recommend reading the IAD series as well. There is so much to unpack here, there is fighting, there is betrayal but, there is love and friendship and it was just so much fun to read. I truly loved it and I think you will too, happy reading all!
Oh my gosh you guys, the QUEEN OF THE LORE is back! When I tell you I absolutely loved AND devoured this book, I mean it. I honestly do not think there is anyone who does paranormal romance quite like K Cole. Truly, it was spectacularly written and left me wanting SO much more. Which I definitely expected, I mean it's Kresley Cole!
By now, if you have read any of my reviews you know I am a longtime reader and a longtime lover of Kresley Cole. I love her storytelling and I am just a big fan of her writing overall. Ravenous, the first book in the Immortals Untold series had everything you could ever want or expect in a K Cole paranormal romance. It has incredibly witty banter, it's so funny, it's SO sexy, and it is filled with LORE. She writes the BEST and most fearsome, badass women.
Now, I will say you do not need to read any of the IAD (Immortals After Dark) books to read this one but, I do feel like I had a better understanding of the history of all the different character types going into this book and how the Immortal world works. Now, in this series The Skein is a different world and they are not on a mortal plain like IAD but, the basics are still the same. We have our Valkyries, our Witches, our Vampires, our Demons, our Lykae, our Incubus, our Berserkers, some hybrids thrown in there, and so much more.
There are multiple POV's in this book, multiple. And, I know that it can be hard for some to read a story that is happening from so many different points of view but, when I tell you it works, it totally works. There is a lot of information happening but, the way it is broken up between the characters is really refreshing and it doesn't feel like you are getting world info dumped on at all and it is easy to follow.
What you NEED to know, The Accession is here and it is coming fast. Essentially, it is a big battle or culmination if you will, of all the Immortals that happens every 1500 years or so (give or take a few) and not everyone makes it out alive. Those who do, make it out with forged and fated bonds and come out stronger. Those who don't... well let's just say magic kills and we won't see them in next book..
I have to say first, I absolutely LOVED Ditch, our Demon-Witch Queen. She was so hilarious and so conceited and I just loved her confidence. All of her interactions with Thane, King of Lykae had me laughing, kicking my feet and blushing so much, I loved it. Their chemistry? *Chefs Kiss*. Could she possibly be a villain? Perhaps. Do I care? Nope! Haha, I love her and I want to see where she goes with her character. Essentially, she is a big bad and wants to rule over The Skein and come out of this Accession as Queen... we shall see.
I also LOVED learning more about Berserkers and their history. Arctos is a BADASS. But, I also feel like he is a softie too but, I KNOW he is going to be important. While his family was slaughtered by Vampires.. he just might be forming a friendship with one, and possibly a chance at a real relationship with The Vampire Princess, Lia. She's so sweet and she is learning to become strong with Arctos help.. I can't wait to see where they end up.
The Valkyrie sisters? Equally as badass and insane and so hilarious. We also have a Valkyrie here that is asleep.. a seer.. sound familiar? Will she wake up this Accession? I know they are going to play HUGE roles here.
Now there is of course, badness intertwined with all the funny and loveable moments between our characters too. We have a really evil Vampire Prince, Costin who has been plotting for a lot longer than anyone realizes and wants Lia for himself. But, what he doesn't know is that betrayal brings Immortals together faster than anything. We have Berserkers, Witches, Lykae, Valkyries gunning for each other here but, they might have a common enemy in him... will they fight with each other.. or fight for themselves? I can't wait to find out more!!
If you love Paranormal romance, world building, fated mates, epic battles and love? Then you will LOVE this book. I wholeheartedly recommend it and I would recommend reading the IAD series as well. There is so much to unpack here, there is fighting, there is betrayal but, there is love and friendship and it was just so much fun to read. I truly loved it and I think you will too, happy reading all!
July 31, 2026
This might be the first book of Kresley’s that I did not like.
There were so many POVs and storylines that it got a bit hard to follow at times. I also didn’t realize this is just the first book of 4? and everything ended on a cliffhanger or badly. Literally every story line ended in an unfortunate way.
I really enjoy her other paranormal romance books and the IAD series is one of my favorites. Perhaps it’s because I’m used to each of those being standalone with a fairly HEA ending but nothing in Ravenous was happy.
For all the POVs it really felt like this was almost a story about Thane/Ditch given their chapters took up almost 1/3 of the book.
Maybe my expectations were poor and that’s why I didn’t enjoy this, but I’m undecided if I’ll read any more books in this series.
There were so many POVs and storylines that it got a bit hard to follow at times. I also didn’t realize this is just the first book of 4? and everything ended on a cliffhanger or badly. Literally every story line ended in an unfortunate way.
I really enjoy her other paranormal romance books and the IAD series is one of my favorites. Perhaps it’s because I’m used to each of those being standalone with a fairly HEA ending but nothing in Ravenous was happy.
For all the POVs it really felt like this was almost a story about Thane/Ditch given their chapters took up almost 1/3 of the book.
Maybe my expectations were poor and that’s why I didn’t enjoy this, but I’m undecided if I’ll read any more books in this series.
August 3, 2026
That was.... something
Read
July 30, 2026**𝓝𝓞 𝓢𝓟𝓞𝓘𝓛𝓔𝓡𝓢**
⚜️𝔻𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 𝕠𝕗- Ravenous
𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 NetGalley 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰, 𝐢𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐢 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.
⚜️ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤-
(out of 5 stars, my rating scale is at the end)
* 🗣 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
* 📚 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
* 🌡️ 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 MF MFM MFMM MMFM🌶🌶🫑 / 5 -𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠
* Which books have I also given this same rating? (𝑠𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛)
5⭐️ Fourth wing / Bound by inked flame / Anathama / The Lies of Lena / Of silver and Curses
4.5⭐️ Bitten / The Female / Quicksilver / Bride / Lights Out / A Bargain so Bloody
4⭐️ Spellcaster / One Dark Window / From Blood and Ash / Phantasma / Butcher & Blackbird
3⭐️We Who Will Die / The Wolf King / Daughter of No Worlds / The Ex Hex
⚜️𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕠:
* Genre- Fantasy Romance
* 🎧 12 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 56 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 (I 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚗 1.7 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚍)
* 📖 352 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀
* 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 Multi 𝗣𝗢𝗩 / 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚘 𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗
* 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲- 28 July 2026
* 𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 or 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 driven? 𝒜 ℳ𝒾𝓍
* 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 & 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗻𝗼- Immortals Untold book 1
* 𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 on 𝗞𝗨? ❌𝒩ℴ.
* 𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗲- ℱ𝒶𝓈𝓉
* 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲? ❌𝒮𝒶𝒹𝓁𝓎, 𝓃ℴ, 𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓌ℯ𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓃 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℴ𝓊𝓉 ℯ𝓃ℴ𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓂ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓇ℯ𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓃 𝓈𝒶𝓎 6 𝓂ℴ𝓃𝓉𝒽𝓈 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ.
* 𝒟𝒾𝒹 𝒾 ℯ𝓃𝒿ℴ𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈?✅
* 𝒲𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒾 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓃ℯ𝓍𝓉 𝒷ℴℴ𝓀 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈ℯ𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈?✅
* 𝒲ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒾 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓇?✅
⚜️𝕊ℙ𝔼ℂ𝕀𝔼𝕊 𝕀ℕ 𝕊𝕋𝕆ℝ𝕐:
⚰️𝑉𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠
🧙♀️𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔰
🦴S҉ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
👹𝖉𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖘
🧟♂️ ᗰOᑎՏTᗴᖇᔕ
⚜️𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕤:
💦𝐓𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬/ 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬
🤍𝑉𝑖𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑀𝐶
🥵𝒟𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓎 𝒯𝒶𝓁𝓀
🫦Oᴘᴘᴏsɪᴛᴇs Aᴛᴛʀᴀᴄᴛ
🗡 𝙀𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨
🗡 𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨
👩❤️👨𝙵𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜
💔 𝑈𝑛𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒
💀𝔉𝔬𝔯𝔟𝔦𝔡𝔡𝔢𝔫 𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢
⚜️𝕋ℝ𝕆ℙ𝔼𝕊
😈𝕊𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕤 & 𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕪𝕒𝕝𝕤
💈 ᗷᗩᑎTᗴᖇ
☠️𝕋𝕠𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕...
📖Political intrigue
♟️War/spying
📝Cliff Notes Review-
Ravenous throws you headfirst into an enormous new world packed with immortal factions, political intrigue, magic, betrayals, and absolute chaos. The multiple POVs are confusing at first, but once everything clicks together it’s hard not to become invested in the bigger picture. I wished each romance had more time to develop emotionally, but the world-building, relentless pacing, and completely unhinged final act more than made up for it.
⚜️𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒓, 𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑵 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕?⚜️ (𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡- 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑟 𝐴𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑜?)
Read this one as it can get confusing, unless you are used to multi PoV shifts then absolutely grab the audio!
⚜️𝔸𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕠 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨:
Robert Petkoff once again delivers an incredible performance. Considering the sheer number of characters, accents, personalities and emotional beats he has to juggle, it’s genuinely impressive that each voice remains so distinct. He doesn’t simply narrate the story; he gives every character their own identity. The only thing I found myself wishing for was a dual or duet narration, simply because it may have made such a large ensemble easier to follow. however, I couldn’t listen to it sped up past 1.5/1.7 at the absolute most because of how complex the story was and how you have to keep up with everything in detail.
🌍 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘:
So this book was a little different o most others I’ve read. Rather than following one central couple, this book throws you into an entirely new world filled with multiple storylines, several potential romances, political conflict, and a cast of immortal characters that all feel as though they’re heading towards something enormous.
The biggest adjustment was undoubtedly the structure. Every chapter shifts perspective, introducing another character, another plot thread, and another piece of the puzzle. At first it felt overwhelming, especially alongside learning an entirely new world and mythology. There were moments where I genuinely had to stop and remind myself whose head I was currently in. Thankfully, once everyone became more familiar, the story settled and those seemingly separate threads gradually began weaving together.
The Skein itself is fascinating. It’s a brutal parallel realm populated entirely by immortal races including werewolves, vampires, Valkyries, witches, berserkers, demons, incubi and more, all living under the looming threat of the Accession, a violent conflict that erupts every five hundred years. The setting feels vast, dangerous and unpredictable, and it’s clear that this is only the beginning of what the author has planned.
Ironically, while I loved the world and overarching plot, the romances were probably my biggest disappointment. Because so many couples share the spotlight, none of them receive enough page time to fully develop. Some relationships move at lightning speed while others barely have the opportunity to build meaningful chemistry. I found myself far more invested in the wider conflict than in who ended up with whom, which is unusual for me in a romance.
I also think some characters stood out much more than others. A few immediately captured my attention, while others never quite developed enough for me to become emotionally attached. With such a large ensemble cast, that almost feels inevitable, but I couldn’t help wishing we’d spent more time getting to know fewer characters in greater depth.
The pacing never really slows down. Something is always happening, which helps keep such a large cast moving forward, although it can occasionally feel like you’re sprinting from one major event to the next without much time to breathe. The final portion of the book completely embraces the chaos. Alliances crumble, expectations are turned upside down, shocking twists appear one after another, and by the final chapters I genuinely had no idea what was going to happen next.
Several reveals left me completely stunned. Characters I thought were heading towards one future suddenly found themselves on entirely different paths, and the amount of uncertainty has me incredibly curious to see how all of this unfolds in later books. Rather than feeling like a complete story, this almost reads as the opening move in a much larger game.
🪧𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤:
Ravenous feels less like one complete novel and more like the foundation of an epic new series. The world-building, political intrigue, betrayals, magic and constant twists kept me hooked, even if the romances didn’t have the emotional depth I usually look for. There’s an enormous amount of groundwork being laid here, and while that occasionally comes at the expense of character development, it’s impossible to ignore just how ambitious the story is. The ending left me with far more questions than answers, and honestly… I can’t wait to see what kind of chaos Kresley Cole unleashes next.
𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠;
𝕋𝕚𝕜𝕋𝕠𝕜
https://www.tiktok.com/@your_bookish_...
IᑎՏTᗩ
https://www.instagram.com/your_bookis...
***********************
𝕄𝕪 ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕤:
⭐️ DNF
⭐️⭐️
I managed to finish it but it was rubbish. I won't keep a physical copy and won't recommend it, but it's a shame as the plot could have made a good book in another author's hands
⭐️⭐️.5
It was OK. I wish I didn't start this one as it didn't do it for me as I struggled to read it. It had an interesting premise that fell flat but I had to see what happened in the end.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I don't regret reading it, and I will read the next one, but this one did have a few flaws. [These could be repetitive writing, gaps or plot holes, better character growth or world building, areas needing more detail]
Generally, the book lacked depth and became confusing. The plot resonated with me even though it annoyed me on the whole.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
I'm glad I read it. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to the right people, but I wanted more! Sadly, it's easily forgettable with a few issues I just couldn't overlook/get past.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Good book! I loved it, but... I needed more! I really did enjoy it, but it had a few parts that needed more detail or added history/background or lore. But that's because the story or characters were memorable, and the plot was strong with brilliant twists. I would re-read if I needed to catch up for the next book and would recommend.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Great book! I truly wish the story had been thought about more, or the author had been given more time as this book is so close to brilliance! I will likely read again and will definitely be recommending it to all!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
WOW! Absolutely amazing book! Well written with great characters and a plot so memorable that it will stay with me. I will definitely read this again, I will be recommending it and sharing it with the whole world! Also- I NEED A PHYSICAL COPY!
🔥⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🔥
This is my God level tier. The book must be perfectly memorable. Even after reading 50+ more books, I will remember character names and emotions along with the plot. If there is a special edition, then I need to own it! If there is a conversation on books- I'm talking about this!
SPICE SCALE:
🌶️– segsual language and a little on-page action
🌶️🌶️– a lot of segsual language and some on-page open door action, may be occurring a couple of times
🌶️🌶️🌶️– a lot of explicit action and dirty talk, occurring frequently with 2/3 lurvers
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ – super graphic and explicit, occurring 4 or more times, can be more grey and taboo themed.
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ – Kinks and Fet!shism, explicit and super graphic. It is likely to be tushy play, toys, playrooms, and more dark / taboo fantasies and realities.
⚜️𝔻𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 𝕠𝕗- Ravenous
𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 NetGalley 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰, 𝐢𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐢 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.
⚜️ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤-
(out of 5 stars, my rating scale is at the end)
* 🗣 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
* 📚 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
* 🌡️ 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 MF MFM MFMM MMFM🌶🌶🫑 / 5 -𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠
* Which books have I also given this same rating? (𝑠𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛)
5⭐️ Fourth wing / Bound by inked flame / Anathama / The Lies of Lena / Of silver and Curses
4.5⭐️ Bitten / The Female / Quicksilver / Bride / Lights Out / A Bargain so Bloody
4⭐️ Spellcaster / One Dark Window / From Blood and Ash / Phantasma / Butcher & Blackbird
3⭐️We Who Will Die / The Wolf King / Daughter of No Worlds / The Ex Hex
⚜️𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕠:
* Genre- Fantasy Romance
* 🎧 12 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 56 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 (I 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚗 1.7 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚍)
* 📖 352 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀
* 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 Multi 𝗣𝗢𝗩 / 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚘 𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗
* 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲- 28 July 2026
* 𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 or 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 driven? 𝒜 ℳ𝒾𝓍
* 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 & 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗻𝗼- Immortals Untold book 1
* 𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 on 𝗞𝗨? ❌𝒩ℴ.
* 𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗲- ℱ𝒶𝓈𝓉
* 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲? ❌𝒮𝒶𝒹𝓁𝓎, 𝓃ℴ, 𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓌ℯ𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓃 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℴ𝓊𝓉 ℯ𝓃ℴ𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓂ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓇ℯ𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓃 𝓈𝒶𝓎 6 𝓂ℴ𝓃𝓉𝒽𝓈 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ.
* 𝒟𝒾𝒹 𝒾 ℯ𝓃𝒿ℴ𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈?✅
* 𝒲𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒾 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓃ℯ𝓍𝓉 𝒷ℴℴ𝓀 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈ℯ𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈?✅
* 𝒲ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒾 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓇?✅
⚜️𝕊ℙ𝔼ℂ𝕀𝔼𝕊 𝕀ℕ 𝕊𝕋𝕆ℝ𝕐:
⚰️𝑉𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠
🧙♀️𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔰
🦴S҉ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠
👹𝖉𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖘
🧟♂️ ᗰOᑎՏTᗴᖇᔕ
⚜️𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕤:
💦𝐓𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬/ 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬
🤍𝑉𝑖𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑀𝐶
🥵𝒟𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓎 𝒯𝒶𝓁𝓀
🫦Oᴘᴘᴏsɪᴛᴇs Aᴛᴛʀᴀᴄᴛ
🗡 𝙀𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨
🗡 𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨
👩❤️👨𝙵𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜
💔 𝑈𝑛𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒
💀𝔉𝔬𝔯𝔟𝔦𝔡𝔡𝔢𝔫 𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢
⚜️𝕋ℝ𝕆ℙ𝔼𝕊
😈𝕊𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕤 & 𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕪𝕒𝕝𝕤
💈 ᗷᗩᑎTᗴᖇ
☠️𝕋𝕠𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕...
📖Political intrigue
♟️War/spying
📝Cliff Notes Review-
Ravenous throws you headfirst into an enormous new world packed with immortal factions, political intrigue, magic, betrayals, and absolute chaos. The multiple POVs are confusing at first, but once everything clicks together it’s hard not to become invested in the bigger picture. I wished each romance had more time to develop emotionally, but the world-building, relentless pacing, and completely unhinged final act more than made up for it.
⚜️𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒓, 𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑵 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕?⚜️ (𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡- 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑟 𝐴𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑜?)
Read this one as it can get confusing, unless you are used to multi PoV shifts then absolutely grab the audio!
⚜️𝔸𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕠 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨:
Robert Petkoff once again delivers an incredible performance. Considering the sheer number of characters, accents, personalities and emotional beats he has to juggle, it’s genuinely impressive that each voice remains so distinct. He doesn’t simply narrate the story; he gives every character their own identity. The only thing I found myself wishing for was a dual or duet narration, simply because it may have made such a large ensemble easier to follow. however, I couldn’t listen to it sped up past 1.5/1.7 at the absolute most because of how complex the story was and how you have to keep up with everything in detail.
🌍 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘:
So this book was a little different o most others I’ve read. Rather than following one central couple, this book throws you into an entirely new world filled with multiple storylines, several potential romances, political conflict, and a cast of immortal characters that all feel as though they’re heading towards something enormous.
The biggest adjustment was undoubtedly the structure. Every chapter shifts perspective, introducing another character, another plot thread, and another piece of the puzzle. At first it felt overwhelming, especially alongside learning an entirely new world and mythology. There were moments where I genuinely had to stop and remind myself whose head I was currently in. Thankfully, once everyone became more familiar, the story settled and those seemingly separate threads gradually began weaving together.
The Skein itself is fascinating. It’s a brutal parallel realm populated entirely by immortal races including werewolves, vampires, Valkyries, witches, berserkers, demons, incubi and more, all living under the looming threat of the Accession, a violent conflict that erupts every five hundred years. The setting feels vast, dangerous and unpredictable, and it’s clear that this is only the beginning of what the author has planned.
Ironically, while I loved the world and overarching plot, the romances were probably my biggest disappointment. Because so many couples share the spotlight, none of them receive enough page time to fully develop. Some relationships move at lightning speed while others barely have the opportunity to build meaningful chemistry. I found myself far more invested in the wider conflict than in who ended up with whom, which is unusual for me in a romance.
I also think some characters stood out much more than others. A few immediately captured my attention, while others never quite developed enough for me to become emotionally attached. With such a large ensemble cast, that almost feels inevitable, but I couldn’t help wishing we’d spent more time getting to know fewer characters in greater depth.
The pacing never really slows down. Something is always happening, which helps keep such a large cast moving forward, although it can occasionally feel like you’re sprinting from one major event to the next without much time to breathe. The final portion of the book completely embraces the chaos. Alliances crumble, expectations are turned upside down, shocking twists appear one after another, and by the final chapters I genuinely had no idea what was going to happen next.
Several reveals left me completely stunned. Characters I thought were heading towards one future suddenly found themselves on entirely different paths, and the amount of uncertainty has me incredibly curious to see how all of this unfolds in later books. Rather than feeling like a complete story, this almost reads as the opening move in a much larger game.
🪧𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤:
Ravenous feels less like one complete novel and more like the foundation of an epic new series. The world-building, political intrigue, betrayals, magic and constant twists kept me hooked, even if the romances didn’t have the emotional depth I usually look for. There’s an enormous amount of groundwork being laid here, and while that occasionally comes at the expense of character development, it’s impossible to ignore just how ambitious the story is. The ending left me with far more questions than answers, and honestly… I can’t wait to see what kind of chaos Kresley Cole unleashes next.
𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠;
𝕋𝕚𝕜𝕋𝕠𝕜
https://www.tiktok.com/@your_bookish_...
IᑎՏTᗩ
https://www.instagram.com/your_bookis...
***********************
𝕄𝕪 ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕤:
⭐️ DNF
⭐️⭐️
I managed to finish it but it was rubbish. I won't keep a physical copy and won't recommend it, but it's a shame as the plot could have made a good book in another author's hands
⭐️⭐️.5
It was OK. I wish I didn't start this one as it didn't do it for me as I struggled to read it. It had an interesting premise that fell flat but I had to see what happened in the end.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I don't regret reading it, and I will read the next one, but this one did have a few flaws. [These could be repetitive writing, gaps or plot holes, better character growth or world building, areas needing more detail]
Generally, the book lacked depth and became confusing. The plot resonated with me even though it annoyed me on the whole.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
I'm glad I read it. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to the right people, but I wanted more! Sadly, it's easily forgettable with a few issues I just couldn't overlook/get past.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Good book! I loved it, but... I needed more! I really did enjoy it, but it had a few parts that needed more detail or added history/background or lore. But that's because the story or characters were memorable, and the plot was strong with brilliant twists. I would re-read if I needed to catch up for the next book and would recommend.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Great book! I truly wish the story had been thought about more, or the author had been given more time as this book is so close to brilliance! I will likely read again and will definitely be recommending it to all!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
WOW! Absolutely amazing book! Well written with great characters and a plot so memorable that it will stay with me. I will definitely read this again, I will be recommending it and sharing it with the whole world! Also- I NEED A PHYSICAL COPY!
🔥⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🔥
This is my God level tier. The book must be perfectly memorable. Even after reading 50+ more books, I will remember character names and emotions along with the plot. If there is a special edition, then I need to own it! If there is a conversation on books- I'm talking about this!
SPICE SCALE:
🌶️– segsual language and a little on-page action
🌶️🌶️– a lot of segsual language and some on-page open door action, may be occurring a couple of times
🌶️🌶️🌶️– a lot of explicit action and dirty talk, occurring frequently with 2/3 lurvers
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ – super graphic and explicit, occurring 4 or more times, can be more grey and taboo themed.
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ – Kinks and Fet!shism, explicit and super graphic. It is likely to be tushy play, toys, playrooms, and more dark / taboo fantasies and realities.
August 3, 2026
Very much set in the author's Immortals After Dark series, Ravenous begins another multiple set of tales with mutliple povs and multiple couplings. None of them actually couple up- at least not entirely- and none are satisfied- and so the reader is left the same.
Color me intrigued.
The book ends with a promise of the long awaited "Ascension" to begin in the next book of the series. At least I think anyway.
So, here's the thing. This book is a set-up book. In fact it's little more than an intertwined origin story anthology. Along with that, there is a whole new dimension introduced with all new characters and there is not one thing resolved at the end. This? Is going to frustrate a ton of people.
There is a part of me that is right there with them. I just wish for a good ol' fashioned IAD entry, centered on one couple and ending with them mated and in love. Maybe we'll get there again. But do not expect that here.
That said, I still haven't given up because, dammit now I want to see what happens with these characters.
Particularly the Beserker and Vamp princess, I mean, that can't be the end of him? Right?! Oh and Ditch and her Lykae. And the other Lykaes for that matter, particularly the one who just scented his mate. The rightfully rage-filled witch, will she end up a villain or a heroine? And did we just meet the original Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf??
These are things I want a follow-up on.
Color me intrigued.
The book ends with a promise of the long awaited "Ascension" to begin in the next book of the series. At least I think anyway.
So, here's the thing. This book is a set-up book. In fact it's little more than an intertwined origin story anthology. Along with that, there is a whole new dimension introduced with all new characters and there is not one thing resolved at the end. This? Is going to frustrate a ton of people.
There is a part of me that is right there with them. I just wish for a good ol' fashioned IAD entry, centered on one couple and ending with them mated and in love. Maybe we'll get there again. But do not expect that here.
That said, I still haven't given up because, dammit now I want to see what happens with these characters.
Particularly the Beserker and Vamp princess, I mean, that can't be the end of him? Right?! Oh and Ditch and her Lykae. And the other Lykaes for that matter, particularly the one who just scented his mate. The rightfully rage-filled witch, will she end up a villain or a heroine? And did we just meet the original Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf??
These are things I want a follow-up on.
July 15, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me early access to this eAudiobook.
4 stars. This is a fun new addition to the paranormal romance genre. The story follows a myriad of characters and their connections to one another. This is set in a world with many different creatures, including vampires, wolves, berserkers, and witches.
This book changes POV every chapter. It made it very difficult to understand early on. However, with that being said, I was able to catch on relatively quickly as each character storyline was truly unique. I enjoyed all of the characters that were present in this book.
This book described following different romances, which was partially true. However, I wish we got to develop those romances even more. I did like the political intrigue and the way the characters intertwined. However, by the end, I was not a huge fan of where the story was going.
All in all, this was a very fun book. It was truly unique in the number of characters that we got to follow. I enjoyed all of these characters and discovering their connections to one another. However, the way the story progressed was not what I was hoping for. I enjoyed the audiobook, although it was difficult at times given there was a single narrator and so many different characters. I thought the narrator did a good job.
4 stars. This is a fun new addition to the paranormal romance genre. The story follows a myriad of characters and their connections to one another. This is set in a world with many different creatures, including vampires, wolves, berserkers, and witches.
This book changes POV every chapter. It made it very difficult to understand early on. However, with that being said, I was able to catch on relatively quickly as each character storyline was truly unique. I enjoyed all of the characters that were present in this book.
This book described following different romances, which was partially true. However, I wish we got to develop those romances even more. I did like the political intrigue and the way the characters intertwined. However, by the end, I was not a huge fan of where the story was going.
All in all, this was a very fun book. It was truly unique in the number of characters that we got to follow. I enjoyed all of these characters and discovering their connections to one another. However, the way the story progressed was not what I was hoping for. I enjoyed the audiobook, although it was difficult at times given there was a single narrator and so many different characters. I thought the narrator did a good job.
July 23, 2026
I voluntarily read and reviewed this advanced copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Kresley Cole is my favorite author of all time and I've been reading her books for 15 years. I've read her Immortals After Dark series 3,4,5 times over as well as her historical collections. I'm a verified Lore Lass who knows her characters inside and out. Her new series Ravenous was a step away from her usual fare but still had the foundation of her paranormal origins. It featured multiple couples rather than focusing on a primary duo to lead the book. I did like a majority of the pairs, but would have honestly preferred a single romance. I loved the vampire princess and the one-eyed Berserker (you know I love an eye-patch hero), the half demon-witch and the Lykae king (canny go wrong with a brogue and a wolven spirit), the unlikely pairing between a timid witch and a charming Lykae, and that's it. I absolutely hated the incubus and vampire couple. There was no real passion and I absolutely loathe baldies. Dries me right up, bruv. This was an ensemble book with a constantly shifting narrative where each relationship was still developing. There was a major cliffhanger that knocked my socks off and it seems like the next book will feature the same characters alongside some new ones.
All in all, I'm so proud of KC for switching it up even though I desperately miss my Immortals After Dark Loreans. I was hoping for a Lothaire cameo, but alas. I would have been happy with two couples instead of the four that we got because it was difficult to be constantly switching just as the plot got juicy. As I said, this is my favorite author and I was so happy to get this early preview. She's such a talented writer and it's fun to get new content from her. I'm constantly rereading IAD and can't get enough of her characters. I'm curious to see how the next installment will go, especially with Lowell's final chapter. That was downright dastardly! Ravenous, even!
Kresley Cole is my favorite author of all time and I've been reading her books for 15 years. I've read her Immortals After Dark series 3,4,5 times over as well as her historical collections. I'm a verified Lore Lass who knows her characters inside and out. Her new series Ravenous was a step away from her usual fare but still had the foundation of her paranormal origins. It featured multiple couples rather than focusing on a primary duo to lead the book. I did like a majority of the pairs, but would have honestly preferred a single romance. I loved the vampire princess and the one-eyed Berserker (you know I love an eye-patch hero), the half demon-witch and the Lykae king (canny go wrong with a brogue and a wolven spirit), the unlikely pairing between a timid witch and a charming Lykae, and that's it. I absolutely hated the incubus and vampire couple. There was no real passion and I absolutely loathe baldies. Dries me right up, bruv. This was an ensemble book with a constantly shifting narrative where each relationship was still developing. There was a major cliffhanger that knocked my socks off and it seems like the next book will feature the same characters alongside some new ones.
All in all, I'm so proud of KC for switching it up even though I desperately miss my Immortals After Dark Loreans. I was hoping for a Lothaire cameo, but alas. I would have been happy with two couples instead of the four that we got because it was difficult to be constantly switching just as the plot got juicy. As I said, this is my favorite author and I was so happy to get this early preview. She's such a talented writer and it's fun to get new content from her. I'm constantly rereading IAD and can't get enough of her characters. I'm curious to see how the next installment will go, especially with Lowell's final chapter. That was downright dastardly! Ravenous, even!
August 4, 2026
Liked it but don't know how I feel about all the different POVs. It was hard to follow at points and will need to reread.
August 4, 2026
I have a problem with multiple POVs
Want to Read
October 11, 2025
August 3, 2026
Tl:dr. I really enjoyed it, though it's not quite what I expected.
This is NOT a typical IAD book, but at the same time it is familiar. Much more in the romantasy / fantasy side of the genre. This book doesn’t have 1 main couple, it’s more an ensemble cast. Nor does it end in an HEA / HFN…very much a cliffhanger. I did see in Kresley’s fb group that there are 4 books in this series planned and the 2nd one is mostly written and in the process of being massaged into final form.
Welcome to the Skein. Basically a pocket dimension, cut off from the IAD world of the Lore where all kinds of immortals were banished for “something”. It seems to be a large island divided into territories for each sect of immortals. We’ve got the usual species of Lykae, witches, demons, vampires, Incubus / succubus, valkyries and berserkers. Along with a few others. And their fated mates. Ditch, (a half demon / witch), reminded me of Sabine. Not necessarily unlikable, but very kick ass and take no grief from anyone….especially her fated mate!
It's written in 1st person and has LOTS (11?) different povs! In the beginning, it was tricky to keep the characters all straight. I will say the artwork available in the book and online showcasing them really helped me keep them separate eventually.(though this could be my post menopausal brain)
I love Kresley’s writing and how distinct each character is! I feel like you can really see her strength as a writer and how it has grown and evolved over the years. She’s taken the rules of the world she built in IAD, and is seeing just how far she can push those boundaries. The banter and dialog was so sharp and I laughed out loud a bunch. There were hints and breadcrumbs dropped throughout for future things and I found most of my highlights were “ooo I bet this will be important in the future” moments. I am also really curious to see if / how / when it ties back to the IAD books. (I definitely have some theories!!!) But right now, it is a separate story line with all new characters and plots.
I did have some “WTAF just happened?” moments. And some “Kresley, how could you!?” moments. There were brutal choices and consequences incurred. I'm still reeling from a few.
This was very different, but still felt familiar. I devoured this and am absolutely ready for book 2. I don’t know if I would recommend starting here with Kresley and IAD however. I felt like having a working knowledge of the Lore universe was really helpful.
This is NOT a typical IAD book, but at the same time it is familiar. Much more in the romantasy / fantasy side of the genre. This book doesn’t have 1 main couple, it’s more an ensemble cast. Nor does it end in an HEA / HFN…very much a cliffhanger. I did see in Kresley’s fb group that there are 4 books in this series planned and the 2nd one is mostly written and in the process of being massaged into final form.
Welcome to the Skein. Basically a pocket dimension, cut off from the IAD world of the Lore where all kinds of immortals were banished for “something”. It seems to be a large island divided into territories for each sect of immortals. We’ve got the usual species of Lykae, witches, demons, vampires, Incubus / succubus, valkyries and berserkers. Along with a few others. And their fated mates. Ditch, (a half demon / witch), reminded me of Sabine. Not necessarily unlikable, but very kick ass and take no grief from anyone….especially her fated mate!
It's written in 1st person and has LOTS (11?) different povs! In the beginning, it was tricky to keep the characters all straight. I will say the artwork available in the book and online showcasing them really helped me keep them separate eventually.(though this could be my post menopausal brain)
I love Kresley’s writing and how distinct each character is! I feel like you can really see her strength as a writer and how it has grown and evolved over the years. She’s taken the rules of the world she built in IAD, and is seeing just how far she can push those boundaries. The banter and dialog was so sharp and I laughed out loud a bunch. There were hints and breadcrumbs dropped throughout for future things and I found most of my highlights were “ooo I bet this will be important in the future” moments. I am also really curious to see if / how / when it ties back to the IAD books. (I definitely have some theories!!!) But right now, it is a separate story line with all new characters and plots.
I did have some “WTAF just happened?” moments. And some “Kresley, how could you!?” moments. There were brutal choices and consequences incurred. I'm still reeling from a few.
This was very different, but still felt familiar. I devoured this and am absolutely ready for book 2. I don’t know if I would recommend starting here with Kresley and IAD however. I felt like having a working knowledge of the Lore universe was really helpful.
August 2, 2026
3.5 stars ~ [6.41/10]
I was very intrigued about where this new series was going to go and how it would fit into the IADverse. I tried not to look at too much information before starting it other than the blurb and the character art on Kresley’s IG, mostly because I was still reading through IAD and I didn’t know if would spoil anything for that series. For enquiring minds, it does not. This mostly stands completely alone from IAD and, I assume, acts as another new entry point into a long running series - I think so that it feels less daunting for a newbie maybe? You really should read the other series though, it’s such a fun time. I would absolutely love to see opinions from people who have no knowledge of the Lore though, I think you do get thrown in at the deep end a bit with a lot of implied knowledge and I’m not sure how much time a non-IAD reader would have to spend figuring out Lykae or Berserker stuff or why it’s interesting that the beings in this world don’t seem to know certain things about the Lore (like non blood drinking vampires.) Maybe that stuff just hits harder if you’re in the know but it would be interesting to see how opinions split.
There are all the hallmarks of classic Kresley in here, with romance very much taking the A plot for the majority of the book. There are A LOT of POV characters, which I think only works with knowing that this is the start of an ongoing story arc. If it was in the format of the IAD series with each book being a contained story it would be way too many characters to have in POV and way too short of a book to develop them all the way that kind of structuring needs. The best thing about this book though is how many times Kresley takes the opportunity to do things with this worldbuilding that she isn’t really able to do in the IAD books and most of those things are spoilers so I won’t mention them here, but it did sort of justify this books existence to me in a lot ways. It also made me really excited for where she plans on taking this new series, it’s just unfortunate that a lot of that took place in the final act so I had all those jaw drop moments without any resolution. It will pay to read this as a series and now I just have to be patient enough to wait for the next one.
I was very intrigued about where this new series was going to go and how it would fit into the IADverse. I tried not to look at too much information before starting it other than the blurb and the character art on Kresley’s IG, mostly because I was still reading through IAD and I didn’t know if would spoil anything for that series. For enquiring minds, it does not. This mostly stands completely alone from IAD and, I assume, acts as another new entry point into a long running series - I think so that it feels less daunting for a newbie maybe? You really should read the other series though, it’s such a fun time. I would absolutely love to see opinions from people who have no knowledge of the Lore though, I think you do get thrown in at the deep end a bit with a lot of implied knowledge and I’m not sure how much time a non-IAD reader would have to spend figuring out Lykae or Berserker stuff or why it’s interesting that the beings in this world don’t seem to know certain things about the Lore (like non blood drinking vampires.) Maybe that stuff just hits harder if you’re in the know but it would be interesting to see how opinions split.
There are all the hallmarks of classic Kresley in here, with romance very much taking the A plot for the majority of the book. There are A LOT of POV characters, which I think only works with knowing that this is the start of an ongoing story arc. If it was in the format of the IAD series with each book being a contained story it would be way too many characters to have in POV and way too short of a book to develop them all the way that kind of structuring needs. The best thing about this book though is how many times Kresley takes the opportunity to do things with this worldbuilding that she isn’t really able to do in the IAD books and most of those things are spoilers so I won’t mention them here, but it did sort of justify this books existence to me in a lot ways. It also made me really excited for where she plans on taking this new series, it’s just unfortunate that a lot of that took place in the final act so I had all those jaw drop moments without any resolution. It will pay to read this as a series and now I just have to be patient enough to wait for the next one.
July 14, 2026
Thank you Sourcebooks for the ARC and ALC!
MAN did I miss having a new Kresley Cole book in my life. And this one feels like her--but also doesn't?
The good news is that you don't have to have read the IAD series before this for things to make sense! It's a parallel universe, so not related at all. The bad news? There was SO MUCH going on in such a low page count that I'm not sure that it worked.
While the narration was fine and bless Robert's heart for doing his best on this, there are just SO MANY POVs that I don't think it really works in audiobook. If I hadn't also had a physical copy to immersively read, I probably would have been lost. I generally don't care if it's a single narrator or a complete cast, but I think this would have benefited from a full cast audiobook more than anything else I've ever read.
But honestly though, I think Kresley just tried to do too much. There's like 8 different characters and POVs going on here that cut in and out at random so it's very difficult to keep everything straight--especially at first. I think either a longer book, more narrow scope, or more connection from the beginning would have made this more effective.
Being said, I still had a great time. I love Kresley's writing and how different each character manages to be from the next. Which again, with 200 POVs, is quite impressive. It's super easy to pick your "favorite" couple early on and then spend the next 5 chapters waiting to get back to them. But with all of the different supernatural creatures (if they fit within a paranormal designation, they exist in this book), there's definitely something for everyone. Especially if you're a fan of IAD!
I do think this has potential to be a VERY interesting spin off series, but I think I'll be skipping the audio in the future.
MAN did I miss having a new Kresley Cole book in my life. And this one feels like her--but also doesn't?
The good news is that you don't have to have read the IAD series before this for things to make sense! It's a parallel universe, so not related at all. The bad news? There was SO MUCH going on in such a low page count that I'm not sure that it worked.
While the narration was fine and bless Robert's heart for doing his best on this, there are just SO MANY POVs that I don't think it really works in audiobook. If I hadn't also had a physical copy to immersively read, I probably would have been lost. I generally don't care if it's a single narrator or a complete cast, but I think this would have benefited from a full cast audiobook more than anything else I've ever read.
But honestly though, I think Kresley just tried to do too much. There's like 8 different characters and POVs going on here that cut in and out at random so it's very difficult to keep everything straight--especially at first. I think either a longer book, more narrow scope, or more connection from the beginning would have made this more effective.
Being said, I still had a great time. I love Kresley's writing and how different each character manages to be from the next. Which again, with 200 POVs, is quite impressive. It's super easy to pick your "favorite" couple early on and then spend the next 5 chapters waiting to get back to them. But with all of the different supernatural creatures (if they fit within a paranormal designation, they exist in this book), there's definitely something for everyone. Especially if you're a fan of IAD!
I do think this has potential to be a VERY interesting spin off series, but I think I'll be skipping the audio in the future.
July 31, 2026
This is a new series from Kelsey Cole and let me tell you this has a lot of POV. I mean like it has over 13…to be honest I lost count. Sometimes it was kind of hard for me, especially in the beginning to keep track. They are marked at the beginning of each chapter and if you have a digital copy are m armed when you bing up the chapters listing as well so that is nice. So you can keep looking, which my ADHD brain needs. I will say going in I thought it would be a romance, it really isn’t it is more of a fantasy but I wasn’t disappointed at all. I had a great time regardless. So much so that I have a physical copy that I went and got the only copy in the store!
I do think Kresely Cole is great at world building and she shows of her skills here as always. She does also a very good job establishing her characters, there are a lot of them so bring a pen and a piece of paper! But also if you are an audio person I don’t think I would do this one as an audio alone. I didn’t have it but I know by seeing this one and laying eyes on it that this one would be a hard just read if I were to consume it through the audio alone. This would have to be a full immersion read or straight eyeball read, due to full cast of characters it provides. I can’t wait for the next one!
Thank you to Bloom for the complimetary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I do think Kresely Cole is great at world building and she shows of her skills here as always. She does also a very good job establishing her characters, there are a lot of them so bring a pen and a piece of paper! But also if you are an audio person I don’t think I would do this one as an audio alone. I didn’t have it but I know by seeing this one and laying eyes on it that this one would be a hard just read if I were to consume it through the audio alone. This would have to be a full immersion read or straight eyeball read, due to full cast of characters it provides. I can’t wait for the next one!
Thank you to Bloom for the complimetary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
August 2, 2026
I went into Ravenous really excited because I’ve heard so many great things about Kresley Cole’s writing. Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t the right fit for me.
The biggest challenge was the sheer number of POVs. With so many characters, storylines, and relationships introduced right away, I found it difficult to become emotionally invested in any one character before the perspective shifted again. Combined with the heavy worldbuilding, I often felt like I was trying to piece everything together instead of getting immersed in the story. That said, I can absolutely see why this book is working for so many readers. The world is ambitious, imaginative, and full of interesting supernatural factions. It’s clear that a lot of care went into creating the larger story, and readers who enjoy sprawling ensemble casts and interconnected plotlines will likely appreciate what this book is building toward.
For me, I tend to prefer fantasy romances that spend more time developing one or two central characters, so the pacing and structure here just didn’t fully click. I genuinely don’t think this is a bad book, it simply came down to personal reading preferences. If you love expansive fantasy worlds, multiple POVs, and don’t mind spending time putting all the pieces together before everything clicks, this may be a great fit for you. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t the right book for me.
Thank you to Bloom Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!
The biggest challenge was the sheer number of POVs. With so many characters, storylines, and relationships introduced right away, I found it difficult to become emotionally invested in any one character before the perspective shifted again. Combined with the heavy worldbuilding, I often felt like I was trying to piece everything together instead of getting immersed in the story. That said, I can absolutely see why this book is working for so many readers. The world is ambitious, imaginative, and full of interesting supernatural factions. It’s clear that a lot of care went into creating the larger story, and readers who enjoy sprawling ensemble casts and interconnected plotlines will likely appreciate what this book is building toward.
For me, I tend to prefer fantasy romances that spend more time developing one or two central characters, so the pacing and structure here just didn’t fully click. I genuinely don’t think this is a bad book, it simply came down to personal reading preferences. If you love expansive fantasy worlds, multiple POVs, and don’t mind spending time putting all the pieces together before everything clicks, this may be a great fit for you. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t the right book for me.
Thank you to Bloom Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!
August 3, 2026
🌔 I received an advanced copy of this ebook from Netgally 🌖
Witches, valkyries, werewolves, and demons—oh my!
If you don't love a multi-pov fantasy world with a lot of political intrigue, back away from this one.
We've got a dozen point-of-view characters to keep track of, and they're all basically plotting something. Some of them want to kill each other, some are trying to make enough coin to escape their broken mess of a realm, and others are trying to start wars between rival factions.
Amidst all that, we have some cross-species fated mates situations which absolutely make a mess of things.
There aren't any happy endings yet, and I'm not sure whether there will be in the volumes to come. The third act is absolute chaos, and definitely tore holes in what few expectations I had about where things were headed.
So, be ready for a wild ride and buckle up, I guess.
Witches, valkyries, werewolves, and demons—oh my!
If you don't love a multi-pov fantasy world with a lot of political intrigue, back away from this one.
We've got a dozen point-of-view characters to keep track of, and they're all basically plotting something. Some of them want to kill each other, some are trying to make enough coin to escape their broken mess of a realm, and others are trying to start wars between rival factions.
Amidst all that, we have some cross-species fated mates situations which absolutely make a mess of things.
There aren't any happy endings yet, and I'm not sure whether there will be in the volumes to come. The third act is absolute chaos, and definitely tore holes in what few expectations I had about where things were headed.
So, be ready for a wild ride and buckle up, I guess.
August 4, 2026
I had a great time with this. While I wish we could've seen some of my favorites who are alive in her world, it was really nice to just be back with the comfortable writing and especially the same narrator makes the world just feel like a place I love to be. This one also had some devestating elements that I wasn't prepared for and I cannot wait for the next book to come out. This is outside the realm of what her books have been in the past, but I still loved it and can't wait for more.
July 29, 2026
It was amazing in a way that has left me speechless! I had no idea how the book was going to end! All the characters were intriguing, secretive, and seductive! Kresley Cole did not hold back! She wrote this story with so much roller coaster of emotions. I am emotional scared.
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