Hate is a flame. Insatiable when coaxed by the slightest breath, hungry to incite inferno. And Elysia is burning. Our world has always reigned between dragon and phoenix rule, living in harmony; though a senseless war for power has divided us. But the heat of astral fury was nothing compared to the human machines when they appeared in our realm. With weapons and bots, the humans brought Elysia to heel and now, we are disappearing…slowly like mist in a new rising sun and the strength of Elysia is faltering beneath the weight of the humans' false light. Fire meets steel in a war that begs sworn enemies to join for hope of saving the heart of Elysia. There's no more room for mistakes. Dragons and Phoenixes must burn together. Or Elysia will be lost to the flame.
Welcome to Ironsgate Penitentiary.
An epic romance where cyberpunk meets traditional fantasy. For lovers of Alchemised and The Zodiac Academy, immerse yourself in the world of Elysia. Dragon and Phoenix astrals have ruled for millennia, reigning together in harmony until a war tore them apart, shifting the tides of the monarchy. Now, the humans have taken over with advanced technology unlike anything the astrals have ever seen and the stakes become deadly when astrals start going missing; rounded up and carted away to never be seen again. Tensions run high between astrals but as the humans close in with visions of a new world, it’s up to two born enemies to bring their people together under a united front. If only all was simple in love and war…
So let me start this off with I was incredibly honored to be able to be an ARC reader for this incredible book.
I was on the edge of my seat reading this because I just had to know what happened next at every turn. This is not generally the type of book I would normally pick up (Romantasy usually isn’t my thing) but this had just enough other elements to keep me engaged.
I also have to mention that I definitely appreciated the map and the definitions in the beginning of the book as they helped me to understand the world that I was stepping into.
This book had a lot of smut, but it was used in a way that drove the plot forward which I haven’t seen in a lot of the “smutty” books I’ve picked up lately.
I appreciated the fresh take on fantasy creatures because the way that they interact with the human world in this book is like nothing I’ve ever read before.
This book was absolutely a breath of fresh air after some of the disappointing fantasy reads I’ve had lately.
I really walked into reading this book with no idea what to expect. In all fairness, I am not a big fan of spiciness or smut in books. This book is fairly spicy and I think at first that influenced me, but I objectively found that the spiciness was relevant to the plot and that makes a big difference for me. I don’t like gratuitous spiciness just for the sake of it. But if it moves, the plot forward and is necessary, I totally am OK with it even though it’s not my preference.That being said, I think the spice was well written and realistic. I think it was absolutely relevant to setting the tone and make the background setting of a prison realistic as well.
After the first couple chapters that were very spicy, I discovered the beginnings of a strong plot line that I didn’t see coming, and that I really enjoyed. The further I went into the story, the more invested I became in the characters. I think the authors did a really good job at creating rich and relatable characters pretty quickly. They created a world that was believable and characters that I cared about in a remarkably short amount of time. The pacing was just right and overall, this was an easy and quick read. By the time I was done reading the book I really enjoyed the story overall and found myself rooting for my favorites and enjoying the villains as well.
I think I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed this read, and I will look forward to the sequel to find out what happens next. If you are a fan of smut, but also romance, I think this would be a good read for you.