Abby

https://www.goodreads.com/abby9793

Abby’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (312)
currently-reading‎ (3)
read‎ (515)
did-not-finish‎ (7)
fantasy‎ (294)
college‎ (270)
romantasy‎ (215)
badass-leading-ladies‎ (204)
indie‎ (184)
bloody-times‎ (181)
ya‎ (151)
under-300-pages‎ (149)

bipoc‎ (136)
romance‎ (126)
smut‎ (115)
friend-goals‎ (105)
general-fiction‎ (101)
enemies-to-lovers‎ (95)
myth-fairytale-retelling‎ (92)
paranormal-romance‎ (91)
high-school‎ (89)
favorites‎ (88)
strong-families‎ (82)
nonfiction‎ (81)

classics‎ (77)
ghosts-demons-and-paranormal‎ (76)
mystery‎ (76)
school‎ (76)
lgtbq-romance‎ (75)
middle-school-and-earlier‎ (75)
urban-fantasy‎ (75)
friends-to-lovers‎ (74)
i-laughed-out-loud‎ (71)
witches-wizards‎ (65)
faeries‎ (64)
alphaholes‎ (53)

vampires‎ (51)
theif-assassin-sly‎ (42)
sci-fi‎ (38)
forbidden-lovers‎ (37)
instalove‎ (36)
black-author‎ (35)
asian-author‎ (30)
book-boyfriend‎ (30)
under-100-reviews-tbr‎ (30)
historical‎ (28)
dragons‎ (26)
exes-reunited‎ (25)

Stats | More…

Abby is Currently Reading

Abby is currently reading

The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia, #2)

by Carissa Broadbent (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: badass-leading-ladies, bloody-times, college, enemies-to-lovers, exes-reunited, fantasy, romantasy, smut, vampires, paranormal-romance, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in May 2023

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Abby said: " (4.5 stars.)
That climax though.

The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King picks up in the aftermath of Raihn’s—would you call it an insurrection? Everything Oraya thought was true has been destroyed, and worst of all, she is married to the man who catalyzed (4.5 stars.)
That climax though.

The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King picks up in the aftermath of Raihn’s—would you call it an insurrection? Everything Oraya thought was true has been destroyed, and worst of all, she is married to the man who catalyzed it all. Yet, Raihn’s rise to power hasn’t been smooth. The people he’s forced to trust are the ones that will stab him in the back, and those he has overthrown now scream for vengeance. Both Raihn’s and Oraya’s survival may depend on them forming a secret alliance; one that sheds light on Oraya’s past, and might destroy her heart for good.

All right, so, like, where do you even begin with a book like this? First off, we have dual perspectives, so we get to see the pining from both sides—and what wonderful pining it is. I once heard the saying that creating character relationships is like braiding roses, where the thorns initially clash, but throughout the story, they learn to weave together. Oraya and Raihn are the definition of thorns that want to lace together, but just keep freaking stabbing one another. Sometimes it’s frustrating, sometimes it’s agonizing, sometimes it’s just downright funny. Let’s just slap an A on the romance and sexual tension and move on.

I really loved reading through Oraya’s perspective this book. Yes, she’s a badass, but I was more interested in her struggle to sift through her feelings Towards Vincent. I think this quote sums it up best:
“Vincent had ruined me. He had saved me. He had loved me. He had stifled me. He had manipulated me. He had made me everything that I was. Everything that I could be. Even the greatest parts of my power, the parts he never wanted me to find, were his. And now here I was, pouring over every wound he gave me. And no matter how much they hurt, I never wanted them to heal , because they were his. And I missed him too much to hate him the way I wanted to. And I hated him most of all for that.”
Powerful. Watching Oraya finally not just face these feelings, but come to terms with them was one of the most heart-aching character arcs I’ve read to date. Raihn also has to face his past, but I keep coming back to Oraya. And since I have nowhere else to put this, I’ll mention here that there is so much blood. So much action in this book. So much undiscovered power that was so much fun to uncover.

Now, we move into the big question: why wasn’t this 5 stars for me? I think it comes down to a couple things. First, there was a big chunk of time where I couldn’t really get sucked into the story. This could be because I started reading during the last few weeks of my last semester of college, which was an incredibly stressful time. But I think it comes down to the fact that I don’t think TAATSCK doesn’t need to be as long as it is. I know Carissa, the queen, had three releases in five weeks and deadlines closing in from all sides, but the revisions here felt a little inconsistent. There was a lot of stuff that could have been trimmed down or axed entirely, (paragraphs, not scenes). I especially noticed this around pages 350-550, where everything felt dragged out just a bit too long. There were also SO MANY ellipses from about chapter 44 onward, almost all of which were unnecessary and usually ended up shaping sentences so they had more words than necessary—which goes back to my “chop it down” comment. Honestly, I feel like a picky pain in the ass for pointing any of this out, and I feel like most people didn’t even notice, but I think this is why I couldn’t get sucked in the way I needed to give 5 stars. I love Oraya’s and Raihn’s arcs, though. I’m conflicted.

Ultimately, if you liked The Serpent and the Wings of Night, reading this book is a must. The romance, spice, character arcs, and action are done so well. It’s definitely the ending that Oraya and Raihn deserve.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night review - 5
Six Scorched Roses review - 3.5 ...more "

progress:

(page 444 of 626)
"Must. Finish. Today!" — May 02, 2023 10:46AM

May 03, 2023 05:28PM · see review

Abby is currently reading

The Knight and the Moth (The Stonewater Kingdom, #1)

by Rachel Gillig (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: romantasy, currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

progress:

(13%)
— Jan 19, 2026 06:48PM

Jan 18, 2026 07:41PM

Abby is currently reading

The Greek Myths Deluxe Edition

by Robert Graves

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

progress:

(page 97 of 832)
— Dec 11, 2025 02:06PM

Nov 26, 2025 09:08PM

Abby’s Notes & Highlights

Book cover for The Lost Metal (The Mistborn Saga #7)

The Lost Metal (The Mistborn Saga #7) by Brandon Sanderson

16 notes & 24 highlights

In my company, Dragonsteel, our in-house Editorial department is headed by the Insatiable Peter Ahlstrom, with Karen

I swear Peter gets a new adjective in every single acknowledgments section 🤣

See Abby’s 30 books with notes and highlights…

Abby’s Quotes

“Have you fallen in love with the wrong person yet?'
Jace said, "Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains myself."
..."At least," she said, "you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland."
"Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

tags: city-of-bones, jace

24138 likes