Awakening #1
I read Fall of Ruin and Wrath looking for something light, fantasy and thrilling. Did not disappoint. I was engaged from the beginning. There are a lot of layers that Armentrout slowly peels back throughout the book. There were hints and details trickled throughout the book and lots of sharp left turns. Some might call that inconsistent, some might call it attempting to be tricky. I recall being really surprised by some of the twists! I do have a pet peeve of the author withholding information the character knows just to improve the tension, but it wasn’t overly egregious in this book.
I’m sure it’ll get explained further in future books, but I wish there was more consistency or logic applied to Calista’s gifts. I’m accustomed to pretty rigid high fantasy and the magic/skills here seemed a little loose and variable depending on what the plot required.
The world building is pretty narrow, but this is romantasy. The romance was definitely on point, the tension between Calista and Bastian was excellent. The plot leaned a lot on class warfare, reminded me a lot of the Blood and Ash series by Jennifer Armentrout, she’s sticking to what has worked well for her. The concept of the ruling class feeding on the lower classes is the same in both books.
Fall of Ruin and Wrath is a light, fluffy, quick read. I didn’t expect much and it delivered.
Characters
Calista – An orphan, she’s a magically talented courtesan of the Baron of Archwood. Main protagonist, secret backstory.
Baron of Archwood – local ruler managing a small, decadent court. Hopes to keep the Hyhborns out of their business.
Prince Thorne – Hyhborn. Powerful and intimidating, his motivations are not always known.
Bastian – companion of Prince Thorne.
Links
Publication Information
Publisher: Bramble
First Published: September 12 2023
Audiobook Publisher: Macmillion Audio
Narrator: Soneela Nankani
ISBN: 9781250291646