Carissa Broadbent
Pan Macmillan
2025
517
Paperback
Romantasy
Xmas Gift
Mische lost everything when she was forcibly Turned into a vampire – her home, her humanity, and most devastating of all, the love of the sun god to whom she had devoted her life. Now, sentenced to death for murdering the vampire prince who Turned her, redemption feels impossible.
But when Mische is saved by Asar, the bastard prince of the House of Shadow with a past as brutal as his scars, she’s forced into a mission worse than execution: a journey to the underworld to resurrect the god of death himself.
Yet, Mische’s punishment may be the key to her salvation. In a secret meeting, her sun god commands her to help Asar in his mission, only to betray him… by killing the very death god she’ll help resurrect.
Mische and Asar must travel the treacherous path to the underworld, facing trials, beasts, and the vengeful ghosts of their pasts. Yet, most dangerous of all is the alluring call of the darkness – and her forbidden attraction to Asar, a burgeoning bond that risks invoking the wrath of gods.
As her betrayal looms, the underworld closes in and angry gods are growing restless. Mische will be forced to choose between the redemption of the sun or the damnation of the darkness.
I enjoyed the opener to this new duology from the Crowns of Nyaxia series. The Songbird and the Heart of Stone was a compelling tale from start to finish. Both Mische and Asar were presented as well-formed characters who grew over the course of the book, and I found the development of their romance believable too. The story itself had plenty of drama and action and was a fast-paced read; meanwhile, the world building was generally well handled. Luce is a wonderful secondary character I am sure many readers will come to love as well. This first installment left me keen to read on to the second book, so hopefully I will have the opportunity to do so later this year. You could read this without knowledge of the earlier Crowns of Nyaxia books; however, there are some references to earlier events, so you will get more from it if you read the books in order. I am giving this one 4.5 stars.
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