Mother of Death and Dawn
By Carissa Broadbent (2022)
Fantasy Romance
★★★★★ 5 Star Review
Description
In the wake of a crushing defeat, Tisaanah and Maxatarius have been ripped apart. Tisaanah is desperate to rescue Max from his imprisonment, even as her people’s fight for freedom grows more treacherous. But within the walls of Ilyzath, Max’s mind is a shadow of what it once was… leaving his past a mystery and his future at the mercy of Ara’s new, ruthless queen. Meanwhile, in the Fey lands, Aefe has been dragged back into this world by a king who vows to destroy civilizations in her name. But even as her past returns to claim her, her former self is a stranger. Tisaanah, Max, and Aefe are thrust into the center of a cataclysm between the human and Fey worlds. The unique magic they share is key to either winning the war, or ending it. But that power demands sacrifice. Tisaanah may be forced to choose between love and duty. Max cannot forge his future without confronting his past. And Aefe must decide between reclaiming who she was, or embracing who she has become. The choices they make will either reshape this world forever…or end it..
To start let me just say….This is the best fantasy romance series I have ever read
I am obsessed. I am emotionally wrecked. I am stuck in this world. I really took my time finishing this last book partly to savor and partly because I didn’t want it to end!
Thoughts & Review: Characters and Romance
Tisaanah is my all-time favorite main character. She is so strong, resilient, and determined to make the world a better place and to protect her people, and she never loses that hope, even after being beaten and tortured, after seeing death and destruction, she always keeps her goal in mind and fights to attain it. She is an amazing selfless woman, full of hope and kindness, and love, and I wish I could meet her in real life. She was a huge part of what made this series so impactful to me.
“But the woman knows nothing if not how to fail. So she tries again, again, again. She collects another scar, another night of an aching heart, and a little more of her dies. She gets up and goes again.”
Aefe is broken, hurt, lost, and struggling with humanity… understandably so. Getting to watch her character experience the world the way she has and watch her make decisions leading down certain paths (I know this is vague but I don’t want to spoil anything lol) literally had me on the edge of my seat. She was a character I really dug deep to understand beyond her surface level words and actions.
“I was not surprised. This was what humans did. They destroyed what they could not have. So many times, they used me to do it.”
I have some more thoughts on Max and other characters in my past reviews on Daughter of No Worlds and Children of Fallen Gods that still stand so be sure to check those out too!
Romance
There are two main romance plots in this series and while one is the most tender & sweet love I’ve ever read; the other is tragic and desperate and raw in a way that only characters who have lived through true trauma could experience. And I loved them both equally. The romance definitely takes a backseat in this series, but it is there and it definitely affects the plot and gives me all the heartwarming/heartbreaking displays of love and passion I needed.
“I want to fill my last days with you. I have spent my life chasing knowledge, but now the only thing that I want to know is you. Every part of you. I want you to be the last thing I see when death comes for me. And I want you beside me when we build this new world.”
Thoughts & Review: Plot and Writing Style
Never been so invested into characters & their intertwined paths
I personally think that the characters made this book for me. They were each so REAL and complex and sometimes you really didn’t like them for it but I LOVED them. Of course along with the writing that was BEAUTIFUL and full of metaphors and similes that painted such a vivid picture I could see it in my mind and feel it in my heart.
The ending was everything I needed it to be
I got closure!! A beautiful, intricate, and detailed series such as this deserves a complete ending so I am not wondering where certain people ended up. And I got that and more!! There is no cliffhanger or vague implications of what's to come. A perfect ending, with adequate emotional damage of course lol.
“Do not fear death, my daughter. We all walk with one foot in each world. There is beauty in impermanence. And what sad lives we would live, if we never loved anything we would lose.”
2.5/5 Spice Scale Rating
