I unfortunately did not have a chance to finish this title before it was published despite having an interest in it. Rated 5stars, did not finish.

Hooked instantly. This dual, First Person POV narrative is a magical adventure, filled with page turning intrigue, suspense, romance, and unsuspected turns along the way. Not to mention, the type of worldbuilding that stands on its own magical way, which enraptures the reader with each page turn. The first in a duology. that is certain to capture many Fantasy readers' hearts (as it did mine) and become a classic favorite for many generations to come.. set it alongside your other favorite series.. you'll be happy you did❤️‍🔥

I really, REALLY wanted to love this book and I'm so sad I didn't. The magic system and the world for whatever reason was kind of hard for me to understand.. and I LOVE fantasy so this isn't my first rodeo reading this genre. I didn't fall in love with the characters. Didn't feel any attachment with any one of them. The one thing I did REALLY enjoy was the ending. Things were finally starting to happen and the plot twist with Caspian was surprising to read.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

I absolutely loved this book. The worldbuilding was incredible and all of the characters were so fun and intriguing. I was never bored, and sometimes fantasy books can be confusing but the writing was super clear throughout. The ending was so amazing and I cannot wait for a second book! A new favorite fantasy book for sure.

3⭐️ I really liked the premise of this book and it had some great moments but overall it was underwhelming. I really did appreciate seeing all the diversity in this book such as the BIPOC MC and non binary character it was nice to see a fantasy world intentionally make space for all people.

Darling Seabreak cannot remember anything before the murder of her family at the hands of House Dragon. What she does know is she owes her life to House Kraken who saved her as a child. So when her adoptive Kraken father is captured, Darling vows to save him--even if that means killing every member of House Dragon.

Talon Goldhoard has always been a dutiful War Prince for House Dragon, bravely leading the elite troops of his brother, the High Prince Regent. But lately his brother's erratic rule threatens to undo a hundred years of House Dragon's hard work, and factions are turning to Talon to unseat him.

Together, Darling and Talon must navigate the treacherous waters of House politics while being caught up in the complicated game the High Prince Regent is playing against everyone.

The first 10% of this book was super confusing and info dumpy but got better as I kept reading. I do think certain areas in the middle were sluggish as well.

As characters go Talon and Darling were ok. They didn’t have much depth to them they changed their minds constantly for no good reason. They were enemies (and it was great!) and all of the sudden they caught feelings.. when and how did that happen?! It would have been so much better to let them be enemies longer so they could really explore their feelings. Caspian was the most interesting character he was a fun mystery to figure out!

I really liked the mythical creature aspect of this book I mean who doesn’t love dragons?! The political drama was the most interesting part of this book for me and I wish we got more of it!

I will say I did like the ending of this book and will probably read the next one! Thank you to NetGalley and penguin teen for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited about this book especially when I love Justina Ireland's writing but unfortunately, it didn't hold my attention. That said, the plot had a lot of potential and the best part about this book was the ending with that climactic cliffhanger.

I just finished Chaos & Flame by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland last night and this was such a fun book. If you need a really fun YA fantasy book to read, this is the one. It has a young, cooky High Prince Regent that nobody really understands, a dark goggle wearing girl who would rather sword fight than wear a dress, and of course the War Prince who wants to protect his brother and wants NOTHING to do with the girl (suuuuuure). Oh, and did I mention there’s magic and adventure? I just really enjoyed this story and the characters. It’s the first in a duology and I can’t wait to read the next one.

i received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fantastic. The characters were all so interesting I was always excited to learn more about them and see what they would do next. The title fits so perfectly - the chaos of this story and the characters made it such a fun read. It felt unique and fun and didn’t feel like I was just reading the same old fantasy story again.

I loved that it was a dual POV as well. It really added something to the story when I feel like sometimes it can be annoying to read that kind of POV. I loved being inside both of their heads and seeing how they saw each other and the events around them.

Overall, I had a really good time reading this. I would definitely recommend.

Here is a video I made for the book:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRvvEmM8/

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 STARS

This is book one in a YA fantasy duology.

Similar Books:
Throne of Glass series (without any spice)

Synopsis: 2 houses at war with one another. Darling a girl adopted into House Kraken is captured by her enemy Talon of House Dragon. The two must work together to unravel a nefarious plot by Talon’s brother the High Prince Regent.

This book started out strong for me. There is a good fight scene that pulls you right in. I love a strong female MC. There is a lot of political intrigue between the two houses/kingdoms.
The middle of the book lags a little, but it picks up and ends with a great cliffhanger! I hope book two has more fantasy/ magical elements.

Thank you Penguin Teen for the ARC! 🐉

I will say this book starts a bit slow and the pacing isn't all there but I ended up really loving this book. It definitely wasn't what I thought it was going to be and it was almost better than what I thought. Had way more political intrigue then I thought it would and not as much war. This plot is very prophecy driven which I didn't realize just how much I like. This has bisexual characters and a character would does get misgendered. This is pretty gory for a ya book in my opinion. I really love the love story in this but again it happened kinda fast. I just wish this book had a few more chapters and then it would be great. Super excited to read the next book and thank you Penguin Teen and Netgalley for a copy of this ACR.

Wow! I loved this book! This book really hit the nail on the coffin for me with ya fantasy, political intrigue and enemies to lovers! I also loved how diverse the world and characters were in this novel.

The world created within the pages of the story was unique and interesting! I loved learning about the Houses and how the world came to be. The world building could be a bit confusing at times, but everything was explained well with time and patience.

The characters really made this novel. I loved the dual-pov between our two main characters. It was interesting to see their different sides of the story and how they felt about one another. A break out character for me was Caspian, however. I loved how absolutely unhinged his character was. He was definitely fun to read about!

All in all, I'd definitely recommend this novel to lovers of YA Fantasy with diverse worlds and characters.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for a copy of this novel. All thoughts and opinions contained within this review are my own.

Thank you to PRH audio and Penguin Teen for my review copies. All opinions are my own.

This was an overall a good listen. Kind of a slow burn of action. This is literary a romance set up as political fantasy. I say political, because there's a lot of talk about war, grievances between houses, marriage for political benefits, etc, etc. But there's also romance. Like a lot of that YA angst YA fantasies can be know for. Now the instant hate for was - insta love. I just could not grasp how that worked. I come to kill you but wait wait.. no I think I want to kiss you. *insert eye roll here* I'm here for political schemings, and the cool fantasy world (which is not really expanded on in this book) so I was left kind of disappointed. I zones out through the romance scenes, and probably missed a lot, but at the same time, the end captured my attention, and I left wanting to see where that will go in the future book/s (?).

Overall not my style. The romance was sluggish, even if it was insta love, and then the end felt rushed but action filled.

<b>Quick Stats</b>
Age Rating: 13+
Over All: 2.75 stars
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Writing: 3/5

<i>Special thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.</i>

The first 35 pages of this book were strong and promising. I thought I was really going to enjoy this book. Similarly, the last 35 pages of this book were fast paced and engaging, they had me wanting to know what happens next.
Everything in between…
Boring.
It was so slow, no plot. I would’ve DNFed multiple times over if not for the fact that this was an ARC.
This book is very world and politic heavy. There are a lot of complex details in the setting, but the actual worldbuilding never goes past the superficial. Nothing is ever explained, we get no details. I had so many unanswered questions about the geography, lore, political systems of this world—leaving me confused and noticing plot hole after plot hole. This left me unconnected and unconvinced.
The characters were similarly underconstructed. There was nothing unique in any of them, nothing compelling. The romance had no chemistry, no build up. It’s instalove at its finest, and it never goes past that.
Throughout the book, the authors “hint” at the big reveals. But these hints were about as subtle as being hit over the head with a frying pan, and then you have to pretend you don’t know.
Despite that—and I did guess every single reveal anywhere from 100 to 300 pages in advance (and I’m not exaggerating)—when these things actually come to light in the climax, I began to become invested. Finally, things are happening! Suddenly, there was tension! The pacing picked up! I actually wanted to keep reading! Yes, everything that happened was excruciatingly predictable, but the writing was skilled, tension-filled, and engaging. It showed that these authors have the ability to write compelling prose… they just fail to do so for 90% of the book.
I also want to touch on the disability representation in this book because I have thoughts. Darling, the FMC, grew up in the lowlight of the sewers. This caused irreparable damage to her eyes. A film grew over them, and she can’t see in regular light unless she wears fancy sunglasses-like goggles. When I realized this, I was excited to see surprise disability rep! But I learned pretty quickly it’s not great rep.
This book heavily leans into the disability is actually a superpower trope, because Darling’s magic powers turned her eye damage into giving her supernatural vision in the dark. She’s like a cat. Talon, the MMC and Darling’s love interest, constantly makes weird, almost fetishy comments about Darling’s eyes and the film that covers them because of the damage. He calls them mesmerizing and mysterious and just… other similar comments that made me uncomfortable. I don’t think it’s the worst rep, but it’s definitely not good, either. I also have a bad feeling that all of her disability may be cured in book 2. I plan to read far enough to know if that’s the case, but I have no interest in actually reading the sequel.

Chaos and Flame follows Darling Seabreak, an orphan from a fallen House taken in by the leader of House Kraken. She fights for the Krakens in the House wars primarily against House Dragon. But when Darling is captured by the War Prince of House Dragon, she realizes that her sworn enemies may not be as ruthless as she once thought.

Overall, this was an entertaining fantasy read. I did have some issues throughout. First was the pacing. In retrospect, not a lot happened during this book. Most of the action was in the last 20-30 pages, while the reader was kept in the dark about Caspian's plans and the prophecies for the first 200 or so pages. There were points where I felt like the story was lagging, and I was struggling to see where the central plot was going.

I also felt like the world building could have been explored a bit more in depth. We get some basic information about the Houses and the wars, but there could have been more explanation for the wars in my opinion. They felt a bit unfounded, and I struggled to see the full reasoning behind why all of the Houses would continue to participate in the wars based on singular instances of aggression between individual Houses. I felt like this could have been explored more as Darling and Talon were going on their tour of the Houses.

I also wished that Darling had had a bit more agency or stronger motivations. There is a sort of insta-love feel to the enemies to lovers, and while Darling is eager to kill the War Prince and Caspian in the first few chapters, she almost immediately loses any animosity she had previously harbored. She seems to lose her loyalty to House Kraken relatively quickly, and she also glosses over Gavin's death. She felt a little bit inconsistent to me. Both she and Talon also lacked agency and motivation in my opinion.

But in the end, I was entertained by this book. I look forward to seeing how the authors explore the magic system and the world more in the sequel (I'm assuming there will be a sequel with that cliff-hanger ending). Overall, I feel like this book was a strong set up for a story that can be much bigger - stronger characters, deeper world-building, a clearer magic system, etc. I just wanted a little bit more of everything, but I was still engaged and entertained throughout!

This book ends on a cliffhanger, just as the action really gets going, so be prepared to wait with bated breath for the sequel!

If you like your fantasy with a lot of political/court intrigue, this might be a good fit for you. I think it will appeal to fans of Victoria Aveyard, Leigh Bardugo, Kristin Cashore, Megan Whalen Turner, and Melina Marchetta.

This was one of the best YA fantasy books I’ve read in a while. For fans of Throne of Glass, Red Queen, Game of Thrones and other similar ‘kingdom-esque’ books, Chaos and Flame combines intrigue, yearning romance, and slight mystery that will make you want more. Like chess pieces on a board, Darling Seabreak cannot remember anything before the death of her family, but when she’s taken under the wings of House Dragon as the official Scion of her house, she must navigate court politics, a mad king with a hint of truth, and his protective brother. I could not stop reading this book until the last second, and there’s going to be a lot of anticipation for the conclusion to this duology.

Chaos and Flame is a story with political intrigue, fantasy and a really interesting magic system. While it took me about a third of the way in to become invested, once I was, I had to know everything that was going to happen. The characters were well described and learning their motivations was intriguing.

DNF at 34%

I liked the concept of this book, but I feel like it was just a bit of a drag. Also the action felt so quick and the two characters literally were supposed to be enemies, yet they were going about life like they didn't try and kill each other and it didn't work for me. I just couldn't really get into it. I also feel like it felt so young. I would have loved more of a POV from Caspian, and Talon seemed a bit woe is me.

WHAT A ENDING, phew.

Chaos & Flame is really everything I didn’t think it would be in the best way possible lol. I thought this was going to be a typical, although good, YA romantic fantasy. But what I read was a fantasy expertly woven with so much court/political intrigue, a unique magic system, some action and of course a bit of romance as well.

This book started off with a very promising prologue that immediately had me hooked but some time after that, it did slow down for me a bit. However, by the end, I was so happy I stuck it out and made it to that cliffhanger *gasp*. I literally can’t wait for the sequel!!

Warning, this does have a bit of insta-love vibes which I’m usually not a fan of, but also didn’t bother me too much.. mostly because I was very intrigue by Talon.. the love interest 👀. Also I did actually somehow see two of the twists coming but was still somehow shocked so it worked haha.

Overall, an excellent YA fantasy full of unique magic, politics, enemies to lovers vibes, kingdom lore and magical creatures. I’m definitely picking up the next book when it releases!