Thank you PenguinTeen for my eARC

ok wow that ending! this one was good and surprisingly a quick read for an epic, high fantasy.Chaos & Flame didn't waste time with plunging into some stunning action scenes right off the bat, what really intrigued me is the boon magic the individuals in the world possess,Their boons are like gifts from Chaos (hoping we will be delving deep into it more in the next part). The pacing is quick for the most part, the magic system is what makes this book set apart from any recent YA fantasy books. It took a while for me to find my footing because the magic system is unique and a bit overwhelming initially but once I understood the workings of it, it wasn't a problem.

The first chapter made me sit up and pay attention, it describes Caspian the High Prince Regent of Pyrlanum having visions of a girl he never met.His boon is painting, he paints ONLY about a girl in several scenarios, some of them even being from the future.He comes off a little unhinged and mad hatter-ish and thanks to him the plot remains intriguing until the very end, I absolutely adored his character and wished there is more of his perspective. Talon his brother carries the weight of the house politics while keeping Caspian's "madness" under cover, he captures Darling who is a kin of enemy nation during an attack. Turns out Darling is the girl from the paintings! I KNOW RIGHT? and thus enfolds a true enemies to lovers trope.

I enjoy a good political intrigue and this book is great in that aspect with warring factions, the world of Chaos and Flame has various houses but they are ruled by House Dragon, it also has ancient lore about dragons and Phoenix's (yasss!cue the GoT music). I loved that I had absolutely no clue whats happening until the very end other other than the fact some kind of foul play is afoot, all credits to Caspian and his incoherent mumblings and unpredictable behavior. The last quarter was just unhinged and the cliffhanger made me clench my jaw lol

My only complaint is pacing and and insta lust, pacing is off at times where things go super fast when you want them to slow down and explain and then at times it dragged when I was eager to move on from a scene. The Insta lust is just a personal preference tbh, I just was taken aback with how Talon and Darling pine for each other immediately for being on the opposite sides of warring factions. Overall I really enjoyed the refreshing plot and am eager for book 2 in the duology , if you love House of dragon, Game of Thrones, Shadow and Bone- you will devour this

What to expect-
-Epic/High fantasy but YA
-True enemies to lovers
-lot of Political intrigue, ruling houses and warring factions
-Interesting magic system
-Ancient lores, prophecies, blood magic
-A bit of chosen one trope
-DRAGONS & PHEONIXS

A great new YA fantasy series to add to your shelf! It has romance, a unique world, and a cliffhanger that will have you sitting on pins and needles until 2024.

I loved the world this took place in. There are kingdoms of sort ruled over by one big kingdom that conquered them all. There are creatures, magic, Chaos (which I hope will be expounded upon in the second book), and fun new terms. Plus, all of their last names were so spot on to their kingdoms.

As well, this book started out incredible! The action was so fun and engaging. A wonderful fight scene that ended beautifully and jumped right into the thick of things. It was a great hook to introduce the characters, this war they've been fighting, why they hate each other, etc. I wanted to know more and it was all slowly revealed.

Caspian, the older brother to our MMC, was a great character in this story. He seemed to hold so many secrets and was always so flighty and unpredictable. I never knew how he was going to react to something, or if he was actually crazy or simply playing a part. I loved his character while also distrusting him.

The romance began earlier than I thought it would have. I expected more enemies to lovers and that ended semi abruptly. Our lovely War Prince, Talon, was actually quite soft. Not a morally gray guy at all which is what I was expecting. And not grumpy which I also expected. In fact, he seemed to be the one jumping right into this romance without a second thought. Again, things felt rushed and sudden. I thought there would be time to build on things, but that was not the case. They jumped right in and I feel neutral about it.

The plot slowed down quite a bit after the initial action scene. The story was interesting still, but I expected more fight scenes and action and whatnot. There were a couple of small things, but not the same high energy as at the beginning of the book.

Lastly, I felt like Darling's emotions were off. Where she should have shown strong emotions, she breezed over the situation. Where she should have moved on, she was showing strong emotions and having big reactions. I was missing that something from her to tie it all together.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, even with its oddities, and look forward to the next one! The ending was quite exciting, leaving many things up in the air and facilitating soooooo many questions. I'm excited to see where this series goes.

Reviewed on Goodreads 3/6/23:

Stopped around 30% because of two reasons: the pacing of what I think is coming up just isn't working for me; we're recapping too much inside our dual-POV character's heads, and there's a strong smell of instalove just wafting off the pages. Whyy???

You've got the perfect set-up for a slow burn with a prince whose father murdered her entire family and she's taken prisoner by him. Two days later, when the only words they exchanged were at the time of him capturing her, he should not be thinking multiple times, "oh, I wish she was here, there's something about her, I kinda miss her already" and she should not be thinking, "oh, well, he's actually kind of handsome though, as much as I hate to admit it."

But then I just couldn't anymore when the deus-ex-machina lip-balm poison shows up and she's instructed to try to kiss both the prince and his king brother in order to kill them.

Too little time, too many other books.

Okay, all my lovers of political intrigue in fantasy LISTEN UP! While Chaos & Flame is a bit slow to start and find its footing, by the end I was completely invested and desperately need the next book.

And it really took me by surprise as well. I thought it was setting things up to be just your garden variety YA fantasy with romantic angst. And while there is certainly some of that romantic angst, it is expertly woven into a world of ancient magic, political plots, war, and prophecy. There are some interesting twists, and well-developed side characters.

The novel is written from two perspectives with alternating chapters. Darling Seabreak (yeah, I don't love her name choice either tbh) is a Black, bisexual young woman who is the last surviving member of House Sphinx, taken in by House Kraken and trained to be a deadly warrior. Her childhood was spent hiding in sewers and as a result her eyes are light-sensitive. Now her adoptive father has been kidnapped and she is determined to get him back and kill the scions of House Dragon along the way- those responsible for the murder of her family.

Talon Goldhoard is the War Prince of House Dragon. After the assassination of his mother by House Sphinx, his father launched a years-long war. Now his older brother Caspian is High Prince Regent and Talon's only goal is to protect what remains of his family. Caspian was probably my favorite character in the book, but he is erratic and unpredictable- spending most of his life painting haunting images of a girl who looks just like Darling. So when Talon captures her, he brings her back to the palace where she becomes embroiled in politics.

I won't say too much more about the plot, but I ended up really liking this and that cliffhanger ending was fantastic! I would like to see a little more nuance to Talon and Darling as characters, thought they are surprisingly alike in personality and goals. Again, this took some time to draw me in but it was well worth it. For people who have only read Gratton's adult fantasy, this will read as much faster paced and it lets the plot drive things to a greater extent rather than taking so much time with characters and setting. And I get that for a YA novel, but I do think we get enough of those things for it to work. Sign me up for book 2! I received an advance copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Content warnings include violence, injury, gore, blood-letting, body horror, death, grief, etc. In general this is on the violent side for YA.

Thank you PenguinTeen and netgalley for the earc.

First of by now yall know I dislike cliffhangers. But I always come back for the next installment. Looking forward to reading it.
The world building and characters kept me intrigued to the very end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Razorbill for sending me an early copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

This book was so good and unique that I literally can't stop thinking about it! I loved the way it's so familiar but also unlike any kind of fantasy that I've read before. It was refreshing to have something so different and to be thrown into a world that's completely new. It was easy to follow but also gave me so much to explore, and as someone who reads a lot of fantasy, I really appreciate that.

I loved relationship between Darling and Talon because it actually felt authentic, which can be hard for enemies to lovers. But they had such a good transition to friendship and trust before starting to fall for one another, and I loved watching that come about. Their character growth is clearly just starting, and I can't wait to see how much more they do grow because they are such compelling characters.

I also really loved Darling as a character and her representation. Her visual impairment is really well done and I love that no one treats her as less because of it. Rather, Talon and even some others try to accommodate her whenever they can. It's part of her story, but not who she is, and I love the way it's being represented so far.

The plot twists and action kept me wanting more, and I really need the next book right this second! I loved the way everything began to come together at the end but left so much open for the rest of the story. I will not stop thinking about this book until the next one is in my hands!

Thank you to Penguin Random House for sending me an arc of this in exchange for an honest review.


I'm so sad. I did not enjoy this and i had fairly high expectations going into it but i just was not attached to anyone in this story and as someone who reads a lot of fantasy. This did not stand out to me.

Chaos and Flame has a strong and unique magic system. It has a diverse cast. The political system is very well thought out, with Game of Thrones vibes. These are its strong suits.

The writing style is weaker, however. Along with that, there were times that the character development felt stilted.

I had fun reading the book, which is what saved its rating.

Thanks to Penguin Young Readers group and Netgalley for the digital review copy in exchange for my honest review. This review is spoiler free.

When I heard that Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton were teaming up on a brand new YA fantasy duology I knew I had to check it out since I was absolutely wrecked by their killer (no pun intended) Star Wars novel Path of Deceit in 2022. Chaos & Flame is a Teen/YA fantasy novel set in a mystical land filled with ancient magic, warring factions and a romance between two people who have multple reasons to hate each other.

Darling Seabreak is a fierce warrior gifted with a Boon of healing. She’s an adoptive member of House Kraken and she has her sights set on killing any and everyone from House Dragon for kidnapping her adoptive father. Talon Goldhoard is a dutiful War Prince for House Dragon, whose brother, Caspian, is the High Prince Regent of the entire country. Caspian’s been painting images of a mysterious girl his entire life which has caused him to be a reclusive loose canon. Talon and Darling’s worlds collide one fateful day and what follows is a story of intrigue, romance and danger as the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance.

Like most fantasy novels, it usually takes me a minute to orient myself to the lore and world-building that inevitably takes place and this can be said for my experience with Chaos & Flame. After a few chapters or so I had the lay of the land and was immersed into the world that Ireland and Gratton created. Chapters rotate between Darling and Talon’s POVs, a strategy that works in Chaos & Flame’s favor, allowing readers enough time with each character to understand their motivations and desires.

Being a teen/YA novel there are definitely themes and emotional beats that are expected, but the authors do a great job of making these feel fresh. It doesn’t hurt that the protagonists are both such well crafted characters. Darling’s a strong young woman who is determined and capable, but not without her faults. By all outward appearances Talon could easily be viewed as a boneheaded handsome prince, but his strength is more of the quiet kind, and his arc is anything but typical. Plus there’s Talon’s brother Caspian who is probably the most outlandishly charismatic one of all. I loved never quite knowing what his deal was; is everything he says the truth? Are his motivations pure or devious? He’s a hoot and provided a ton of mystique and comic relief.

In the end, Chaos & Flame is a satisfying, page-turner and will definitely scratch your YA fantasy romance itch and I can’t wait to see what happens in book 2.

I really enjoyed this one! Game of Thrones-ish with magic, houses with mythical creatures as their sigils and actual founders, and a blessed lack of sexual violence. I need the next book in this duology NOW.
Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group, Razorbill, and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to NG and the publisher for an e-arc of this in exchange for an honest review.

Things I really liked about this book: the concept of “boons”. The way the world was structured was also well done. Gratton and Ireland do a great job of weaving this world together.

The opening really grabbed my attention. But in all of Gratton’s previous works, that was also the case.
Caspian. I loved Caspian, and I think I would have preferred if the series focused on him. Alas.

Darling was an intriguing character, as is the mystery surrounding her eyes. I just didn’t buy her romance with Talon as much. I don’t know, I think I am used to Gratton’s slow pace build moreso than how fast paced this book was! With the caveat that the first half of the book felt more like building up and the second half where most of the action took place.

I’m very middle of the road on this one, I don’t feel strongly about it one way or another. It was a YA fantasy that I enjoyed.

Actual Rating: 3.5/5*

Darling and Talon become embroiled in a far grander political scheme in Chaos & Flame by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland. Though the story itself sounds impressive and the world drew me in, the execution fell flat in places.

In a world where her House has been destroyed, Darling is already a hardened warrior when we meet her, as well as an interesting character. Despite her loyalty to her adopted father, she has her doubts about her role as an assassin and the war in general, so she resolves rescuing him to be her last mission before Caspian ropes her into his schemes. Once she's captured, however, I felt her resolve was far less concrete. Not only has she grown up with tales of House Dragon's cruelty, but she receives few tangible guarantees that Caspian will stick to his plan and restore her House. I felt like she should have fought back more or at least been more suspicious of the whole affair rather than go with the flow so easily.

On the other hand I found Talon rather bland. His character started out in an interesting and dynamic fashion: he's got doubts about the war from the beginning and the way he bested Darling was top notch when they met, but after that he pales in comparison to both Darling and Caspian. While travelling, he's trying to work through his brother's mysteries and falling for Darling but neither had much of an impact on me as I was reading. I also think his relationship with Darling progressed entirely too fast once they do admit feelings for each other; I guess I would have liked to see it be more drawn out or better paced.

The standout character for me was Caspian. He's absolutely unhinged and it's entirely unclear whether he's doing it on purpose or not right up until the end. If anything, it was him that kept me hooked, I liked his humour, his unpredictability and I spent much of the book trying to figure out whether it was all an act, with his big plan being secondary at times. The touch of cruelty in his character also fits the perception his people have of him, while the unexpected kindness and lucid moments just made him shine more.

Onto the worldbuilding, Gratton and Ireland do a wonderful job setting up a world that's larger than life. The prologue sets up the warring houses, the mystery of the lost Phoenix house is always in the background, as is the true meaning of old texts and folklore. Caspian spends much of his time educating Darling (and the readers) in these old legends, giving the world a depth that was sorely needed for how grand it is. The way the plot unfolds also allowed me to consider the sheer size of it, as the characters travelled from place to place and described the differences both in the people and the landscape. I especially loved the different types of drakes we come to meet, thought it was interesting that they basically replace horses and I would be even more interested to know if that's an animal specific to House Dragon or if all the Houses use them (Do horses even exist in this universe?). Also I adore Kitty the war drake. As for the boons, there was always an air of mystery surrounding them so I didn't really understand much beyond the basics, hoping that will be explained in the book.

Writing-wise is where I'm conflicted about Chaos & Flame. I liked the writing as a whole, I thought my reading flowed and I liked the way Gratton and Ireland constructed aspects of the book, but the pacing meandered a lot in that middle travelling section while the plot also failed to grip me during that time. There are a few moments that stood out, but it largely blended together for me. This was very surprising because the beginning and the ending (especially!) were vibrant and had me turning pages as fast as I could. I wasn't even sure whether I wanted to pick up the second book but that ending convinced me because it showed so much promise.

Overall I thought the plot was good despite these flaws in the writing. While the pacing left something to be desired, it still gives the sense that it's consistently building towards a climactic ending. I enjoyed the mystery of houses that have lost the connection to the animal they embody, as well what led to that loss. The travelling part of the book lacked the connections characters are supposed to form during that time, as such the plot became an after thought with little pay-off. I also thought the blurb was a little misleading as Darling and Talon don't come together quite in the way described.

Finally, I still find myself with conflicting feelings when it comes to Chaos & Flame by Tessa Gratton and Justine Ireland. My overall impression of the book is decent if a bit lackluster but then I remember certain dynamic scenes that stood out and that breathtaking ending. I initially gave this book 4* when I finished it back in January, but thinking about it now it's closer to a 3 or 3.5.

This book should have been one that I devoured but I found myself skimming and not engrossed. I really liked the magic system, what is referred to as a Chaos Boon. There were varying degrees of strength and there were consequences for using these boons (which is always a favorite of mine) and I thought how they shaped the world was really interesting.

But after that, this kind of felt like a story I read before. I wasn’t super invested in the romance - it just felt forced. I was more interested in the hinted romances and wish they got some more time to develop.
There was also a lot of telling and not showing. I was just hoping for more.

I will most likely pick up the next book - the cliffhanger was pretty great - I just wish I had more fun getting there.

This newest YA fantasy book has lots of elements I think people would enjoy:

- Ancient magic with characters having unique powers
- Morally gray leaders
- Politics
- Enemies to lovers

Overall, I liked the story. But I didn't feel especially wowed or interested in what happened. This was a good fantasy, but it has already started fading into the background for me.

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 3
Plot/Movement: 3
Character Development: 3
Overall: 3

Thank you, Penguin Teen, for the arc!

Trigger/Content Warnings: fighting violence, parent death, poisoning

Fantasy like this isn't usually my thing, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! I feel like it had major Game of Thrones vibes going on and I really liked the scion system/magic. As always, enemies to lovers is the best trope and this was no different. The pacing was intense and that cliffhanger was top tier, but TW for lots of violence/gore if that's not your thing!

I loved the majority of this book. There's different houses named after mythological beings like dragon, sphinx, etc. There's a bit of a weird seemingly love triangle between the brothers and the girl at first which just. . . why? But I did really like seeing Talon and Darling's relationship. I wasn't too keen on her name at first but it strangely makes everything more beautiful. I liked the aspects of chaos and the abilities it gave them. I was kind of taken aback by the blood magic in this book, I just like to stay away from that personally. The ending is cool and leaves good opportunity for a sequel. This book has popular tropes, enemies to lovers, and they tour through the kingdom building up the world. Tessa is a fav author of mine, there's a character that goes by they/them pronouns and casual queer rep.

★ 3.25 // 5

TW: misgendering (side character), genocide (off page but discussed a lot), poison, knife violence, gore, blood, body horror (ripping a heart out grotesquely), war themes, and death

My first YA Tessa Gratton book and my first EVER Justina Ireland book! Needless to say, I was VERY excited about this new fantasy duology, and while I did have some issues with the story overall—and I'll get to those points later—Chaos and Flame has some of the most unique concepts and world building that I have ever seen without YA and even Adult fantasy. I truly cannot wait for the sequel because that cliffhanger came out of nowhere to smack me upside the head. I need to know what happens next! *cries*

Now's my time to shower Justina and Tessa with praise. For starters, the opening prologue of Caspian and his abilities? TOOK ME OUT. It solidified my inkling to read this ARC, and I couldn't hold back from delving immediately between the pages. Caspian is actually not one of the dual POVs, but he is a significant character because he is the older brother to Talon, one of the POVs, and is the prince Regent of their kingdom. Buttttt rumors are swirling around him that he's going mad, and his boon power and its secrecy don't help those rumors at all. He has a prophecy boon, and it manifests through his artwork, specifically his preferred medium of painting. We actually meet the other lead Darling through his paintings because ever since his boon manifested he cannot stop painting her. Like his room is deadass covered in images of Darling, and to our knowledge, he's never met her prior. Isn't this fascinating? I loved every minute of his boon experiences, and they truly made this novel standout. Not to mention the other books are just as exciting—Darlings insane healing abilities that saved her from her family's annihilation and Talon's tracking abilities that expand even to someone who has a boon for invisibility. Literally insane how unique these boons are and I'm really hoping within the sequel to Chaos and Flame, we can learn more about the technicalities of boons. At this point, we just know they're at an all time low in this world when they used to be extremely common.

Switching gears a bit, I do think my favorite character is Caspian. He's an enigma throughout the book, but as a reader you question if he's as crazy as everyone makes him out to be, particularly when he shows a bit of his true self. We don't even get a good look at his true, open self, and it made him by far the best character.

Now that's not to say I didn't enjoy Talon and Darling—the leads. Their best moments were actually with one another, in my opinion, double points if they were alone together. They have great chemistry as enemies to lovers too, and their relationship is insta-love besides that initial enemies meeting/ fight. I would've liked their romance to be drawn out further, so the slow build from hating one another to loving appears more natural. It felt very cut and dry at first, and I got whiplash. To be honest, both leads are wildly curious, searching for so many answers throughout the novel, and to see their different approaches was a nice distinction. For character specifics, Darling's eyes are affected by chaos (the magic system of this world), so she has to wear special goggles to help with light sensitivity. I think in the sequel we're going to learn more about how her eyes got to that point because I get the feeling there's more to them than meets the eye. On the plus side though, she's great with night vision and that appears to be the extent to their perks. Then, in terms of Talon, he's just a big softie haha. He gives off golden retriever vibes to his loved ones, and as soon as he shifts that onto Darling, I was hooked!

Ultimately, what drew me most to Talon and Darling were their deeply ingrained loyalties to their loved ones. At first I wrote "sides" inside of "loved ones:, but I deleted that and replaced it because over the course of the novel, we see how Darling and Talon just want what's best for the people they love. I liked watching their loyalties to their political affiliations crack over time in favor of peace, and while it made them appear younger to have all that optimism and hope for peace, it reminded me of just HOW young they are. Talon may be a war general and Darling a rebel in this war, but they're children too. They didn't choose to follow this path but were led to it by adults.

Finally, it is time to talk about my biggest gripe with this book—pacing. This realization shocked me because Tessa Gratton's adult books have always been slow paced, so it was a bit of a shock to see them write incredibly fast. The pacing didn't allow for the relationships and time jumps to feel as realistic as they could've been. I mentioned Darling and Talon's insta-love earlier, but we go to multiple nobility Houses over the course of the book, and I felt robbed of those weeks worth of travel in one page. When we get to the Houses even, some of those chapters felt WAY TOO QUICK. I wanted to get to know these people, but I couldn't, so their names went in and out of my brain like the span of a breath. This world is too complex to be roughly 350 pages, and I think it should've been at least 100 more. Plus, when major deaths happened within this installment, I felt nothing for the character and their relationship to the lead because I felt as if I barely knew them. I really hope the sequel is much much longer because this world deserves the lush descriptions, hallway conversations, and slow build to the climax.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for a review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found the world to be completely and utterly fascinating, and the writing was simply stunning. For that, my attention was held and I became invested. Though, I found I didn’t quite fall in love with the characters. I kept wanting more from them. They sort of just seemed there, and I found myself reading more for their actions instead of for them themselves. Of course, that’s just me and I think it is a terrific start to a series.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I didn't quite know how I would feel going into this book, but it's safe to say that after reading it...I'm hooked. I loved the worldbuilding and the characters in this (Talon...swoonworthy. That's all I have to say.). I enjoyed the romance thoroughly, even as it went through its ups and downs.

Honestly, I loved the fact that I had no clue what was going to happen next at any point in the story. This surprised me so many times, and that's not something that happens very often while reading YA for me anymore. I loved the politics, the magic system (where people have a "boon", a magical gift or talent of something very specific that they can do), and the only part that I didn't love was the ending.

Y'all know I hate a cliffhanger, and boy did this book have one. Don't get me wrong, I'm reading the next one. But if you don't love getting to the end of a book and having it just...be over at an extremely critical moment in the plot, consider this your warning.

Anyway, I gave this four out of five stars and I absolute can't wait to see what Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton do with the next book.

I dnf’ed on page 394. Honestly I just couldn’t connect with the character and I found I didn’t give a hoot about them. That and the plot seems to be heading nowhere specific. Like the only action stuff happened at the beginning.