"And what if you find yourself living beneath nothing but cursed stars?".

This was a fantastic read right from the very start. I loved going back and forth between Jasalyn and Felicity and seeing how their stories intertwined. Add in chemistry and tension between them and the males they shouldn't want and an intriguing story of an evil trying to rise again and you have me sold. But holy cliffhanger batman! I'm going to be hanging out for the next book in this Duology with bated breath.

I want to start by mentioning that I've read the previous Duology in this universe and rated both books similarly to this one. I don't think Lexi Ryan is a bad writer, but this particular writing and story isn’t for me.

In this new Duology, Jas takes centre stage, driven by revenge with a magical ring that bestows a deadly kiss as she tries to heal from past trauma. This time, the story unfolds through split points of view, introducing a new Heroine named Felicity, a shape-shifter destined to kill her father. Rumours are swirling about Mordeus' resurrection, leading Jas to join forces with an old friend while Felicity hides in the Wild Fae lands with King Misha, pretending to be Jas, while she attempts a mission of her own.

I particularly enjoyed Jas' perspective more than the previous duology by Ryan. Witnessing Jas' transformation into a fearless character when wearing the magical ring was captivating. I found her story engaging and look forward to reading the next book in the series for this reason alone, as I truly want to know how her story ends. However, Jas was the only character I truly connected with in this book. I felt no attachment to Felicity, whose romance with Misha felt rushed and lacked depth.

From this point in the review, I will be talking about spoilers which I NEVER usually include, however, I couldn’t write a fair review without mentioning some critical points to the story.

My main issue with this book and Ryan's writing style is the reliance on Betrayal and Hidden Secrets tropes, which I personally dislike with a vengeance. The revelation of Kendrick's lies to Jas about literally everything from how he met her, who he is, what he is and his romantic pursuit despite having a promised bride was just a hot mess for me. It's challenging for me to forgive his deceitful actions as from where I sit, he hasn’t been honest or upfront about a single thing with Jas. I really enjoyed his character when he was introduced and just knew there would be a few secrets, but I didn’t think there would be THIS many!

While there is minimal world-building, the book expands on the existing world from the previous duology. This lack of background information posed a challenge for me as I didn't initially realise this book was connected to the previous series. The pacing felt rushed in terms of character and relationship development, with emotions seemingly evolving overnight, which didn't resonate with me personally. Overall, despite the rushed character development, this YA series offers a consistent pace and an intriguing continuation of the world introduced in the previous books.

While this book is labeled as a standalone and doesn't require prior reading, I personally would have struggled without having read the previous ones. I did appreciate delving deeper into the history of the human realms and their leaders in power, exploring why Kendrick and his followers are so intent on overthrowing them. The narrative of how these leaders portrayed themselves as heroes while erasing their villainous actions was intriguing. However, it did remind me of Mass' Crescent City storyline, which was all I could think about when this aspect was revealed.