I was not really sure what to expect from this book, but it was not this.

As soon as I opened the book I could tell it would probably not be for me. The very first pages are a warriors-book-esque glossary of all the gods, covens, and places in the book. I personally believe an adult book should be capable of explaining its concepts well enough to not need a glossary in the beginning.

So I was immediately nervous going into the book, and I think it was for good reason. The plot was indeed very hard for me to follow, especially in the beginning it seemed like it was jumping all over the place. The relationship development was also not paced well, it starts off slow and then is very rushed. There were also a lot of phrasing choices that were not pleasant to read in my personal opinion. The book was very hard to get through for me. I did not enjoy reading the book for various reasons, such as not clicking with the writing style and not personally enjoying the characters or the plot.

I really wanted to love it as the concept sounded very interesting; however, it is definitely not for me

“The souls of the dead call to me, their voices whispering in my ears like a haunting melody.
The lingering pain and anguish of those who died heightens my powers.”

“You haven't seen the last of me, Azkiel. Whether it is in life or death, I will make you pay."

"Good girl,"

Wow. I’m more than a little bit surprised about how much I enjoyed reading this book. Don’t get me wrong, the premise was great. And the intro of it was more than a little bit interesting. But it turned into something so much more than what I was expecting and I really really enjoyed it!! Imagine hunger games but with covens and a young woman with the God of Death’s power only no one wants that kind of power. Also imagine that that same god, comes back to life in a kind of mortal form because he has caged all his siblings for some reason he can’t remember and there’s a prophesy she is the one who can break their cage and he needs to stop her. Sounds interesting? Because it was to me. And when I got to meet Calista and Azkiel … I became obsessed!!! Not only their story and their enemies to lovers dynamic was great, but also the author helped us out with the whole new fantasy world situation with a full glossary at the beginning and a writing that made the action go smoothly and made me feel hooked by the plot. When I found myself into it, I almost didn’t want to go on because I didn’t want for it to be over. This book was the perfect combination of magic, action, spice, love and darkness. And when it eventually did end … I needed book two like the day before !!!!

"Your soul calls to me, and when I am with you, I feel as if I am home."

"Your words were like a drug to my soul," he says throatily, stealing my next breath. "I was completely captivated and devastated with every sentence you threw my way, so yes, you are my poison, and I can think of no better way to die."

Thank you Rebecca L. Garcia for the arc of this book and being trusted to review it honestly. When I first read the synopsis of Night of Death and Flowers I was so intrigued. It had everything I love in a fantasy, magic, gods, romance, and a trial.

This book follows a witch named Calista who has the God of Death’s powers. Calista does not agree with the trial that happens every 10 years and is trying to stop it from happening. What she doesn’t know is that after 150 years of being away the God of Death, Azkiel, returns to Dahryst to try and stop the prophecy that is said to destroy him. This is the beginning of their story… or is it?

I really enjoyed the first couple of chapters and getting introduced to our female main character. I did struggle a lot with the authors writing style. I kept having to reread sentences to make sense of the writing and what is being told to me. I was bored for a lot of the time and the pacing was too slow. I felt a lot of it was just them waiting around for something to happen. I also was annoyed that a lot of the chapters end with the female main character either fainting, passing out, or being poison. It was so irritating to have to read basically the same thing over and over again. I wanted to love this, it had all the right ideas for me to love it but it fell short for me.

Final rating:
2.75 stars ✨

Tropes:
Gods
Magic
Trial
Dual P.O.V
Touch her and you die

I absolutely loved the cover and description of this book so I thought it would be right up my alley. Unfortunately, it just fell flat. I’m not sure if it was the prose or the tone of the characters inner thoughts, but there was such a disconnect. I think it was the fact that the first 200 pages are mainly info dumping with little dialogue. There was too much telling instead of showing, which led to the main characters having no chemistry or tension. I was cringing at the spice after having little to no build up and being expected to connect with characters that barely talked. I felt like there was more focus on her friend who isn’t even the MMC and had zero importance or impact on the actual story. A few of the things I liked include: the death magic, the MMC having Klaus Mikaelson vibes and being unable to touch anyone but her, and the gods. I’m not sure I’ll remember a single thing that happened in this book after like a month, and although I didn’t absolutely hate reading, I thought it was just ok. I will not be reading the sequel.

Fascinating beautiful world, with just as intriguing characters. There were alot of common or expected notes but came about in a way that wasn't too daunting

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★★
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞:🌶️🌶️

𝐀 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞 hooked from the first chapter. The world that Rebecca created was perfect because it wasn’t complicating and I didn’t have to think when I was reading it. Her writing is detailed and I was able to paint a pretty vivid picture in my mind how the town was set up and the island and I really appreciated it. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE an epic world building and everything but it’s nice to give my brain a little break so this would be perfect for someone who likes details but it’s easy to read.

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚 is a strong FMC. She loves fiercely and will protect those she loves with her life if need be. She doesn’t hold back, she’s sassy, and the banter between her and our MMC 𝐀𝐳𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐥 was good. He’s the God of Death and Cali hates him (no spoilers) you find out A LOT by why she hates him and his whole story. I thought Rebecca did a great job with the twists and turns..betrayals….and making me feel all the emotions.

𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 go in blind about 90% of the time when I read Romantasy books usually and I love doing that and I’m glad I didn’t look at reviews or anything before I read this. I saw her book on NetGalley and thought her cover was STUNNING so I requested it. I didn’t read the description or anything and I’m so glad I didn’t. I loved being surprised this way and I had the best time on my reading journey.

𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 this book 100% and the cliffhanger!??? Excuse me!!!??? I need book 2 asap. I need answers!

𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 thank NetGalley and Rebecca for giving me the opportunity to read Night of Death and Flowers as an ARC.

I have to start by saying I absolutely adored this book and will be watching for book 2. I need book 2 right now. I will be ordered a copy of this for my bookshelf. The last 100 pages is so intense, I was so invested I accidentally read until it was morning. This book is the definition of descriptive- everything is beautifully detailed, creating perfect pictures for you to imasagine. All the characters are really well developed, even though there are big things we don’t know about everyone until the end of the book. I did NOT see the plot twists coming.

Before launching into my thoughts on Night of Death and Flowers, I should note that I had trouble with the EPUB file, which downloaded to Adobe Digital Editions fine but then crashed the software whenever I tried to transfer it to my e-reader. This meant I was forced to read on the PC, which I don't like doing as I spend long enough on there as it is. I am noting this as it likely also affected my feelings while reading.

In regards to the book itself, there was a lot of potential here through an interesting story idea featuring many of my favourite fantasy romance tropes. However, there were some issues that prevented me from liking it as much as I'd anticipated. First off, while I acknowledge this was an ARC and that problems could well be fixed by now ahead of release, there were a LOT of typos, becoming more frequent in the second half of the book -- enough that they caused confusion at times and were highly distracting. In addition, the pace was slowed by frequent repetition of thoughts and information we'd already been told and didn't need to be reminded of in every chapter, accompanied by a lot of telling rather than showing. With some tighter editing, there is definitely a worthwhile and enjoyable story here, but in the state in which I read it, I can only give it 3 stars.

5/5 stars! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I did find the beginning a little slow but once I got a few chapters in I couldn’t put this book down. I had to know how it ends. Now I can’t wait for the second book to continue the story. This book is released June 26, 2024. Thank you to Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op, Rebecca L. Garcia and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

So I was really excited starting this and then it started feeling flat. The storyline itself is really good has amazing potential l, but there were some repetitive information that I didn’t think was necessary or that didn’t lead to part of the storyline & the smut happened like 86% of the way in which was really weird considering there wasn’t a massive build up of character development between Cali & The god of death…
I feel like it was rushed, there was information where it didn’t need to be and then lacking information where it should have been.

Like I said the story like was pretty good but some bits were quite confusing…

Think The Hunger Games meets Belladonna meets Bespelled...

The premise of this book as absolutely so interesting and quite complicated (but don't worry, there's a glossary to help you keep track of everything!!)- an island of witches who honor six gods and goddesses is protected by magic from their Elders, keeping the humans away so they may live in peace. The only cost of this magic is that every 10 years, 12 young witches are selected to compete in The Harvest (aka the hunger games) where the winner walks away with the magic of all 11 of their fallen comrades, enough magic to help power the barrier. Calista has the magic of the God of Death, but is in the coven of the Goddess of Light...very complicated and of course it means that everyone in town and in her family just mostly tolerates her, except her best friend Drake and sister Arabella. The three end up fighting for their lives, and Azkiel, the God of Death, just happens to have a hand in it...but that's all I'm saying!!

While the premise and the story were spectacular, and the characters were mostly strong and capable (here's looking at you, incapable annoying Drake), the writing was not always able to best convey the story. This book was definitely about 100 pages longer than it needed to be, with rambling and circuitous inner monologues- and had more than one occasion of the POVs getting mixed up mid-writing- and quite a few typos. I did mostly overlook this, because I was so intrigued by what was happening here!

No spoilers, but the ending really set up an interesting path forward for the second half of this duology- now that all the characters have all the information needed to be able to make informed decisions!! I'm very excited to continue along with this one when book 2 comes out :)

Thank you so much to Rebecca L Garcia and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

The story had great potential, the vibes almost there but unfortunately fell victim to repetitive information and slow to build plot. The smut was unnecessary and poorly done, almost to the detriment of the story. The relationships and conflict within them didn't make much sense and were never resolved nor were the conflicts strengthened in any meaningful way to progress the story. By the time it felt like the story was finally catching it's stride, it ended abruptly. Where this story did shine was it's gruesome details and magic system. If the author had spent more time building the plot and had an intense round of editing, this story could really shine but unfortunately, it fell flat with it's flaws.

2.5 ⭐️ I was really excited for this book, but it fell flat for me unfortunately. It had the potential to be great but ended up just being okay.
I’ll start with the romance—Azkiel and Calista only had a couple interactions before they were all over each other saying “you’re mine.” Like there was NO buildup. It just wasn’t believable. This happened very late in the book, but they had so few interactions despite how far along in the book it was.
Secondly, the inner monologues of both the FMC and MMC were SO repetitive. Have some faith in the reader to remember things rather than reiterating them over and over again. It would’ve been more beneficial to use all that page space to further develop the characters, but they ended up being pretty one dimensional instead.
And now for the good—the plot was so interesting! I loved the concept of the Harvest, and I wish more time had been spent building the stakes. I liked the dark, gothic setting as well since it set the vibe for the story.
I’m not sure if I’ll read the next book since I’m not particularly invested in the characters unfortunately.

A sprinkle of the hunger games troupe + enemies to lovers + amnesia + best friend unrequited love

The first half of the story I was locked in, focused, and ready to buy a physical copy for my shelf. There are a lot of layers and great concepts, but the second half, lost me. We are retold the same information and there are conversations that don't drive the plot in anyway. The main god comes across as a mortal (weaknesses) and one minute their enemies and then they are fine with each other without showing any catalyst for the change. By the 80% point I was skim- reading to get to the end.

I'm rating this 3 stars because it could just be the writing style. Lyrical writing is hit or miss for me, but I can see someone else really enjoying this. We do get a spicy scene and a lot of sibling (the Gods) drama, which I wish had been spread throughout the book to keep it interesting instead of saving it all for the end.

I’m new to Rebecca, her book blurb caught my attention and the cover as well!
I’m soo glad I came across it, because this book did not disappoint!!

It kinda reminded me of belladonna and vampire diaries
but with prophecies, witches, human sacrifices, & monsters!!
Her world building and characters were so well written and amazing!! I loved every single thing about this book!🖤

Rebecca literally has you on the edge of your seat while reading as people switch allegiance & secrets start to come to light!!

I loved the banter & humor this book had me laughing at some points and aching my heart & giving me anxiety on others and I loved itttt!!!

I can not wait for book two & see the story continue!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

This was a good start to a new romantasy series with witches and gods and a lots of magic. The worldbuilding was great and everything was very descriptive. Because of the rich descriptions it was easy to immerse oneself into the world. It will be fun to see how the series will progress

I love this book! At first it was a little hard to get into due to the level of information that I had, but as the story went on, I loved it!
There is a hint of Hunger Games but then the plot twist at the end!!!
Ahh I loved it so much

We start off with a premise that feels of classic yet interesting enough to stand out next to the many other ''Romantasy'' books that have come out throughout the past few years.

I would like to highlight the great writing; it was descriptive enough to paint a very vivid picture of both scenery and inner thoughts in both POVs, yet also very pretty. There were typos at many different points which I hope are revised before the official publication.

The world-building was also very nice but I wished there had been a map at the beginning (Maybe these copies didn't but the final edition does?), again being very easy to understand yet presenting clear guidelines as to how powers worked and our main characters motivations. You don't feel lost at any point in the story past the first chapter.

The reason why this wasn't really a hit for me:
It felt like it went on for too long. I have no issues with long books, this one actually read quite fast, even. It simply became repetitive and felt like it dragged because we were receiving the same information in multiple chapters, making it feel like a lot could've been edited out.
The romance was not my favorite, because despite it taking a bit for our main characters to start interacting, once they do, everything moves too fast between them.

I would recommend this 100% to anyone who's loved Kingdom of the Wicked & Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco, or anyone who was excited about the concept of ''Lighlark'' but came out disappointed after reading that one (This one actually delivers when it comes to plot and characters... and writing)

This is a Hunger Games meets the From Blood and Ash fantasy book set in a world of witches and gods with magic. I loved the story line, romance that does not overpower the plot, just the right amount of spice, and it kept me entertained through the last page. There were new twists and turns towards the end that I could not see coming. I am excited for book two! The only critique is that there are a few minor spelling/grammar errors that I highlighted but obviously do not impact the storyline of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC version of this novel!

⭐️⭐️
🌶️

I wanted to love this book. The premise sounds incredible: hunger games with magic and Gods? It is a recipe for a delicious, action packed romance novel. But the execution fell short of its target.

The first 30% of this novel is slowly paced with split POV from Azkiel and Calista. Calista’s perspective was witty and spunky whereas Azkiel read very flat. It made it hard to work through his chapters and I found myself skimming long passages of thought. There is quite a bit of information dumping throughout this story with pages of nothing but thoughts and world building. I feel that if they replaced even 25% of the lengthy inner dialogues to action scenes that there would be a higher level of engagement with the story.

The romance is introduced as a love triangle between Calista, Drake and Azkiel. Drake is the cliche best friend in love with her that was charming within the first few chapter but it quickly morphed into annoyance. His character feels like a plot point rather than an integral part of the story.

Let me know what you think!

Real talk though, is Drake another Dain 👀