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 👀

I thought this was pretty good!!

Some parts of this book did feel a little too much? I think mostly just a little more prose and repitition in the writing style, but it didn't take away too much from an overall pretty interesting plot. I came into this expecting Azkiel to be one way, but he was totally different and not in a bad way! I really loved his character and felt for him.

4/5

✨ ARC Review ✨
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️

This story is presented as a dual POV between Calista and Azkiel. This book is very very descriptive writing heavy, with a lot of inner monologue in comparison to the dialogue between characters. The writing is well done but at times I would class it as just a bit too much on the descriptive side or parts that weren’t needed when it could have been replaced with more plot heavy or character building elements (slowed down the plot sometimes, not enough to lose your self from the story but could be more immersive)

Calista the FMC has had to stay in the shadows of her family for most of her life and has never been shown the love and care that she deserved, and I loved her coming to terms and accepting and appreciating who she is throughout the plot and her growing in strength and confidence all the way through. I love a villain through and through and I really enjoyed Azkiels character, I don’t want to say much about this as I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone 😘 however if you like pining, angst, love triangles and a morally grey love interest then this is definitely suited for you!

The world itself was great, I loved the idea of each ‘coven’ taking on certain power characteristics from different gods, which added to the high fantasy elements of this story.

The best way I can describe this book is FBAA meets the hunger games but make it high fantasy with no vampires and minus a lot of the spice!

All in all this was a great book and I’m looking forward to continuing this series ☺️ if you like high fantasy with an angsty slow burn romance with a possible threat of death constantly hanging over the FMC, this would be a good pick for you 🫶

First of all, I want to say thank you to netgalley for allowing me to read an arc of this book. When I saw this on netgalley, I immediately snatched it up because God of death? Spice? Brutal trials? Magic? I couldn't sign up fast enough.

This book isn't bad by any means but it is slow. There's a lot of repetitive talking and nothing really happens. I feel like the amount of stuff happened could have easily been fit into way less pages.

Az and Cali's relationship doesn't make any sense, even with the revelation later. Four conversations do not equal their feeling development. Especially when two are about killing Cali and his anger at her. This book could use another round of edits and some more fleshing out.

There's a fantastic story in there somewhere, it's just buried under all the lore.

Night of Death and Flowers is a Dark Fantasy Romance with an very interesting and unique Worldbuilding. I loved the magic system and the mythology of the world, specially how the gods are related to the characters powers.

There were some moments in the begging that I felt that had “too much telling, and not enough showing”, and as I’m a person that easily lost her attention, I felt a bit bored, but after 30% the story really hooked me and I couldn’t put it down!

I became very interested in reading this book after I saw it’s gorgeous cover and illustrations. It also basically has all my favorite tropes!
I’m very happy to say that it doesn’t disappointed me. I loved it and totally recommend it.

The main couple is a classic enemies to lovers with slow burn, that will satisfy every reader that enjoy this trope!! They have a lot of chemistry, and they spend a lot of time being really enemies (trying to kill each other). They also spend a lot of time apart, in separate journeys, but for me this only increased the stakes and made me read faster so I could get in the scenes where they meet again!
There is only one spicy scene, and I think it’s the perfect amount for this book (they are really enemies!! They can’t be together at the beginning)

Thank you netgalley and the author for this arc!!

I really enjoyed the story and can’t wait for the next book. The only thing that I didn’t like about the book was the glossary at the beginning. I hated reading and having to turn back to the glossary to continue with the story. I would rather the book be longer than have a glossary. Outside of that, this was a good read!

I received this ARC for honest feedback. Thank you for this opportunity!

This book was wonderfully written. I enjoyed the POV of both main characters. It was so well done, and you didn't feel lost going back and forth.

Calista is a witch with decay magic. She has the power to turn people and things to ash with a touch. The only other person with this power, is the God of Death, Azkiel.
Every ten years years, the city elders have a Choosing, where 12 witches compete to the death, and the last one standing becomes the newest elder member. The rest are sacrificed to Azkiel, their God.
Things are different this time. AZ is back in his human form, and nothing is going to plan. He's also drawn to Calista, and can't remember why.

This novel is full of twists and turns. A bit of spice at the end, and I was hooked throughout. It took just a few hours to finish this book, as I couldn't put it down!

Night of Death and Flowers is a gothic, dark fantasy romance full of vindictive Gods, morally grey characters, prophecy and witches. Wielding a deadly power that she shouldn’t possess, Calista is determined to put a stop to the Harvest, a Hunger Games-esque tournament where only one will win and become an elder of the village.
Azkiel, the God of Death, returns and an ancient prophecy is disclosed. In his vulnerable human state, he is forced to make an alliance with Calista in hopes of changing his fate.
This book was a delightful slow burn filled with vivid world building and great character depth
I did find it to be a bit focused on the details at the beginning, but by the end I was captivated and completely invested in the story.
I did not see the ending coming, which I always appreciate in a book, and it instantly made me want to read the next book!
Thank you so much for the ARC, I look forward to continuing the story in book two!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️/5

Thoughts:
This book. If I could give it 10 stars, I would. I found a new favorite that is quickly headed to Roman Empire stats. I'm about to devour all of Rebecca’s books in order to scratch the itch she gave me with Calista & Azkiel 🥹

We're thrown into a world of jealous, vengeful gods, monsters, a deadly tournament, witches, prophecy, and so much JUICY world building! One thing I absolutely love is a well developed and thorough world and characters. Night of Death & Flowers delivers that and so much more. There is a whole Glossary filled to the brim with information as well as basic information sprinkled throughout the book.

All of the characters have really good depth. There is so much gray area that I was left just as confused as everyone else on who to trust. You want to trust the Gods, but which one do you trust when each one seems to have a different side of events? By the end of the book, I was absolutely fucking reeling with all the information that was revealed with Azkiel’s memories. Definitely worth the anger throughout the book of him refusing to remember lol.

This is definitely a slow burn with tons of tension, banter, and high stakes action in between. My heart felt so full when they finally caved into their feelings and their magic ✨ mingled ✨ I love them🥺

I cannot wait for the next book😫 There's so much more to this book and I could go on foreeeevveeerrrr about it! So, please, pleeeease, read this when it releases!🫶🏻🫶🏻

Thank you so much @netgalley & @rebeccagarciabooks for the gifted book!

Themes:
•Forbidden Magic
•Gods/Goddesses
•Witches
•Monsters
•Deadly Tournament
•Feminine Rage
•He Falls First
•Villain Gets the Girl
•Star-Crossed Lovers

This one I'm still processing my possibly a 4 🌟

It was dark. Super witchy, which normally I'm good with, but it was dark.
Had good troupes, enemies to lovers, I really love that one!

This is kind of like hunger games, and Serpents had a baby, and this is the book.

This book was a really fun fantasy read that I enjoyed for multiple reasons. It had a complete glossary of places, objects, and characters' names and how to pronounce them, a unique magic system, and a competition element to the plot that added a lot of tension. I really loved the backstory behind the covens and the tension between the FMC and the MMC. I look forward to seeing how their story develops in the second book. The things that gave me some trouble in the book were the pacing and the chapter lengths. I feel like the chapters ran a bit long which made it hard to maintain interest. Also, I understand there had to be some background to the story to understand the characters, but this book almost felt like a prequel novel to book #1 with the limited amount of interactions the two main characters had. About 75% of this book was a lead-up to their journey together, which made their interactions look rushed. There is also the factor that I believe the relationship between the two main characters is supposed to be Enemies-to-Lovers; however, because of their limited interactions, when they finally started working together, it took less than 100 pages for them to feel fully comfortable with each other, which was anti-climatic. However, I am mindful this is only book 1 in an intended duology, so I'm hoping their relationship development will take up more page time in the future. I intend to post this review on GoodReads today as well as to other major retailers on the date of publication.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC! This was a good romantasy, although it was much more fantasy than romance. But I'm not complaining. I thought the story was unique and it had a few surprises and twists which I enjoyed. I will definitely read the next book whenever it comes out.

Darhryst should be a safe haven for witches but for Calista it is a dangerous place. She has the power that should be reserved for only the God of Death and therefor must conceal her abilities from her fellow witches. She puts herself and her best friend's life at risk when she decides to stop the tournament of death known as the Harvest. Azkiel is the God of Death and is forced to forge an alliance with Calista who is also the girl foretold to be his downfall.

This book was written so well, it has great world and character building which allows you to fully immerse yourself in the story and the ending is an entire journey in of itself that I did not see coming. I loved the darkness of the book infused with humor and witty banter. I went through a whirlwind of emotions in this book from giggling, to crying, to feeling suspense.