Well, Mische was my favourite in the first duology, so of COURSE I love this one. Carissa has a way of pacing that literally makes me HAVE to read the next chapter. I often find it harder to read my e-reader than physical or audio books, but I found myself falling asleep with the kobo in my hand for this one. The slow build is delicious!

Incredible!!! Such a well crafted novel. You could feel the tension on every page. Loved the Inferno esk descent and Asar and Mische’s forbidden love story

Carissa Broadbent can do no wrong! Her books are so good I can barely put them down. I love the interconnected worlds and the world building has been done so well. Loved it!

This may truly be my favorite book Carissa has ever written, and I’ve read them all!

I don’t know how I’m supposed to read anything else and have it measure up to the expectations I have after reading this.

“Do not be afraid of death, Dawndrinker. Make death afraid of you”

Carissa has a way of making you feel like you’re actually in the world she’s writing, I could picture everything she was describing in vivid detail. This book is strongly focused on faith and the religious beliefs of the gods followers, rather than politics like the first two books.

I felt more connected to the characters in this book, although I truly love Oraya and Raihn, Mische and Asar were just so complex and we really saw them grow and develop.

Mische is grasping to her humanity and the love she deeply wants to be deserving of from Atroxus. Mische truly feels that love should be pain and sacrifice, she’s willing to bleed and burn just to stay in the light and being deserving of being a dawndrinker. After being captured for murdering the shadowborn prince that stole her humanity she finds herself at the mercy of Asar the bastard wraith warden and now heir to the shadowborn kingdom.

Asar wrath warden to the prison world Morthryn and now heir to the shadowborn kingdom needs Mische to complete a task bestowed upon him by Nyaxia, goddess of vampires. Asar is such a complex character. Asar and Mische are both self sacrificing to the point of damning their own souls to help others. Asar has to write a wrong he committed in his past, little does he know so does Mische. Asar truly starts out so incredibly broken, and to watch him open up to Mische, Carissa truly had me feeling all of his emotion despite not getting his pov. Which I truly hope we get in the next book


To Misches surprise she finds herself in Morthryn awoken by Luce (who happens to be one of my absolute favorite characters in this book, you will absolutely fall in love with her) who brings her to Asar only to find out he’s a Necromancer. They begin their long journey to the underworld, many hard and what should be impossible tasks lie ahead of them. Asar tries to help Mische realize that light and dark can truly coexist despite Mische clinging to her humanity and trying everything not to give into her vampire nature. The journey through the realms of the underworld was absolutely fascinating and the way Carissa describes it really keeps your brain working.

As they’re making their journey the god Mische truly thought abandoned her comes with a new command Mische is to fulfill from Atroxus. The secrets, the ghosts of their pasts and the betrayal run deep, but can the love they find for one another run deeper.

“You asked what love should feel like.”
“It should make you think of nothing else.”
“It should make you see stars.”

“I’m patient.”
“A man can’t rush worship.”

I’m not going to lie, this was not a happily ever after. It ends on a gut wrenching cliff hanger. We also get an appearance from a beloved character we all miss. Until the next book I will absolutely be doing a re-read because this is one of those books that has so much attention to detail it’s worth examining every single page again.

Thank you so much to Tor Publishing | Bramble, Carissa Broadbent and NetGalley for allowing me to read this pre-release in exchange for my honest review.

Eeeeek! I was so excited to get my hands on this book and it was everything I hoped for and more! I'm always nervous for sequels that switch characters but I love Mische. It's a beautiful story, if you loved the other books in this series you won't want to miss out! I'm so excited for release so I can put a staff pick sticker on it right away!

First off, I would like to thank @netgalley & @carissabroadbentbooks for the ARC. I was so excited that I got approved to read this book.

I. Am. Speechless.

The ending of this book had me in TEARS!! I was completely shocked and wasn't expecting that
"surprise" at all!! The tears kept coming and coming.
I need a full week to truly process what I just read. All I can say is that I need the next book ASAP.
Carissa knows how to rip my heart out and she definitely delivered with this one.

I also can't get over how Asar is the PERFECT match for Mische. Asar has a way with words, that's for sure.

Make sure you get your hands on this book when it releases in November!! You definitely don't want to miss out on this masterpiece!

Okay Carissa! I’ve been dying to get back into this world after reading and loving the first two books (and novella) forever ago. A part of me was so sad and a little worried about how the series would continue without Raihn and Oraya at the center but I shouldn’t have been worried at all. Broadbent made me love and care for Mische even more. Asar and Luce were such great additions to this storyline. I so badly wish we would have had Adar’s pov too just cause I’m dying to know what his internal thoughts are after hearing his external words. But maybe the next one will be based on how this one ends?! My fingers are crossed!! That man… ooo I love him. This journey is wild and intense with so much coming from so many sides. It felt a little like the same build up over and over in terms of the action packed parts but I loved the actual journey through each level. I find Broadbent’s writing style to be so beautiful and comfortable within a world that is so complex and intriguing. I love this series and I’m already so excited to see what is next.

Thank you endlessly to Bramble for the physical arc and to NetGalley and Bramble for the e-arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for an eARC copy of The Songbird & the Heart of Stone in exchange for an honest review.

Mische would consider herself loyal. Loyal to Raihn, to Oraya, and most of all to her god. She dedicated her entire being to the god of the sun from the time she was a child. Becoming his bride solidified safety and purpose in her life. She thrived on helping others with her magic and the feeling of knowing she had pleased him made her soar. That is why falling from his grace was more devastating than Mische could imagine. After involuntarily being Turned, Mische was thrown into prison for killing her Maker. She did not regret what she had done. She wore her grief in the wounds on her body from still attempting fire magic in her new state. Vampires and sunlight do not mix. As Atroxus' favor grew increasingly distant, the wounds became deeper than surface level. That is why when an opportunity to aid the Wraith Warden brought her god's attention back into her life, she seized it with everything she had. Mische was willing to descend into the deepest parts of hell if it meant she could rise again. But along the way, she may realize that the one she loved so much may just be the very one who outcasts her there.


**Spoilers**

I really liked Mische in the original series and was excited to see more of her story. Growing up in a profoundly religious lifestyle, I identified with the yearning and unnatural need to do right by an authority figure. To be so grateful for the carrot given to me that I did not see the rot and string it was tied to. Mische's discovery of letting go to gain better was inspiring to read. I understood the desire to hold on so tightly to what is known, even if it is causing physical harm. To strip back the fear-mongering of the unknown and realize it isn't so scary. It's freedom. I enjoyed the build of the relationship with Asar. I wouldn't define them as enemies to lovers, but they definitely fit the forced proximity trope. I liked that Carissa wrote these characters as broken. Two broken individuals who, despite trying to fix everything they destroyed, did not expect the other person to be whole for them. They accepted that they could be shattered pieces of a mosaic together. I appreciated the idea that sometimes other people don't need to be fixed to be what you need. Sometimes they need to accept all of who they are, their past, and their steps for the future. I also expected this to be a standalone, so I was surprised at the ending but excited to continue the story!

I am extremely grateful to have received an ARC of this book. I fell in love with this series from book 1 and haven't been able to stop talking about it since. I loved Mische's character in the first two books and enjoyed learning more about her backstory. Untangling her trauma and her past was utterly heartbreaking. The themes of light and dark between her and Asar were beautiful and tragic. I couldn't put it down, and I was holding onto every word until the very last page.
5/5 for me!

Love this book. The journey you go through with Mishe and Asar is breathtaking. There were times I had to put the book down just to come back to reality. Amazing work, Carissa Broadbent. Thank you Netgalley and Bramble for the privilege of reading it before it is released.

I'm so so so grateful to have received an ARC of this books. It's one of my most anticipated releases and I got SO excited when I saw I was approved. I love Mische. She's so sweet and tries so hard to be okay despite her trauma, which is always one of my favorite character tropes. I loved her arc and growth and how it ended. Asar was amazing too. He tried so hard to be grumpy but couldn't actually commit.

It did take some time for me to really get into this, even though I love everything I've ever read by Carissa Broadbent. I'm just not partial to journeys, so this had me a little bored until 60%. Around the 60% mark, it really picked up for me and I couldn't wait to finish it. And the ending--I'm so excited for the second book to see what's going to happen with these two!

4.25⭐️
Carissa Broadbent will always lure me in with her Romantasy books and I was so excited to see that we get more books out of the Crowns of Nyaxia world! Mische was obviously one of the best characters in The Serpent and the Wings of Night duet, and had such a backstory to tell. This book definitely gave us that and so much more. You get lots of Mische, but also so much more of the world’s lore. This book focuses a lot on the religious aspects of the world, but there’s also a magical quest of sorts that takes you into unforeseen territories. I don’t want to say too much at the risk of spoiling, but I will say this: This book has all of the things that make up a great Romantasy and the ending literally had me gasping and mourning the fact that the second and final book in this duet, is far from being released🥹 Also maybe we can have less chapter endings that say “and I was swallowed by darkness”…because there are A LOT.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy!

❤️‍🔥 Warring Gods
❤️‍🔥 Slow burn spice
❤️‍🔥 Challenging trials
❤️‍🔥 Undead puppy BFF
❤️‍🔥 Trauma bonding
❤️‍🔥 Descent into the Underworld
❤️‍🔥 Vampires

Mische was a character from the first two Crowns of Nyaxia novels that I enjoyed but didn't pay too much mind to. This novel made me feel so much empathy for her without making her into a completely tragic character. She is hopeful and so sweet. Her religious trauma is well written and such a difficult but interesting aspect of Mische.

Asar (and his unusual puppy LUCE, the BEST GIRL to EVER exist), is also excellently written, not just as a romantic interest for Mische but as a well rounded character.

I was initially skeptical of the general plot structure (journey to the underworld) being as interesting as the Kejari tournament from the Nightborn Duet, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. Fair warning - we are left at a HUGE cliffhanger, and I can't wait to see what happens in the second novel of the duet!

Carissa wrote her heart out with this one! I feel emotionally wrecked, in the best way.

A truly phenomenal start to the second duology within the Crowns of Nyaxia world/series.

I already loved Mische from her moments in the previously books, but following her through this truly harrowing journey was everything. She is a complex character with such a heavy and traumatic past, but she hides all of her pain and hurt behind this happy/vivacious personality. It was great, and truly painful, to explore her past and to see her face a lot of unresolved trauma throughout her journey.

Asar. oh, how I love Asar!! A shadow daddy necromancer vampire with his own trauma and painful history. I loved him right away, even when he was kinda mean.. but as the story progressed and the relationship developed, I just adored him more and more.

This is a truly delicious slow burn, between two very emotionally wounded vampires who are journeying through the underworld as they face increasingly dangerous challenges and creatures.

The spice we do get? *blushes* *fans self*

I loved every single word. The last 20% had me in absolute shambles!! My heart as racing and by the end I was just a mess of feelings. The very end had me SCREAMING. I need the next book yesterday!! the wait will be torturous, but it will be well worth it.

A new all-time favourite fantasy romance. I can't wait to reread it via audio!

Let’s discuss The Songbird & The Heart of Stone. It was just as beautiful, compelling, and heart-wrenching as I’d anticipated—easily one of the easiest five-star reviews I’ve given all year.

I always enjoy my time spent in any of Carissa Broadbent’s fictional worlds; she has never once written anything that didn’t feel utterly flawless.

But, this novel is in a league of its own.

Mische might be one of my favorite literary characters of all time. She is soft, kind, and driven entirely by her big, loving heart.

Throughout the novel, Mische grows and changes immensely from the girl we first met in Serpent & The Wings of Night. Yet, she never loses who she is.

It was fascinating to see this unrelentingly brutal and unforgiving world through Mische’s bright and hopeful perspective.

As for Asar—prepare to be completely obsessed. I love him and he might just be the only one worthy of sweet, sweet Mische.

Bottom line: The Songbird & The Heart of Stone is a stunning continuation of Broadbent’s world-building and character development. It balances beauty and brutality, hope and despair, perfectly.

Mische’s journey and new characters like Asar make this book unforgettable.

I’m trying to put together the words to describe how addicting I found this book to be. I fell in love with the Crowns of Nyaxia series when I first read The Serpent & The Wings of Night and a big part of that was how much I loved the setting and world-building.

I wasn’t sure how I felt when I read that Mische’s story was going to take place in an underworld type setting because I find it difficult to really create a vision in my head other than an expanse of darkness but Carissa’s writing is so captivating and vivid, I was shocked with how much I loved the setting and magic of the underworld.

Getting to know Mische’s past was outstanding and heartbreaking all together. It really made me love her even more as a character. Asar was a new face to the Nyaxia world and his character has easily become one of my favorites. I just wanted to say that if you are a Reylo girlie…these two characters will be your cup of tea! *chef’s kiss*

As the reader, we know from the start that Mische and Asar have very different end goals to their mission and I was hooked the entire time waiting to see what the outcome would ultimately be. The story line has me hooked, the romance is the perfect slow-burn, and I am just so attached to these two.

The ending of this book had me reeling! I cannot wait to see what our dear Carissa Broadbent has in store for Mische, Asar, and…well, my lips are sealed!

I’ve loved Mische’s character since reading Serpent & The Wings of Night, so I was incredibly excited to learn more about her in this book. Overall I enjoyed the journey & the writing was amazing as usual. Carissa always writes top tier romance. Hoping there’s another one to come…

This was a very highly anticipated read for me, and I am so excited I got to read it!

Overall, it was very enjoyable. We get to learn a lot about Mische’s story and her background while she goes on this crazy journey. I enjoyed Asar’s character and the dog🥹🥹🥹. The dynamic of the three of them was super sweet.

I will say that this book immediately hits the ground running and I was a little confused at first.. I wish we could have warmed up a little before getting straight into it. I needed a little bit more time to reorient myself back into this world since it’s been over a year since I read the previous books.

4.5⭐ THAT ENDING OMG 🤯

"Do not be afraid of death, Dawndrinker. Make death afraid of you."

This was AMAZING and honestly so freaking unique. I haven't read anything like it. I loved it and now the fact that I have to wait until book 4 is going to crush me.

CHAPTER FREAKING 33 🥵🥵🥵 holyyyyy. I love vampires. 🤭🤭


Moments:
"I like how your pleasure looks."

"I just played the notes that sounded like you."

"I'm patient. A man can't rush worship."

**4.5 STARS**

Content Warning: death, violence, grooming

I love this series and was so surprised there was going to be a book three but I am so happy there is and that I was gifted an arc! Once I saw I was approved I had to push all books aside and read it. Here are my thoughts:

Likes:

*Did I read this in two days? Yes I did! More like a day and a half because I was hooked but in a different way from how I was addicted to the first two books in this series. This is Mische’s story, Raihn’s best-friend/charge, and I was so intrigued about her. Whereas, the first two books was a story about the different vampire houses and had an intense trial – this book is about Mische’s upbringing with worshipping a God and how that worship shaped her life. There isn’t a trial in this story but a very big, dangerous quest which is filled with the dead and other monsters in the path to the underworld.

*Mische was groomed as a young child to love and please a God and now that she’s a vampire she is questioning her self-worth and dealing with the dualities inside of her – the powers of both a Shadow vampire and a Dawndrinker who is devoted to Atroxus. I actually love how the author exposes her devotion to supposedly something good and show how in actuality it was harming her. It’s a toxic relationship she has with her God. What I like about Mische is her optimism and sunshine quality even if she’s only faking it to make it. She has some deep seated self-hatred and guilt festering inside her and that was sad to see.

*Asar has an interesting history also – the bastard heir of the House of Shadow vampire king. He is the grumpy to Mische’s sunshine. He’s quiet, sarcastic, and has had a difficult upbringing as well as some traumas that have shaped him. He and Mische understand guilt and wanting redemption so badly, it consumes them. I like how he helped show Mische how the love for her God was harming her.
It’s such a slow, slow burn, I was craving for a nugget of romance in the beginning but this one is a slow build and I honestly didn’t mind because of the quest Asar and Mische is carrying out which is filled with so much action and danger. But when the romance finally presents itself, it’s good! I love them together.

*There is a lot of background story about Mische’s past, Asar’s past and Nyaxia’s past! I find this world so fascinating and was very hooked to every detail of it. I love how the Descent is the way to the Underworld – it’s filled with spirits, monsters, wraiths, and it is filled with danger. This world keeps growing and I love it.

Dislikes:

*I wanted more romance but I also liked that this wasn’t an insta-love kind of deal. They actually work as partners (even though technically they are enemies), the romance isn’t the main thing in this story, and I was surprised I didn’t mind it but by the midway point I wanted more flirting – but that’s just me.

*Their quest takes them into the Descent which is the in-between space between the mortal world and the underworld. The door to the Descent is a house that is sentient, called Morthryn, but there are times where I was easily confused as to where the characters were. They always find their way back to Morthryn but sometimes I was disoriented trying to figure out where they were.

*This is clearly an ARC copy and with that said, there were many typos which will probably get corrected in the final publication but it did trip me up a few times while reading.


My Thoughts:

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This being Mische’s story, I felt like it was a very true Mische story. Her sunshine personality shines through even in the darkest parts of Morthryn and the Descent and that’s what I adore about her. That even with all the things she’s gone through from being groomed by a God, turning into a vampire, losing the people she loves and now being away from her friends, warring with her self-worth and questioning her path – she is able to survive and keeps going. This one is filled with so much action, darkness and light, more world-building, a super slow burn of a romance and then that ending cliffhanger! I’ll be counting the days until the next book!