Hello everyone!
This will be my last blog post until I return from vacation, because I really, truly, desperately need a bit of a break and I don't plan on doing anything but relaxing, swimming, and possibly reading when I'm not sleeping like a baby while I'm away haha.
So I'm going to try and make this one count!
Tonight's choice is a book that literally JUST released on Amazon and to retailers worldwide, which is somewhat of a feat for me because I generally don't get to new releases this quickly.
Normally, I'd let them sit there for a bit until picking them up.
But I was VERY lucky to get chosen for an ARC for this book, and because I'd already read a few works from the author, I was super stoked.
Juliette Caruso writes SO well, and I AM HERE FOR IT.
Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen: Rage of Krakens.
Rage of Krakens is a standalone epic romance fantasy that pretty much ticks a whole lot of boxes in one go, most importantly getting the 'enemies to lovers' part done very well, while it's at it.
It follows Cai, the right-hand knight of the War-Father, the Emperor who rules lands incredibly vast but failing, because apparently witches, the Empire's enemies, are draining it dry, so Cai and her knightly ilk are on the prowl for them to take them out.
They don't have magic themselves, but they can connect to the ships they sail on, which are powered by Enchanted - people who get tattooed with spells that then leech their lives for magic, eventually killing them in the process.
She's not happy about the whole killing bit, but her problems get stalled when a big ass black dragon appears on the horizon to attack her ship.
It's the biggest familiar of them all, and she's bonded to the King of witches.
Cai's last memory of the battle is dropping from the dragon's back towards the ocean, and all the thanks she gets for not dying is getting herself exiled because people think she ran from battle instead of actually fighting it.
Two years later, her former right hand, now knighted herself (conveniently, she only gets knighted AFTER Cai's gone), brings the Empire's most coveted prisoner to her spit of rock in the middle of nowhere: the King of witches.
He's covered in so many spells his skin looks more tattoo than anything else, but Cai's happy to have him under her control ... right up until the point they get tracked by his familiar (that gigantic black dragon I mentioned earlier) and an altercation ensues, leaving them on said dragon's back, and as they're returning seeing the Empire's ship blitzing that poor island they were on like it's Alderaan.
Cai can't believe that the Empire would do such a thing - until, that is, Roiven (the King, natch), mentions that it might be possible they had other motives.
If there was a tragedy before a council gathering during which the military would try and secure more funds ...
Tragedies work better with no survivors.
Cai's sick to her stomach of this, and tentatively agrees to a truce with Roiven so he takes her to one of the witchy hideouts, where she learns witches have been trying to bring the land back to life after the Empire's been through it, that she has a talent for removing spells from Roiven's skin, and also that he's a sneaky, sneaky chit.
He asks her to bond with him so that she'll be safe when he takes her to his people's council, so bond they do, only for Roiven's sister to later announce they're actually married.
Say WUT?!?
Oh yah, it's one of THOSE bonds, and it's beautiful how enraged Cai is about it, I'll admit. But even while she's busy trying to stomp off, the Empire attacks one of the other witchy bases, basically going for Alderaan 2 with its new Death Star weapon, and Cai realizes that they're killing people by the HUNDREDS at this point just to power up those attacks, so she wants to do everything she can to help stop them.
Which at this point means facing the harsh truth: she's not from the Empire. She's a witch.
And the Empire cut off her connection to her familiar when she was just a child, so now she has to figure out a way back to him. As it turns out, the enchantment is in the armour on her right arm, so when Roiven removes it, even though the arm is basically dead from life-leeching all this time, at least Cai no longer fears the sea with body-shaking revulsion.
In fact, she loves it. And her familiar is THE kraken, the oldest and most powerful of them all, after which the first one happens to be Roiven's dragon Sava.
So when the Empire gears up for another attack, Cai goes to sea to find her familiar and try and apologize for what had happened, explaining that she didn't understand what the Empire had done to her or she would have come for him sooner. The kraken, Hafgua, tells her that her mother - who also happened to be the queen of witches, by the by - was his last bonded, and together they'd almost defeated the War-Father when she was betrayed and begged Hafgua to take Cai for his own to save her. Only, the Empire snatched her up first and he couldn't get to her in time, then by the time he DID she was under the enchantment.
Having finally worked out their differences, they hustle to battle together and rescue Sava and Roiven from certain death before defeating the primary knights defending the Hellion magic-powered ships.
Then, it turns out, the Empire tucks tail and RUNS back behind their magical barrier, and Hafgua is all too pleased with himself. Roiven, too, survives, and he and Cai can actually begin married life on equal terms and with equal parts love and lust combined.
Cai swears to the coven and claims her rightful place as queen to her people by Roiven's side, and basically it's a happily ever after all around, including beach parties so Hafgua can be in on it and proudly declare that 'they're having a moment, he's having a moment, everyone's having a moment'.
LOL. Fin!
Cai and Roiven are about to sweep into your lives like a maelstrom, all fury and teeth and somehow bashfulness you wouldn't expect, not from war-hardened characters, but that's what makes them great.
Roiven as the MMC is actually a great green flag representation and I love how supportive he is and filled with hope. He DOES NOT give up, and that counts.
Cai is the kind of conflicted character you love to root for because she not only has the strength of knighthood, but an inner core that's ultimately good no matter the actions she takes. She doesn't run from danger but rather towards it, and in doing so she uncovers even greater strengths within herself.
The magic system could, perhaps, have been worked on a little bit more and hammered out to better understand some of its nuances, but ultimately this is a character-driven book leading one specific woman through a journey of self-discovery, and everything else falls in line to support this.
I feel like there are definitely still questions left unanswered - why did the Empire withdraw, for one; Cai's family, another, plenty of others betide - and that while this IS billed as a standalone, it could equally function as the first book in a series, should desire arise.
And too little time was spent on the actual enemy, the Exalted, who I definitely would want to know more about and of.
But overall this is a very engaging read, a definite enemies-to-lovers deserving readers' attention.
... and can we have more of the familiars, PLEASE? Sava's dialogue would have probably been a hoot, if Hafgua's is any indication 😂😂😂 you may keep him indeed LOL
10/10 recommend!
Roiven as the MMC is actually a great green flag representation and I love how supportive he is and filled with hope. He DOES NOT give up, and that counts.
Cai is the kind of conflicted character you love to root for because she not only has the strength of knighthood, but an inner core that's ultimately good no matter the actions she takes. She doesn't run from danger but rather towards it, and in doing so she uncovers even greater strengths within herself.
The magic system could, perhaps, have been worked on a little bit more and hammered out to better understand some of its nuances, but ultimately this is a character-driven book leading one specific woman through a journey of self-discovery, and everything else falls in line to support this.
I feel like there are definitely still questions left unanswered - why did the Empire withdraw, for one; Cai's family, another, plenty of others betide - and that while this IS billed as a standalone, it could equally function as the first book in a series, should desire arise.
And too little time was spent on the actual enemy, the Exalted, who I definitely would want to know more about and of.
But overall this is a very engaging read, a definite enemies-to-lovers deserving readers' attention.
... and can we have more of the familiars, PLEASE? Sava's dialogue would have probably been a hoot, if Hafgua's is any indication 😂😂😂 you may keep him indeed LOL
10/10 recommend!
xx
*image not mine
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