Wings of Light and Shadow

De: Brei Diamond

Narrado por: Lauren Beck

Astriel, the last of the Seraphim and the sole protector of Phaedra lives for only one thing: to protect her people. When she is captured by the Human King's fae hunters, led by their cruel captain, Keelan, she is trapped in a new and dangerous world. Her only goal is to find her way out, and find her way home.

But there are forces at work beyond her understanding, secrets that must be revealed, and plots uncovered. When she learns the truth of what happened to her family, and of a new threat to her home from a Sorceress with a tool of world-ending power, her fear for her people urges her on.

With an unlikely alliance with a man that she is not sure she can trust, looming prophecies, and a cryptic messages of what is to come, she must choose: abandon her very sense of purpose, or face her fate head-on.

©2024 Brei Diamond (P)2025 Brei Diamond

Four star read for me!

Brei Diamond does a wonderful job capturing your attention with her story and worldbuilding. I want this to be a spoiler free review so I won't go into too much detail, but I love the twists that she puts on the story. I've read a lot of romantasy books with many of the characters being fae creatures. I love how the main character, Asteriel, is fae over her being human like with many other romantasy read (with my experience). I love how strong she is, how comfortable she is with her body and her sexuality.

While I wasn'y convinced of the love relationship between Astriel and the MMC Keelan, over the course of the story I did really enjoy their relationship. It's refreshing to have a love interest that isn't all broody and a little insufferable. I love how he cares for Astriel, how devoted he is to her. It feels like a genuine relationship that I could see in the real world, which can be hard to accomplish.

I also love how Astriel has lady pals! I feel like it's not too common in fantasy or romantasy books for the FMC to have other girls that she can relay on. Another relaly good breath of fresh air-- plus they're likeable!!

Now for my critiques.
While many of the twists did leave my jaw on the floor in the best way, there were a few plot points that left me confused. They seemed to come from nowhere, even when I would think back to other scenes in the book.

Pacing is another aspect of the book I'm conflicted on. At times it was hard to tell how much time had passed in the story, and when the characters mentioned it it didn't feel like that amount of time had passed. Pacing is extremely difficult to nail down, so I could be too critical here. Some scenes felt as though they were dragged out too long while others went by too fast in my opinion.

I also believe that the spciey scenes felt a bit forced. Again, I could be too critical here especially since I'm not the biggest fan of spicy scenes in books. I'd rather have soft moments between the characters to show their love, and I never activeky seek out spice.

All in all I think Brei did an amazing job! Again, I'm most defintely being knitpicky. I think this is a great introduction book for anyone who's new to romantasy, as well as for active romantasy lovers. I look forward to see what else plays out in Astriel and Keelan's story.