Chaos & Flame

Written by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland

Narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt and James Fouhey

From New York Times bestselling author Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton comes the first book in a ferocious YA fantasy duology featuring ancient magic, warring factions, and a romance between the two people in the world with the most cause to hate one another.

Darling Seabreak cannot remember anything before the murder of her family at the hands of House Dragon, but she knows she owes her life to both the power of her Chaos Boon and House Kraken for liberating her from the sewers where she spent her childhood. So when her adoptive Kraken father is captured in battle, Darling vows to save him—even if that means killing each and every last member of House Dragon.
 
Talon Goldhoard has always been a dutiful War Prince for House Dragon, bravely leading the elite troops of his brother, the High Prince Regent. But lately his brother’s erratic rule threatens to undo a hundred years of House Dragon’s hard work, and factions are turning to Talon to unseat him. Talon resists, until he’s ambushed by a fierce girl who looks exactly like the one his brother has painted obsessively, repeatedly, for years, and Talon knows she’s the key to everything.
 
Together, Darling and Talon must navigate the treacherous waters of House politics, caught up in the complicated game the High Prince Regent is playing against everyone. The unlikeliest of allies, they’ll have to stop fighting each other long enough to learn to fight together in order to survive the fiery prophecies and ancient blood magic threatening to devastate their entire world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Mar 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9780593665428

Tessa Gratton

Tessa Gratton is genderfluid and hangry. She is the author of The Queens of Innis Lear and Lady Hotspur, as well as several YA series and short stories which have been translated into twenty-two languages. Her most recent YA novels are Strange Grace, Night Shine, and Moon Dark Smile. Though she has traveled all over the world, she currently lives alongside the Kansas prairie with her wife. Visit her at TessaGratton.com.

[hawaiianmermaid701 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I will admit that this book was the slow start but once itgot going it really got going! I will admit that I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book just because at the beginning it seemed like a typical ya Saturday and with similar characters to ones you've already read a million times but the authors were able to change flip all of that into an interesting and dynamic story. I would like to see more character development from our two main characters because they have very similar plot motivations and personality. Once I got into the story it was a fairly quick read and the cliffhanger ending is annoying but I totally understand that they need to hook you in for the next book. I like the cover it stands out nicely on my bookshelf and I'm excited to see what the sequel looks like. I would recommend this to YA fantasy readers, because it's really plot driven rather than character driven which I think is something most people look for in an adult fantasy

[sennebec · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the sort of book I feast on. Great characters, intriguing world and lots of intrigue...Then I got to the end and it was like running into a brick wall. I hope there's something beyond it and that I can see it.

[oldandnewbooksmell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Trigger Warnings: Misgendering, genocide (off page, but discussed), poison, knife violence, blood & gore, graphic violence, war, death

Written in the alternating points of views of Darling Seabreak and Talon Goldhoard, Chaos & Flame tells the story of the two navigating House politics while also being caught up in the High Prince Regent’s unknown scheme as they tour around the kingdom to the other Houses.

This book took me a while to get into it - it’s slow to start, but by the end of it, I was invested in what was happening with the characters, so I will be picking up the second book in this duology. I'm very curious to see how the authors are planning on bringing out more with the boons and if those will change with what could be happening in the second book.

I was really interested in Caspian’s character and wish I knew more about what was going on in his head since everyone just marked him as “being mad” when in fact, he just had a whole other agenda.

I do wish we had more history of the world. The world building was fantastic but I felt like 100 years isn’t a whole lot to have passed since the last phoenix was alive and that even with that, there should still be people around who were alive back then - wouldn’t they know more and have maybe some insight?

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the insta-love between Darling and Talon, but it is YA and that’s typical YA romance so I’m not complaining all too much to be honest with you.

Overall, it was a slow build up to a good read and that I’m excited to continue reading when the next book in the series comes out (please don’t be too long!).

*Thank you Razorbill and BookishFirst for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review