SHE LIVES BY HER INTUITION. HE FEEDS ON HER PLEASURE.

Fall of Ruin and Wrath – Synopsis and Background

Synopsis:

Long ago, the world was destroyed by gods. Only nine cities were spared. Separated by vast wilderness teeming with monsters and unimaginable dangers, each city is now ruled by a guardian―royalty who feed on mortal pleasure.

Born with an intuition that never fails, Calista knows her talents are of great value to the power-hungry of the world, so she lives hidden as a courtesan of the Baron of Archwood. In exchange for his protection, she grants him information.
When her intuition leads her to save a traveling prince in dire trouble, the voice inside her blazes with warning―and promise. Today he’ll bring her joy. One day he’ll be her doom.

When the Baron takes an interest in the traveling prince and the prince takes an interest in Calista, she becomes the prince’s temporary companion. But the city simmers with rebellion, and with knights and monsters at her city gates and a hungry prince in her bed, intuition may not be enough to keep her safe.
Calista must follow her intuition to safety or follow her heart to her downfall.

Fall of Ruin and Wrath is the first book in Jennifer L. Armentrout’s fantasy series ‘Awakening’. This brand-new instalment is set in a completely new world with a new concept separate from her other popular series such as From Blood and Ash and the prequel Shadow in the Ember.

We follow FMC Calista as she navigates her gifts of intuition and foresight as an orphan on the streets, trying her best to survive poverty alongside her friend. Until she has a chance meeting with a Baron that seemingly changes her luck, she finds a position with him playing spy and courtesan. Yet, though she is grateful to have a roof over their heads and food in their bellies, Calista still doesn’t feel like she really belongs, and that this could all be taken away from her at any moment.

One day, her intuition leads her to a visiting prince in dire need of help. Little does she know, this chance encounter will change her entire life trajectory, leading her down a path of self-discovery, sensuality and violence.

The Review

I have to say, I went into this read with mixed feelings. I have read some of Armentrout’s previous books, namely FBAA, and although I absolutely loved the first couple of books in the series, the overarching plot lost me around book three and I ended up DNFing.

That being said, I had heard good things about this this new instalment to Jennifer L. Armentrout’s romantasy hoard, and after a serious Iron Flame hangover, I needed something to pull me out of my reading slump kicking and screaming.

Writing Style

Let me preface this by saying, in terms of writing style, I do not believe Armentrout is a literary laureate, but nine times out of ten when I sit down to a romantasy novel, I want a nice easy read. I don’t want to be analysing complex metaphors, but equally I do find myself pulled out of the story by other writers that have a poor or non-cohesive writiting style. This is simply not the case with this author. I find her books are easy to read, yet still immersive enough for me to create a vivid picture of the world and characters in my mind. In my opinion, this is the key to a romantasy novel that I simply can’t put down.

Length and grip (😏)

Speaking of being unable to put a book down, I inhaled this book in around 48 hours, around a full-time job, Christmas shopping and three dogs. Granted, the first day I picked this up, I was on annual leave, but at 416 pages, I still don’t think that is bad going. I found myself thinking about this book when I didn’t have it in my hands, therefore suggesting that FORAW is a pretty grippy read. Glancing at other reviews, some have mentioned that this book was too long and the pacing was off, but for me I cannot agree with that. I found that, yes, there were some slower sections, but as the first novel in a brand-new series, that is to be expected whilst Armentrout builds the world and a completely new magic system. I wasn’t bored at these moments, and I appreciated them for what they are – filling in the gaps. Actually, I found myself sad that the book ended when it did (and how it did!), and I am certainly looking forward to the next one.

World/Magic System

I think many avid fantasy and romantasy readers would agree, that after a while, types of characters do become a little repetitive. Fae, vampires, werewolves, shaddow daddies (kidding, we can’t get enough of a shadow daddy). FORAW feels fresh. I really feel that the idea of having beings that feed off pleasure provided something really new for this book, it reminded me of a fresh take on a succubus and felt really sexy. I am already so excited to learn more about the hyhborn and their abilities, our MMC Thorne seems to radiate power, and we’re just getting to know how far that well goes. As for Calista, I felt like we, as a reader, were immersed in her experience, discovery and frustration with her own power – again I am looking forward to finding out what these gifts actually mean.

Smut

I have read some other reviews that have commented on there being far too much smut in here in order to make it a) adult and b) fill plot holes. Yet again, I totally disagree. I think this book has equal measures of plot, romance and smut. Let’s be honest, the MMC literally feeds off pleasure so I was expecting more smut than there was. The dining room scene? ***chefs kiss***.

Checklist:

• ✅ – “Who did this to you?”
• ✅ – Slow burn
• ✅ – Smut
• ✅ – Forced proximity
• ✅ – Tension
• ✅ – Morally grey MMC
• ✅ – Cliff hanger!!!

Favourite quote:

“There was a moment of silence. “Once more, you’ve proven just how brave you are.”
“I just…I just did what I thought was right.”
“And that often takes the most bravery, doesn’t it?”

Overall rating and conclusion

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I liked the pacing and balance of plot, smut and romance. I highly disagree with many of the other reviews, and that’s okay because we all have differing opinions – it’s what makes the world go around! The writing style could use some more improvement, but overall it is an easy read and I am invested in where this series and characters are going to go. It has actually encouraged me to read the Flesh and Fire series, as I have heard many good things about that!