Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Book Blurb

She lives by her intuition. He feeds on her pleasure . . .

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. And 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 travelling 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 prince, and the prince takes an interest in Calista, she becomes the latter’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 choose: follow her intuition to safety or follow her heart to her downfall.

My Review

When I first started reading fantasy fiction there were a handfull of authors that I was told I should read and Jennifer L Armentrout was among that list. I do have a couple of books by her on my shelf but like so many of us my tbr is huge and I just haven’t got around to reading them, although after reading Fall of Ruin and Wrath I am going to dig them out. Jennifer has a couple of series under her belt and Fall of Ruin and Wrath is the first in a new series called Awakening.

It did take me a couple if chapters to really get into this book, getting my head around the different type of characters; Hyborn, Lowborn, and Caelestia, but once I did I was addicted. This first book is character led, there isn’t much action but the characters make up for that. Calista, Lis, is our female heroine, she is an orphan and has had a tough start to life living on the street with her friend Grady, doing what they must to survive. But Lis has a gift where she can read people, see their thoughts and their future through touch alone and this makes her valuable. It is this gift that saves her and Grady from the streets, a Baron takes her in to use her skills in return for a safe life for her and Grady. Lis is a complex character, always in fear of being back on the streets, confident but due to her gift she is unable to enjoy the touch of anyone as it opens their secrets to her. This changes when she meets Hyborn Thorne, she can’t access the minds of Hyborns, so with him she can enjoy his touch on her skin, the heat and passion giving her a freedom she has never experienced.

The plot itself is a real slow burner, no major action, but a lot of intriguing character dynamics, and lots of hedonism, mainly between Lis and Thorne. Family and friedship are important themes developed in Fall of Ruin and Wrath, how loyalty is important, even though other morals in some of characters are doubtful. I really enjoyed the humour and wit that was injected by Lord Bas, breaking the tension of the plot for a while and I really hope he is back in the next book. The world building sees the The Kingdom of Caelum ruled by a King, with the Hyborn helping to rule, a race that are not born but created in the earth. What I really loved about this is that this world is a result of a world destroyed by humans, polluting the earth, destroying forests with the Hyborn having to sort it out.

I found Fall of Ruin and Wrath to be a truely addictive read, once started I found it hard to put down. The characters were amazing, relatable in parts and I even loved Thorne although his morals were questionable to say the least. Jennifer L Armontrout has created a compelling and engaging first book in a series, setting the path for the next book(s), with a cliffhanger ending that has left me wanting more. Drama, romance, sexual tension and a sense of darkness make for a captivating and exciting read.

I would like to thank Tor books and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for the opportunity to be part of the blog tour for this book.