🩸 Book Review: The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk by Carissa Broadbent
An emotionally charged, mythic finale that blends cosmic stakes, divine ambition, and a love story that defies death itself.
Book 4 in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk delivers a sweeping conclusion to the arc of Mische Iliae and Asar Voldari, two broken souls bound by sacrifice, vengeance, and a love that spans mortal and immortal realms. With a strong Goodreads rating of 4.16/5 from over 10,000 readers, Carissa Broadbent’s romantasy epic continues to impress with its lyrical prose, emotional depth, and genre-defying ambition.
🧠 Plot Overview
After Mische’s devastating sacrifice plunged the world into eternal night, she awakens in the underworld—a realm unraveling at the seams. Meanwhile, Asar, now imbued with a fragment of divine power, is imprisoned by the gods of the White Pantheon. When a mysterious goddess offers them a path to redemption, the two embark on a perilous quest to seize the power of the god of death.
Their journey spans collapsing realms, soul-devouring monsters, and divine politics, all while old allies—like Raihn, Oraya, and Vincent—return to raise the emotional stakes. As war looms and the underworld teeters on the brink, Mische and Asar must decide what they’re willing to sacrifice to defy fate—and whether love can survive the wrath of gods.
💬 Why Readers Love It
- Dual POV Structure: Asar’s perspective is introduced for the first time, adding emotional complexity and urgency to the narrative.
- Mythic Worldbuilding: Broadbent expands the Nyaxia universe with divine lore, crumbling realms, and haunting underworld sequences.
- Emotional Catharsis: Mische’s confrontation with her past—especially her trauma involving the sun god Atroxus—is one of the novel’s most powerful scenes.
- Romance & Redemption: The love story is raw, defiant, and deeply woven into the plot’s moral and existential stakes.
⚠️ Critiques
- Some readers found the pacing uneven, with rapid shifts between settings and subplots that occasionally felt diffuse.
- The romance, while emotionally resonant, sometimes gets overshadowed by the sprawling action and divine conflict.
- A few scenes felt under-resolved amid the epic scope, leaving readers craving more closure.
🏁 Final Verdict
The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk is a triumphant, emotionally devastating finale that stretches the boundaries of romantasy. Carissa Broadbent blends intimate storytelling with mythic grandeur, crafting a tale of love, sacrifice, and the cost of playing god. For fans of morally gray characters, divine intrigue, and romance that burns through the darkness, this is a must-read.
