An amazing installment of this great fantasy series! I have to admit, I liked this one better than the first.

A million thank yous to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher, Bookouture/Second Sky for selecting me as an early reader for Dance of Stars and Ashes. This review is completely my own thoughts and opinions of the book based off an early unfinished digital copy.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Dance of Stars and Ashes is the second book in The Nightfall Quartet. This time, we continue with Zarya's story, immediately after the events and revelations of the first book. Now, Zarya has a new identity to wrestle with and new powers to come to terms with and learn how to yield. Along with a new infuriatingly good looking new arrival— the man from her dream forest, who is actually a real human being. And now he hates her.
This book is sizzling hot, from the spice, to the vibrant decadent South Asia fantasy world, to the action, to the heat between Zarya and Rabin. Dance of Stars and Ashes kept my toes curling and pages turning.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

OVERALL: 5/5🌟
STORY: 5/5🌟
WRITING: 5/5🌟
CHARACTERS: 5/5🌟
SPICE: 3/5🌶️
ENJOYMENT: 100/10

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

STORY:

The story in Dance of Stars and Ash picked up right where Heart of Night and Fire dropped off. It was incredibly easy to delve right back in. The atmosphere was the same, the world building was just as lush, the lore continued to expand, and the characters and their relationships continued to evolve. While many of our questions were answered at the end of Heart of Night and Fire, Dance of Stars and Ashes presents plenty of new mysteries that tied back to revelations and events in the first book. Its smartly done and shows Tuli's exquisite ability to weave a tale across multiple books.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

WRITING:

This book has once again reminded me of how brilliant of a writer Tuli is. She continued to flesh out her world with a descriptive and poetic pen. She masterfully crafted a plot that moved along naturally while taking you for exciting twists and turns. And yes, the ending is a beautiful stream of epic reveals and jaw dropping moments.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

CHARACTERS:

I thought I couldn't love these characters more, but oh my lord I was wrong. Yasen continued to be the smart mouth best friend that I will throw hands for if something happens to him. Zarya continues to be the badass who still makes dumb mistakes, but owns up to them. And I still want to punch Vik in the face at point blank. And Rabin? Hold on, I need to just go dump myself in a icy lake.

They all continue to move fluidly through evolving relationships with each other, changing emotions that push and pull at their ties, and tumultuous events that tests their bonds. They are all beautifully written with incredibly depth and realness.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

SPICE:

ooooooooooooh when she said she would bring the spice this time, she was not lying. Charge your vibrators friends. Rabin has plans for you.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
ENJOYMENT:

If you can't tell, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. This is one of those arcs that I'm sitting here groaning the fact that I now have to wait even longer for the next installment because I couldn't just be normal and wait for the book to be published. No I had to be impatient and eagerly read the advance copy as soon as it was put onto my kindle because I love this world Tuli has created so so much. No regrets.

3.5

this book was definitely way different than the first book in many ways, the world building, the lore, the characters, the betrayals, magic, romance??! and friendships. It was fast paced and the plot was resolved quite well, i loved zarya's growth and i cant wait for her to learn more of her power and control it. i lowk never expected we'd get so much rabinzarya content in this book but it made sense for the plot because everything wrapped up really well and i was definitely here for it. zarya and yasen's relationship is so special to me. platonic soulmates we love u. the reason for this rating is because i kind of predicated half of the plot, a certain person aka vikram pissed me off so bad and rabinzarya's romance felt a bit rushed for my liking but other than that this book was good and i enjoyed it! also that ending made me hold my head in my hand i cant wait for the third book and see where zarya's journey takes her next.


thank you netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc

This is why reading unfinished series is the worst. I am DESPERATE for the next book and this one hasn't even come out yet.

This story picks up a few days after the end of the first book, with Dharati kind of in shambles after the attack, but everyone trying to continue on with their lives as best as they can. Zarya and Yasen (the best book friendship to ever exist) think it's a good idea to sneak Amrita out and take her to a peri anada (which is basically a s*x club), maybe not the smartest idea seeing as she is basically the most important woman in the queendom?

The first half of the book is more fantasy than romantasy, there is some tension between Zarya and Rabin, but isn't really the focus until about the second half of the book. There's tons of adventures, some epic fight scenes, tension, banter, some delicious spice, absolute heartbreak, betrayal, and an FMC who manages to be strong AF, self-deprecating, hilarious, and a little weird.

The only reason I can't give this a full 5 stars is because I wanted more Rabin! I wouldn't even turn down a few Rabin POV chapters because I think he has an interesting story to tell and I want more of him!

⭐⭐⭐⭐.75
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an amazing sequel! I am loving this story so much and this sequel was so strong. I cannot wait for the next installment!

I loved loved loved this book. I read it in one sitting and am anxiously awaiting the next installment.

Dance of Stars and Ashes picks up right after Heart of Night and Fire ends. I loved everything about thus book: it’s fast paced, the FMC continues to grow/develops her powers, there’s magic, there’s monsters, I loved the found family, and the romance was perfect.

This book ends on a cliffhanger and I am dying for the next one!