Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

Tracy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Chaos Chronicles, #1

Release Date: October 14, 2024

Hidden away in an Eden-like paradise lies a village dedicated to the worship of the goddess Laastra and her husband Arthai. When villagers reach the age of eighteen, they are forced to marry and bear children – but Nadia has other ideas. Tired of the endless worship, torture and oppression of the fanatical cult, Nadia concocts a plan to flee the walled compound before her dreaded wedding day. Despite being an outsider and a troublemaker hated by all, Nadia enlists the help of her husbands-to-be, High Elder candidate Venne and warrior guardian Emiil. Yet along the way they discover terrifying secrets about their existence and all that has been hidden from them. After a life of being powerless and punished, Nadia and her friends begin to realize they may be something more than mere mortals. The world beyond the village walls is nothing like they had dreamed. Will the price of freedom be too much to pay?

The Chaos Chronicles is an exciting fantasy romance series, filled with action, morally grey characters and dark themes. Inspired by the Grishaverse and Dragon Age, this series offers a twist on mythology, magic and mayhem. It also features a variety of LGBTQIA+ characters and found family.

My thoughts: This was a well written, interesting book with a strong YA/Coming of Age vibe. I found the idea of the story to be intriguing – a group of young people who escape their village to learn that they are not who they thought they were. There is a lot of mythological inspiration, as well as magic, a love triangle, new friends, a bit of heartache, a dash of darkness, action and life-altering events. I personally felt it was a bit young for my taste, it was also a little wordy and dragged in places – but overall, it was a good read and if you prefer a YA fantasy – I am sure you will find this book to be a wonderful read. As it is the first book in the trilogy, this story is just the beginning of an epic adventure.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

Vexxed by Ilya Voskresensky

Tracy’s Rating: 2 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Release Date: April 10, 2025

Vexx, necromancer and self-proclaimed rogue is summoned by Baron Blackthorne to the town of Grimholt to clear up a ghoul problem. Vexx and his sidekick Nevermore, the snarky talking raven, investigate the graveyard and are shocked by the infestation and quickly determine that there is something much deeper going on in Grimholt’s graveyard – especially when Vexx comes face to face with Ilvara, the vampire.

But Ilvara isn’t the only woman with her eyes on Vexx, but the baron’s daughter Evelyn is off-limits, too bad she doesn’t seem to understand boundaries. And if all this isn’t enough – there is Vexx’s secret that is only going to make things much, much, much more difficult.

It was painfully clear that this was a debut novel and while the idea of the story was fun, the author needs to work on execution. The structure of the story is messy, and the author clearly has no familiarity with plot structure, character development and apparently no fondness for proper paragraph use. I felt like I was dropped into the middle of a series – the reader was given no backstory on Vexx or his relationship with Nevermore (which BTW – Really? A raven named Nevermore??) or his secret. It made for an incredibly frustrating read. I think this author has potential and with the right editor/writing coach could probably write an amazing story – but this story is not a book I would recommend.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

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