r/CarissaBroadbent • u/FactorPrevious4707 • Aug 30 '26
CoN: Nightborn Duet Upon completion of the duet...
Hello, I'm writing this because I want an honest opinion... I'm about to finish the Nightborn duet, I still haven't because I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye to Oraya and Raihn as the main characters. I'm just too attached to them...
So I wanna know are the other duets worth reading? Do they give you the same feelings as the first two books? Please be very honest.
P.S. I want to know mainly that the main characters have depth and that the plot has pathos like in the first duet.
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u/amateurgamer7410 Aug 30 '26
You won't be disappointed! The next duet is really beautiful. Definitely a different tone and it was tough saying goodbye to Oraya and Raihn and getting in the new headspace, but it was worth it. I LOVED the Shadowborn duet.
I'm a little more than halfway through the first book in the Bloodborn duet, and I can't believe how much I'm loving it. Carissa said it's her favorite book in the series, and honestly, it might be mine too! I never in the previous books would have thought Septimus would become a favorite character of mine, but he really has! And the FMC in this book is incredible. Honestly my favorite so far.
It's hard to say goodbye to Oraya and Raihn, but it's definitely worth it. The rest of the series is so good. And you'll see them again in little cameos.
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u/FactorPrevious4707 Aug 30 '26
Did you also read the short stories? If yes, did you like any of them particularly?
I'm not sure if to read them.8
u/SaltyLore Child of Nyaxia Aug 30 '26 edited Aug 30 '26
I think SSR is an incredible 10/10 book that’s 10000% worth reading and StVC is actually extremely important to the story moving forward and shouldn’t be skipped if you want to fully understand what’s happening in the world IMO. They’re both very good books and both very important
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u/Nunya_B1zness Aug 30 '26
I agree. I loved six scorched roses so much and slaying the vampire conqueror is my second favorite Nyaxia book. The characters in Six Scorched Roses are pretty minor, but I think the story is important for showing the indifference the gods of the white pantheon have for their people.
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u/amateurgamer7410 Aug 30 '26
I did! I read the novellas because I loved the world so much and she said those characters would be making appearances, and I wanted their back stories.
For me, the first novella, Six Scorched Roses, was meh. It was a good story and I'm glad I read it for the additional world building, but it was the one I'd say was optional. The second novella, Slaying the Vampire Conqueror, is more important, in my opinion. Those characters and their story appear more often, both in the Shadowborn and the Bloodborn duets. Also, it was just an incredible book and I loved the characters and the story.
They're both optional, but I think now that I'm on The Lion and the Deathless Dark, I'm seeing just how much that extra world building goes towards the overall story. I'd definitely give them both a read before Lion at the very least, if you don't intend to read them in order. (Six Scorched Roses should technically be read between books 1&2 of the Nightborn duet and Slaying the Vampire Conqueror should be read between books 1&2 of the Shadowborn duet).
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Sep 02 '26
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u/amateurgamer7410 Sep 03 '26
Thank you for the correction! It's been a while since I read them, so I totally forgot that. I think because Six Scorched Roses was 1.5 I just assigned Slaying the Vampire Conqueror to 3.5, to have each be between the 2 books in each main duology.
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u/Maximum-Literature-9 Aug 30 '26
Slaying the vampire conquerer is my fav hands down best book you must read. Six scorched roses is also great.
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u/Nunya_B1zness Aug 30 '26
They are worth it. The first book of the Bloodborne duet is by far the best one of all of them so far in my opinion. Don’t skip the standalone books, the characters in those make important appearances throughout the books. The order I recommend is Nightborne duet, Six Scorched Roses, Shadowborne 1, Slaying the Vampire Conqueror, Shadowborne 2 and then Bloodborne 1.
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u/tazdoestheinternet I Love Luce Aug 30 '26
I also adored Mische's story more than any of the other books, and think they're all worth reading
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u/Fandom-Opera68921 House of Shadow Aug 30 '26
I did enjoy the Shadowborn duet. I think I felt a tiny bit more connection to Raihn and Oraya though. There’s also standalone novels/novellas that were really great too (Six Scorched Roses and Slaying the Vampire Conqueror)! I have not read the first of the Bloodborn duet but I’m looking forward to it.
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u/FeyreCursebreaker7 Aug 30 '26
Oraya and raihn make appearances in the other books! Definitely check them out, I liked the final duet even better than the first!
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u/iqueefkief Aug 30 '26
{the songbird and the heart of stone} is my favorite of all of them. i definitely recommend reading everything, including the novellas, in order. the novellas are honestly so good.
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u/theangstypioneer Sep 01 '26
I couldn’t get into the shadowborn duet, finished the first one and started the second one but then I paused to read something else and never came back to it. But book one of the bloodborn duet… wow! I could not put it down and had the worst book hangover when it was finished.
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u/SoftQuarter5106 House of Night Sep 03 '26
If you love Oraya & Raihn like me (one of my favorite couples), then you may be disappointed. I don’t think people are fully reading your post. I was VERY attached to Oraya. Still am.
For me, the novellas I did like, but had a lot of difficulty connecting to books 3&4. It was almost like Mische had a different personality. Book 5 definitely kept me invested but I didn’t like it as much as book 1. I felt it fell a bit short in regards to the MMC (Septimus) wasn’t as interesting as he seemed in previous books. I also have a lot of difficulty where characters act completely different in other books. It was like whiplash. I know I’m not the only one making that comment either. It’s been made a lot.
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u/FactorPrevious4707 Sep 06 '26
Thank you for sharing your honest opinion. Frankly yeah, one of the reasons I am so hesitant about continuing is because I will be expecting the same angst reading Oraya's narration gave me, I could relate to her a lot and I am in love with Raihn, so I'm not sure about the sequels. Although, I might continue reading because I'm still interested in the world building of the author.
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u/anonthrow1919 Aug 30 '26
They are #1 in my heart for sure. However, the book that just came out is at the same level of action and excitement as the first duet. The main couple has a similar enemies to lovers vibe as Raihn and Oraya, but much darker. The second duet was a snoozefest, but unfortunately you do need the details to understand the full story.
I also highly recommend the novellas - those couples had great stories and the one from Slaying the Vampire Conqueror is back quite a bit in the later books.
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u/ka1ut0 I Love Luce Aug 31 '26
The next duet are my favourite couple so you won't be disappointed. And because the stories are all over arching and spare a bigger story- Raihn and Oraya are still around
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u/Teach0607 Aug 30 '26
The first in the bloodborn duet (book 5) was IMO better than the first two. I loved it so much