Slaying the Vampire Conqueror by Carissa Broadbent

Book Review

Melody Bowles

I have had mixed experiences with romantasy books. I often like the premise but struggle to connect with the heroes and heroines enough to enjoy the romance. Still, I was intrigued by the title of this one, although I actually took the wrong meaning from it. For anyone wondering, our main character Sylina will be slaying the vampire who is conquering her country, the ‘Vampire Conqueror’. And not a guy who is conquering vampires.

This book is set in the Crowns of Nyaxia world, where Carissa Broadbent has already written a number of books. This was the first one I read, and it is a great standalone read – I didn’t feel like I missed any additional context.

Narrator and leading lady Sylina has been brought up in the Salt Keep, home of the Arachessen, a cult who worships their goddess with such fervour that they demand members sacrifice their eyesight. Sylina does not see, but experiences the world through ‘Threads’. I understood this as an extended sense of awareness of her surroundings, more akin to phantom touching than sight. This made her a very unique and fascinating protagonist to follow.

The cult orders Sylina to get close to and then assassinate the vampire Atrius, who has begun conquering their country. Sylina agrees and sets out to infiltrate his vampire army. This is a romantasy, so I am sure you can guess that Sylina and Atrius become very, very interested in each other and the killing thing gets put on the backburner for quite a while. Atrius is actually a pretty decent guy with noble goals, so I could root for him. The romance is violently affectionate without much sweetness, but it works well.

The story is very dark. The characters have knotty mental and physical traumas to work through. The plot mainly consists of them battling their way through cities and murdering various figureheads. It’s a surprisingly bloody read for a romance, but I enjoyed this aspect of it.

My absolute favourite part of this book was the structure. I found the pacing absolutely beautiful, the writing rich and evocative without becoming overwhelming. The tension had a lovely ebb and flow. The climax wasn’t surprising, but still left me very satisfied.

Read Slaying the Vampire Conqueror if you’d like a romance set in a harrowing world with plenty of blood, gore and betrayal.