The Ascended Book Review
Magic, revenge, and deadly trials collide in The Ascended, a slow-burn fantasy of betrayal, found family, and fate-shattering secrets.
Rating: ♾️⭐️
Spice rating: 🌶️🌶️.5
I was super fortunate to have received an ARC via NetGalley, thank you so much to the authors Grenwich and Lennox for my advance reader copy. The Ascended is tied for my favorite book I’ve read this year and I’ve already read 100+ books. This book has everything that a high fantasy book should have. It’s god tier and what I’ll be basing infinity star reads off of.
The Ascended by Grenwich and Lennox
Goodreads Book Description
In a world where divine power bleeds into the mortal realm, Thais Morvaren has mastered the art of deception. To her seaside village, she’s just a fisherman’s daughter, serving oysters to summer tourists. In secret, she hides her ability to forge starlight—a power that would force her into the deadly Trials of Ascension.
But when a priest’s ritual exposes her powers, Thais is seized and conscripted into the trials against her will. Now trapped in a competition she never wanted to enter, she transforms her fear into purpose: to kill the King of the Gods.
To take down one of the Aesymar, she must become one, even if it costs her everything.
The selection ceremony binds her to a mentor: Xül. A necromancer prince with blood-soaked hands, a sharp tongue, and dark secrets of his own. From the moment they meet, sparks fly. He’s insufferably arrogant, she’s stubborn to the bone, and neither has any intention of yielding to the other… or to the heat between them.
Each trial survived brings her closer to godhood, but beneath the spectacle of competition, something ancient and malevolent stalks the shadows of the divine realm—a darkness that threatens to unravel the heavens themselves.
The cost of godhood is rising.
Because some stars aren’t meant to be weapons.
Some stars are meant to fall.
Tropes:
- Trials
- Magic
- Slow burn
- Found Family
- Plot Twist
I have no clue what kind of magical enchantments the authors put on this book, but I literally couldn’t put it down, from the first chapter of the book I was enthralled. I literally had my Kindle attached to me at the hip, and when I decided to put it down, it was 4:45 in the morning and I still thought about skipping sleep all together to continue reading 🤣
This is a thickkkkkkkk book and it’s action pack nonstop go go go, the characters, the world building, the unique magic, the whole god/blessed hierarchy, the banter, and let’s not forget the yearning. If you’re a fan of Riftborne and Duskbound you need to hurry up and pre-order the ascended because your mind is gonna be blown. It’s set in the same world as Riftborne & Duskbound and you’ll want to read those first.
Now I need to go back and read Riftborne & Duskbound again to find all of the Easter eggs I missed 🙈
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