When I saw that the FMC for Once the Skies Fade by Vanessa Rasanen was going to be Calla, my heart broke. I loved that she and Brennan found joy together and legitimately fell in love with one another. He found his place and I was happy for them. We even get to have a glimpse of that in the beginning, him loving and attempting to cheer up his wife who is still mourning the deaths of her parents. So much for happiness!
Before I get deeper into it, I want to say adding Shane East as the MMC narrator really knocked his out of the park. He did an amazing job portraying both side of Matthias, his earnestness alongside his impishness and angst. Zura Johnson is back narrating the FMC and was great as Calla. She really helped me feel the anguish and rage and impotence Calla spent the entire novel going through.
This second book in the Immortal Reveries series was by far better than the first. This gave me everything! It definitely leaned more into the romance instead of trying to toe that line between this is a fantasy story and this is a romance that the first book tried. This also had much stronger personalities and main characters. Calla’s ruthlessness was perfection. I was ready to marry her. Loved my shadow queen who suffers no fools. And Matthias, it took some time for me to warm up to him because I loved Brennan so much and was so upset at having him come into the picture as a possible replacement. But, I grew to care for him – much more than I did for Connor.
The tension between all of the characters was perfect and, despite considering myself particularly discerning, I was absolutely played for a fool at the ending (Isa, my queen, I’m sorry I thought ill of you.) Then that ending was so gruesome but intriguing. I’m honestly excited to see where the next book goes and who we focus on. I’m also so intrigued by the witch and cannot wait to see what all these money moves she’s making are for.
If you were on the fence with the first book, trust me, Once the Skies Fade by Vanessa Rasanen makes up for it. It is spicy, angsty, and practically perfect. Plus, if you’re going to read this, I 100% recommend the audiobook version.