Chaos & Flame

Tessa Gratton · Justina Ireland

Mar 2023 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

From New York Times bestselling author Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton comes the first book in a ferocious YA fantasy duology featuring ancient magic, warring factions, and a romance between the two people in the world with the most cause to hate one another.

Darling Seabreak cannot remember anything before the murder of her family at the hands of House Dragon, but she knows she owes her life to both the power of her Chaos Boon and House Kraken for liberating her from the sewers where she spent her childhood. So when her adoptive Kraken father is captured in battle, Darling vows to save him—even if that means killing each and every last member of House Dragon.

Talon Goldhoard has always been a dutiful War Prince for House Dragon, bravely leading the elite troops of his brother, the High Prince Regent. But lately his brother’s erratic rule threatens to undo a hundred years of House Dragon’s hard work, and factions are turning to Talon to unseat him. Talon resists, until he’s ambushed by a fierce girl who looks exactly like the one his brother has painted obsessively, repeatedly, for years, and Talon knows she’s the key to everything.

Together, Darling and Talon must navigate the treacherous waters of House politics, caught up in the complicated game the High Prince Regent is playing against everyone. The unlikeliest of allies, they’ll have to stop fighting each other long enough to learn to fight together in order to survive the fiery prophecies and ancient blood magic threatening to devastate their entire world.

Ratings and reviews

There were a few good points in the book. Mostly I liked how it drew on curiosity to keep the reader going. There was always something more going on, behaviors to study and try to put together what is going on behind the scenes. That being said, there was a lot I didn't like. I don't actually know what the point of the book was. Was it to set up the next book? Possibly. It definitely did that. However, I didn't care about the characters. I was bored throughout most of it.

This story certainly was interesting and kept me hooked for the whole book, despite its flaws. I think the houses were cool, especially back in the day when their crests were actual beings all due to the power of Chaos. It was hard to decide whether Caspian was actually mad ( I would love to see his paintings) or just very devious in all his plans that included the other Chaos touched person, Darling (odd name and it threw me a bit). The insta love between her and Talon was a bit much but okay.

About the author

Justina Ireland is the New York Times bestselling author of fifteen novels and four anthology contributions, including Dread Nation and Deathless Divide. She is a former editor in chief of FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, for which she won a World Fantasy Award, and her work has been shortlisted numerous times for state and literary awards. She holds a BA in History from Georgia Southern University and an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University. Visit her at authorjustinaireland.com or follow her on Twitter @justinaireland.

Tessa Gratton is the author of adult and YA SFF novels and short stories that have been translated into twenty-two languages, long-listed for the Otherwise Award, and several have been Junior Library Guild Selections. Her most recent novels are the dark queer fairy tales Strange Grace and Night Shine, and the queer Shakespeare retelling Lady Hotspur. Her upcoming work includes the YA fantasy Chaos and Flame (2023), and novels of Star Wars: The High Republic. Though she has lived all over the world, she currently resides at the edge of the Kansas prairie with her wife. She/any.