Book Review: ‘Mother of Death and Dawn’ by Carissa Broadbent
Tisannah is used to being the underdog. After signing her life to the Order to help save the slaves in Threll, she was double crossed by the very people she helped. In a desperate power grab, Nura ends up on top, Max ends up in a magical prison, and Tisannah ends up back in Threll, continuing to lead the rebellion while trying to save Max. But Nura isn’t Tisannah’s only enemy. The Fey are coming too. Their king is ticked off about what happened to Aefe, and he is willing to burn the whole world to get his revenge. Tisannah is ready to save the world, but this is too big for any one person to shoulder. It will be all of their choices that decide if the world will survive in the thrilling conclusion to Carissa Broadbent’s The War of Lost Hearts, Mother of Death and Dawn.
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Bramble for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of Mother of Death and Dawn contains some spoilers!]
All the rules have changed in Mother of Death and Dawn
Tisannah’s life has been ruled by magic. Her inherent magical abilities helped her to gain her freedom. Once in Ara, she began to use magic in new ways. Then she accepted Reshaye into her mind and explored new depths of magic.
When she and Max joined their magic, they went farther than perhaps anyone else ever. And after Reshaye sacrificed herself to save Tisannah, her connection to magic changed again. But not in a good way. Tisannah is having trouble using any magic at all. Occasionally she does manage to perform magic, sometimes even great magic, but it’s very hit or miss.
With or without magic, Tisannah is busy. She leads the slave rebellion in Threll. And they’re winning. One Threllian lord after another falls to their forces. Tisannah is thrilled for her people, but there’s something missing: Max. He’s been stuck in a magical prison.
She’s tried to rescue him over and over, but now her allies are giving up, and Tisannah doesn’t know what to do. Resigned to delaying Max’s rescue, Tisannah focuses on the Rebellion’s secret plan to locate an ancient source of incredible magic. But she doesn’t really know what she’s looking for or what it does, and that makes it dangerous.
Suddenly, to everyone’s surprise, Max shows up! It turns out the magical prison he was kept in was sentient and decided to let Max go for its own reasons. The catch is that Max doesn’t have any of his memories for the last 15 years, and his connection to magic is as tenuous as Tisannah’s. But none of that matters to Tisannah. She is sure that with them back together there is nothing they can’t do, so they head off to save the world.
Enemies everywhere in The War of Lost Hearts
Max and Tisannah are trying to save the world, but from what? Nura in Ara has lost her mind. She is delving into incredibly dark magic to turn captured Fey into undead monsters to fight her war. She is determined to destroy the Fey and capture Threll for herself.
Meanwhile, Caduan, the King of the Fey, is out for revenge. He has somehow managed to resurrect Aefe after she sacrificed herself to save Tisannah. But that isn’t enough. After what the humans did to Aefe, he’s decided that they don’t deserve to live. He won’t stop until every single human is dead, regardless of the cost. And he’s looking for the same deep magic that Tisannah is to accomplish his goal.
If he finds the magic first, the world is lost. But even if he doesn’t, the world might be lost anyway. Humans aren’t the only ones that have been greedy with magic. There are some powers in the world that aren’t meant for mortals. Tisannah, Nura, Max, Aefe, and Caduan are messing with things they don’t understand, and the consequences will tear the very fabric of reality apart if they push too far.
Carissa Broadbent’s series just keeps getting better
Daughter of No Worlds, the first book in The War of Lost Hearts series, didn’t impress me much. It was an okay read, but not great. Then Children of Fallen Gods came out, and the story got better. Broadbent’s writing improved, and I found myself enjoying Tisannah and Max’s adventure. Now Mother of Death and Dawn continues the trend by being an even better story and an epic conclusion to the War of Lost Hearts.
Aefe is a great character, and her evolution from a fragmented ball of hurt and anger to an actual person who rediscovers love and purpose is wonderful. She is so wrathful as Reshaye; pain and blood are all she knows.
When she is brought back as Aefe, she doesn’t really know how to exist. But as she slowly finds herself, she swings between anger, sorrow, and fear. Her feelings towards Caduan help her reach towards love, but his twisted feelings turn that love back towards anger. It’s actually her connections to Tisannah and Max that help to ground her the most and help her find her way past the hurt and anger of 500 years.
Aefe is so unstable that even in the final moment, you aren’t totally sure what her final decision will be until she makes the choice that will decide the fate of the world. Will the love Tisannah showed be enough to pull Aefe away from revenge, or will Caduan’s pain win? As the reader, you’re kept guessing, but the ending is so satisfying that you’ll forgive Broadbent for drawing it out.
A special inclusion in this edition of Mother of Death and Dawn
The epilogue is a tearjerker, but in a good way. Seeing what Tisannah and Max create in the world is beautiful and inspiring. But in this edition there’s a second epilogue. Broadbent originally published her The War of Lost Hearts series on her own in 2020. In this new printing from Bramble, there’s a special scene included. It’s a heartwarming scene between Tisannah and Max that leaves the reader in tears of joy. I loved it and am so glad that Broadbent decided to include it.
My rating for this book: 9/10
If you’re loving for a heartbreaking, hope-filled, action-packed read then pick up Mother of Death and Dawn today and find out how Tisannah and Max’s story ends.
Also check out: Book Review: Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent and Book Review: Children of Fallen Gods by Carissa Broadbent (The War of Hearts #2)
