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Starside: A Novel
Alex Aster
4.6
Empire of Flame and Thorns: Flame and Thorns, Book 1
by Marion Blackwood
About this book
Trapped within the impenetrable thorns of the Seelie Court, Selena Hale survives under the oppressive reign of the dragon shifters. For a fae rebel living in the shadows, freedom is a distant dream—until the Atonement Trials offer a perilous path to liberation. Selena enters the lethal competition with a singular goal: to secure one of the three winning spots and escape her captors.
Standing in her way is Draven Ryat, the ruthless commander of the dragon army, a man who embodies every cruelty the fae have suffered. Draven is determined to ensure Selena fails, unaware that she harbors dangerous secrets that would lead to her immediate execution if exposed. As the trials escalate into a brutal test of magic and endurance, the animosity between the rebel and the commander shifts into a volatile, undeniable tension.
Every encounter forces them closer, blurring the lines between duty and desire. Selena must navigate the treacherous politics of the court and the deadly mechanics of the trials, all while battling a growing attraction to the very man who represents her greatest threat. In a game where one mistake means death, the most lethal hazard is a heart that refuses to remain guarded.
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What readers are saying
Annistyn CorbellWhat a wild ride!
"I absolutely devoured this book! I immediately had to rush and start the second. Selena, our FMC, is a fae amongst dragon shifters. In this world, the fae are treated less than by the dragon shifters and are trapped in the Seelie Court. The fae are given a chance to win their freedom by entering the Atonement Trials. This is TRUE enemies to lovers - if they can even be called that. Marion Blackwood is the queen of cliffhangers and plot twists! She will have your heart pounding the whole time and you will not be able to do ANYTHING until you get to the next book! During the trials there is a sexy, broody, dragon shifter, who is the commander of the dragon shifter army. Draven does ABSOLUTELY everything he can to sabotage her during these trials at every turn. This is very high stakes, the trials and the outcome feel very real. To make matters even more heart pounding, Selena is a part of a fae rebellion that NO ONE can find out about, most especially Draven. During the trials and in the rebellion, she's seen as weaker link because her powers aren't physical - they're mental. She can manipulate people's emotions. (If you think that's going to come up later, you're absolutely right!) So as the contestants are pitted against one another in a fight to the death, she must come up with creative ways to stay alive, which is especially difficult with Draven doing everything he can to ensure she dies. Draven is the epitome of morally gray - but you never really know if he's going let her die during several of the trials. I do love the little glimpses and hints that he might actually care about her! I really loved their banter! Selena intentionally does everything she can to get under Draven's skin. He's a very who did this to you MMC! It is a true slow burn. I read it in a day! When you start this series, clear your schedule, because you will be hooked from the beginning and unable to do anything until you jump until you get to the end. This book is just the first of such an emotional rollercoaster. ["
February 16, 2026 Verified Purchase
MarissaYou need to read this book!!!
"OH MY GOODNESSS THAT ENDING!!! ok let me go back to the beginning first bc this book has a hold on me and i loved every single minute of it! i seriously couldn’t put it down and stayed up wayyyy to late to keep reading bc it seriously was so good. i was hooked from the beginning and selena was everything. draven my man, good lord what does it say about me when i truly love the enemy always. draven was lovely and i’m obsessed with him. 10/10 no notes bc that man had me from the moment he was introduced. selena was a baddie and her magic was so neat. i really enjoyed the trials aspect and thought it was super interesting. that ending really took me out and im gonna need to read book two asap bc i gotta know what happens next! thank you to the author and publisher for the early copy! definitely recommend reading this book! ["
April 6, 2026 Verified Purchase
Crafty MommaWhy… just why!!??
"This book was a 3.5 ⭐️‘s for me. I enjoyed the banter between Selena and Darven but he got me so angry at times. The drama and action is good and the spicy scenes are about 3.5 🌶️ only due to a specific scene where it was just WOW!! 🫣 Anyway this is a good read but getting to the end I was just so frustrated, I guess I was too invested and even though I love to see the female characters fight back and be bold Selena does some times at other times I wanted to slap her or maybe just poke her with a pencil aaahh 🙄but the ending I just… I had high hopes… and well nope it wasn’t what I was expecting. I get it, I really do, book two, three, and four needs to happen somehow. But I am mad and I don’t think I would be able to read book two with a calm and collected attitude. After I purchased it… me and my brain uh! book one mmm book two I will need both right because you can’t just get book one you need to get book two also… this is why I am not allowed to go into Barnes and Nobles alone anymore 🤦🏻♀️… not my fault!! Logically you need to buy book one and two but then darn it I really didn’t love book one enough to go to book two but I bought it… so I can’t just not read it, it will bug me enough that I will give in and read it!!! Me, myself, and my darn love for book. 😭 ["
June 24, 2025 Verified Purchase
❈ Elizabeth ❈ | BreakawayreadsFrustratingly good
"This one took me a bit to wrap my head around, but it was definitely a solid four-star read for me. Empire of Flames and Thorns throws you right into a world full of rebellion, power, and tension — and I’m still thinking about it. We follow Selena, the FMC, who’s caught up in a revolution that’s supposed to change everything… if it ever actually happens. To prove her worth and make her mark, she decides to take on the Atonement Trials — a brutal challenge that only happens once every 150 years. Her elemental magic is tied to the mind — emotional strength and heightened senses — which I thought was such an interesting twist compared to the usual elemental powers. And then there’s Draven — the so-called “Shadow of Death.” Their first meeting? Chaotic perfection. Selena spills a drink in his face, and from that moment on, he seems dead set on making sure she fails every step of the way. The dynamic between these two was everything. I loved their constant back-and-forth, her sass, and how he never let her have the last word. It’s very enemies-to-enemies (with just enough tension to keep you holding out hope). And when the spice finally hits? Yeah, that kept me up until one in the morning. This book was unputdownable — a total page-turner. I’ll admit, there were parts that frustrated me, especially with Selena. She constantly tried to please people, and as someone a little older, that didn’t quite resonate with me. You’re literally in a deadly trial, so why try to win everyone’s favor when you should be fighting for yourself? I get that it was part of her growth — she was wrestling with her own inner battles the whole time — but it definitely tested my patience. There were also some wild, unforgettable moments (like the scene where she’s forced to walk naked through the halls after someone steals her clothes — and Draven catches her. Epic). The ending completely caught me off guard — the twist was so good, and finally finding out why she wanted so badly to be seen and noticed made a lot of her choices click into place. Overall, this book frustrated me, thrilled me, and kept me turning the pages all the same. If you love fierce women finding their strength, dangerous trials, a dash of spice, and that never-ending enemies-to-lovers tension, Empire of Flames and Thorns is absolutely worth diving into. ["
October 7, 2025 Verified Purchase
