✨Im Literary Anxious✨

𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲🕒: 2 minutes

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Stacia Stark✍🏻 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 349📖

“𝙄’𝙢 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙥𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”

🔥Enemies to Lovers
📖Female Rage
🔥Lost Memories
📖One Bed/One Horse 
🔥Forced Proximity
📖Touch Her and Die

I knew. I knew the cliffhanger was coming… and yet I was completely unprepared.

Stacia’s done it again—This Vicious Dream was absolutely unputdownable. I inhaled the whole thing in two days, and that’s only because I’m allegedly a grown adult with “work deadlines” and “bills to pay.” Rude.

I already adored Madinia in Kingdom of Lies, but this book? This book cemented her status in my little purple heart. I’m a sucker for a broken, tortured soul—and while those are often male-coded in fantasy, give me a woman with rage issues and no time for anyone’s nonsense, and I’m sold.

“𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙜𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙨𝙝.”

Yes. Yes, she would. And you would thank her. 😌

TVD picks up three years after the war with Regner. Madinia’s had a brief taste of freedom before, yet somehow, someone else thought they could tame her. (Will these people ever learn?) If we thought she was the poster child for female rage before, we hadn’t seen anything yet.

Meanwhile, Calysian has been wandering the continent with a serious case of amnesia. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for—only that Madinia is the key. But Madinia does know what he’s looking for (and who he is), and she also knows that if he gets it, the end of civilization is kind of on the table. And while she’s not exactly a people person… even she can agree that’s a bad thing.

Even during their brief moments in Kingdom of Lies, Madinia and Calysian had this simmering, electric tension that screamed complicated. Their dynamic in TVD did not disappoint. They’re two people pulled toward each other despite knowing they can’t trust each other—and that no matter what happens, one of them is going to outlive the other.

“𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙖𝙢.”
“𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.”
“𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙?”
 “𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐’𝘮 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩.”
“𝙈𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙖…”
“𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘰—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵—𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵… 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦.”
“𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩?”

🥺😢💔

Oh, OK Stacia, just casually tearing my heart into shreds and then slow-stitching it back together. Love that for me.

Compared to Kingdom of Lies, TVD is actually a bit easier to follow (for now), with a tighter cast of characters. Eamonn—Calysian’s sporadic companion—quickly became a favorite and delivers that perfectly timed comic relief when the angst gets too heavy. But don’t get too comfortable, because rumor has it Prisca and Lorian are entering the chat in book two.

OMG. Lorian AND Calysian in the same book? Be still, my spiraling fangirl heart.

This Vicious Dream was absolutely worth the wait. Stacia delivered on every level, and I can’t wait to see where Madinia’s journey takes us next.

P.S. Stacia, this is my formal request for Rythos to get his own story. Please and thank you 🥺