Two Halves, One Brian

Book Stats

• Book 1 of the Time of Iron series
• Publication Date: 08/27/24
• Publisher: Orbit
• Format: ebook
• Chapters: 35
• Pages: 451
• Narrator POV: Third person
• Available on Kindle Unlimited 🖤

Book Rating

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/ 5

Spice: 🌶️/ 5

Summary & Review

The joy and humor I felt while reading this story rivaled Jasmine Mas’s Cruel Shifterverse series (which honestly says a lot & is super high praise). This plot is chaotic, wild, absurd, and hilarious and I am HERE 👏🏻FOR 👏🏻 IT 👏🏻.

This story is so unique. A girl (a queen bee, head cheerleader bitch) suddenly finds out she has cancer when she’s about 17 years old. This, of course, destroys everything she thought she knew. Her BFF and boyfriend hook up, she’s weak and suffering, and the only thing she really has to hold on to is her love for the fantasy series, The Once and Forever Emperor. Otherwise known as the Time of Iron books. She shares this love with her sister, Alice, and they bond over the well-loved and well-known book series.

One night, as Rae gets worse and falls asleep, she’s approached by a random woman, saying she has the opportunity to travel into the world of the Time of Iron books, into Eyam, their mythical land, and possibly live. Rae is told she’s nearing death and that with the way things are progressing, her mom and sister will struggle while going further into debt and in the end, Rae will die anyway. OR she can travel into Eyam and try to collect the Flower of Life and Death, which blooms once a year. She will have only one chance, but if she succeeds, she’ll be brought back to her body and awake fully cured. If she fails, she’ll never wake.

But, of course, this is just a fictional piece of work and doesn’t imapct real life.

…Right?

Wrong! Rae chooses to go to Eyam because honestly, what’s the harm? It’s all fake anyway, isn’t it?

Rae woke up in the body of Lady Rahela, who was expected to be executed the next day.

She has her newly appointed guard, Key, and her lady’s maid, Emer. She convinces them, with theatrics and speeches, to be part of her villain army – her minions. From here, she uses her wit to help keep her alive and moving toward her ultimate goal of getting her hands on the Flower of Life and Death.

We meet other characters, such as the Cobra and Marius, who help make this story whole. We also learn that when new characters join, such as Rae, the story changes. It shifts and there are drastic changes that affect all of the characters as well as the plot of the story itself.

Rae, with the help of some of her friends/ companions, attempts to alter the story for the best – to ensure they follow the main plot and seek the best outcome for all of their friends/ companions/ readers.

This story has so many unhinged and chaotic characters (my favorite), as well as a totally insane and unpredictable story plot. This author, Sarah Rees Brennan, is phenomenal and writes the most unanticipated, but fun, pieces of fiction. I’m blown away by the chaos of the story and characters.

This story has some of the most enjoyable twists and turns toward the end of the story and while I won’t spoil it, I will say that it was perfect. I mean, my absolutely favorite character was potentially gone, but then they came back with a flourish, and it was EVERYTHING. I loved it. Every chaotic, unhinged minute. 🖤

I am so excited to continue this series. To be 100% honest, I only started this first story because the second book, All Hail Chaos, was available on NetGalley and I knew I loved the male narrator, Shane East. That’s what started this all. And now I’m so invested, it’s insane. 😂 I hadn’t even realized it was the second book in the series until I received the audiobook!

Some of my favorite quotes:

• Rahela dropped a kiss on the viper’s head. “I’m calling you Victoria Broccoli.”
• Key started to laugh. “Don’t strike me, I stab when startled.”
• “Seriously, you will be powerful A.F.”
  The king’s brow wrinkled. “A.F.?”
  “As foretold,” Rae intoned hastily.
• Villains were never morning people. They had to stay sharp for midnight plotting.
• “I was electrified to hear Key say that when distressed, you call on the names of your lovers,” drawled the Cobra. “Jesus and Batman?” Holy sacrilegious misunderstanding.
• “I’m a supporting character,” the Cobra claimed. “I’m supporting him.”
  “You’re blackmailing him!”
  “In a supportive way!” The Cobra waved off Rae’s accusation. “I’m not a villain! I’m someone whose thoughts and desires conflict with those of the main characters.”
  Rae snorted. “Same thing.”
• “I regret my past. I have seen the light!”
  “To what light do you refer?” Marius asked tightly. Did she mean the chandelier? They could all see the chandelier. It was enormous and ostentatious. The Cobra had terrible taste.
• “Sorry. What a mess. The famous Beauty Dipped In Blood, covered in flop sweat. Wait, real ladies aren’t supposed to sweat. Covered in flop glow.”
• “You’re so weird.” Rae patted his head. “I’m fond and everything, but wow.”
• “How many knives do you have on your person?”
  “I can’t do complicated mathematics and kill ghouls at the same time.”
• Books often described kisses as ‘searing’ which made Rae think of salmon, but characters seemed to enjoy the seared-salmon kisses.
• I didn’t invite your rain to my parade.
• “The day we met, you said, ‘I’m your number one fan.’”
  “Did I?” The Cobra made a comically embarrassed face. “Cringe!” It was so rare to see the Cobra flustered, Marius ducked his head to hide a smile.
  “It was the first incomprehensible thing you ever said to me. ‘One’ is a number and a fan is an object. You might as well say ‘I’m a number five wooden duck.’ What did you mean?”
• “I did what I must to survive. Then I did many other things because I thought they would be funny, and make me look cool.”
• “You saw this horse born,” Marius reminded him. “I told you his bloodline could find their way anywhere. You named him.”
  “That was a joke,” said Eric. Marius didn’t see what was humorous. He’d thought it was a nice name.
  The Cobra stared at the expanse of the warhorse’s arched neck, up to the rolling eyes. “So this is my noble steed, Google Maps?”