Of Death & Dragons

Series/World: To Tame a Shifter Shared World
Reading Order: Standalone Prequel
Ending: Complete, Unconventional HEA
Spice: Explicit and Open-Door

Content & Trigger Warnings: The author specifically warns readers that Of Death & Dragons contains bullying, heavy spice, and multiple scenes involving death, the dead, and dying. The story also contains violence, dangerous academy trials, threats, grief, family trauma, and darker fantasy themes.

When I first heard about Of Death & Dragons and learned it was set in the same world as To Tame a Shifter, I fangirled so damn hard and rushed to preorder it immediately. There was no debating whether I really needed another book or pretending I had any intention of behaving like a responsible adult with an already ridiculous TBR. The fact that this was a related prequel was all the information I needed. Then I was basically like… here, take my money.

For anyone who doesn’t already know the significance here, To Tame a Shifter was the series that changed everything for me. It took someone who genuinely hated reading and somehow turned her into the book-obsessed woman currently running an entire website dedicated to reviewing them. So finding out there was another story set in the same world—with more dragons, more fated mates, more supernatural chaos, and A.K. Koonce’s particular brand of humor—felt a little like being told I could go back and visit the place where this whole mess started. Which, obviously, I was excited about. Quite possibly embarrassingly excited. Actually, scratch “possibly.” There was definitely some undignified fangirling involved. 😂

As I stated, Of Death & Dragons is a standalone prequel set in the shared world of To Tame a Shifter, but it tells its own story, so you don’t need to have read Arlow’s series first to understand what’s happening here. If you have read it, though, there is something ridiculously satisfying about discovering that a world you weren’t ready to leave still has doors you haven’t opened yet. I already knew A.K. Koonce could lure me into questionable situations with dragons, so naturally I walked through this particular door without bothering to check what was waiting on the other side.

Turns out it was Death Rider Academy, which sounds exactly like the kind of educational institution responsible adults would encourage their children to attend. Nothing concerning about that name whatsoever. And waiting for me there was Keira, our FMC, who begins the story with what I think we can all agree is a fairly significant personal problem: she’s dead. Not metaphorically dead, emotionally dead, or “I haven’t had coffee yet, don’t speak to me” dead. She is actually dead, dead. So, naturally, I settled in to see what came next. Apparently this was going to be my kind of book.

Keira wakes without her memories and finds herself haunting Arcane Deces, a dragon rider at Death Rider Academy who is considerably less thrilled about acquiring his own personal ghost than I would have expected. Personally, if the ghost haunting me was sarcastic, attractive, capable of touching me, and increasingly involved in my life, I would have questions. Arcane mostly has irritation, which naturally goes over wonderfully. Keira, meanwhile, was immediately the kind of heroine I enjoy reading about because being dead apparently did absolutely nothing to cure her personality. She’s curious, funny, stubborn, impulsive, and remarkably willing to poke at the dangerous dragon rider who very clearly would prefer not to be poked. She has no idea who she was, why she’s there, or why she seems connected to Arcane, but instead of quietly floating into the corner and respecting the boundaries of the living, she inserts herself directly into his existence. Honestly, I respect the commitment. If you’re already dead, what’s he going to do? Kill you? Again? 😂

The mystery surrounding Keira is what initially pulled me deeper into the story. She doesn’t remember her life, and discovering why she’s at the academy becomes tangled up with questions about Arcane, his dragon, their connection, and what exactly happened before she became the very opinionated ghost currently following him around. The answers don’t arrive all at once, and the story uses multiple perspectives and flashbacks to gradually fill in pieces of the past. I found myself constantly wanting just one more piece of the puzzle, which is usually how “I’ll read one more chapter” turns into me, once again, developing a sudden bout of insomnia and accidentally binge-reading half the damn book instead.

Arcane, meanwhile, is exactly the kind of man fictional-me apparently enjoys while real-life-me should probably cross the street to avoid. He is angry, guarded, possessive, powerful, and carrying enough unresolved pain to qualify as his own emotional support baggage carousel. His relationship with Keira begins with irritation and resistance, but underneath all of that hostility is a connection neither of them can simply ignore. Their chemistry has that delicious combination of antagonism and attraction where you’re basically sitting there waiting for somebody to either kiss someone or commit a felony. Possibly both.

Then there is Aelix, Arcane’s twin brother, and this is where things get even more complicated. The relationship between these brothers already comes with plenty of history, resentment, and unresolved issues, but Aelix’s growing feelings toward Keira add another layer of tension between them. Because apparently being twins with years of emotional baggage wasn’t complicated enough—we needed to put the same woman between them too. 😂

What I liked, though, is that Aelix never felt like he was simply being thrown into the story to manufacture some cheap love-triangle drama. His feelings for Keira, his relationship with Arcane, and the tension developing between all three of them are tied into the larger mystery in ways I’m absolutely not explaining because you’re supposed to be sitting there wondering what the hell is going on just like I was. The multiple POVs and flashbacks gradually give us more context about the brothers and their history, but every answer seems to come with another question attached. And honestly, that only made me more suspicious of everybody.

Death Rider Academy itself is exactly as reassuring as the name suggests, which is to say not at all. Students are training as dragon riders, there are dangerous trials, competition, bullying, secrets, and an educational philosophy that occasionally seems to operate under the assumption that surviving the semester is an extracurricular achievement. Honestly, I’m starting to question their accreditation. The academy setting gives the story a darker gothic atmosphere that feels different from To Tame a Shifter while still carrying some of the things I originally loved about A.K. Koonce’s writing. Dragons and magical bonds are woven into the world, while death is constantly lurking around the edges of a story that literally begins with its heroine already dead.

But somehow, despite all of that death, the book is still funny, and thank goodness for that. It’s one of the things I enjoy most about A.K. Koonce’s writing. She can put characters in genuinely awful situations and still give them enough personality and banter that the darkness doesn’t suffocate the entire story. Keira in particular refuses to behave like the tragic, ethereal ghost one might expect from a gothic fantasy. She’s too busy being curious, horny, sarcastic, and generally making Arcane’s life considerably more complicated. There is something particularly entertaining about her complete lack of self-preservation too. Death apparently did nothing to improve her judgment, and I respect that. 😂

And then there’s the romance, which is where this book absolutely had me. Keira and Arcane’s relationship is built around a fated bond, and I love fated mates when they are done like this. I want the pull, the instinctive recognition, and that overwhelming sense that these two people are meant for each other in a way that bypasses logic entirely. And I especially want the intensity that comes with it—the possessiveness, the need to be close, and that constant awareness of one another that makes everything feel a little too charged and a little too inevitable. Keira and Arcane have that in abundance, and I loved every damn second of it.

Their attraction is almost insatiable, and that was absolutely a positive for me. That magnetic, can’t-get-enough-of-each-other pull is one of the things I love most about fated bonds. There is something about that primal recognition of this is my person that makes the intensity feel completely natural. Keira and Arcane don’t simply find one another attractive; there is an instinctive need underneath it, something deeper than ordinary chemistry, and all that possessive, completely obsessed-with-each-other energy was very much working for me.

So yes, Of Death & Dragons is spicy. Very spicy. And you certainly won’t hear me complaining about that. 😂 The chemistry between Keira and Arcane is intense, the sexual tension delivers, and their fated bond amplifies everything in a way that makes their relationship even more addictive to read. If anything, I would have been disappointed if a bond this powerful didn’t come with that level of attraction.

What really makes their romance work for me, though, is that all of that physical intensity is matched by an emotional connection. Fate may pull them together, but it doesn’t erase their personalities, their pain, or the complications standing between them. Arcane is still angry, guarded, possessive, and carrying a ridiculous amount of emotional baggage, while Keira is trying to figure out who she is, why she’s there, and what their bond actually means. Their relationship has vulnerability, tension, trust, tenderness, and emotional intimacy woven through all that deliciously terrible self-control. That balance is exactly what I want from a spicy fated-mates romance. I don’t want the attraction toned down—I want them completely obsessed with each other. I just also want to believe there is something underneath that attraction worth becoming emotionally invested in, and Keira and Arcane gave me both. Apparently even death couldn’t put a dent in Keira’s sex life. Good for her. And him. 😂

The dragons themselves aren’t just background decoration either. Dragon riding is part of the academy, its culture, its training, and the danger surrounding these characters. I liked that the dragons actually felt connected to the world rather than being included because somebody realized putting a dragon on the cover is an extremely effective way of separating me from my money. Although, for the record, that strategy would probably still work.

The mystery and worldbuilding move quickly, which is both a strength and the reason I’m landing at 4.5 stars instead of a full five. This is a very bingeable read, and I was never bogged down in unnecessary exposition, but there were moments when I wanted more space to sit with certain elements, especially Death Rider Academy, the dragons, and some of the character relationships. The story gave me a lot to enjoy, but occasionally I wanted it to slow down just a little and let me sink further into the world. Honestly, my biggest complaint is essentially that A.K. Koonce gave me enough interesting shit that I got greedy and wanted more of it.

I especially would have taken more time with the emotional complexity surrounding Keira, Arcane, and Aelix. Without getting into spoiler territory, there is more going on between these characters than the initial setup suggests, and the way the book gradually reveals their histories adds emotional weight to what is happening in the present. That was one of the elements that surprised me most because I came into this expecting dragons, academy chaos, fated mates, spice, and A.K. Koonce’s particular brand of humor. I absolutely got all of those things, but there is also grief, family trauma, complicated relationships, and a surprising amount of emotion woven underneath the supernatural chaos.

Somehow, it works. The heavier moments don’t erase the humor, and the humor doesn’t make the emotional parts feel meaningless. I could laugh at Keira being Keira in one chapter and then find myself considerably more invested in these people than I had planned to be a few chapters later. Which, frankly, is rude. I came here for dragons. Nobody said anything about feelings.

Since Of Death & Dragons is a standalone romance, I also want to reassure anyone wondering about the ending without spoiling it: Keira and Arcane’s main story is complete by the final page. You aren’t going to get invested in their relationship only to discover that you have to wait for another book to find out what happens to them. Their story gets its conclusion, while the larger shared world leaves room for other characters to have stories of their own.

And thank goodness for that, because apparently I wasn’t finished with this world either. Kingdoms & Claws is currently scheduled to release on October 6, 2026, and I am already anxiously waiting to get my hands on it. At this point, my relationship with A.K. Koonce is basically just her writing dragons, me becoming emotionally invested, and then me suffering until she gives me more. We all have our burdens. 😂🐉

If you’re looking for gothic academia, dragon riders, fated mates with that deliciously intense I cannot get enough of you bond, a ghost FMC who refuses to behave, a possessive and emotionally complicated MMC, dangerous trials, mystery, family trauma, explicit spice, dark humor, and enough emotional depth to make you care about what happens beyond the romance, Of Death & Dragons is absolutely worth picking up. If you don’t enjoy academy settings, fated-mate dynamics, explicit spice, or stories that deal heavily with death and grief, this may not be your next obsession. The darker themes and bullying content are also worth noting before diving in, and readers who prefer extremely dense high-fantasy worldbuilding may find themselves wanting more depth in some areas, just like I did.

For me, Of Death & Dragons gets ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ 4.5/5 stars and 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 4/5 peppers. It gave me the dragons, humor, supernatural chaos, emotional connection, and deliciously obsessive fated bond I came looking for, while also giving me a much more emotional story than I expected. The only thing keeping it from that full fifth star was that I wanted more time and depth with certain parts of the world and its characters. Basically, my complaint is that A.K. Koonce gave me something I enjoyed enough that I became greedy and wanted more of it. There are worse problems to have.

Apparently all A.K. Koonce has to do is tell me there are dragons and fated mates in a world I already love, and any illusion of self-control disappears. I rushed to preorder this one, devoured it when I finally got my hands on it, and now I’m right back where I started—waiting impatiently for another book.

At this point, it’s definitely a pattern. 😂🖤📚🐉

—Mz. Sassy K.
SassyReviews.com

NOTE: As always, all thoughts, reactions, fangirling, suspicious side-eyeing, and sleep-deprived ramblings are entirely my own. My reviews are always unbiased, unfiltered, and unapologetically honest—whether I loved the book, wanted to throw my Kindle across the room, or somehow managed to do both.