Wednesday, 24 September 2025

REVIEW - Poisoned Kingdom (Secrets of Dagome #1) by Olena Nikitin

The Book
Release Date: 9 September 2025

When the magic that creates life is a death sentence, her only chance to live is taming it… and the man it tried to claim.

As a poisoner, Roksana knows how to keep a secret—until the power she wields and the secrets she hides begin unravelling, forcing her to flee to the dwarven kingdom.

But the assassin’s mark on her skin isn’t easy to erase.

When she’s discovered by her former master, the price for his silence is brutally simple: kill the notorious War King.

Except… she already did.

Her target, however, refuses to die. Surviving by sheer tenacity—and the darkness her poison awakened—he sets out to hunt down the woman who dared to destroy him.

When his hands finally close around his assassin’s throat, the War King does the unthinkable—he lets her live… and makes her pay.

Thrusted into a world where loyalty is carved in blood and love is the deadliest illusion, two unwilling allies must join forces for a chance to survive—all while trying to ignore the treacherous fire threatening to undo them with every forbidden touch.

As more secrets come to light, Roksana faces an impossible choice.

Trust the man she tried to kill… or hide her power and let his kingdom burn.

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Perfect for fans of high-stakes fantasy with morally grey fmc, enemies-to-lovers romance and rich, Slavic-inspired world-building. This adult high fantasy delivers slow-burn tension, dark intrigue, and a hero torn between power and love.

For readers who crave the grit of The Witcher and the allure of Bardugo’s Six of Crows, reimagined for a mature audience.


Check content warnings in the “Look Inside” section.

My Review    5 STARS
**My thanks to the The Nerd Fam and author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

This is the first time that I have read by this writing duo and I was certainly impressed with the world building and the plot that the story had.

Roksana is a. poisoner and a mage, but a mage with talents that are dangerous as a vivimancer, they have been killed off in the past they are so dangerous.

Escaping from one of her former masters she finds herself fighting for survival and ends up poisoning the wrong man, only she doesn't know it at the time.

There are strong friendships, a romance between her and Rey where he wants her more first and will do what he can to have her.

I really enjoyed the flow of the story the building up of the relationship between Sana and Rey and the use of magic.  Sana certainly goes through her own trial and is a very strong character with a life that has anything but easy.

We are given some of the answers to questions that come up, but as with all good stories there enough crumbs outstanding that we find we want to read the next book to see what happens next.

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