Clara’s Verdict
I finished God of Fury on a Saturday evening and immediately understood why Rina Kent’s readership talks about her the way they do: with that particular intensity that belongs to readers who feel genuinely claimed by a book. This is the fifth entry in the Legacy of Gods series, and while the publisher tags it a standalone, I would recommend encountering at least the broader series world first. The emotional payoff depends in part on understanding who Brandon King is in relation to everyone around him, and that context is richer if you have been building it across the earlier entries.
What the book does with Brandon is remarkable. A character who has existed at the quiet, golden edge of a violent world is suddenly centre stage, and Rina Kent gives him an interiority that is unusually tender for dark romance. The genre conventionally reserves its emotional complexity for the female protagonist. Brandon breaks that pattern, and breaks it beautifully, in a way that makes the book feel genuinely different from the surrounding field even while working within recognisable genre conventions.
At nearly sixteen hours, this is a substantial commitment. But the readers who have been with this series do not seem to find that a problem. The reviews tell the story of a readership that was present for every hour of it, and Teddy Hamilton’s narration is a significant part of why. Several listeners report returning to the audiobook for a second time at this length, which is its own kind of verdict.
About the Audiobook
Published by Penguin Audio in February 2025, God of Fury follows Brandon King, the younger twin brother of the series’ most dangerous figure, and Nikolai Sokolov, a notoriously violent mafia heir who becomes fixated on Brandon with an intensity that refuses to be reasoned away. Brandon has never been particularly drawn to anyone. Nikolai upends that carefully maintained distance with patience, persistence, and a softness that nobody who knows his reputation would expect.
The central themes are familiar to readers of dark MM romance: obsession, power imbalance, self-discovery, and the chaos that arrives when someone refuses to stay on the margins of your life. Kent handles them with more psychological care than the genre average. The question of sexuality and self-knowledge in Brandon’s arc is treated as genuinely complex rather than as a plot device. His gradual recognition of desire, and the fear that accompanies it, feels true rather than choreographed.
Nikolai, meanwhile, is not the monster his reputation promises. He is patient, devastatingly attentive, and in his own strange way, safe, which is the more unsettling quality for a character who has built his life around controlled distance. The dynamic between them is the book’s engine, and it runs well throughout the sixteen hours. Kent does not let the central relationship become static, which is the primary risk in a book this long.
The series context matters here. Legacy of Gods has built a world of interconnected mafia families, violent power structures, and the people navigating them, and Brandon’s story sits within that world in ways that make the stakes legible. Readers coming in cold will understand the plot, but the emotional weight of certain moments will be lighter without the accumulated history of the series behind them.
The Narration
Teddy Hamilton’s performance here has been singled out by multiple UK reviewers as the decisive reason to choose the audio version over print. He brings Nikolai to vivid life: funny and charming in the register the character requires, deranged at precisely the right moments, and capable of the softness the most intimate sequences demand. At sixteen hours, the narration needs to carry enormous tonal range, and Hamilton earns the runtime. One reviewer noted listening to the audiobook twice at this length, which tells you most of what you need to know about how well the performance sustains itself on repeat.
What Readers Say
UK reviewers have responded to this book with exceptional warmth. With a 4.7 rating from 46 Audible reviews, the audience consensus is clear: Brandon and Nikolai have claimed a devoted readership. One reviewer described the experience as producing every possible emotion across sixteen hours and called it a solid ten out of ten, noting that reading it in print first and then listening made the audio version feel like encountering the story again at a new level of depth. Another called it outright the best book in the Legacy of Gods series, a bold claim for a fifth instalment, and one that multiple reviewers repeat. A more measured four-star voice acknowledged niggles with the book but upgraded after hearing Hamilton’s performance, which captures something real about what skilled narration can do for already-good material.
Who Should Listen?
Readers of dark MM romance who are comfortable with obsession, morally complex protagonists, and significant emotional intensity will find this deeply satisfying. The series context is genuinely helpful: start at Book 1 of Legacy of Gods if you have not already, and let the world accumulate properly before arriving here. The emotional arc is self-contained enough to work as a standalone for readers already fluent in the genre, but it rewards the long investment. Those new to Rina Kent should be warned: her writing has a pull to it that is difficult to exit gracefully, and a full series reread may become unavoidable. Listen on Audible UK
