Romantasy

Audiobook: The Scars Within by Ang T. Dalton

August 3, 2026

Synopsis:

One girl. Two brothers. A school built on secrets. And a bond that could burn down the world.

Scarlet Throne has been broken. Burned alive and survived.

Now, she’s a wild card with forbidden magic and a dragon with no memories—enrolled in Mageia War College only because she has nowhere else to go. She’s supposed to stay quiet. Stay controlled. Stay away from too much power. It’s too bad staying in control has never been her strong suit.

She never expected to find purpose. Or friends. Or to fall for two brothers with secrets of their own. Caught between the welcoming and charming Shayde and the unpredictable and dangerous Rhodes, Scarlet must guard her heart as fiercely as her life. Falling for either of them would be a mistake. Falling for both could be deadly.

But love isn’t the only fire rising. Someone is hunting Scarlet from within the college walls. Professors are dying and whispers are swirling that she is the one destined to destroy them all. And the more Scarlet digs for truth, the more her own darkness threatens to break free.

As dark truths unravel and betrayal cuts deeper than any blade, Scarlet must confront the trauma she’s buried, the power she’s never asked for, and a fate that may cost her everything.

Review:

If you go into this one looking for a familiar feeling, you’ll find exactly that. Looking at similar titles in the genre, it becomes clear very quickly that some books feel like they’re ticking boxes and aiming to reach a specific audience by giving them exactly what they want. If you’re looking for something different, you might be disappointed.

I listened to it as an audiobook, and it did a very good job of keeping me entertained without requiring much brainpower. It was easy to consume and kept me engaged from beginning to end. There isn’t any complicated world-building, and I was able to understand what was going on very easily.
I liked the academy aspect of the story and how both brothers connected with different parts of Scarlet, as well as why she felt a connection to each of them.

I’m still unsure whether I enjoy having modern-day elements included in the story, but I’m okay with being indecisive about it. Overall, it’s a safe and easy story to consume. It didn’t offer me anything particularly new, but I didn’t mind that. Once I accepted what it was trying to be, I enjoyed it for what it was.

🌙 Recension: The Scars Within (Twisted Thorn #1) by Ang T. Dalton
📚 Genre: Romantasy
📅 Release Date: July 15, 2025
📖 Publisher: Simon Maverick
👤 Narrator: Ellie Gossage, Garrett Kiesel
📗 available in various formats – included in Kindle Unlimited
📱 Read as: Audiobook
💸 Bought
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages / Listening Length: 13h 25min
⭐️ 3.5/5