Reviews with content warning for Grief - A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire

i blew through the first book, but this one took me a little longer. honestly poppy’s internal struggles and descriptions are very lengthy compared to actual events happening.
plenty of spicy scenes though ;)

i love hawke (casteel) and poppy’s relationship. i can’t wait to see them grow together in the series

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abipereira's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If I were not so busy with school, this book would have been finished in a day or two!

I don't know how she did it, but this was better than the first book. I was hooked from the beginning of the first sentence. I highly recommend that you purchase all books at one time because now I don't know what to do with myself.

I did have to read the last chapter twice... but thats on me; I stayed up until 4am to finish the book. LOL I suggest to stop reading when all the words are blending together.

I can't wait to read the next book!

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hannalizzy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Half the book I was screaming at the main character in my head to get over herself and fall in love, and the other half I spent relishing in the SWEET GOODNESS OF HER ADMITTING IT! We get SO much world building in this book that give the characters and relationships so much depth and complexity. Because it’s so freaking long too, I feel like I know every thought that goes through their heads. I fell in love with each character so much more in this book because of that depth we get. And the ending? Jaw. Dropping. The best fantasy book I’ve read so far.

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kellicat94's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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michellemaas's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

First read: 5 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Second read: 5 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Third read: 5 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but I am content with just typing it in this review: I LOVED this book!

Going into it, I was excited to read the book as I enjoyed the first installment in the series but I was quite frankly blown away. My main problem with the first book was that it dragged at the beginning and felt quite rushed at the end. A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire suffered from none of those pacing problems and was constantly moving quick enough that I didn't get bored, but slow enough that I was still able to comfortably follow what was happening. Another issue I had originally was with the world-building. I didn't understand most of the lore and that left me confused at times (especially during the end) but with this book, I was just in a nice rhythm where I was starting to understand the things that were unclear previously while not adding too many new worldbuilding type facts.

The story picks up directly after Hawke's announcement that he intends to marry Poppy and then deals with Poppy's adjustment to this new world while deepening her relationship with Hawke (who is no longer Hawke, I might add).

Going on to some more specifics, the romance was there, the humor was there, the action was there and ahhhh I just loved it. This may be my post-finishing-a-book-high doing the typing, but I just thought there really was a perfect amount of everything. I have always thought that you don't read a fantasy book to be enlightened or to appreciate "good writing". You read it for the escapism, to appreciate the creativity of another human, and to be entertained. I can honestly say that I was engrossed in the world and thoroughly entertained for the entire 639 pages and being that that's what I look for in a good fantasy book is why I think so highly of it.

Furthermore, Jennifer L. Armentrout has the power to bring my mind to a place that not many authors can. There was a scene in the book where the Ascended used the heads of Poppy and Casteel's friends as catapults and I do not remember being that thoroughly horrified while reading in a long time. I love that Jennifer L. Armentrout has the guts to describe both the sex scenes and the fighting scenes in all their gory, gruesome glory. I don't want to fill in the blanks because I've been told that they're "super bad people and that's why I should hate them". Give me a reason to actively root against the villain.

Lastly, I want to talk about Poppy and Casteel's relationship. I am a pretty dramatic person, but I'm not trying to be dramatic when I say that Poppy and Casteel's relationship may be the most realistic depiction of falling in love and learning to care for someone I have seen in all of the entertainment industry. Now that may be on the books I've read and the movies/shows I've watched but even if I had read every book and watched every show/movie I still don't think my opinion would change (much). Poppy and Casteel's relationship was messy and complicated, and really not because of some unnecessary and unwanted miscommunication trope but because of their circumstances, their choices, and who they are as people. I often see love portrayed as you fall for this person and it's never hard again. That gives people unrealistc expectations of love and life and is just really annoying. Love is scary and there will often be doubts and regret but you stick it out because the other person is worth it. The fact that both Poppy and Casteel can be described as morally grey characters is also very appealing to me as everyone has a different sense of right and wrong.

I cannot wait to reread this book in a couple of months, and until then I will recommend the series to anyone who will listen. It gives me such Game of Thrones X Twilight vibes (taking into account that I have never seen nor read either of those two) and I know that Jennifer L. Armentrout is going places.

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ninaakh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

There's smut. Read it.

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nightfell's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Poppy and Casteel have a PDA kink and no one can say otherwise.

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holthmsn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire far exceeded my thoughts of From Blood and Ash, which was nevertheless was also a 5 star review.
We begin where we had left off exactly from the previous book, and it is full of action, *pretending*, secrets, conflict, hatred, and forgiveness. The From Blood and Ash world continues to develop, with the improvement of showing rather than telling (especially for Poppy). The final chapter leaves you begging for more.

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