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wackly93's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Sexual content
Moderate: Torture and War
kodafaith's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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
4.0
While this wasn’t my favorite in the series, I did find it so good! Expanding on the world and the lore was really fun and leaves you so excited for future books.
I do find it funny how much hate JLA has gotten for something she literally has hinted at for the entire series and think people need to take a step back. There is absolutely no need to be horrible to an author just because you didn’t enjoy what happened, just don’t read the books!
I personally have been waiting for the joining to occur because you can’t tease me like that! And I thought that the relationship between Poppy and Kieran doesn’t feel like one of infidelity but more like a natural bond between them. I feel like if it was anyone else it wouldn’t feel okay but the way Cas and Kieran are together makes it feel okay. I don’t know where the relationship between all of them will go in the future but I imagine it will be similar to how it was before they joined. That they will all be close and playful but it will still be just Cas and Poppy and maybe Kieran will join sometimes but not just Poppy and Kieran. But I personally think that if all parties are okay with it, then there is nothing wrong with the relationships they form!
I found this book great and I’m so excited to learn more about the histories and see how this war plays out. I can’t wait for more books to be out!
I do find it funny how much hate JLA has gotten for something she literally has hinted at for the entire series and think people need to take a step back. There is absolutely no need to be horrible to an author just because you didn’t enjoy what happened, just don’t read the books!
I found this book great and I’m so excited to learn more about the histories and see how this war plays out. I can’t wait for more books to be out!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Child death, Blood, Murder, Violence, War, and Confinement
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Physical abuse
rad_blackthorn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Torture and Violence
midnightrose_reads's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.0
The third book in the Blood and Ash series. I read this book until the halfway point, then proceeded to skim read the rest. I was incredibly bored by it, (the same feeling I got about the third book). I love the world-building aspects of fantasy novels, but here those details made the book feel incredibly bogged down. It was entirely too long, and repetitive. The ‘modern speak’ was always jarring to me but I could roll with it in the first two books because they were also highly engaging. I won’t be continuing the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Blood, Death, War, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
_savannahreads_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, War, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death of parent, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping
jonezzzing's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Classism, Cursing, Death, Colonisation, Gore, Grief, Sexism, Confinement, War, and Violence
Moderate: Torture
cluckieduck's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
A roller coaster of fantasy fun!
I’ll start with the actual book review before touching on the scandal that has grown.
In typical JLA fashion, this book is a bit overstuffed with info & description and could probably be 1/4 thinner, at least. As well, there’s so many redundancies between this series & the newer Flesh & Fire series; Poppy & the Consort are basically the same characters, so having two series practically repeating is a bit much with the double-info dumps, but I digress. The bulk of this was quite enjoyable! There’s a lot of action, tension, angst, grief, love, lust, surprise…everything you want in a fantasy novel. I just wish she were a better writer, or at least had a better editor.
The characters, both main & supporting, are appropriately loveable & hateable. Even more than Isbeth, Callum is a particularly despicable villain. And Reaver is a delightful addition to our core group of heroes and I am here for all his snark & dry remarks. I’m interested to see where the next book will take us after the ending we are given.
Id rather not address this, but I think it’s almost necessary at this point. I stayed away from social media after I saw grumblings of how JLA “ruined” the series with this book, so the whole time I was reading, I kept wondering what all the griping was about, then finishing to see it’s all linked to the Joining…get a grip people. The rise in vitriol that female authors of these kind of series receive is disgusting when a storyline or a “ship” doesn’t go a a particular way. Now, I was neither for or against the Joining. That’s up to JLA as a writer and I don’t think she was swayed by fan opinion. Could it have been written better? Probably. Did it detract from the story? No!
Everyone is welcome to their opinions and everyone has their own tastes, which means you can read or not read what you want to. Criticism is ok, but doxxing & threats are disgraceful. This is a fantasy series after all.
I’ll start with the actual book review before touching on the scandal that has grown.
In typical JLA fashion, this book is a bit overstuffed with info & description and could probably be 1/4 thinner, at least. As well, there’s so many redundancies between this series & the newer Flesh & Fire series; Poppy & the Consort are basically the same characters, so having two series practically repeating is a bit much with the double-info dumps, but I digress. The bulk of this was quite enjoyable! There’s a lot of action, tension, angst, grief, love, lust, surprise…everything you want in a fantasy novel. I just wish she were a better writer, or at least had a better editor.
The characters, both main & supporting, are appropriately loveable & hateable. Even more than Isbeth, Callum is a particularly despicable villain. And Reaver is a delightful addition to our core group of heroes and I am here for all his snark & dry remarks. I’m interested to see where the next book will take us after the ending we are given.
Id rather not address this, but I think it’s almost necessary at this point. I stayed away from social media after I saw grumblings of how JLA “ruined” the series with this book, so the whole time I was reading, I kept wondering what all the griping was about, then finishing to see it’s all linked to the Joining…get a grip people. The rise in vitriol that female authors of these kind of series receive is disgusting when a storyline or a “ship” doesn’t go a a particular way. Now, I was neither for or against the Joining. That’s up to JLA as a writer and I don’t think she was swayed by fan opinion. Could it have been written better? Probably. Did it detract from the story? No!
Everyone is welcome to their opinions and everyone has their own tastes, which means you can read or not read what you want to. Criticism is ok, but doxxing & threats are disgraceful. This is a fantasy series after all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Violence, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, and Gore
adlane22's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Torture
bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Gore, Kidnapping, Child death, Murder, War, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, Blood, and Death
levesc17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The last book in the series ended on a terrible note, Casteel is taken hostage in exchange for Poppy’s freedom. The newest installment, War of the Two Queens, picks up about a month after the events of book two as Poppy and Kieran are in the throes of planning to get Casteel back. The book is tense the entire time, and the dramatic irony is almost frustrating. We know key pieces of information the characters take a long time to figure out. It makes the book feel very long and slow paced. The shining virtue of this book is the relationships between Poppy, Casteel, and Kieran. We also get very strong Casteel chapters from his point of view and those really helped round out the narrative. Now I can’t wait for book 2 in the companion series to find out more about that storyline.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting and Death
Moderate: Torture, Violence, and War
Minor: Physical abuse