Reviews with content warning for Blood - From Blood and Ash

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

291 reviews

vettechmama3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I got into this book very quickly. I was excited to dive into another fantasy series and intrigued from the get go. Our MFC Poppy is a Maiden set to ascend and is a secret baddie with weapons. Our MMC Hawke was, meh. At first I liked him so much. I thought him and Poppy had great chemistry, and I loved their banter. But then he started to give creepy vibes and also had a hard time with understanding consent. It also took a long time to learn what ascending even was at all and that this was also basically a vampire/werewolf book. I definitely was imagining things wrong the entire time because of little and slow context. I did enjoy the book as a whole, though, and I'm curious enough to keep going with the series.

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deskeepsreading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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vermontsnowboarder's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

1.0

I've described this book to people before as pocket trash. You know it's terrible.

The writing isn't great. In terms of the plot, there are a lot of plotholes—things that don't really make sense, and once you start to pull at one, the entire thing unravels and doesn't make any sense. Armentrout needs a better editor. There are A LOT of unnecessary moments and words. The FMC has so many inner monologues that it's exhausting and pointless. Her views and random thoughts do not add to the story; they take away from it by bogging the reader down.

The worldbuilding is lackluster. It's supposed to be grand and sweeping and yet, it's flat and blase. It's not just that things are waiting to be revealed; it's that there is a lack of description and connection to the world in which this story is set.

Another thing that really bothers me is the blatant racism. The FMC's "best friend" is a black woman named, I kid you not, Tawny. Are you ready for her role? She is the FMC's lady's maid. The MCC's best friend is a black man who can shift into a werewolf (wolven) named Kieran (which means black, in case you didn't know), who is bound to the MCC. So basically, both of them are servants. The main characters and those in power are all white.

Want a book with loads of sexual assault? This book has it in spades. The MCC hides his identity and uses his false one to get close to the FMC, proceeds to seduce her, take her virginity, and then gaslight her by telling her that it was "real". He knew full well that she never ever would have gone near him if she had known who he really was. After he takes her virginity, he continues invading her space and touching her despite her telling him no several times.

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