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xoxo_bookishbabe's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, War, Gore, Kidnapping, Blood, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Infidelity and Grief
taryn_g's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Sexual content, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Death of parent
nataliebootlah's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
3.5
Reading the first three of the #fbaa series back to back has definitely made them run together, but what can you do?
It feels like Poppy went from the sheltered, hidden-away Maiden to a fierce, warrior princess real quick. 🤔 I continued to enjoy the banter between characters, introductions of new folks, and the deeper relationships continuing to be built up. But something in this one felt a bit off. I found myself taking longer and longer breaks between reading sessions. Maybe it has something to do with the truth bombs and shocking revelations Poppy was constantly going through. Who knows. What I do know is the ending definitely left me gearing up for the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Kidnapping
cryosphinx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-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
4.0
An enjoyable read but it really was a slog at some points that I had to take a break and read something else for a day or two. The beginning and end are both fast paced and exciting and a lot happens (the last 60-70 pages, holy cow!) but the middle is just a lot of conversation that doesn't really build up to anything at times. There's a few times that there seems to be something exciting happening but then it gets resolved or we move on in a chapter or two.
My biggest complaint is the same as others in that some of the joking around and dialogue is soooo repetative. We get it, Poppy asks a lot of questions, Poppy is stabby, Cas stans his wife, let's move on. One improvement is while Poppy still has a lot of inner dialogue that can be trimmed, I found that to be better than TKOFOF.
Overall, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would after reading the dislike that it gets. I don't feel like this is where the series starts breaking down, a lot does happen and the adventures are great once you get to them. Poppy's growth is probably the best part and I love where she ends up by the end. A lot of the conversation in the.middle, while a slog at points, was necessary info dumps. I'll keep reading and am happy that I enjoyed this thoroughly.
My biggest complaint is the same as others in that some of the joking around and dialogue is soooo repetative. We get it, Poppy asks a lot of questions, Poppy is stabby, Cas stans his wife, let's move on. One improvement is while Poppy still has a lot of inner dialogue that can be trimmed, I found that to be better than TKOFOF.
Overall, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would after reading the dislike that it gets. I don't feel like this is where the series starts breaking down, a lot does happen and the adventures are great once you get to them. Poppy's growth is probably the best part and I love where she ends up by the end. A lot of the conversation in the.middle, while a slog at points, was necessary info dumps. I'll keep reading and am happy that I enjoyed this thoroughly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Gore, Blood, War, Death, and Murder
Minor: Child death
letiross's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping and Gore
Minor: Torture and War
l_myers's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-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
Almost a 3 star read. A lot seemed to fall flat and become boring. The end was the only thing that saved it for me. More than 500 pages of this easily could have been reduced down to something more fast paced. I felt like
I was reading this for ever. Details that felt important seemed to get lost or forgotten. The ending was pretty good however and felt fast paced while everything else was very slow. I will likely read the final just to see what happens.
I was reading this for ever. Details that felt important seemed to get lost or forgotten. The ending was pretty good however and felt fast paced while everything else was very slow. I will likely read the final just to see what happens.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
eleek0609's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, War, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Cursing
jen1804's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
⚠️SIGNIFICANT SPOILERS AHEAD⚠️
Poppy and Cas’ relationship is one of my favourite book couples in the history of book couples. And Cas is one to rival the love I have for Rhysand🙊 which is not a statement to be taken lightly bc FEYSAND TIL I DIE. But Cas’ nonchalance is honestly just the best thing to read. I love the two of them together and I love the mixture of plot and romance in this series.
I am OBSESSED with Poppy being this violent, murderous, stubborn, hot headed, sarcastic character, with the ability to fight and kill like it’s nothing, but with a gigantic heart for those she cares about. Or as Casteel describes her:
Poppy and Cas’ relationship is one of my favourite book couples in the history of book couples. And Cas is one to rival the love I have for Rhysand🙊 which is not a statement to be taken lightly bc FEYSAND TIL I DIE. But Cas’ nonchalance is honestly just the best thing to read. I love the two of them together and I love the mixture of plot and romance in this series.
I am OBSESSED with Poppy being this violent, murderous, stubborn, hot headed, sarcastic character, with the ability to fight and kill like it’s nothing, but with a gigantic heart for those she cares about. Or as Casteel describes her:
“Such a stunning, vicious little creature.”
I love her journey throughout this book. When I think back to where we began this third book, in comparison to how we’ve ended, so much has happened! This book does have a lot of plot but that also comes with a huge lot of info dumping which is sometimes difficult to digest and understand. But we love a well thought out, complex and layered story line!
Poppy is a mother fucking god and I am so here for her popping all the way off when it comes to discovering and using her powers. She’s the type of heroine who will burn the world down to save the one she loves and I am so here for that.
Poppy is a mother fucking god and I am so here for her popping all the way off when it comes to discovering and using her powers. She’s the type of heroine who will burn the world down to save the one she loves and I am so here for that.
“Make sure she understands that her survival hinges on Casteel. She will release him, or she will see each and every one of her cities leveled. If she touches him again, I will destroy her precious Malec, and I can. I know where to find him. He lives. For now. And if she kills Casteel? If anyone kills him?” I tilted my head, catching his gaze as he tried to find where the draken had flown off to. “I will make sure her death is a slow one that will take hundreds of years to complete.“
And I also love that it’s the same way Casteel feels about her.
“No risk is too great, nor is anything too sacred. Because she is my everything. There is nothing greater than her, and I do mean nothing.”
Poppy understands that innocent people could die in the process but does she care at this point? no she does not, and I love reading about this sort of I-might-be-the-heroine-but-I-can-be-villainous behaviour that she has going on.
I also hugely rate Queen Ileana as the villain of this series, she is RUTHLESS.
There were moments in this book which gave me goosebumps, and I loved Poppy discovering more and more about who she is, her heritage and her abilities, using them for good and also for WRATH. I absolutely ADORED every time both Cas and Poppy put someone in their place if they disrespected her. And I loved the amount of allegiance and admiration she received in this book, the admiration she deserves I might add. One of my favourite FMCs of all time.
If someone could explain the whole casserole thing to me though I’d be most grateful please and thanks.
Satisfactory ending? Yessssssss so good!
I also hugely rate Queen Ileana as the villain of this series, she is RUTHLESS.
There were moments in this book which gave me goosebumps, and I loved Poppy discovering more and more about who she is, her heritage and her abilities, using them for good and also for WRATH. I absolutely ADORED every time both Cas and Poppy put someone in their place if they disrespected her. And I loved the amount of allegiance and admiration she received in this book, the admiration she deserves I might add. One of my favourite FMCs of all time.
If someone could explain the whole casserole thing to me though I’d be most grateful please and thanks.
Satisfactory ending? Yessssssss so good!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Blood, Confinement, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Sexual content, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Torture
kateped's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
midnacine's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
This was so fun to return to as an audiobook! I'm excited to re-read A Shadow in the Ember with Stina narrating next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Blood, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child abuse, Classism, Genocide, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Rape, and Vomit