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

Reviews tagging 'War'

A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout

83 reviews

itmakessenseincontext's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

I'll be honest, it gets and extra half star for that ending (and the battle scene). Just wow. I have a feelings that if the 'romance' wasn't the man focus this could be an amazing epic fantasy series. The bones of it are there, and JLA uses some amazing descriptive language in the more typically epic fantasy scenes. But it gets really undercut by the romance being the focus I feel.

On the romance, it feels kinda juvenile at times? Despite the ammount of sex being had? I guess I'm just not convinced that Poppy and Casteel are in love and not just infatuated and the

heartmates

thing is being used to speed relationship development, rather than letting them fall in love naturally. Which is great if you like the trope! I tend to find it contrived and lazy writing.

I'll probably keep reading the books though, because that *ending* oh my god. That is how you drop a plot point to keep me engaged

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nicole625's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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abicaro17's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Again the banter in this book is incredible!! The chemistry between Casteel and Poppy is incredible and their connection never once seems forced or fake. My issues stem from the world building/plot. It seems like every other chapter something contradictory is introduced and changes everything. I just wish there was some consistency to follow the relationship building thats so strong.

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toastyghosty13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

This book was fun to read. The relationships and interactions between characters are absolutely pretty toxic and abusive, but I was able to get over that because it's a fake fantasy world and it was not bad enough for me to dislike the shenanigans of this book/series. Obviously YMMV.

I enjoyed learning a bit more about the overarching conspiracy behind the vamprys and the maiden's role in the ascension. There is still a lot more to uncover and unpack, and for that reason I will probably continue with the series. I have heard that the next book is the start of the end/downfall, so we'll see if I make it further than that.

Negative points for me were the cheesiness of the romance plot. It started to feel like the romance portion was equal parts of the content as the main plot lines, which is not really my thing. It started to feel like a bit too much, although it was still fun and I liked the wit and back and forth between Poppy and Casteel. The part that was a bit bleh for me was

the whole wedding plan. The idea was that they would enter a fake marriage in order to protect Poppy from danger, even though it was obviously because Casteel has feelings for Poppy and just doesn't want to admit it. Poppy also has feelings for Casteel, but does not want to admit it because she is upset at herself for still caring for him after his many questionable choices and actions. They both try to pass it off as something purely physical, although they admit to each other a few times that it's more than that. I found this a bit annoying because it became repetitive in their interactions where they would fight and then fuck or fuck and then fight about their jealousy. I am not against this trope, but we got too much of it and sometimes it's a good thing to be left wanting more.

Normally I would get a bit bored/annoyed of this much spice taking up the pages, but

it did not bother me as much because I felt like it aligned with the context of Poppy and her background, being raised as a maiden who was isolated and could not enjoy even the most simple aspects of life like walking outside. I feel like it makes sense that she would go absolutely feral for Casteel at any given moment now that she can make her own choices and has a dude that has reciprocated feelings for her right in front of her. That being said, I would have rather learned more about the main plot lines and have more time in Atlantia.

I probably will not start the next book immediately since I feel like I need a bit of a breather, plus I have other books to finish. I do plan on at least reading the next one since the main conspiracy plot line is really interesting to me and this book ended on a bit of a twist (even though it was something I predicted after like chapter 8). I do want to find out more about this world and the topic of Ascension, the sleeping gods, and what Poppy's role is in this world that makes her so special to be the Chosen one.

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beckyremillard's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.5

The first half dragged but the second half was so much better. Wasn’t sure if I’d continue this series but I have to with that ending.

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jen_sten's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I wanted to read this book because I had seen it all over the book community and everyone has been raving about it. I don’t usually struggle with fantasy, but I didn’t connect with this book. This book could have been about 300 pages and be better.

This book is still following Poppy, who we met in the last book. Poppy has found out everything is a lie including the man she was falling in love with. She has been thrust among those who see her as a symbol of a monstrous kingdom, she barely knows who she is without the veil of the Maiden. Ut what she does know is that nothing is as dangerous to her as him. The Dark One and the Prince of Atlantia. He wants her to fight him, and that’s one order she’s more than happy to obey. He may have taken her, but he will never have her. Casteel’s lies are as seductive as his touch and his truths are as sensual as his bite. Poppy knows better than to trust him. He needs her alive and healthy to achieve his goal of getting his brother back. She wants to get her brother back and see for herself if he has become a soulless Ascended. But working with Casteel instead of against him presents its own risks. He still tempts her with every breath, offering up all she’s ever wanted. But unrest has grown in Atlantia as they await the return of their Prince and whispers of war are becoming stronger and Poppy is at the heart of it all. The King wants to use her to send a message and The Descenters want her dead. Poppy needs to find a way to get to her brother without causing a war.

This book drove me nuts. It was so slow, and I just wanted some solid answers - I get why the author did it this way of making sure we only know what Poppy knows but it drove me up the wall. One of my issues was the lack of action, I wanted the war or the fights to stop the war and yet there was none until the 80% mark and up until that point the impending war had been mentioned almost every chapter. The storyline wasn’t gripping, and I was so bored of them just moving from place to place to be betrayed and had to move again. Casteel drove me nuts in this book and now I know why Poppy wanted to stab him several times. I say that but I was also sick of Casteel mentioning every chapter how much Poppy being violent and stabbing him was turning him on, like do we get it you’ve got a knife kink – you don’t have to tell us every freaking chapter. Casteel and Kieran also saying that Poppy asking questions is her personality trait just pissed me off as well, like if you didn’t keep her (or us) in the dark for the whole book maybe she wouldn’t be asking so many questions, but she’s been sheltered her whole life like she’s gonna have questioned and yet every time she asks a question she gets some stick for it.

The only reason why this didn’t get a lower rating was because of the last chapter and the mystery about why Poppy is the way she is. This author does have a way of making you want to read the next book, which right now I slightly hate because I was about to give up on this series and then the ending happened, and the next book is in my amazon basket. I hate it.

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cait's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious sad 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

4.5

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annick's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

3.0

1P narrative really drags. Especial the first third. Far too much introspection. It hinders plot and dialogue Annoyingly I’m predicting several things way before the manifest. Partly because of the writing.

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michealasharp's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

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