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

First of all, I absolutely love this book. But still, it was quite the roller coaster.
Half of the book was really repetitive, nothing actually happened and then, it all went so quickly and now I'm confused with the ending.

I really love the romance between Poppy and Hawke. It just didn't feel rushed like in other books, especially after

Hawke's betrayal towards Poppy. Poppy having to figure out her feelings and being in denial about loving someone that has so deeply misused her trust..

JLA has done an incredible job with their relationship and I have fallen in love with both of them.

The side characters - god they are amazing.
Many new characters are introduced in this book, and I especially love Kieran now. The banter between them all and new friendships developing was really great.

And Poppy finally being able to actually make friends, just felt amazing in itself.

The plot itself didn't really move forward that much at first, in the second half, it started to pace up a bit and I'm really glad it did, because I had already started to wonder, if it was worth it to continue.
Now at the end of the book, I'm left on a major cliffhanger and I'm already so excited for the next book.. which I luckily already have laying right next to me :)

In conclusion, it's a really good book, but some parts of it was just too slow-moving for me. I'm glad I didn't put it aside, and I hope the next one will now continue a bit quicker.

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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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to_the_stars_who_listen's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

5.0

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storykeeper_saga's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

This book has exactly one thing over From Blood and Ash. It felt like shit actually happened. Was any of it good? No. Not in the slightest. I have no clue what's going on at the end of the second book in this series. This is a cash grab, and you can not convince me otherwise. By the time you reach the end of a second book in a series, you should know who the antagonist is and why they are the antagonist. You should have a general idea of the world the main character came from. The major players of the story should have all made an appearance, and you should have a pretty good idea of the trajectory of the plot. Instead, we get Poppy, the most special Special Girl who was ever special and Queen Ileana, who is the antagonist but has never actually appeared on page, and I frankly don't know if she ever will be.

Also, if anyone happens to see this. This book should have a trigger warning for SA. The way Casteel treats Poppy's consent is awful. On that, I hate their relationship. It isn't even well developed enough to call toxic. It doesn't make any sense why these two are so deeply in love. Poppy should hate him. And no, I do not accept the "explanation" provided in the story.

The worldbuilding is as shallow as a glass of water you spilled on your kitchen floor at 3am. Throwing in random details does not a well-built fantasy world make.

If anyone was wondering, there are 604 ellipsis in this book. Yes, I counted so my numbers could be slightly off.

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