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

While the first in this series didn't give me much to really ponder as I read, reading this one was a different experience. Rather than a quick pace and interesting plot that had me hooked enough to not get too fed up with the things I disliked, this one was slow and the substance wasn't very intriguing, leaving me with lots of time to get irritated with certain things along the way.

1. We get it - Poppy is violent. And she asks a lot of questions. These two things were repeated so many times that I think if you compiled each mention of them, they would comprise at least an eighth of the book.
2. Hawke is Casteel and Casteel is Hawke. And he's horny. Another repetition that drove me nuts. This would be another eighth of the book.

So now we have a quarter of the book just being statements about the characters that are repeated incessantly.

3. Suuuuper slooooow, drawn-out chapters where nothing happens, and then BAM! Majorly steamy sex scenes. It kind of threw me for a loop as I read because it was so back and forth and there didn't seem to be much of a rhythm.
4. Can someone explain to me why JLA likes to save the most interesting part of the plot until the last chapter? She did the same thing in the first book too! I get that there needs to be something to make you want to pick up the next book (and it worked because I totally will), but I just don't understand why this couldn't be brought in earlier or alluded to a bit better to drive up the anticipation.

One thing I did really appreciate was how they acknowledged the fact that their relationship was toxic from the jump. There wasn't any weaseling around the topic. They recognized the toxicity and they worked to communicate better from there on out. It wasn't perfect, but at least they didn't ignore the way they treated each other. While the violence is weirdly glorified, the actual "bully love" portion of it was tamed in this book.

I included the trigger warning for gore, but if you can't handle blood, you need to avoid this one entirely. It is disgustingly bloody and made me queasy on multiple occasions. Yikes!

I'm not the biggest fan of these kinds of books, and that's pretty obvious from this review, but I will say that I like it better than most of the "hyped" YA/NA fantasy series out there. At least it keeps me mostly interested!

Content Warnings

samchase112's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective slow-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? Yes

2.0

I have so many feelings. Let's put them in a list, because I don't think I can form coherent sentences or a coherent review right now.

This book was so. damn. slow. I wanted to jump into the pages, shake every character, shakes JLA, and force them to TAKE SOME ACTION. Each conversation took 10 pages, each issue was gone over again and again, each day was streeeeetched out to be fifteen chapters. It was excruciating. Maybe it's because I came off of reading The Poppy War, where things happen super quickly, but this was extra difficult to slog through for most of it. I just got so freaking frustrated with JLA and all her characters. JUST DO SOMETHING.
If I thought the info dumping was bad in the first book, this one was even worse? Why??? At one point Poppy gets mad because Casteel didn't share some information with her, and all I could think was I wish he had never told her anything at all, because this series' world building was absolutely excruciating.
MY THREESOME THEORY FROM BOOK ONE WAS WAY WAY TOO REAL. But also...why not?
There were sooooooo many sex scenes. So so many. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a good sex scene, but I think all Casteel and Poppy did was have sex and go over all the Ascended's lies??? And, um, one of those scenes was a bit too much for me. Not the content but...the circumstances?! I just...if you know you know.
The fight scenes were epic, I love a good fight scene. Less so when vampires are ripping into each other's necks, but ce la vie.
I want to know more about the Dead Bones Clan, and now we never will. They were so freaking cool, so fascinating!
"Heartmates"? Just call them soulmates, I swear with this naming thing.
Okay Poppy is pretty cool, I like her. I actually don't mind any of the characters, but I'm not in love with any of them, either.
The revelation of Shea and Casteel's backstory with her was honestly anticlimactic. She thinks and thinks about it for so long, and then when he tells her they just kinda brushes over it. Okay then.
The ending was pretty dang epic, and I'm excited to see where it goes, but it just left me wondering why these powers didn't materialize before? Real convenient timing, Poppy's powers.

Contrary to what the above list may suggest, I'm actually excited to read the next book. It's probably going to be a wild ride, and I want to see what happens. Although I'm assuming it will probably be the same info dumping, lethargic slog these last two were. Ah well, let's just hope there's at least a threesome to spice things up.

Content Warnings

bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

carolinefran's review against another edition

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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

4.5

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