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alyssasaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, and Cursing
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Cannibalism, Confinement, and Death
Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy
abbs15norm's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Blood, Death, Murder, Sexual content, and War
ka_ke's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
5.0
I will say I saw the big reveal coming. That being said, I am enjoying this coming of age turned revenge plot that has appeared. Also pages 421- 425 were pure sex
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Cursing
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
*looks back at the notes I sent my friend while reading* Aha! Yes, here we go...
This has been my favorite book of the series so far. There's a kind of comfort that's settled in between Casteel and Poppy now that they're married - and despite the insane cliffhanger that book two left us on, things were cleared up relatively quickly at the beginning of this book.
Okay, so "cleared up" is maybe the wrong term considering the insanity that followed - and that's where I got a little revved up. Not because I was disliking the story so much as I was constantly confused. There was a lot of information overload in this installation. I found myself constantly looking up the terms because I lost track of the differences between "deities" and "gods" or I lost track of the character names because it seems like someone new is always being introduced. In addition to that, there was a lot of back-and-forth with who the characters were, who they were related to, what they were spawns of, whether they were Ascended, Descenters, masked, Wolven, vamprys, etc. I literally couldn't keep up.
At a certain point, I just decided to kind of say "screw it" and enjoy the story for what it was rather than trying to piece together every little bit of information because, let's be real, JLA is totally gonna throw half of it out the window in the next novel and we'll have to relearn it all again. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just the style she's chosen for this series. Everything can be undone or retold and you have to get used to never really knowing for sure whether something is set in stone.
Just like the other two books, there were some irritants for me, such as the repetition:
1) Poppy likes violence
2) Poppy has a lot of questions
We get it. Can Kieren or Casteel acknowledge anything else? Thanks.
There was a lot of sexual content - maybe even more than the others, but at this point it's not as appealing to me. Not that it was "appealing" before, so much as it was new. Now it's not and it felt like she was reaching a lot of the time. I found myself just flipping through pages until those scenes ended because I didn't feel like I was missing anything.
I love Kieren. Honestly, if we could get some books just about him, I think I'd be happy. He's sarcastic and caring - and even though he pretty much only ribs Poppy about how inquisitive she is, he's probably the most likable character in the books.
While I can't say these are my favorite books ever or anything, I definitely stay interested throughout the entire time I'm reading, which encourages me to continue the series. So far, I haven't had anything really make me think I need to stop where I am. I'm not bored and I'm not disinterested, so even though I'm not obsessed, I'll be picking up the next book.
This has been my favorite book of the series so far. There's a kind of comfort that's settled in between Casteel and Poppy now that they're married - and despite the insane cliffhanger that book two left us on, things were cleared up relatively quickly at the beginning of this book.
Okay, so "cleared up" is maybe the wrong term considering the insanity that followed - and that's where I got a little revved up. Not because I was disliking the story so much as I was constantly confused. There was a lot of information overload in this installation. I found myself constantly looking up the terms because I lost track of the differences between "deities" and "gods" or I lost track of the character names because it seems like someone new is always being introduced. In addition to that, there was a lot of back-and-forth with who the characters were, who they were related to, what they were spawns of, whether they were Ascended, Descenters, masked, Wolven, vamprys, etc. I literally couldn't keep up.
At a certain point, I just decided to kind of say "screw it" and enjoy the story for what it was rather than trying to piece together every little bit of information because, let's be real, JLA is totally gonna throw half of it out the window in the next novel and we'll have to relearn it all again. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just the style she's chosen for this series. Everything can be undone or retold and you have to get used to never really knowing for sure whether something is set in stone.
Just like the other two books, there were some irritants for me, such as the repetition:
1) Poppy likes violence
2) Poppy has a lot of questions
We get it. Can Kieren or Casteel acknowledge anything else? Thanks.
There was a lot of sexual content - maybe even more than the others, but at this point it's not as appealing to me. Not that it was "appealing" before, so much as it was new. Now it's not and it felt like she was reaching a lot of the time. I found myself just flipping through pages until those scenes ended because I didn't feel like I was missing anything.
I love Kieren. Honestly, if we could get some books just about him, I think I'd be happy. He's sarcastic and caring - and even though he pretty much only ribs Poppy about how inquisitive she is, he's probably the most likable character in the books.
While I can't say these are my favorite books ever or anything, I definitely stay interested throughout the entire time I'm reading, which encourages me to continue the series. So far, I haven't had anything really make me think I need to stop where I am. I'm not bored and I'm not disinterested, so even though I'm not obsessed, I'll be picking up the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
vladtheimpaler's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Rape
michellemaas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-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
First read: 5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Second read: 4.5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
No thoughts, just a few incoherent sentences.
Poppy being a morally gray badass gives me life.
Casteel losing her and freaking on the battlefield tugged at my stone cold heart.
Poppy, Casteel, Kieran is the trio to end all trios and if there is not a threesome soon I will burst.
The plot finally came together (and it has been a LONG time coming).
I liked that neither the Atlantians nor the Ascended were innocent. Oftentimes authors pick a side when really no one is innocent during a war. There are quite a few things that Jennifer L. Armentrout does that sets her apart from others (that I already discussed in previous reviews so I won't repeat it) but just know that she's really good at her job.
Book 4: The War of Two Queens cannot come soon enough!
Second read: 4.5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
No thoughts, just a few incoherent sentences.
Poppy being a morally gray badass gives me life.
Casteel losing her and freaking on the battlefield tugged at my stone cold heart.
Poppy, Casteel, Kieran is the trio to end all trios and if there is not a threesome soon I will burst.
The plot finally came together (and it has been a LONG time coming).
I liked that neither the Atlantians nor the Ascended were innocent. Oftentimes authors pick a side when really no one is innocent during a war. There are quite a few things that Jennifer L. Armentrout does that sets her apart from others (that I already discussed in previous reviews so I won't repeat it) but just know that she's really good at her job.
Book 4: The War of Two Queens cannot come soon enough!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
studytea's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
- 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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
holthmsn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.5
The Crown of Gilded Bones is yet another epic instalment of the Blood and Ash series. While the beginning of the book is a very quick start with lots of action, it eventually finds it usual pace. Full of love, the truth, and sorrows. The ending left me yearning for more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Cursing
semelos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
only the last chapters were interesting, nothing really happened before that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
sierraechobravo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence