Take a photo of a barcode or cover
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, War
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War
Minor: Fatphobia
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A bit slow at times (it’s very long), but I enjoyed it. I love the story of Ash and Sera.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, War
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book makes me excited for the main series and the rest of its story, but also I’m DEVASTATED to not be able to read more of Sera and Ash’s love 😔
Seeing them take down Kolis and discover more of the true order of the prophecy and what that means is so satisfying.
My only complaint is, the plot is SOOOOOO interesting and fascinating, and there is just WAYYYYYY too much fucking. I get it in some ways. Like in book 3 she was away from ash for the majority of the book, so they’ve got some things to catch up on 😉. And it’s also a part of her process of healing and surviving that trauma that kolis caused. But oh my goddnessssssssssssss it just was a lot and I usually just kinda skipped over it.
Like I’d say a good 50% of this book (probably more) was just them going to town. No shame if that’s your thing, I was just really excited about the plot and it kinda got lost, a lot in this book. That is why I can’t give it 5 stars. Like I was kinda hoping we’d even see the birth of their sons, or maybe how she ended up going to ground, but we got none of that. I did like the fates (ancients) chapter/perspective at the end. It does make me look forward to the rest of the books in the main series.
Otherwise, great read. I’ll probably re-read the series before the last couple books come out for the main series… boy I am not ready for that day 🥹
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What a whirlwind of emotions.
Let's start with our fierce Sera, who sometimes is too hotheaded for her own good. We see her navigate her trauma and her grief, and learning to live with it. While it *kind of* annoyed me when Sera would not talk about it, I also felt like that's the reality - we try to hide our pain from the ones we love. We try to keep them shielded from our pain, so they don't hurt with us. I understood why.
Ash, being a supportive husband. Learning all the trauma his wife endured and being there for her, always. Respecting her boundaries. Showing her what being loved is. What. A. Man.
Nektas. My sweet, sweet Nektas. I really loved to see his bond with Sera in this book. It brought me to tears, sometimes. So, so beautiful.
Attes broke my heart. All the difficult decisions he had to make.
This book was spicy, more than I was expecting. Sometimes unnecessary, even some of the banter during serious moments, but it didn't take away the focus.
The conclusion of Kolis' story was a bit underwhelming. I was hoping for more action.
While I love Poppy and Casteel, Sera's and Nyktos's love story will always have my heart. I think this was a beautiful conclusion to an epic story. Did the first half drag a bit more than necessary? Yes. But still, this is a solid 4.5 for me.
Let's start with our fierce Sera, who sometimes is too hotheaded for her own good. We see her navigate her trauma and her grief, and learning to live with it. While it *kind of* annoyed me when Sera would not talk about it, I also felt like that's the reality - we try to hide our pain from the ones we love. We try to keep them shielded from our pain, so they don't hurt with us. I understood why.
Ash, being a supportive husband. Learning all the trauma his wife endured and being there for her, always. Respecting her boundaries. Showing her what being loved is. What. A. Man.
Nektas. My sweet, sweet Nektas. I really loved to see his bond with Sera in this book. It brought me to tears, sometimes. So, so beautiful.
Attes broke my heart. All the difficult decisions he had to make.
This book was spicy, more than I was expecting. Sometimes unnecessary, even some of the banter during serious moments, but it didn't take away the focus.
The conclusion of Kolis' story was a bit underwhelming. I was hoping for more action.
While I love Poppy and Casteel, Sera's and Nyktos's love story will always have my heart. I think this was a beautiful conclusion to an epic story. Did the first half drag a bit more than necessary? Yes. But still, this is a solid 4.5 for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt
adventurous
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really loved this, and I flew through this book. The ending felt a bit rushed though, and I know this was set up so the FBAA series can continue, but still. I would've liked to see Attes one last time, or maybe he could've been reborn like Sotoria (or would that have been too cliché?), and I would've loved to see a bit more of an epilogue with all the characters, including Sera and Ash's twins.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
dark
emotional
hopeful
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:
Complicated
I am a HUGE fan of the blood and ash / flesh in the fire series. The prequels have by far been my favorites so I went into this book with high expectations. What I thought would happen: huge plot points about lore, questions answered on how things came to be for the future story, a big war.
What most of the story was: Sera dealing with the trauma of being captured by Kolis and adjusting to her new role.
Now I didn't have an issue with this for the most part I thought the trauma was handled incredibly well and gave so much love to survivors. It just wasn't what I was expecting. Which I think skews my reading experience.
The lore dumps were few and far between and didn't really start happening until 65% through the book (a book that is almost 800 pages). For that reason I think there was a pacing issue. That made it hard for me to stay engaged. Especially since I knew where so much had to go because of the ending of the original series. Unfortunately this led to feeling disappointed in where and how the story ended. I didn't feel like we the readers, got the pay off of what the prequels were building too. The tension just fell flat.
And speaking of falling flat my biggest complaint and area I have the most problems with is the assination of Ash's character. Ash has always been one of my favorites. He was complex and beautifully written. By the end of this book he felt truly like a Cass copy and paste. Horny and 2 dimensional. There is a time and place for spice and this book missed everytime. It honestly felt like the editors told her to hit a quota of sex scenes.
Overall though I thought the story was good, the writing was gorgeous--especially with how she dealt with victim-survivior trauma-- and I'm so excited to read Poppy's next installment!
What most of the story was: Sera dealing with the trauma of being captured by Kolis and adjusting to her new role.
Now I didn't have an issue with this for the most part I thought the trauma was handled incredibly well and gave so much love to survivors. It just wasn't what I was expecting. Which I think skews my reading experience.
The lore dumps were few and far between and didn't really start happening until 65% through the book (a book that is almost 800 pages). For that reason I think there was a pacing issue. That made it hard for me to stay engaged. Especially since I knew where so much had to go because of the ending of the original series. Unfortunately this led to feeling disappointed in where and how the story ended. I didn't feel like we the readers, got the pay off of what the prequels were building too. The tension just fell flat.
And speaking of falling flat my biggest complaint and area I have the most problems with is the assination of Ash's character. Ash has always been one of my favorites. He was complex and beautifully written. By the end of this book he felt truly like a Cass copy and paste. Horny and 2 dimensional. There is a time and place for spice and this book missed everytime. It honestly felt like the editors told her to hit a quota of sex scenes.
Overall though I thought the story was good, the writing was gorgeous--especially with how she dealt with victim-survivior trauma-- and I'm so excited to read Poppy's next installment!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment
Minor: Rape, Vomit, Abortion, Murder, War