Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Born of Blood and Ash

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Born of Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

46 reviews

zanazy's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional informative 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: Complicated

Sera and Ash’s story comes to an end in their timeline, as this series and FBAA are set to intertwine in the next book. Nyktos remains my favorite, but Attes is a close second.

Sera and Ash are reunited and Sera has a lot of PTSD from her time with Kolis, but she’s in denial and fails to address it for most of the story, which has serious implications. Sera gets reunions with her Lasania family while also building her chosen family with Nyktos and friends in Illesium. I loved both for her.

Nyktos shows care and starts to allow others to see him happy and as Ash, which made me happy as both he and Sera acknowledge the chosen family they built.

Hollander returns and makes a few brief appearances that surprise and inform.

While a lot happens, this book ends

just as Kolis is entombed. Without the birth of the twins. The last chapter is from the POV of the ancients which both excites and scares me as we await the POBAB release. We definitely get more information and what I hope is the final official prophesy, but I have new questions too.

Content Warnings

kahlan82's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

purzim's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective 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

Content Warnings

wackly93's review against another edition

3.75

Content Warnings

zomigi's review against another edition

2.0

dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The politics of this book is bonkers to me. I'm supposed to believe that the good guys are the ones who declare that there needs to be a single-party system and anyone who won't swear allegiance to them they'll murder and then install one of their lackeys on the seat of government for each sub-country? What kind of fascist USSR bullshit is this? And after Sera commits literal atrocities the lesson she takes away from it is, I should never have tried to be a better person, I should have leaned all the way into being a murderous unhinged monster from the start?? Wtf? Yeah, Kolis is worse, but that's not saying much. A jar of expired mayonnaise would make a better ruler than Kolis—it doesn't mean that Sera and Nyktos are actually good. This book made me deeply dislike Sera, which is a shame, because I had been enjoying Sera/Ash more than Poppy/Cas. It was also deeply unpleasant to read about her dealing with her trauma, I think even more so than reading the actual trauma occuring in the last book. Btw, why'd you have to retcon her abuse to include fingering now Jennifer?? Just to twist the knife? It would have made a better point about her assault not being "nothing" if you didn't include touching genitals but showed that this is assault regardless. I was also stressed out the whole time about the effect Sera's PTSD/depression would be having on her babies, and pissed off that once she learned she was pregnant she refused to stop fighting to protect them. I am getting so tired of "badass" female characters who are only badass because they're aggressive, violent, and reckless. I want a female character to be badass because she is smart, calculating, and controlled! Show me the power in restraint! Anyway, Attes and Holland are wonderful and nearly everyone else is annoying to me at this point. I'm going to stick with the series because I've come this far, but man am I pissed at how much potential this series had and how far it went off the rails.

Content Warnings

claragweny's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional 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

Content Warnings

janeywaneyb's review against another edition

2.75

adventurous slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

That was a SLOG! Really struggled to get through this and keep with the story.
Armentrout made Sera’s anxiety a character in the story who repeated the same lines through...concentrate on my breathing...hold...breath went no where. YAWN it made this such a hard read and it lacked the pace and action the rest of the series has had. I would say 85% of this book is talking over the same thing again and again alongside the character of anxiety. I get what Armentrout is trying to say that anxiety can and is consuming, it robs you of being able to function but it lost it's power with how repetitive she made it.
The last 10% of the book is where all the action happens (maybe a spattering half way). Actually disappointed as I loved Sera and Ash over Poppy and Casteel...let's hope the next book has more pace and action than this one.

Content Warnings