Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

A Soul of Ash and Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

22 reviews

katie_thrives's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This was not it for me. When I first started reading, all I could think was “oh no, she was contracted for another book to come out and had no new ideas and…here we are.” I hoped I would change my mind but…

I did not.

This was just book one and two of FBAA from the opposite perspective, with 2% new content in the last chapter. In most cases, this may endear the reader to the other character further, but tbh it actually made me like him less 😂

I know some readers crave these kinds of books (shoutout to everyone who asks for more early ACOTAR from Rhys’s perspective), but I am not that person. If I already know what happened, I have lost interest. I can infer feelings well enough from good writing, even from the non-POV character, so I don’t need a whole book on their thoughts and motives. But if that’s your thing, I guess you may love this!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Violence

moonybritney's review

adventurous funny hopeful tense fast-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

I devour the books in the Blood and Ash series as soon as I get my hands on them and this one was no different. When reading the first book, I thought it would be nice to get one from Cas' perspective and I'm glad we did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, and Kidnapping

wackly93's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

kaydie96's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

From Blood and Ash is my favourite of this series, so getting to relive it through Hawke’s POV was such a delight! I loved getting to see his take on events and the feelings he had while going through it all. Especially my favourite scenes. Each of those felt like a little treat ❤️

I also appreciate how it was a bit of a breather. There’s so much that happens in this series CONSTANTLY so just getting to experience this walk down memory lane was much needed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Body shaming, Rape, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

janeywaneyb's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Let's be honest this is just a retelling of From Blood and Ash but in Casteel's voice. Nothing happens, even the normal cliffhanger isn't that great, that you don't already know, I maybe have a little bit more love for Kieran. It was good to revisit the start of their relationship and hear how Cas fell in love with Poppy but reads a little like fan fiction. I'm still not convinced this book was needed. I would have preferred for the story to be moved on and for us to meet the Primals and gods but especially Nyktos, Sera and Kolis. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Gaslighting

ahse1dances's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I didn’t realize when I purchased this that it would mostly be a retelling of the first book from Cas’s perspective. You do get new content and some minor furthering of the overall plot. Mostly it serves as a needed refresher of all of the terminology and stuff that gets pretty muddy as the series develops. I definitely think that Ms. Armentrout needs to invest in a thesaurus though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, and Death

hbae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Physical abuse and Self harm

krisalexcole's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

thirdeyeangel23's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

(POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD)



First things first, while A Soul of Ash & Blood is Hawke’s pov for FBAA you cannot read this in place of FBAA and you will need to read this to continue the series. I was pretty impressed with how this book was organized. This book switches between the present plot line (events following War of Two Queens) and Hawke’s recounting of the events of FBAA. As always, it’s fun to read the story from the pov of the other love interest/villain. There were questions answered and added scenes that gave more depth to the characters. This does end on a cliffhanger and leave us with so many questions for the next book. I think this may be the most organized, concise, and well edited book in the entire series. If you weren’t a fan of TWOTQ, I think this book will be a welcome change.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Death of parent, and War

crinkledmochi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I hope we can get more pov’s from Cas in the last couple books, I love learning more about him and some of the things he’s gone through. 

The ending tho?!?? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail