Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Blood and Ash - Liebe kennt keine Grenzen: Jennifer L. Armentrouts Weltbestseller in prachtvoller Deluxe-Ausstattung mit spektakulärem Farbschnitt. Roman

Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Blood and Ash - Liebe kennt keine Grenzen: Jennifer L. Armentrouts Weltbestseller in prachtvoller Deluxe-Ausstattung mit spektakulärem Farbschnitt. Roman by Jennifer L. Armentrout

7 reviews

wonderedpages's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

From Blood and Ash had so much promise: a fierce girl with a blade, a seductive, brooding immortal prince, and a dark fantasy world full of political intrigue and secrets. But what could have been a gripping, steamy epic instead got bogged down in repetitive inner monologues, a glacially paced first half, and a romance that asked me to suspend disbelief just a bit too much.

I’ll give Jennifer L. Armentrout this: the lore is dense and detailed. Vampiric castes, culty kingdoms, and magical bloodlines. I actually enjoyed unraveling the hierarchy of Atlantians, Ascended, Craven, and Wolven. The problem? It takes over 300 pages for the story to do anything with all that setup. I could’ve skipped straight to page 313 and missed nothing of importance except Poppy’s self-indulgent thoughts and a dozen lectures disguised as dialogue.

Poppy, our “Maiden,” was raised in isolation by a religious cult and spends the majority of the book

ping-ponging between being a sheltered, naive narrator and a total badass with a dagger.

The latter was great. The former? Painfully frustrating. I understood her confusion and repression, but wow, the girl’s curiosity rarely translated into actual intelligence. Still, I appreciated the subtle realism in how abuse, gaslighting, and captivity have shaped her. She’s learning, even if slowly.

Now let’s talk Hawke.

Or Casteel. Or “The Dark One.” Or Mr. Sex Scene Monologue. He’s a 200+ year old prince-turned-rogue who somehow falls for this cult-brainwashed teenager because she holds his hand a couple of times and says sassy things. Their chemistry was hot, I’ll admit. The sex scenes were the best part of the book; detailed, consensual, and actually sexy. Casteel talks her through pleasure, praises her fighting spirit, and treats her like an equal (once you ignore the kidnapping and marriage plans, minor details, right?). But the insta-love was a big eye-roll, especially considering his age, experience, and mission.

There were some solid twists, but I called most of them chapters before they happened.

Hawke being an Atlantian? Obvious. The Ascended lying about the gods? Called it. Poppy being half-Atlantian? I mean… come on.

If this had been a tighter, better-paced 250-page book, it could’ve really landed. But slogging through Poppy’s repetitive veil-wearing monologues and everyone avoiding direct answers wore me out.

I won’t be continuing the series,

though I’ll miss Hawke whispering filth in the snow and praising Poppy’s stabby side. A man who admires your violence and talks you through an orgasm? Unmatched.

But not enough to save the book for me.

Content Warnings