Reviews with content warning for Torture - A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire

This book was fun to read. The relationships and interactions between characters are absolutely pretty toxic and abusive, but I was able to get over that because it's a fake fantasy world and it was not bad enough for me to dislike the shenanigans of this book/series. Obviously YMMV.

I enjoyed learning a bit more about the overarching conspiracy behind the vamprys and the maiden's role in the ascension. There is still a lot more to uncover and unpack, and for that reason I will probably continue with the series. I have heard that the next book is the start of the end/downfall, so we'll see if I make it further than that.

Negative points for me were the cheesiness of the romance plot. It started to feel like the romance portion was equal parts of the content as the main plot lines, which is not really my thing. It started to feel like a bit too much, although it was still fun and I liked the wit and back and forth between Poppy and Casteel. The part that was a bit bleh for me was

the whole wedding plan. The idea was that they would enter a fake marriage in order to protect Poppy from danger, even though it was obviously because Casteel has feelings for Poppy and just doesn't want to admit it. Poppy also has feelings for Casteel, but does not want to admit it because she is upset at herself for still caring for him after his many questionable choices and actions. They both try to pass it off as something purely physical, although they admit to each other a few times that it's more than that. I found this a bit annoying because it became repetitive in their interactions where they would fight and then fuck or fuck and then fight about their jealousy. I am not against this trope, but we got too much of it and sometimes it's a good thing to be left wanting more.

Normally I would get a bit bored/annoyed of this much spice taking up the pages, but

it did not bother me as much because I felt like it aligned with the context of Poppy and her background, being raised as a maiden who was isolated and could not enjoy even the most simple aspects of life like walking outside. I feel like it makes sense that she would go absolutely feral for Casteel at any given moment now that she can make her own choices and has a dude that has reciprocated feelings for her right in front of her. That being said, I would have rather learned more about the main plot lines and have more time in Atlantia.

I probably will not start the next book immediately since I feel like I need a bit of a breather, plus I have other books to finish. I do plan on at least reading the next one since the main conspiracy plot line is really interesting to me and this book ended on a bit of a twist (even though it was something I predicted after like chapter 8). I do want to find out more about this world and the topic of Ascension, the sleeping gods, and what Poppy's role is in this world that makes her so special to be the Chosen one.

Content Warnings