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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
It was good and I think each book does get better writing wise. My biggest issue was that the sex was over powering in this book. Like, it was happening all the fucking time
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
When I finished the first two books in the Blood and Ash series in the beginning of the year, I was so excited to continue reading what happens next in Poppy and Casteel's story. The first book grabbed me immediately; the second one was a bit slower but still held my interest well enough. JLA occasionally meandered off the path of her story and got bogged down in exposition or spent too much time on what was going on in Poppy's head but I assumed that the third book would have more action, especially with how she ended book two. Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!
The highly anticipated third book in the Blood and Ash series suffers from a lack of editing. The major plot points are quite good, but the author needs to hire more or better editors going forward. Half of the book is spent almost mindlessly world building, (entire sections on the indoor plumbing at Atlantia,) or repeating the same tired jokes from the first two books, (OMG Poppy has so many questions,) and sex scenes that while entertaining, don't further the plot in any way, (like, HI, where's the Joining!?!) It took me ten days to read this book, because a lot of the pages feel like filler. It's hard to believe that there will be six books to this series when better editing could shrink the story down considerably.
What I enjoyed most about this book was the character development. Even though we spent much of the first two books in Poppy's head, I never felt truly connected to her because the author spent a lot of time having Poppy analyze everything that was happening to and around her, but did not give us any real insight about what kind of character Poppy is and how the story is affecting her. In this book, her character growth is exponential. You learn more about her motivations for the choices she makes, how growing up as The Maiden affected her and still affects her throughout the story, and you get to see her grow into her newfound power both as a woman and a magic user. Casteel didn't get as much growth as Poppy did, but there are some interesting moments for him sprinkled throughout the book that do flesh him out more as a character, and I hope JLA continues to flesh him out even further in the next books. I was disappointed that we got zero growth for Kieran. He is basically a cardboard cutout of a side-kick and that upsets me because I think he could be a very interesting and exciting character if we spent more time with him.
The plot has several twists that I did not see coming! Usually I can figure out any potential surprises well before I read them, but there are a couple in this book that truly got me. Some new characters are introduced, some old characters return, and we once again close the story on a hell of a cliffhanger. Overall, I did enjoy the book and the characters enough to want to continue the series, and now I'm sad I have to wait a year for the next one!
The highly anticipated third book in the Blood and Ash series suffers from a lack of editing. The major plot points are quite good, but the author needs to hire more or better editors going forward. Half of the book is spent almost mindlessly world building, (entire sections on the indoor plumbing at Atlantia,) or repeating the same tired jokes from the first two books, (OMG Poppy has so many questions,) and sex scenes that while entertaining, don't further the plot in any way, (like, HI, where's the Joining!?!) It took me ten days to read this book, because a lot of the pages feel like filler. It's hard to believe that there will be six books to this series when better editing could shrink the story down considerably.
What I enjoyed most about this book was the character development. Even though we spent much of the first two books in Poppy's head, I never felt truly connected to her because the author spent a lot of time having Poppy analyze everything that was happening to and around her, but did not give us any real insight about what kind of character Poppy is and how the story is affecting her. In this book, her character growth is exponential. You learn more about her motivations for the choices she makes, how growing up as The Maiden affected her and still affects her throughout the story, and you get to see her grow into her newfound power both as a woman and a magic user. Casteel didn't get as much growth as Poppy did, but there are some interesting moments for him sprinkled throughout the book that do flesh him out more as a character, and I hope JLA continues to flesh him out even further in the next books. I was disappointed that we got zero growth for Kieran. He is basically a cardboard cutout of a side-kick and that upsets me because I think he could be a very interesting and exciting character if we spent more time with him.
The plot has several twists that I did not see coming! Usually I can figure out any potential surprises well before I read them, but there are a couple in this book that truly got me. Some new characters are introduced, some old characters return, and we once again close the story on a hell of a cliffhanger. Overall, I did enjoy the book and the characters enough to want to continue the series, and now I'm sad I have to wait a year for the next one!
adventurous
fast-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
funny
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:
Complicated