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taryn_g's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Child death, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, War, Kidnapping, and Confinement
Minor: Misogyny
kaydie96's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Cursing, Torture, Blood, Child death, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, War, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Body shaming, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence
kayanoelle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Jennifer is my queen!! I loved this book. I must admit that when I first found out this would basically be the first book all over again, I wasn't too thrilled.
BUT I was so so wrong. I read the first book three years ago and I didn't remember a lot of the plot before going into this one and that was my luck!! It kinda felt like a new book because of the things that Casteel did that didn't include Poppy. I especially loved his scenes with Kieran<3
Anyways, I've heard a lot of people say that the end was a cliffhanger but I don't think so (for once lol). It's where I expected jla to end this book and now I'm so excited for book 6!!
+ Sera and Ashes book 3 ofc:)
BUT I was so so wrong. I read the first book three years ago and I didn't remember a lot of the plot before going into this one and that was my luck!! It kinda felt like a new book because of the things that Casteel did that didn't include Poppy. I especially loved his scenes with Kieran<3
Anyways, I've heard a lot of people say that the end was a cliffhanger but I don't think so (for once lol). It's where I expected jla to end this book and now I'm so excited for book 6!!
+ Sera and Ashes book 3 ofc:)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Violence
basilreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? No
5.0
I loved reliving the first book through Cas's point of view! It just cemented my love for him even more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Xenophobia, and War
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse and Self harm
virgoabb's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.0
what tf did i just read— honestly im just so confused how this became the next book in the series, when it 1000% should’ve just been a novella of book 1 in cas’ pov. it added literally nothing of value. im being generous and giving it a 3/5 bc i loved the first book so much, and obviously it was the same exact events of the first book. and as for the present chapters, i just don’t get where jla wants to take this story, which makes me very sad bc i LOVED books 1&2. the whole throuple thing is so disingenuous and forced (and it’s also weird reading about how cas fell in love with her and how special their relationship was, only to come to the present where they’re now all in a relationship). im not even gonna get into the ending. im sadly just done w this series i think.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, and Gore
cryosphinx's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
4.25
I loved this and was so happy to experience FBAA again but from Casteel's perspective. No surprise here, it was advertised as such. Because of the POV shift, I'd say the flashbacks were evenly split between filling in information from Casteel's POV and just retelling a scene with his monologue instead of Poppy. But I loved it and it may be my favorite of the series.
There is some present day that takes place every few chapters which makes the book still a bridge between books 4 and 6.
I feel like the inner monologue was much less repetitive from Casteel's perspective that Poppy's which makes it a bit more polished. I'll also still complain that random modern jargon is very weird (I mean...at one point a character says spoiler alert...). And I would have liked more substance from the present day sections since they were pretty sparse until the last couple sections.
There is some present day that takes place every few chapters which makes the book still a bridge between books 4 and 6.
I feel like the inner monologue was much less repetitive from Casteel's perspective that Poppy's which makes it a bit more polished. I'll also still complain that random modern jargon is very weird (I mean...at one point a character says spoiler alert...). And I would have liked more substance from the present day sections since they were pretty sparse until the last couple sections.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Self harm and Death
Minor: Death of parent
stardust_heidi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
First of all, I am screaming at the last chapter. S C R E A M I N G. Both at the chapter and at JLA, because how DARE, lmao. Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy. I feel even more unsettled now than I did after TWOTQ. Rude.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I did find a lot of the repeated scenes quite tedious, even if they were from Casteel's POV. We already know most of those scenes intimately, and while yes, they were all from Poppy's perspective before, I don't know that ALL of them needed to be from Cas's POV. I did enjoy a few of the big ones, like the craven attack/night on the rise and then after Poppy stabs him in New Haven. Those were great.
The moments I enjoyed the most were the new scenes, especially those with Kieran. I loved experiencing their bond from Casteel's perspective and how Kieran just kind of *knew* things were different about Poppy from the beginning. It also opened up a whole avenue of questions I'd silently pondered to myself before and blew them out in the open -- especially during the explicit scenes with Cas and Kieran. Hot damn.
But that last chapter. Holy. Fuck. I think Emil said it best: "What in the fuckity fuck?" Lmao.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I did find a lot of the repeated scenes quite tedious, even if they were from Casteel's POV. We already know most of those scenes intimately, and while yes, they were all from Poppy's perspective before, I don't know that ALL of them needed to be from Cas's POV. I did enjoy a few of the big ones, like the craven attack/night on the rise and then after Poppy stabs him in New Haven. Those were great.
The moments I enjoyed the most were the new scenes, especially those with Kieran. I loved experiencing their bond from Casteel's perspective and how Kieran just kind of *knew* things were different about Poppy from the beginning. It also opened up a whole avenue of questions I'd silently pondered to myself before and blew them out in the open -- especially during the explicit scenes with Cas and Kieran. Hot damn.
But that last chapter. Holy. Fuck. I think Emil said it best: "What in the fuckity fuck?" Lmao.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Violence, Death, Grief, Blood, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Child death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Self harm and Sexual assault
krisalexcole's review
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Torture, Self harm, and Physical abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Kidnapping, Medical content, War, Child death, and Confinement
thirdeyeangel23's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Grief, and Confinement
Moderate: War, Torture, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Physical abuse, and Death of parent