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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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment
Minor: Cursing, Infidelity, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Toxic friendship, War
The maid is a black woman named Tawny. WTF. Not to mention the lack of consent even though I’m only 9% into the book. Yeah, absolutely not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've described this book to people before as pocket trash. You know it's terrible.
The writing isn't great. In terms of the plot, there are a lot of plotholes—things that don't really make sense, and once you start to pull at one, the entire thing unravels and doesn't make any sense. Armentrout needs a better editor. There are A LOT of unnecessary moments and words. The FMC has so many inner monologues that it's exhausting and pointless. Her views and random thoughts do not add to the story; they take away from it by bogging the reader down.
The worldbuilding is lackluster. It's supposed to be grand and sweeping and yet, it's flat and blase. It's not just that things are waiting to be revealed; it's that there is a lack of description and connection to the world in which this story is set.
Another thing that really bothers me is the blatant racism. The FMC's "best friend" is a black woman named, I kid you not, Tawny. Are you ready for her role? She is the FMC's lady's maid. The MCC's best friend is a black man who can shift into a werewolf (wolven) named Kieran (which means black, in case you didn't know), who is bound to the MCC. So basically, both of them are servants. The main characters and those in power are all white.
Want a book with loads of sexual assault? This book has it in spades. The MCC hides his identity and uses his false one to get close to the FMC, proceeds to seduce her, take her virginity, and then gaslight her by telling her that it was "real". He knew full well that she never ever would have gone near him if she had known who he really was. After he takes her virginity, he continues invading her space and touching her despite her telling him no several times.
The writing isn't great. In terms of the plot, there are a lot of plotholes—things that don't really make sense, and once you start to pull at one, the entire thing unravels and doesn't make any sense. Armentrout needs a better editor. There are A LOT of unnecessary moments and words. The FMC has so many inner monologues that it's exhausting and pointless. Her views and random thoughts do not add to the story; they take away from it by bogging the reader down.
The worldbuilding is lackluster. It's supposed to be grand and sweeping and yet, it's flat and blase. It's not just that things are waiting to be revealed; it's that there is a lack of description and connection to the world in which this story is set.
Another thing that really bothers me is the blatant racism. The FMC's "best friend" is a black woman named, I kid you not, Tawny. Are you ready for her role? She is the FMC's lady's maid. The MCC's best friend is a black man who can shift into a werewolf (wolven) named Kieran (which means black, in case you didn't know), who is bound to the MCC. So basically, both of them are servants. The main characters and those in power are all white.
Want a book with loads of sexual assault? This book has it in spades. The MCC hides his identity and uses his false one to get close to the FMC, proceeds to seduce her, take her virginity, and then gaslight her by telling her that it was "real". He knew full well that she never ever would have gone near him if she had known who he really was. After he takes her virginity, he continues invading her space and touching her despite her telling him no several times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting
Minor: Child abuse, Alcohol
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship
Minor: Racism
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Do you like steamy romance with very clear consent? Yeah. Then this book is not for you.
Also- why… just WHY are the two people that are “bound” to the main (white) characters the only fleshed out characters of Color? Gross. Racist and gross.
I kept thinking, okay maybe I am missing something. But no. We’ve got virginity tropes, “I know better that you about your own safety” tropes, and an age gap that feels as yucky as Rhys and Feyre’s would’ve had the batboy not understood the meaning of no.
Skip it.
Also- why… just WHY are the two people that are “bound” to the main (white) characters the only fleshed out characters of Color? Gross. Racist and gross.
I kept thinking, okay maybe I am missing something. But no. We’ve got virginity tropes, “I know better that you about your own safety” tropes, and an age gap that feels as yucky as Rhys and Feyre’s would’ve had the batboy not understood the meaning of no.
Skip it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Death of parent
Minor: Child death, Genocide, Racism, Death of parent
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book stared out kind of slow and I had a hard time getting into it but once it picked up I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the characters and the romance as well as the world, though the world building was confusing in the beginning there is a good reason for that. I’m exited to read the next book and continue the story
That said I do think it’s important to mention the the POC rep in this book is terrible. Most of the characters in this book are white and those who aren’t are in service to main white characters. Additionally one of them turns into an wolf. Not to mention their names, Tawny and Kieran, mean brown and “little dark one” respectively. (This was pointed out by mynameismarines on tiktok I didn’t realize it myself)
Link to tiktok video
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdtUpAXe/
That said I do think it’s important to mention the the POC rep in this book is terrible. Most of the characters in this book are white and those who aren’t are in service to main white characters. Additionally one of them turns into an wolf. Not to mention their names, Tawny and Kieran, mean brown and “little dark one” respectively. (This was pointed out by mynameismarines on tiktok I didn’t realize it myself)
Link to tiktok video
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdtUpAXe/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's disheartening to see that something so blatantly racist can get published. The protagonist's best friend is a black girl, named Tawny, ffs, who acts as her maid. The love interest's best friend is a black guy named Kieran, which means the little dark one, who is magically bound to him, so, also a servant. It's ridiculous. This entire book is also filled with sexual assault. The main guy conceals his indentity until the end, which is a form of sexual assault. She would have never done it with him if she had known who he was. Once she finds out who he is, he relentlessly mocks her, and so does everyone else. He also promises her that it's going to happen again. I was rage crying by the end. But honestly I don't even know how I managed to get there. The book was extremely slow, the writing was poor, and the protagonist had no personality. I had to start skimming. This was my worst read of the year, and looking back I really wish I had dnf'd. I struggled so hard to finish it that I should have just given up. I will not be reading anything else by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Not only is she a bad writer with no concept of consent, but she is also a racist. It's really unfortunate how popular this book is, and it's sad to see how many people call themselves allies and in the same breath recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Racism