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slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I have never been so mad at a book in my 26 years of life. Y’all are fucking liars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-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
This was so good! Amazing world, amazing story, the plot and the lore!
Poppy and Hawke!!! <3<3<3
This high fantasy take on vampires?? *chef's kiss* we need more of these, just sayin'.
And what an ending omggg
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood
Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Blood
Minor: Emotional abuse, Death of parent
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Okay, this book has a lot of hype and I think my expectations were just too high for what it is. It was easily readable and I flew through it and immediately wanted to read the sequel. The characters were okay--I liked a lot of the side characters. I didn't think Poppy had much development; she's basically the same person at the end as she is at the beginning she just has more freedom . And Hawke...the ultimate bad boy? Idk. I both hate and like him much like Poppy? and honestly just don't know what to make of him. The romance was a bit too much for me, but that is definitely my fault because I didn’t realize this is fantasy romance, which is a little different than just fantasy.
The plot kinda bounces around in pace, picking up just when you're about to get bored. The world itself was interesting, though a lot of things are left unexplained. I had trouble deciding how to rate this one--it did entertain me but will it stick with me in the long run? Nope, I highly doubt it. Have I already read the sequel? Yes, because I have no control when it comes to cliffhanger endings! Am I wishing I had just waited for my library hold to come in instead of buying the ebooks? Yep...
Read if you like: Twilight, paranormal romance, morally gray (arguably immoral) characters.
The plot kinda bounces around in pace, picking up just when you're about to get bored. The world itself was interesting, though a lot of things are left unexplained. I had trouble deciding how to rate this one--it did entertain me but will it stick with me in the long run? Nope, I highly doubt it. Have I already read the sequel? Yes, because I have no control when it comes to cliffhanger endings! Am I wishing I had just waited for my library hold to come in instead of buying the ebooks? Yep...
Read if you like: Twilight, paranormal romance, morally gray (arguably immoral) characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, Death of parent
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
Song Pairing: Gimme What I Want - Miley Cyrus
Oh, what to say about this book. I absolutely loved it.
Poppy is The Maiden. She has been chosen from birth to usher in a new future for the kingdom. She is hidden from the world and heavily protected. Poppy is not allowed to be seen, to be touched, or to be spoken to, and it is a solitary life that she is not even sure she wants. It's not like the choice is even hers to make. With a fallen kingdom on the rise, things start to become a bit more complicated for Poppy.
Let's dive right in. The world building and atmosphere crafting are amazing. I will warn you, the first 100 (ish) pages of the book can be quite slow but it is truly worth the build once you are immersed. You are thrown right into the story and it can be a little difficult getting your bearings at first.
I am not going to discuss the plot, because I think going in not knowing much about it really helps. As someone getting back into fantasy, I was left so shocked by the twists and turns in this book.
The characters are SUCH a strong point in this book. Poppy is an amazing main character and I love JLA for taking the time to craft her into the fantastic bad ass that she is. She is strong, fierce, confident, and is not afraid of a challenge. Poppy also doesn't back down when it comes to her shortcomings and instead of caving under pressure, she does what she can to come out stronger than before (...and swinging, with a knife).
Hawke Flynn, the royal guard sworn to protect Poppy at all costs, is your typical (but also not so typical) hot love interest who is also witty and demanding and extremely intriguing. There are so many sides to his character that I could talk about all day. I really could talk about the characters in this book all day, I thought they were really well built and added so much depth to the story.
Now, for Poppy AND Hawke...I loved them and their banter SO much. Their relationship is electric and sweet and steamy and it draws you in like crazy. It is a fantastic romance and it adds another layer to the already great world building and story.
There is so much more I could write about this book. It is a wild rollercoaster that I found myself reading in every spare moment of my time and led me to staying up until 4am multiple nights so I could finish it. It has become a favorite of mine and I instantly bought the second book (A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire) and read all 500+ pages in less than a week because I am obsessed. No shock here but they were both 5 star reads for me.
If you love fantasy, a great romance, and lots of action, I highly recommend this book! And now, I will be here anxiously awaiting the third book in the series, A Crown of Gilded Bones.
Thanks for building such an amazing universe @JLA
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
From Blood and Ash was a very conflicting book for me. Overall, I did enjoy this book, but it is not one of my favourites. It took me over a month to read because I was not that invested in it. It took about 200 pages for me to finally get into it and even after that, the pacing kept jumping around from everything happening at once to nothing happening at all up until the last 150 pages or so.
The writing was very average for me. I found some lines in the book and some of the writing style to be very cringy. This didn't bother me too much though because I enjoyed laughing at the cringy parts.
I also saw the plot twist coming from a mile away, but I do have to say, the very last page and last line of this book really saved it for me! I'm excited to move onto the sequel, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire sometime in the next few months.
I liked the characters and I really applaud the author for writing such a complex backstory that is revealed in the end of the book. And I mean... I don't even think I have to explain why Hawke is such a great character. I'm super excited to see both his and Poppy's characters develop in the second book.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read and I'm excited to continue with the series!
Rating: 3.5/5 stars.
CW // NSFW, death, violence, blood, gore, abuse
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Physical abuse
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I walked away really mixed feelings about this book. The scenes/elements that I really liked, I REALLY liked. There were a couple of scenes that were just written really well and I liked how the dialog was written (with a couple of exceptions). At the same time, this book was also really cliché in a really lame way. It had a great first and second act. The third/final act left so much to be desired. I'm genuinely conflicted about reading the rest of the series.
Poppy is a cool character. It's easy to fall into the trope that a strong female character is simply one who doesn't follow the rules and then just go insubordinate=strong-willed. Poppy has motive and her own reason why she does X or Y and I really appreciated that about her.
It really felt like this author's publisher insisted that the ending be re-written. I feel like there is such a difference in tone in that final 150pgs. We take such an odd and drastic left turn with the Hawke character near the end that I can't believe that is where this author intended to go with this story. I also largely feel like we're left with a Hawke character that is irredeemable in the worst way. That could have been intentional and I suppose reading subsequent books might better explain that decision to me, but I just feel like I'm left with this cruel, suddenly crazy, and unforgivable character that I'm just uninterested in reading any more about. It almost ruined the book for me.
Poppy is a cool character. It's easy to fall into the trope that a strong female character is simply one who doesn't follow the rules and then just go insubordinate=strong-willed. Poppy has motive and her own reason why she does X or Y and I really appreciated that about her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content
I would have liked there to have been a little bit more consent with regard to the sexual relations between characters. This book walks a fine line, where it's the first person POV so as a reader, I know what Poppy is and is not okay with, but other characters don't have that same information. When it comes to full on sex, there is explicit consent. It's all the other sexual touches that seem to not have to follow that rule. Hawke just acts throughout a lot of the novel that he gets to touch Poppy however he pleases.
There is at least one sexual encounter between Poppy and Hawke where he's telling her "you know you want it" and she doesn't really respond to him yay or nay. He doesn't really ask, either. Just continues to tell her that "this is what she wants." and then puts his hands down her pants. As a reader, Poppy is telling me that this is something she's into, and that's cool. But that information isn't really shared with Hawke and he doesn't really seem to care what she does or doesn't want.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I liked this book, it was alright. Obviously enough for me to finish. There was a lot that I didn't really care about or liked how it was laid out in the book (a maiden who isn't supposed to talk or interact with anyone, but she never came across a character in the whole book who she didn't talk to; Poppy doing something inappropriate and then going back and explaining that she did a thing and that it was inappropriate and why). I also didn't care too much for the more sexier scenes, I am not sure if it's that I see this book as more ya and the writing style feels more ya than what is appropriate; or if it's my history with the author and her ya books? I'm not sure. The end was enough of a cliffhanger (that I saw coming) that I will pick up the next book because I would really like to see Poppy grow and become more of herself.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood