A review by haddy
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I had this book on my tbr because someone described it as having ‘there’s only one horse’ trope..
and I’m not sure that was even true??

It started fairly strong, I was interested in the world building and intrigued about the class system, and for a while I got on with it quite well.
But this author doesn’t spoon feed plot so much as ram it down your throat. Show don’t tell doesn’t apply, but explain it in excruciating detail and then mention it 6 more times just for good measure does. You know, just in case the reader forgot what you said last paragraph, and last page, and the chapter before that. WE GET IT!!
(And somehow the class system/children born system is still not explained well???) 
I also found the dialogue to be really jarring compared to the setting??
Hawke is an actual predator,
no pun indented, but like seriously he should be on some type of list
the dubious (at BEST) consent was frankly disgusting, Poppy was absolute idiot the whole time, and was a consistently bland FMC. Her decisions didn’t seem to make any sense and their ‘banter’ was excruciating. I didn’t find myself warming to any character apart from some minor characters that I’ll probably never see again.
I had the full intention of reading the 4 other books in this series, but I’m not sure I can put myself through that 🥴
I can see this being for you if you like the ‘he’d burn the whole world down for her’ trope, and don’t mind repetitive, overly descriptive, waffley writing.
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