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A review by ashwyn
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It's entertaining enough, but it is very trope heavy, to the point that the plot only really starts getting important about 70% of the way through. Most of the book is filler and drags out because it focuses primarily on the romance, which would be okay, except nothing too substantial happens for upwards of 400 pages. The twist was really predictable so Poppy looked like an absolute idiot.
On Poppy: her character started out strong and then became whiney and moronic at the twist, which was really disappointing. She's written to be a badass, independent woman, and at times she is. Other times, she cannot think for herself, relies heavily on others (especially the hot guy she met like 2 weeks ago) and is excessively horny, not always at appropriate times too (and for like, no good reason). I like Poppy, but at the same time, I also don't. She's very slow on figuring things out, to the point I got second-hand embarrassment for her. Poppy is compelling, but also stupid. It is a very weird combination at times.
On Hawke: yeah whatever. He's a hot guy with a tragic backstory. Nothing too interesting or unique so far. He's funny though, so he is at least interesting to read. He also gets horny at bad times, like when Poppy is in pain, or sad, angry, or upset. Very gross tbh.
The action scenes were amazing but the book lacks setting descriptions so you kind of have no idea where they are a lot of the time. Also, the first 150 pages were the most confusing beginning of any book I've read. The reader gets dumped with info but not the information that actually makes sense for what is happening at that moment in the book so it is very, very confusing.
It's just the first book though so things usually improve. Don't know how there is going to be anything other than a second book because the plot already seems stretched thin for no reason other than wasting time.
On Poppy: her character started out strong and then became whiney and moronic at the twist, which was really disappointing. She's written to be a badass, independent woman, and at times she is. Other times, she cannot think for herself, relies heavily on others (especially the hot guy she met like 2 weeks ago) and is excessively horny, not always at appropriate times too (and for like, no good reason). I like Poppy, but at the same time, I also don't. She's very slow on figuring things out, to the point I got second-hand embarrassment for her. Poppy is compelling, but also stupid. It is a very weird combination at times.
On Hawke: yeah whatever. He's a hot guy with a tragic backstory. Nothing too interesting or unique so far. He's funny though, so he is at least interesting to read. He also gets horny at bad times, like when Poppy is in pain, or sad, angry, or upset. Very gross tbh.
The action scenes were amazing but the book lacks setting descriptions so you kind of have no idea where they are a lot of the time. Also, the first 150 pages were the most confusing beginning of any book I've read. The reader gets dumped with info but not the information that actually makes sense for what is happening at that moment in the book so it is very, very confusing.
It's just the first book though so things usually improve. Don't know how there is going to be anything other than a second book because the plot already seems stretched thin for no reason other than wasting time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence