A review by beth_waller97
King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair

dark 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? No

3.5

I can’t help but think this is a copy and paste of From Blood and Ash… same sort of premise, similar outcomes… did I enjoy it? Absolutely. Will I purchase the next one? More than likely (once I’m at least part way through my TBR).

I’d have liked something different, but I’m not complaining at what we got here. The smut is A-grade, as is typical with St Clair, and the story was great. Nothing we haven’t heard before, but it was good and I was invested. She even got some in person reactions from me - namely huge cringes and second hand embarrassment for Isolde, who was wholly awful in the first 60% of the book. 

The last 100 or so pages made Isolde more tolerable, but also it’s where it lost the stars. No suspense, you saw everything coming. There were no plot twists you couldn’t see from a mile away and they all came at once. Literally one happened, turn the page and there’s the second. Could have done with a bit more suspense there but it’s whatever - still a good read.