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A review by megbreyer
A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout
4.0
I really did enjoy this, especially at the end.
My personal cons:
- I get the whole “I have to kill you” trope, but to me I feel like that whole plot point could have been solved through communication. Sera saw the Rot in the Shadowlands, and Nyktos had been to Lasania enough times to know it exists. Literally all she had to do was ask him about it and she would’ve known. Also, the whole thing about the Rot became irrelevant at the end since Kolis is the real antagonist.
- As I’ve noticed in the Blood and Ash books, this one definitely had its slow points due to landscape building and background knowledge. While this is a con, I know this means the next book will be great.
- I got frustrated with Sera/her dialogue at moments. I felt like there were so many moments where she could and should have asked obvious questions that would have solved a lot of problems, but she didn’t. This irks me because she’s frequently
described as a character whose mouth gets her in trouble. Why wouldn’t she ask the important questions?
Pros:
- I prefer Sera to Poppy, and I adore Poppy. Their parallels are really nice, but Sera has a roughness that even Poppy still does not have.
- DRAKENS. The babies are precious.
- I didn’t know where this series was going to go, if I’m being honest, and there really is so much here to work with and I am really looking forward to that. The universe she built with the gods and Primals is so intriguing and will make for really interesting future stories. Even the story of Sera and Nyktos still has so much to grow.
For the majority of the blood it felt like a 3.5, but the last bit elevates it to a 4 for me.
My personal cons:
- I get the whole “I have to kill you” trope, but to me I feel like that whole plot point could have been solved through communication. Sera saw the Rot in the Shadowlands, and Nyktos had been to Lasania enough times to know it exists. Literally all she had to do was ask him about it and she would’ve known. Also, the whole thing about the Rot became irrelevant at the end since Kolis is the real antagonist.
- As I’ve noticed in the Blood and Ash books, this one definitely had its slow points due to landscape building and background knowledge. While this is a con, I know this means the next book will be great.
- I got frustrated with Sera/her dialogue at moments. I felt like there were so many moments where she could and should have asked obvious questions that would have solved a lot of problems, but she didn’t. This irks me because she’s frequently
described as a character whose mouth gets her in trouble. Why wouldn’t she ask the important questions?
Pros:
- I prefer Sera to Poppy, and I adore Poppy. Their parallels are really nice, but Sera has a roughness that even Poppy still does not have.
- DRAKENS. The babies are precious.
- I didn’t know where this series was going to go, if I’m being honest, and there really is so much here to work with and I am really looking forward to that. The universe she built with the gods and Primals is so intriguing and will make for really interesting future stories. Even the story of Sera and Nyktos still has so much to grow.
For the majority of the blood it felt like a 3.5, but the last bit elevates it to a 4 for me.