Book Review for "From Blood and Ash" by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Summary:

Maiden…

Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy’s life has never been her own. The life of the Maiden is solitary. Never to be touched. Never to be looked upon. Never to be spoken to. Never to experience pleasure. Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family, than preparing to be found worthy by the gods. But the choice has never been hers.

A Duty…

The entire kingdom’s future rests on Poppy’s shoulders, something she’s not even quite sure she wants for herself. Because a Maiden has a heart. And a soul. And longing. And when Hawke, a golden-eyed guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. He incites her anger, makes her question everything she believes in, and tempts her with the forbidden.

A Kingdom…

Forsaken by the gods and feared by mortals, a fallen kingdom is rising once more, determined to take back what they believe is theirs through violence and vengeance. And as the shadow of those cursed draws closer, the line between what is forbidden and what is right becomes blurred. Poppy is not only on the verge of losing her heart and being found unworthy by the gods, but also her life when every blood-soaked thread that holds her world together begins to unravel

MY RATING: 4.5/5 stars

GENRE: Fantasy, Romance, New Adult

So let me preview this review by first saying how much I wanted to avoid this book after seeing it all over booktok. How does that saying go again? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times though? Now that's a new low, even for me. However, Jennifer L. Armentrout did not disappoint! Jennifer is the one author that anything she puts out I am bound to read some day. I have pretty much all her books on either my read or to-be-read shelf and I'm super excited to get started on those I haven't read yet. She just does it for me. Her books aren't the best thing I've ever read, but they always get the job done and keep me well entertained. I've read her Lux series (my personal favourite of hers), her Covenant series, and I have both her Dark Elements series and the Wicked trilogy on my TBR shelf.

With "From Blood and Ash", I'm actually embarrassed to say I had DNFed it after reading about 100 pages back in 2020. I was so confused by the worldbuilding, and when they introduced Hawke (the main guy) I just was not interested. Then I started seeing this book being recommended all over booktok as having an enemies-to-lovers plotline. My interest was immediately piqued (pardon my thirstiness) and I decided maybe I had been too hasty in my dismissal. This change of heart ended up probably being one of the better decisions I've made in 2021 (clearly, I haven't made a lot of decisions this year). I absolutely adored this book and immediately devoured the second one as well. Then I had to wait almost 6 months for the third one to be released (which sadly I haven't heard good things about but I'm still willing to give it a try). If you want to know more about the good, the bad, and the mediocre, keep reading!

The good:

1. The heroine. Poppy was mighty fierce. In the beginning it seemed like she was going to be characterized as a sheltered and naive lady (seeing as she was The Maiden), but that was not the case. She was a rulebreaker in every sense of the word, and trained as a fighter even though as a Maiden it was forbidden for her to learn how to fight. She was super curious (too curious in fact), and was just such a girl boss. I loved her banter with Hawke/Castiel, and the fact that she wasn't such a doormat was a bonus point. She is hands down one of my favourite FMC in recent fantasy novels.

"You're an absolutely stunning, murderous little creature.” - Hawke to Poppy

1. Hawke/Castiel. Without spoiling too much, Hawke comes off as a pretty regular and boring male lead in the first quarter of the book. In fact, I had him pegged as your typical 'run of the mill' male character during my first, which explains why I was so quick with the DNF button. After reading fantasy novels with heroes (more like anti-heroes) like Cardan, Jericho Barrons, and Rhysand I was not in the mood for a noble guard to be the main love interest. I'll take morally grey characters any day over perfect heroes (having morals was so last year). Thankfully, the book took a turn about halfway through and there is more to Hawke than meets the eye. Patience really is a virtue, and I'm glad I stuck through with it because it ended up being one of my favourite reads of 2021. Hawke/Castiel is protective, cold but also warm, funny, and just all around a strong male lead. The plot twist (which I won't be spoiling) at the end just made me love his character even more.

2. All the side characters. I feel like some authors write their novels and just input side characters there for the heck of it. But books with fleshed out main characters that also have likeable side characters are just *chefs kiss*

3. Slow romance. I actually wouldn't call the romance slow-building. I think it was pretty obvious by the second meeting that some sparks were flying between Poppy and Hawke, but the author really allowed the steam to build rather than some instalove thing happening within the first 2 chapters of the book. She didn't rush things to the point where there was zero longing or angst, but the romance wasn't so slow either that you start to wonder if the characters are even interested in each other. You still felt the tension between the two characters which I loved.

4. The ending. Without spoiling anything, I really liked the plot twist at the end. I kind of already spoiled it for myself before I restarted the book, but it only increased my excitement rather than derail it. Any book with an ending that immediately makes me pick up the next book in the series deserves all the praise.

The bad:

1. The worldbuilding. I felt like the worldbuilding was actually pretty confusing especially in the first half. It was the main reason why I quit reading the book the first time. All the wordbuilding seemed to just be dumped on us in the beginning (especially through dialogues, which I don't particularly love), and it was pretty difficult and confusing to get through. I still don't understand what role Poppy serves as a Maiden or why her blood was so special, but I realized halfway through that I actually didn't care. The book was still very enjoyable and that says a lot considering I didn't understand half the plot. It took the second book for things to click and start making sense, but what little I understood from the first book was still enjoyable.

2. The dialogue after a while became repetitive. Take this line for example: "You're an absolutely stunning, murderous little creature.” While cute at first, it kept being mentioned so many times in the books (both the first and second), just different variations of it that I had to put my kindle down and release a sigh every time Hawke talked about how murderous Poppy was.

3. Storyline. The storyline is quite interesting, but not unique by any means. I think a part of me not loving the storyline as much might be due to the confusing worldbuilding. But again, halfway through you start to really enjoy the storyline as they get less convoluted and things become really enjoyable (so maybe this should more of like a mediocre thing).

The mediocre:

1. The writing. In my previous reviews of "The Invisible Life of Addie Larue" and "Kingdom of the Wicked" the one thing I loved about both books was that the writing was very beautiful. With "From Blood and Ash", the writing wasn't beautiful by any means. It was pretty good but nothing extraordinary, however not every book needs to be written so perfectly, and the writing worked just fine for me.

Overall, I loved this book. As soon as I finished the first book, I immediately picked up the second. No breaks in between whatsoever. I think sometimes there are books that are so well written but they lose the enjoyment aspect (eg. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue) and then there are books like "From Blood and Ash" that has some issues, but is so enjoyable those issues become minor. "From Blood and Ash" had everything I like in a fantasy romance, and although it isn't the most unique fantasy series out there, it manages to stand on its own. I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new fantasy series to finish in one sitting.

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