Review: Born of Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Born of Blood and Ash

Jennifer L. Armentrout

(Flesh and Fire #4)

Publication Date: August 13, 2024

Hardcover, 770 pages, Blue Box Press

Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Goodreads

 

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes the thrilling conclusion to her beloved Flesh and Fire series…

 

The line between love and obsession has never been wider.

 

While Sera is finally free of Kolis and back with those she loves, not everything is calm. Memories of all she’s endured still haunt her, but Sera finally has hope for a future with the other half of her heart and soul. Nyktos desires, loves, and accepts every part of her—even the monstrous bits she still battles.

 

More than ever, Sera and Ash have everything under the realms to fight for, and Nyktos has no doubt Sera is fit to be the Queen of the Gods. But she must find that faith within herself if they hope to convince the other Courts to support them against Kolis and make Iliseeum and the mortal realm better, safer places for all.

 

But as Sera begins to piece together the importance of her bloodline and the true meaning behind the foreboding prophecy, it becomes clear that everything that has happened and is yet to come is much bigger than Kolis and his dark obsessions.

 

They cannot help but wonder exactly how much influence the Fates have had and what their ultimate goal is. What Sera does know for sure is that they can trust very few—including her.

 

A battle between the gods is brewing, and heartbreaking losses are imminent with the true Primal of Death strengthening. With a family of the heart willing to battle by their side, can Sera and Nyktos stop Kolis before he destroys the realms, or will it all disappear in a fiery inferno of blood and ash?

 

And the line between justice and vengeance has never been so thin.

My Review

Spoiler warning: This is the 4th book in a spinoff series. There won't be any major spoilers if you're familiar with the FBAA world, but there might be a few.

This one managed to surprise me. Not because I don't normally like JLA's books (I actually love them and own too many), but because I'm more of a Kieran/Poppy/Cas girly than a Sera/Nyktos girly. I've historically had a tougher time with the Flesh & Fire books simply because my main trio isn't involved. But honestly Born of Blood and Ash was great! All of the storylines for both series have really started forming and coming together.

  Sera has just become a baby primal in this one and is dealing with some traumatic events from previous books. But she's being her badass self through it all. I found her reluctance to talk to others relatable. Nyktos/Ash was also badass. He was sweet too. And all the side characters always make me smile. And yes, that includes Callum. The other three major villains aren't smile worthy though. Kolis is a very bad primal. He needs a timeout. 🤭

 Everything in this last book just flowed so smoothly with only a bit of a rush in the last 100 pages. I was certainly never bored despite it being a 720-page brick. I do recommend finding a recap somewhere though if you haven't done a reread lately. Like the Visions of Flesh and Blood chapters. Recaps definitely helped me appreciate the story more.

 Overall, I'm gonna miss baby Reaver and Jadis. And all the messiness Attes manages to find his way into. I can't believe there are only two more planned books left in this main series. It hurts. I may not survive when it officially ends.

*Note: I purchased a copy of this book for myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Stacking the Shelves: The JLA Addict Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

I took a vacation this week. For three days. It's been really nice to reset my brain and get away from work for a while. It was also my birthday, so it was super nice to not have to go into work then either. I didn't do a whole lot, though, I just cleaned my house and went with the 'rents to dinner. I plan to go furniture shopping this weekend, so that should be fun. Maybe. I am going to get some more bookshelves to go in my bedroom. I'm excited about those, for sure. Potentially buying a new couch and/or table aren't as fun though. Too much work and money. Ha ha.

But on to this week's haul. First up, I have the FairyLoot Romantasy book for August. At least, I think it's August's book. I haven't really been paying attention to what month goes with which book lately. I used to wonder how people couldn't keep track of that kind of stuff when I watched videos online. Now I know. When you're not super excited about titles and they just keep coming every month, it's hard to remember what goes with what. But anyway, this month's is Bonded by Thorns by Elizabeth Helen. This cover is gorgeous! I wish FBAA had a cover like this. That character art is totally giving me Poppy vibes.

Speaking of FBAA, I have another edition of Born of Blood and Ash to add to the collection. I ordered one of the signed editions from Barnes & Noble Fairfax. It came with some goodies, like a little tote bag and some prints. I was a little disappointed the prints weren't foiled. I also didn't think the signature was the greatest. I think she signs better when at ApollyCon. But I'll probably go ahead and get the ASITE version from Fairfax too. Just because. My preorder bookmark and temporary tattoo also arrived. It's been a JLA-full week, as you'll see.

 

And next, I have the new Apollyon edition with sprayed edges. This came pretty early, and it was supposed to be delivered on Monday, but somehow it got mixed up with a local hospital's packages and went to their facilities. I had to call my post office to figure out who had signed for my book. So, after all that, this didn't end up being delivered until Thursday. My other Thursday delivery was the Indigo edition of BOBAA. I got it from Mercari.

I also impulse-bought the old covers of the Covenant series on eBay. I'm kind of meh about this purchase. The Apollyon edition has some weird ink stain at the bottom, which I knew when I bought it, and the Deity edition has a broken spine. So I'm not sure if I'll keep those two copies. I actually used to own a couple of these original covers, but I got rid of them years ago once the newer (now older) covers were released. I'm regretting getting rid of all my JLA older covers now that I've become an addict. Lol.

 

And lastly, I have my LitHaven edition of The Witch Collector by Charissa Weaks. Holy cow. I ordered this thing like a year ago. It took so long for it to deliver. It's a pretty edition, but I don't know if it was worth waiting that long for. I have two other orders with LitHaven that are supposed to arrive soon, but I'm not sure I'll order from them again. I guess it just depends on what titles they release. 

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The BOBAA Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Well, I definitely got out of my reading slump this past week. I actually read four books in a very short span of time, so I'm super excited to read some other stuff next. Especially the long list of titles I want to read for ApollyCon next year. But, the reason I was able to read like 3.5 books over four days (I read a bit of book one before the weekend and a bit of book four after the weekend) was because I was lazy and ill for those four days. All I did was get out of bed, move to my couch, and read. It was glorious, though now I have to clean everything in one weekend instead of spreading it out over two weekends. Boo. 

But on to this week's haul. First up, I have the Dutch editions of A Soul of Ash and Blood, A Light in the Flame, and A Fire in the Flesh. They have super pretty edges and character art on the inside flaps. So, no, I did not need another FBAA book that looks similar to all the others, but I got them anyway. Mostly because I was bummed about the exclusive BOBAA PR editions and wanted some retail therapy.

 

Speaking of Born of Blood and Ash, I have my copies here. Finally. I really wish Barnes & Noble would have some sort of faster shipping option. I wouldn't utilize it all the time, just whenever a new JLA or highly anticipated book comes out. But, anyway, I'm excited to read this one. Normally, I don't care much for the Flesh & Fire books. I'm more of a Blood & Ash girly. However, I'm excited to see how things sort of wrap up for this prequel series. Oh, and as you can see, I ordered both the regular and B&N editions. I actually have too many editions of BOBAA. I think one more is on the way. Eek.

 

And next, I have another tarot card purchase from Prettygal Pins. While the artwork on these is always pretty, I just don't care enough about Crescent City to know if I'm going to keep these or the first set Prettygal released a couple of years ago. I only really like a few of the side characters, so I may end up selling all of these or just selling some and keeping the characters I like.

 

As for the ebooks, I have two I downloaded on Kindle Unlimited. The first is Little Slice of Hell by Clio Evans. Clio is an ApollyCon author, so I thought I'd give this novella a try. Devil's Pass by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti is also a novella. It's part of their Harlequin Crew series. I just finished another series of theirs, and I'd like to immediately dive into this one, but I have to read BOBAA now and another book club pick. Sigh.

 

And right when I thought I was done typing up this post, I decided to download two more ebooks. I noticed on B&N when I was doing some browsing that Caroline Peckham had a couple of free novellas. So, I went ahead and got them for my Nook. Will I read them anytime soon? Probably not, but it's nice to have them anyway. The first is A Game of Vampires and the second is an anthology that Caroline Peckham contributed to, Creatures of the Dark. 

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The Ruthless Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Well, I spent more money this week. Are we surprised? No. Are we disappointed? Financially, yes. Mentally, no. Ha ha. I think book buying is all that's keeping me together right now. Life has just been kind of meh lately. I'm taking some days off in a couple of weeks, though, and Labor Day weekend is coming up, so I think I'll get some pep back in my step soon. I just have to get through this slump. The good news is I'm reading a book I like, which is nice. Before, I was picking stuff up just to immediately put it down 10 pages in.

But on to this week's haul. First up, I have the July Adult FairyLoot book, The Night Ends With Fire by K.X. Song. It's really pretty, but I know nothing about this book. And I only got it in early August because it was delivered to my parents' house and they kept forgetting to bring it to me when they visited. I still haven't changed my shipping address for FairyLoot. And with the ant problem on my front doorstep, I probably won't anytime soon.

Up next, I have the most expensive part of this week's haul. I randomly decided to purchase the entire Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series in the newer covers all at once as well as the fourth book in the Darkmore Penitentiary series. I was originally just going to purchase The Love Archives Vol. III on Amazon because it has an FBAA JLA story, but I decided I might as well order all of the Ruthless Boys books I need to get it over with. Plus, my free trial of Prime was ending. Unfortunately, one of the books, #3, Vicious Fae, is about a quarter of an inch shorter than the others, so I asked for a replacement. I'm hoping the copy I got was a one-off, but it probably isn't, which means I'll have to wait a while to reorder until this defective batch is gone. The others all look great, though. 

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

July Wrap-Up & August TBR

Holy guacamole! It's August already! 2024 is going by so fast! I didn't have a ton of time to read, as my older sister came to visit, my dad had his birthday, I had a major work deadline, and I'm still completing some home organization tasks. It's been busy. I hope August is a lot more chill.

In this wrap-up, I’ll list the books I read, the books I reviewed, the books I bought/received, and my TBR for next month. Now, let’s get this bookish party started!

Books Read in July

Charm: 1 star

A Whisper and a Breath: 3.5 stars

Silk & Sand: 4 stars

The Silent Prince: 4 stars

Wyn: 4 stars

I only read five books in July, which is one more than last month. So yay! Progress. I'm hoping I can get to six in August, especially since I plan to take some time off this month. The reason I was able to read so much in July (in comparison to previous months) had a lot to do with getting Kindle Unlimited back. Scrolling through an ebook on my phone is just so much easier for some reason. Four out of five of this month's reads were KU books. The only physical book I read was Charm by Tracy Wolf. Dear lord, this was a hard book to get through. It took me 11 months! It was so slow and unnecessary. There was a purple land for goodness' sake! Also, the author might have plagiarized the entire series (verdict still to come), so all in all, just not a good time. The other books were decent, though. I read A Whisper and a Breath by Adelaide Blaike, Silk & Sand by Katherine Diane, The Silent Prince by L. Eveland (which has the most horrid cover), and Wyn by Lily Mayne.

Books Bought/Received in July

I did a lot of retail therapy in the month of July. That, plus a lot of large preorders made this an extremely expensive month. Probably the most expensive I've ever had. Yikes. In total, I bought 31 books and received an additional twelve that were free or were paid for during other months. Of the 31 I ordered, I only have 14 in my possession right now. The rest haven't been delivered yet and some probably won't be until the end of the year.

For the 12 books I received, I got eight free Kindle ebooks: Royals of Villain Academy by Eva Chase, Shield & Sorrow by J.E. Ridge, A Dance with a Fae Prince by Elise Kova, Curse of Shadows and Thorns by L.J. Andrews, Unnatural Magic by Stacia Stark, Fallen Academy: Year One by Leia Stone, Avalon Tower by C.N. Crawford and Alex Rivers, and Lady of Darkness by Melissa Roehrich. The other four I received were all preorders that I'd paid for in earlier months that only just arrived in July. Those include The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten and The Curse of Sins by Kate Dramis FairyLoot editions and the new editions of Obsidian and Pure that I'd preordered from Barnes & Noble that just happened to arrive in the beginning of July.

As for the 14 books I bought that I received, those consist of Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi, The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde FairyLoot edition, The Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons, the first Zodiac Academy book and Alpha Wolf by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat, Untamed by Lilian T. James Bookish Box edition, and a bunch of JLA books: Diety, the Dark Elements trilogy, Fall of Ruin and Wrath, A Fire in the Flesh (no dustjacket since its being used for other jackets), and a short story collection she contributed to called The Love Archives to raise money for Palestine. I have the ebook right now. I'm going to order the paperback too once it's available.

 Now my preorders for the month are where things got uber expensive. I'm still making payments on the Arcane Amelia Hutchins books, I preordered two three-book FairyLoot sets (Vampire Academy Pt. 2 and Poison Study Pt. 2), I ordered the Dutch editions of some FBAA books, and I preordered the Acrylipics FBAA set. That last one was $$$. I also purchased the Indigo edition of Visions of Flesh and Blood in July, but it arrived August 1st, so it'll be in my next wrap up haul. My FairyLoot Romantasy book is also at my parents' house right now. I just don't have it in my possession yet.  

Currently Obsessed With

As for TV/films, I have some new stuff to share and some old stuff that you've seen on my wrap-ups every month this year.

Yes, that's right, I started rewatching The Office again in early July. Shame on me. However, because of TikTok's incessant need to share clips, I am now watching/rewatching episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit completely out of order. Which is fine. I've seen most of the earlier seasons' episodes. I also continued watching House of the Dragon season two. By the time this post goes up, season two will be over, and the long wait for three will begin. In addition to that, I watched Deadpool & Wolverine in theaters with my dad, mom, and little sister for my dad's birthday. It was pretty funny. There were a lot of millenial jokes and Fox Marvel nostalgia. Oh, and my older sister and I forced my parents to watch The Eras Tour movie while she was visiting. I don't think they appreciated it as much as we'd hoped or the Taylor lore we shared with them. Lol.

August TBR

I have two repeats: Visions of Flesh & Blood by JLA and Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu. I will finish Visions this month. I must to prep for Born of Blood and Ash's release. It's coming up so soon. Aaaah! I'm not ready. I remember nothing! Other than those two, I want to read BOBAA and Goldfinch by Raven Kennedy, which both release this month. I also need to read Fortuna Sworn by K.J. Sutton for my book club, and I'd like to finish my current read, Silver & Gold by Katherine Diane. I'm over halfway through right now.

***

Okay, well, that's the month of July, plus some August sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for last month? If so, share in the comments!

Stacking the Shelves: The Unnecessary Things Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

It's a new month, which means a new 31 days of buying new, unnecessary things. Well, sometimes they're necessary. For my general happiness and state of mind. Ha ha. But other than buying stuff, it's been a relatively quiet week. It's just been going to work, the gym, and home to sleep. With one trip to the grocery store thrown in. And honestly, I'm okay with the simplicity after the past couple of crazy hectic weeks. Between my work deadline and my sister visiting, things just got to be too much for me there for a bit. I can only take so much excitement. Hee hee.

I hauled my fourth physical copy of Visions of Flesh and Blood today. This is the Indigo version. I've been holding out from buying it directly from Indigo, because I've heard bad things about the company owner, but I found this one on Mercari for a decent price. And boy did I snatch it up. It's super pretty in person too, and the embossed font/designs on the front are nice to stroke. Lol. 

 

Up next, I have my order from PrettygalPins. These are the cards for The Bridge Kingdom series. And boy, are they pretty. Jemlin, the artist, rarely misses when it comes to these character cards. Thankfully, Prettygal isn't selling a set I want anytime soon, so I can save some money. I bought like five decks in the space of a month recently, so I'm super relieved.

 

And this is really what I'd call an "unnecessary" order. I had just finished reading Iron Flame, and ATOMD shared a post featuring the Fourth Wing character/dragon shelfie standees. And at the time, I really wanted them. So I ordered them. Do I want them as much at this moment? Not really. The dragons are still really cool, though. I may just display those somewhere and put the people ones away. I also ordered an Orion and Darius one from Zodiac Academy, as theirs were going out of stock soon, and I think I might buy all of the ZA ones eventually. Though I'm not sure. Again, ATOMD shared someone's pics right after I'd finished the last ZA book, so it influenced me hardcore to purchase these. The ATOMD order also came with a free bonus print of Violet and her friend whose name I can't remember as well as a Manon and Abraxos magnet.

 

The last of the physical objects includes my preorder incentive prints from Amber V. Nicole for her book, The Dawn of the Cursed Queen, which is book three in the Gods & Monsters series. I haven't read book two yet, as I want to binge the entire seven-book series once it's complete, but I'm excited to get around to it eventually. Also, this artwork is pretty, but I definitely had to hide the steamy scene of the second print. Ha ha.

As for ebooks, I have eight ebooks with five freebies I got on another random freebie day. I don't think it was a Stuff Your Kindle day, but it might have been. I just saw one Facebook/Instagram post about six books that were available for free, so I downloaded most of them. After that, I didn't see anyone advertising any other freebies Those ebooks include Lady of Darkness by Melissa K. Roehrich, Unnatural Magic by Stacia Stark, Fallen Academy: Year One by Leia Stone, Curse of Shadows and Thorns by L.J. Andrews, and Avalon Tower by C.N. Crawford and Alex Rivers. I got Villain by Chani Lynn Feener and Silver & Gold by Katherine Diane via Kindle Unlimited. Silver & Gold is the book I'm currently reading. I'd also preordered The Love Archives short story book because it has a bonus scene from Cas's POV in it. This book is to raise money for Palestine, so of course I had to support and preorder it on Nook. I do plan to get the paperback version when it releases too. There are supposed to be four volumes since the book is so large, but I don't know if I'll order any of the others. I'll just donate instead, as I don't think I need the books taking up my shelf space, especially since I don't really know any of the other authors very well. Just FYI, in case anyone is curious, I think JLA's story is in the white one. 

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?