Friday, May 22, 2020

Review: From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

From Blood and Ash
(Blood and Ash #1)
Publication Date: March 30, 2020
Paperback, 623 pages, Blue Box Press
Genres: New Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

Captivating and action-packed, From Blood and Ash is a sexy, addictive, and unexpected fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Laura Thalassa.

A 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 Review

When JLA announced that she had released a surprise fantasy book, I bought it so fast I got whiplash. JLA is one of my favorite authors. She writes amazing stories with brilliant action scenes, hunky guys, kicka$$ ladies, and swoon-worthy romances. So boy, was I ready to dive into JLA’s first fantasy series.

Now, I did put off actually reading the book for a month, so maybe that’s why I ended up being a little disappointed. I’d heard so many great things, and I just went into it with really high expectations. Plus, this is going to shock a lot of you, but I’m not the biggest fan of vampires. I’m more of a werewolf girl, myself.

My issues with this book stem from the fact that the first half is really boring, and it just wasn’t what I was expecting given how fast-paced JLA’s books usually are. It’s also a heavily religion-based storyline during the first half, which I think is what really threw me off and had me disliking almost the first 70% of the novel. BUT, I kept pushing through because it’s JLA and there’s a hot guy. It’s just that the Maiden stuff is sooo boring. And it made Poppy, our main character, really lame as a result, since she only really had a chance to shine during fight scenes. Because of this, Poppy was simply okay. Not my favorite main character of JLA’s.

Hawke, the male love interest becomes Poppy’s bodyguard. I am also not a fan of bodyguard romances. They usually don’t make sense considering you need a rotation of 3+ guards unless you want your bodyguard to fall asleep at his post. But I digress. Hawke, despite being a bodyguard, is an interesting character. Very secretive and suave. Also, I felt like he might be bisexual, so there might be potential for much, much more in book two in regards to his overall backstory and development. His background is super intriguing, and I hope we get to understand him more in the sequel.

I’ve complained about the first half of the book a lot. But that last 30% was really, really good. If you can keep reading and wait for the payoff, it’ll be worth it. There’s action and adventure galore. Though both the action and romance are kind of twisted and dark, so don’t go into this if you like clear-cut good-guy protagonists. And although there was some predictability to the twist, it was pulled off very well. Well enough that I’m bumping up my rating half a star, just because I keep thinking about that cliffhanger ending. Grrr…

All in all, this book could’ve been 100 pages shorter. There’s some weird torture scenes that always seem to make it into fantasy books nowadays (What is with YA/NA fantasy authors wanting their female characters humiliated through whippings? It’s so eye-roll inducing.), but if you can get through the first half, the rest will definitely make up for it.


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

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