From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout – Book review 📚

Hello lovelies!

I hope you’re all well.

This book has had so much hype ever since it came out and I finally buddy read this with a friend and I really enjoyed! Here’s my review:

Title: From Blood and Ash (Blood and Ash #1)

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Synopsis:

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. 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. 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. (Goodreads).

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4 stars: Aphrodite – Goddess of love and beauty. That means that I really liked the book, whether it was the writing style, plot or characters. It means it was an amazing book that I would completely recommend for the beautiful piece of art it is. However the book is not a Persephone because something keeps it from making it one of my favourite book ever.

Pheme: The goddess of fame, gossip and renown – This goddess will be invoked when a book has received a lot of attention and is praised by critics and the book community. She will be featured whether the book lived up to my expectations or not.

Medusa – Gorgon. She is mostly known for being a monster, but before she was a monster, she was a beautiful mortal woman with beautiful hair who has been sexually assaulted by Poseidon in a temple dedicated to Athena. As a punishment she was transformed into a monster. This goddess will be featured whenever sexual assault is mentioned in a book. It will also be a trigger warning.

TW: non consensual touches, sexual assault attempts and mentions.

This book?? OMG. I haven’t felt this excited while reading a book in a while.

I loved everything about this.
The plot was really interesting and different from any vampire story I’ve read so far. 2011 vampire-obsessed Karla is grinning from ear to ear and she is very happy. The take of the genre was original and interesting and there were other constants to the vampire genre: werewolves (but better). All the history of the kingdom and everything is really intriguing and I can’t to see how everything evolves.
The story progressed well and the * big* reveal/ twist was not that shocking but it was nice to see all the clues and elements that we had to figure out. I think the lack of surprise for the various twists kept me from loving the book as much as I had hoped; i just expected more.

Also pro-tip don’t make the same mistake that I did seeing art of the two before finishing the book because it kind of spoils everything. But I couldn’t resist; they both look so damn good.

As a new fan of Romance Fantasy; which is my favourite genre by the way, I got my fill of both. As stated earlier the fantasy aspects were great and vampires are my favourite mythical creatures. But THE ROMANCE GUYS. PHEW. I need a cold shower. From the very first scene between Poppy and Hawke I was hooked. I loved reading about Poppy’s sexual awakening and her many firsts. I love how confident she grew and how driven she wass. The banter is one of the best I’ve ever read. I ran out of post-its to bookmark all of their funny and witty dialogue because every single one of their interaction was priceless (so I dog-eared nearly every page; I know it’s a crime but I can’t help it). I know it’s wrong to compare authors but I got the Sarah J Maas “feels” as I read this. And I love that. Poppy is a strong, funny and badass character. I love the fact that she can inflict some serious damage (and that it turns Hawke on) and I could just see her perfectly in my mind being a badass; it’s almost like a dance to her. All of the other characters like Vikter, Kieran, the Duchess, Tawny had a life of their own and they were well-developed.

This book deserve all the hype; I just would have liked to be more surprised by the various twists in the story but the book was enjoyable nonetheless. And that ending?? I have book two with me and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Have you read this? What did you think?

Karla xx