A Soul of ASH and Blood: A Blood and ASH Novel: 5

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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. I can’t even put into words how annoyed I am at this book. When she said Cas’ POV I thought fair enough, naturally assuming we were going to get more material than a literal repetition from book one?? This is the 5th book AND WE GOT BOOK 1 ALL OVER AGAIN.. HOW DOES THAT EVEN MAKE ANY FKING SENSE BRO As we got none of that in this book as Cas holes himself in the room with Poppy waiting for her to wake up as he recounts the first book. Which makes me feel like this book is a bit of cash grab… which I hate saying. But it kind of is, I could also do a tandem reading guide between this book and From Blood and Ash. Though that would also be a bad idea as there are major spoilers for what happens in the rest of the books. I don’t know, let me know in the comments if you think I should make one.

A Soul of Ash and Blood: A Blood and Ash Novel (Blood And Ash

And so, he does. He reminds Poppy how their journey began, revealing things about himself that only Kieran knows in the process. But it’s anybody’s guess what she’ll wake to or exactly how much of the realm and Cas will have changed when she does. To be brutally honest, it was rinse and repeat throughout this book; a complete regurgitation of what happened in book 1; it was both monotonous and fatiguing to read. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this. Obviously I knew that we’d be getting FBAA from Cas’ POV, and that’d also move the story forward, but I wasn’t entirely sure what that would truly look like, and I’ve got to say, I’m a massive fan.

Table of Contents

this book brought absolutely nothing new to the table. A Soul of Ash and Blood is basically 98% the retelling of the events of book 1 from Cas' POV with a handful of Present chapters where he talks to Poppy while she is asleep/in a coma. it was cute to see Cas' devotion to Poppy and how he started to fall in love with her tho. Overall, an enjoyable read. I would have rated it 5 stars had more things of substance happened. Two chapters of substance in the present are not enough for me to rate it higher than 4. I would like to believe it's a fair rating considering I am usually very harsh on JLA's books. A great primal power has risen. The Queen of Flesh and Fire has become the Primal of Blood and Bone—the true Primal of Life and Death. And the battle Casteel, Poppy, and their allies have been fighting has only just begun. Gods are awakening across Iliseeum and the mortal realm, readying for the war to come. But when Poppy falls into stasis, Cas faces the very real possibility that the dire, unexpected consequences of what she is becoming could take her away from him. Cas is given some advice, though — something he plans to cling to as he waits to see her beautiful eyes open once more: But when Poppy falls into stasis, Cas faces the very real possibility that the dire, unexpected consequences of what she is becoming could take her away from him. Cas is given some advice, though-something he plans to cling to as he waits to see her beautiful eyes open once more: Talk to her. It's been a while since I've read the From Blood and Ash series, and I was worried that I'd be a little lost in this book if I didn't reread them first. But I decided to dive in and it was totally fine. It was actually a great recap of what happened in FBAA. I loved getting Cas's POV and learning what was going on in his head during his journey to win Poppy's trust.

A Soul Of Ash And Blood’ By Jennifer L Book Review: ‘A Soul Of Ash And Blood’ By Jennifer L

Other than that, we got a moment where Malik and Cas hash out their feelings before coming to an understanding. While yes, Malik could’ve sent word to Cas, it wouldn’t have changed anything besides moving up the timeline of Cas going to the capital. Only he wouldn’t have met Poppy and likely would’ve been killed as Isbeth would’ve forced Malik to choose between Cas and Millie, and only one brother was needed to ascend Poppy. Not to mention, if they had to do it all over again, neither brother would change a thing as they got their heartmate in that process. Cas also realizes that Malik probably doesn’t feel like he deserves Millie after everything he’s done, similar to how Cas felt about Poppy. Only Cas and Poppy worked that out, while Millie and Malik haven’t yet. Is everything perfect between the brothers again? No. But at least they are on better ground and aren’t at each other’s throat anymore. And so, he does. He reminds Poppy how their journey began, revealing things about himself that only Kieran knows in the process. But it’s anybody’s guess what she’ll wake to or exactly how much of the realm and Cas will have changed when she does. A clear money grab straight away. We wait over a year for the next book and it’s just simply the first book in a Cas’s perspective. This could be done as a .5 book don’t make us wait for something that provides zero continuation in a series. We won't know the conclusion to FBAA (Poppy/Cas) until spring/summer 2024 but we will get the compendium in February so that should hold me over after F&F 3! We find out a lot about Cas and how his mind was working when he was trying to successfully become her guard and everything else that occurred between them.Typically, Cas is joined by Kieran or Delano as he’s recounting his memories to Poppy. Though there are also moments with Emil, Malik, and Millie. And they, or rather Kieran, points out that he was well aware of Cas developing feelings for Poppy and that he never blamed Cas for his coping mechanisms when he was initially freed from capitivty the first time. Even though it was weakening him especially as Cas was self-harming. Which was something that we didn’t know he did before. I wanted to be a good man who would walk away from what he knew he wasn’t worthy or deserving of. The kind Kieran believed I was. The type I had been raised to be. But I wasn’t a good man. The characters are going to be separated for a long period of time with different things happening in each of their locations.

A Soul of Ash and Blood: A Blood and Ash Novel|BN Exclusive A Soul of Ash and Blood: A Blood and Ash Novel|BN Exclusive

This was a retelling for FBAA, and I debated before this came out about rereading it but honestly, I am glad I didn't because this helped me remember so many of the moments. We do get to see Millie and Malik in present time, and they have returned to Cas. We find out WHY Millie ran, and the truth is she was scared that when the battle happened that her grandmother would be there, and she would kill her as Sera is known for hating Revenants. Malik left obviously because she was gone, and she is his heartmate...something that Malik says she does not know, and he won't say anything because she hates him. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THEIR BOOK. Overall, this book was well paced, solidly built, highly entertaining, and a new member on my favorites shelf. In all transparency, I feel like it is the Tower of Dawn of the Blood and Ash series, where we really could have had the important plot points added in to the prior book, and nothing would change besides not having Hawke's retelling. And let's be clear, Hawke's retelling isn't necessary. Did I enjoy it, though? Hell yeah. I have said this many times before, but this world and these characters will always be my home. They have all engraved themselves under my skin and made a permanent spot in my heart and soul. This was a gift in every way possible. A hug from a friend whom you haven’t seen for the longest time. An experience that made me forget the outside world and let go of anything that was not solely this.This was so much more than being just another instalment of From Blood and Ash series or a straight up retelling of the events from book 1. It is raw and real. Something that I know I will turn to time and time again. This book also truly made me realise just how much I missed Hawke and one thing is for clear I will never ever fall out of love when it comes to Casteel Da’Neer. On one hand, I really love Cas, Kieran, and Delano, and I was happy to get more of them. I also loved seeing Cas’ side of the budding romance between Poppy and him and seeing the conflicted feelings and the angst he was living with. Overall, he felt more vulnerable in this book, which made him more likable to me. The beginning and the ending of the book were also great, and now I am very excited for the next book to come out.

A Soul of Ash and Blood | Book by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Lastly, Kieran Contou is obviously just as delightful as Poppy and Casteel. I especially loved his presence in this book as he doesn't have much of it in the first one. Unsurprisingly, he is as wonderful as he has ever been. He is so supportive and understanding of Casteel, even though he doesn't agree with his crazy schemes and tries to advise him against them. He is also a calming force and an anchor, especially after Casteel's imprisonment.T he focus on sex in this book and it not being with the FMC just didn't sit right with me. I know it is crazy that I am saying this as I love smut but for this story that we have been following for 4 books so far, did we really need this? As I said, I saw Cas in a new light and I didn't like what I saw. I say spoilers, but are they really? Nothing new really happens that didn’t already take place in From Blood and Ash. But there are moments in the present that I’ll be discussing as well, so I figured I give the warning. Though I’m not going to go into too much detail regarding the final chapter. In addition, their relationship is still as magical from Casteel's point of view as it is from Poppy's. Experiencing the beginning of their relationship again left me with the same warm feelings I had when I read it the first time. Also, it isn't like we hadn't already known that Casteel falling in love with Poppy was inevitable, but reading it firsthand makes it all the more special. It is nice to know that Casteel's physical reactions to Poppy have always been as uncontrollable as he makes them out to be, even though one has to wonder if the guy has some sort of medical issue. It's just not normal to have so many erections so often. I understand that Poppy is beautiful inside and out, but damn.