From Blood and Ash (Blood and Ash, #1)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Merwild (Artist) and Chatty Nora (Cover Designer)

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.

• ISBN13: 9781952457357
• Publish Date: 15 July 2021 (first published 29 March 2020)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Imprint: Blue Box Press
• Edition: Illumicrate Exclusive
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 436
• Language: English
• Special: Exclusive Design Signed Sprayed Edges

Reviews

[neurospicybookworm]

Why did I wait so long to read this?!? I can’t even think of how to give a review for this without spoiling the plot twists! They are unexpected but make so much sense, and that is a hard line to walk! Ughhh this was so good! So enjoyable, that I immediately bought the next two. Now I am trying to force friends and family to read it so I can talk about it! My husband is a slow reader and I’m about to put his audible on 2x speed.

Tbh the pacing at the beginning was slow and I definitely was low-key confused about what the different species were at the beginning. But the second half and the ending make up for it ten-fold.
I got both the audio and ebook but completed most of it on audio. The narration was great, even the spice ☺️

If you enjoyed ACOTAR or love a fantasy/paranormal romance, this is worth a look

[Ele.ments]

4,25 ⭐️

[ambiancereads]

Definitely enjoyed this one. I was surprised by all the plot twists. It did drive me nuts that the main character had no clue what was going on. BUT It felt original and I liked how everything was slowly unveiled. I'm excited to read the next in the series.

[herseriallife]

I loved it so much I'm already reading book #2 in the Blood and Ash Series...!

[Ashley]

Blood and Ash was super addicting. Mostly I loved the characters. I got really invested in all of them.

 

I removed a star for world building. Or maybe delivery of that world building? There were some really interesting concepts here but they weren't always delivered in a memorable way. The beginning explained some of these things very quickly, then I forgot the details, and that was an issue when they suddenly became important later. I could have used a few more reminders or reinforcements. There are just so many species and rituals to keep track of, but some are kind of glossed over or not repeated enough for me to have remembered by the time I needed them.

 

Definitely a very addicting book though and I'll be continuing with the series!

[kimbacaffeinate]

Fantastic. I need the next audio stat. Full RTC

at 20% I had figured it out all the plot twists but boy didn’t I enjoy the ride.

(pls jen make kieran queer pls pls)

[Romance Schmomance]

I was dead set on not starting this series no matter how many times people that I was crazy for waiting. Eventually the ayes had it and I gave in, I was seeing Jen's book everywhere and Hawke had me intrigued. I've been of JLA's books since the Covenant series and Aiden is my #1. Even after reading this one, Aiden still holds the spot, but Hawke is easily the second ... or perhaps I'll create a new category when it comes to Jen's heroes and put him as #1? ;-)

If you've been a fan of Jen's from her earlier stages, you can definitely see how much growth there has been with her stories and writing, after reading From Blood and Ash. I'm 100% obsessed with this world that she has created and after getting through the last hundred or so pages of the book, I have soooooooooooooo many questions. Because it sure did pick up immensely towards the end.

CHECK OUT THE REST OF MY REVIEW | HERE

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[Leigha]

Poppy discovers a conspiracy of epic porptions when guardian Hawk enters her life in this un-put-a-downable adult fantasy romance.

I don’t always like Jennifer L. Armentrout’s books, but I like her. She is one of the few authors I follow on social media. I feel pretty up-to-date when it comes to her content. Even if I’m not excited about a book, I know it’s coming. But this book? This book came out of no where. I had no knowledge of it until *BAM* it was for sale. Granted, a lot has happened the last few weeks (hello, anyone alive out there?) so perhaps I was too distracted to realize she had a new series coming out. And, guys? It’s good, so so so sooooo good for my poor COVID-19 traumatized brain.

I liked Poppy. She wasn’t amazing like Kat from the Lux series, but she wasn’t boring like Josie from the Titan series. She fit somewhere comfortably in the middle – bad ass enough to enjoy her, gullible enough to be annoyed by her. But Hawke? Hawke was everything I love about Armentrout’s leading men. He was a wonderful antihero full of epic one-liners, tragic backstory, and alpha male. The two of them together were an explosion sizzling off the pages. I could probably read short stories of them bickering back and forth (which is saying something considering I’m not a fan of short stories.) There are several graphic love scenes – if you prefer her more chaste romances, look the other way.

The world-building and plot could use more work. Much like Jennifer Estep’s and Sarah J. Maas’ fantasy books, I find Armentrout’s world-building to be problematic. Too many factions without enough explaining. Granted, Poppy is suppose to be in the dark about the world so it makes some sense not to understand everything, but I needed more than a data dump at the end of the novel. Additionally, not enough happens at the beginning of the novel, while the end is one action-packed reveal after another. I hope the second in the series does a better job balancing between the romance, world-building, and action.

tl;dr Epic brain candy with a passionate romance to keep my mind occupied and my heart racing.

[whisperingchapters]

This book came out of nowhere and sunk its claws on me! I went in blind, so so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But wow! JLA continues to write exceptional stories that I will never forget. I loved how Poppy wasn’t a helpless Maiden. I loved that she could fight and totally hold her own in battle.
Then there’s Hawke, who completely stole the show and my heart! Seriously, Hawke was just even more than I imagined. I loved how shameless he is when it comes to Poppy. All the things that would come out of his mouth had me swooning and quite possibly drooling.

The twist was one I saw coming very early on, but it never took away from the story for me. On the contrary, it just had me wanting to read more! The world-building and the action scenes are some of the best things in the story.
JLA has a writing that always makes me forget everything around me. I cannot wait for the sequel!