The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L Armentrout

The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash, #3)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Bow Before Your Queen Or Bleed Before Her…

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes book three in her Blood and Ash series.

She’s been the victim and the survivor… 

Poppy never dreamed she would find the love she’s found with Prince Casteel. She wants to revel in her happiness but first they must free his brother and find hers. It’s a dangerous mission and one with far-reaching consequences neither dreamed of. Because Poppy is the Chosen, the Blessed. The true ruler of Atlantia. She carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. By right the crown and the kingdom are hers.

The enemy and the warrior…  

Poppy has only ever wanted to control her own life, not the lives of others, but now she must choose to either forsake her birthright or seize the gilded crown and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire. But as the kingdoms’ dark sins and blood-drenched secrets finally unravel, a long-forgotten power rises to pose a genuine threat. And they will stop at nothing to ensure that the crown never sits upon Poppy’s head.

A lover and heartmate…

But the greatest threat to them and to Atlantia is what awaits in the far west, where the Queen of Blood and Ash has her own plans, ones she has waited hundreds of years to carry out. Poppy and Casteel must consider the impossible—travel to the Lands of the Gods and wake the King himself. And as shocking secrets and the harshest betrayals come to light, and enemies emerge to threaten everything Poppy and Casteel have fought for, they will discover just how far they are willing to go for their people—and each other.

And now she will become Queen…

Reviewed by Ashley on

2 of 5 stars

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Well that was a bloody hot mess.

By the time I got to 40% I realized nothing was happening and I kept checking the percentage remaining on my ebook to see if I was almost done yet. I was floored that I was only less than halfway done. This book was so long and it absolutely did not need to be. About 20% to 80% is just this on repeat:

  • Poppy learns something about her past/origins.
  • Poppy says, “I have questions”
  • Kieran rolls his eyes.
  • Because Poppy stabbed Casteel that ONE time in an earlier book, everyone constantly says, “Lol Poppy, just don't go stabbing Casteel now, you hear?”
  • Casteel talks about how he feels unworthy of Poppy.
  • They fight about whether or not Poppy should participate in battles.
  • Poppy then learns that what she just learned about her past a few chapters ago was actually completely wrong, and learns something else instead.

Rinse and repeat. Over and over. These “cute” inside jokes got so, so old. Heaven forbid Poppy have a question. I also got really fed up with the massive info dumps and “twists” where those info dumps were actually wrong, and here's a NEW info dump instead. It read like the author kept changing her mind about how the story was going to go, rather than an intentional twist.

Nothing of note happened until the last 10-15% of the book. I truly believe you could skip to the end, read that, and not have missed anything important.

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Reading updates

  • 28 August, 2021: Started reading
  • 28 August, 2021: on page 0 out of 625 0%
  • 30 August, 2021: on page 281 out of 625 45%
    I'm ready for this book to be over... But I'm not even halfway lol
  • 30 August, 2021: on page 313 out of 625 50%
    Please, let's fight one more time about whether or not we're *worthy* of each other.
  • 1 September, 2021: on page 544 out of 625 87%
  • 3 September, 2021: Finished reading
  • 3 September, 2021: Reviewed