From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blurb (on back of book):
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 OPINION: ****
This book is extremely hyped-up on social media, specifically the bookish section of TikTok, and I was very excited to read it. Now that it's over, I'm happy to say it lived up both to the hype and to my own personal expectations. I've always been a fan of Jennifer L. Armentrout's work and this one was no exception.
Poppy is the Maiden, bound by expectations and rules that take away any and all of her freedom. She is set to be given to the gods on her nineteenth birthday in the Ascension ceremony and as a result, lives a sheltered and isolated life, with one friend and one mentor. However, when her personal guard, Ryder, meets an untimely fate, she meets a new guard, Hawke, who is handsome, sarcastic, and witty. On top of that, she has had a previous encounter with him that was... forbidden, to say the least.
I loved Poppy and her independence by the end of the book. She showed a lot of character development and overall strength and bravery. Towards the beginning, she took what was given to her, no matter how awful it was, and didn't question it. However, though her relationship with Hawke and her own personal growth, she evolves into a more independent young woman who learns to fight back against authority that she believes is wrong.
Hawke was another book-boy that I knew right from the start that I was going to love. His fun jokes and witty banter balanced out his sensitive, emotional side. I loved the way that he was never afraid to compliment Poppy and build up her self-confidence, something that she sorely needed in the beginning. He embodied the basic young-adult-fantasy-novel man but I loved that about him. SPOILER I called it from the beginning that he was the Dark One, Casteel, but it was still a great surprise at the end when I saw his personality shift. I wish he hadn't lied to Poppy but I understand why he did it and I can't wait to see what happens with the in the next book. SPOILER
I loved the relationship between Poppy and Hawke. They had so much chemistry and balanced it out with nicely-written dialogue and passionately-written intimate scenes that gives the book the light douse of spice that it would otherwise have been lacking. I liked how they learned to trust each other and weren't just lovers, but also friends. I'm excited to see the future of this relationship in the upcoming books.
I loved the re-imagining of "vampires" and "werewolves" in this book because they didn't feel like ordinary Twilight/The Vampire Diaries/Shadowhunter vampires and werewolves and instead felt like completely different creatures. It was interesting to see how they were written and their role in the overall story. I loved this element because it gave it the fantasy feel without it sounding boring or overdone as supernatural creatures usually are in young adult novels these days.
The fates of the Duke and the Lord were some of the best parts of this book and I truly believe they got what they deserved. They were such cruel, disgusting, sickening men and I hate the fact that people like them actually exist and don't end up with the same fates that they faced because it would bring a lot more justice and a sense of safety to this world.
Poppy's powers and the overall disease of the Cursed were a bit confusing and could have been explained better but I liked the addition of these characters and traits all the same. They added some originality to the novel that set it apart from every other young-adult fantasy series.
I loved the world-building in this book and the overall setting but sometimes it felt like there were huge info-dumps where we were given blocky paragraphs of the atmosphere around them that didn't honestly make any sense. A lot of things were confusing, such as the Ascension ceremony, the overall environment they lived in, or the land of the "dark" creatures. I would have liked a bit more show-not-tell throughout the book to truly understand what their world looked like and how it all worked.
I also would like to address the "scandalous" factor of this book. A lot of people on Goodreads and TikTok especially refer to this book as scandalous and spicy. Ehhhh, not really. I wouldn't recommend it to a twelve-year-old but it wasn't that bad. A few graphic scenes that weren't actually too graphic doesn't constitute an extremely spicy novel. Maybe it's just because I'm used to it and have read a lot worse but I personally didn't find this book all that explicit like people claimed it was. I've also heard the second one is even more graphic so I shall see.
I would recommend this book to readers looking for a fantasy series with some romance, an indecent heroine, and a swoon-worthy young man.
Main Character: Poppy
Sidekick(s): Hawke, Tawny, etc
Villain(s): Duke, Lord, misunderstandings, Cursed, etc
Fantasy Elements: This book was all based on fanatic characters, setting, and creatures.
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