Review: From Blood and Ash

• Title: From Blood and Ash

• Author: Jennifer L Armentrout

• Series: Blood and Ash #1

• Genre: New Adult Fantasy / Fantasy Romance

• Rating: ☆☆☆☆.5

“He was a thing of nightmares hidden in the guise of a dream, and I had fallen for it.”

I knew coming into this book that I was going to really enjoy this journey. And for the most part, my thoughts were correct. Jennifer L Armentrout has quickly become one of my favourite authors, and From Blood and Ash only further cemented my love for the worlds and characters she creates. There is so much packed into this first book that gave me a fantastic sense of the story to come. Poppy is such a wonderful female lead. Her growth as a person and in the face of conflict was executed so well that I often felt as if I was experiencing her emotions as I continued to turn each page. She has faced so much in her young years, and whilst her naivety is endearing at times, I like that she’s someone who learns from her experiences. She’s bold and sassy, and I have always adored the women Armentrout puts into her books, even if they do suffer from a fair amount of self-doubt that can get a little repetitive at times - and sadly Poppy isn’t immune to that either. Still, she’s definitely not helpless, and I enjoyed her stepping up to numerous challenges, even if at times it was stupid to. As for Hawke, I fully admit that I was already in love with him long before I even picked up this book, and when he first appeared, I realised that my interest in him was well placed. He is everything you expect from a JLA male lead and more. I loved the endless banter, self-assured cockiness, endless flirtation and hard truths that he delivered throughout this book. Of course, he comes laced in betrayal and some rather angsty moments too, again, all expected for a novel by this author, but I came out the other end of reading this fully smitten with him. The romance is spot on, and the tension is built perfectly almost every time. I was surprised by how quickly the spice entered this first book, and in each consecutive steamy scene, it was tastefully written. I did have a hard time with one scene, not for the romance aspect of it, but rather how it sat within the plotline of what had just happened. For me, JLA always rides this fine line of too much when it comes to romance and drama, and sometimes it tips into the side of making me really confused for its placement, and sadly that was the case in this book. In fact, for the final 40-ish pages I found myself a little let down with the proceedings. There was a big information dump without really giving enough to make it substantial (I realise this is to hint at revelations to come), added some final smut that led to extra confusion of Poppy’s feelings about everything going on, and then ended it with a dramatic proclamation to lead into book two. And whilst I got why the author did this, it just broke the flow of what had up to this point been a fantastic journey for Poppy. Looking at the overall picture, however, I enjoyed this book a great deal, hence why I only dropped it half a star rating for the final moments that I didn’t like.

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Reviews of this series: A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire | The Crown of Gilded Bones | The War of Two Queens -- all coming soon