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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, show more 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.
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FROM BLOOD AND ASH by Jennifer L. Armentrout is not going to win any awards for being unique or erudite, but it doesn't matter. It perfectly fits the romance fantasy genre with its story about the Ascended, a Maiden, and a mysterious guard. Sometimes, that's all you want and all you need in a story.
As I said, FROM BLOOD AND ASH suffers from predictability, but it doesn't matter. The story itself is brain candy. Ms. Armentrout knows how to build a story and thoroughly develop a character, taking her time doing both. In so doing, her characters become well-rounded, fleshed out so well that you know them. You understand their motivations and conflicts, understand how they will act and react in any given situation, and know their emotions. show more Some people may call this careful building nothing but an information dump, but I don't see it that way. I see it as an author who knows she is writing a series and is taking her time to build, develop, and enrich her world and her characters.
Since FROM BLOOD AND ASH is told through Poppy's eyes, the world-building is a little lighter than you would expect. However, that too is not without purpose because it stresses how limited Poppy has been in her role as The Maiden. Our lack of understanding about what it means to be The Maiden, what an Ascension is, or the Dark One's nefarious plans for The Maiden is Poppy's lack of knowledge.
This lack of knowledge of the outside world has an added benefit in helping us understand who Poppy is. We know her lack of understanding and limited ability to do much of anything, so we understand her frustration over her role. We recognize her concerns about the inconsistencies within the Ascendeds' rules. And we feel her rage at her impotence at the hands of the Duke. It makes the story more intimate.
It helps that Poppy is a formidable heroine. Her role as The Maiden is such a farce, given her fighting abilities. She is anything but fragile and can more than hold her own in a battle. She is naive, but that is due to her severe isolation. Not only is she highly intelligent, but she is not afraid to confront harsh truths and doesn't hide behind lies. I find her admirable and her naivete endearing, and I wouldn't want to make her angry!
The big reveals are anything but big, but I find Poppy so enjoyable that I didn't care. I didn't have any expectations before I started the story, so I found FROM BLOOD AND ASH entertaining and enjoyable. The Ascension made for an intriguing bit of a mystery, and I enjoyed watching Poppy and Hawke dance around each other. It was easy for me to become absorbed in the story, and time would disappear when I did. I am looking forward to continuing the series and learning more about the wider world now that Poppy is finally out in it. show less
As I said, FROM BLOOD AND ASH suffers from predictability, but it doesn't matter. The story itself is brain candy. Ms. Armentrout knows how to build a story and thoroughly develop a character, taking her time doing both. In so doing, her characters become well-rounded, fleshed out so well that you know them. You understand their motivations and conflicts, understand how they will act and react in any given situation, and know their emotions. show more Some people may call this careful building nothing but an information dump, but I don't see it that way. I see it as an author who knows she is writing a series and is taking her time to build, develop, and enrich her world and her characters.
Since FROM BLOOD AND ASH is told through Poppy's eyes, the world-building is a little lighter than you would expect. However, that too is not without purpose because it stresses how limited Poppy has been in her role as The Maiden. Our lack of understanding about what it means to be The Maiden, what an Ascension is, or the Dark One's nefarious plans for The Maiden is Poppy's lack of knowledge.
This lack of knowledge of the outside world has an added benefit in helping us understand who Poppy is. We know her lack of understanding and limited ability to do much of anything, so we understand her frustration over her role. We recognize her concerns about the inconsistencies within the Ascendeds' rules. And we feel her rage at her impotence at the hands of the Duke. It makes the story more intimate.
It helps that Poppy is a formidable heroine. Her role as The Maiden is such a farce, given her fighting abilities. She is anything but fragile and can more than hold her own in a battle. She is naive, but that is due to her severe isolation. Not only is she highly intelligent, but she is not afraid to confront harsh truths and doesn't hide behind lies. I find her admirable and her naivete endearing, and I wouldn't want to make her angry!
The big reveals are anything but big, but I find Poppy so enjoyable that I didn't care. I didn't have any expectations before I started the story, so I found FROM BLOOD AND ASH entertaining and enjoyable. The Ascension made for an intriguing bit of a mystery, and I enjoyed watching Poppy and Hawke dance around each other. It was easy for me to become absorbed in the story, and time would disappear when I did. I am looking forward to continuing the series and learning more about the wider world now that Poppy is finally out in it. show less
Absolute garbage. I read this as a part of a book club with friends. If not for them, I would have DNF'd after the first page. It felt as though the author was trying to shoehorn in every possible trope from the YA subject matter she usually writes. Its got werewolves, vampires, and religious commentary. Imagine Twilight, Fallen, Handmaid's Tale, and Teardrop series all frankensteined together with a heaping dose of Harlequin romance novels. The only part of the plot I enjoyed was her fight scenes, which felt like they were written by someone else because they were actually good.
As far as writing structure goes, all of the characters sounded like the same person. They all spoke in the same halting manner as the main character. Not one show more sounded distinct from the other. She tended to over explain fairly easy to grasp concepts, while glossing over other key aspects of the world she was building. It was difficult to care when "main" characters died because they had no personality.
During the numerous sex scenes, which again, were passably written at best, I did appreciate that the male party did ask for and gain consent before doing anything. So, I guess thank you for that.
**SPOILER**
Additionally, the author spent the entire book building up the main character as an independent woman who follows her own rules, only for her to fall in to the trap that all female protagonists do: wanting only to be married to the main guy. I take exception to the notion that all women are good for in literature is getting married and having babies. Despite all her faults, the author had an awesome opportunity to have her main character actually achieve something other than becoming a wife, but failed. I was willing to give the second book a chance until that little plot device.
SUMMARY
Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone. show less
As far as writing structure goes, all of the characters sounded like the same person. They all spoke in the same halting manner as the main character. Not one show more sounded distinct from the other. She tended to over explain fairly easy to grasp concepts, while glossing over other key aspects of the world she was building. It was difficult to care when "main" characters died because they had no personality.
During the numerous sex scenes, which again, were passably written at best, I did appreciate that the male party did ask for and gain consent before doing anything. So, I guess thank you for that.
**SPOILER**
Additionally, the author spent the entire book building up the main character as an independent woman who follows her own rules, only for her to fall in to the trap that all female protagonists do: wanting only to be married to the main guy. I take exception to the notion that all women are good for in literature is getting married and having babies. Despite all her faults, the author had an awesome opportunity to have her main character actually achieve something other than becoming a wife, but failed. I was willing to give the second book a chance until that little plot device.
SUMMARY
Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone. show less
I would call this a decent first or second draft, but I don’t think it’s polished or thought out enough. The worldbuilding was lackluster and confusing. I think it’s supposed to be vaguely Greek/Mediterranean in myth origin since there’s a place called Masadonia (read: Macedonia), they wear togas sometimes (but tunics and breeches other times), etc. There’s so much exposition, but it still feels empty somehow. It was easy reading, which is why I went through it pretty quickly, but my heart wasn’t in it. It reads like an urban fantasy trying to be high fantasy. I like both when they’re done right, but this wasn’t quite either. For example, they have electricity but use candles and oil lamps and ride horses.
It’s kind of show more ironic how Poppy complained about having to trudge through dense text about their world when readers have to do the same thing with the number of info dumps in this book. It felt like the author thought I was too dumb to catch onto the many not-so-subtle hints she dropped. For instance, the number of times that Poppy felt Hawke’s sharp teeth but thought nothing of it…even though she lives in a world with vampires (or Atlantians, vamprys, or whatever you want to call them). Another example is the whole good-versus-evil thing and how the supposedly good guys are always doing very bad things. Hmm, I wonder why that is…By definition, a surprise has to be unexpected, but the only “twist” I was mildly surprised by was Poppy’s ancestry. By that point, however, I was just happy the book was done.
As someone who’s been trained to fight, seeing Poppy train for a little bit in the morning with one of her guards and coming out an exceptional fighter when she needs to be felt a bit patronizing. Sparring against a trusted friend and fighting against an enemy who wants to kill you are two very different things.
Lastly, I was promised steamy sex scenes, and they were...okay. Kind of middle of the road, really. One thing that played into them not being all that for me is that I didn’t really buy Poppy and Hawke’s relationship. Maybe it was the first-person POV, maybe it was the dialogue, or maybe it was something else.
Overall, I didn’t hate this book. I just think it could have been so much better with a lot more editing and effort put into the worldbuilding and even the theology. show less
It’s kind of show more ironic how Poppy complained about having to trudge through dense text about their world when readers have to do the same thing with the number of info dumps in this book. It felt like the author thought I was too dumb to catch onto the many not-so-subtle hints she dropped. For instance, the number of times that Poppy felt Hawke’s sharp teeth but thought nothing of it…even though she lives in a world with vampires (or Atlantians, vamprys, or whatever you want to call them). Another example is the whole good-versus-evil thing and how the supposedly good guys are always doing very bad things. Hmm, I wonder why that is…By definition, a surprise has to be unexpected, but the only “twist” I was mildly surprised by was Poppy’s ancestry. By that point, however, I was just happy the book was done.
As someone who’s been trained to fight, seeing Poppy train for a little bit in the morning with one of her guards and coming out an exceptional fighter when she needs to be felt a bit patronizing. Sparring against a trusted friend and fighting against an enemy who wants to kill you are two very different things.
Lastly, I was promised steamy sex scenes, and they were...okay. Kind of middle of the road, really. One thing that played into them not being all that for me is that I didn’t really buy Poppy and Hawke’s relationship. Maybe it was the first-person POV, maybe it was the dialogue, or maybe it was something else.
Overall, I didn’t hate this book. I just think it could have been so much better with a lot more editing and effort put into the worldbuilding and even the theology. show less
Interesting but over-hyped.
I struggled to get through this one. I’ll give props for the different spin on werewolves and vampires and the world building but the overall story felt…lackluster.
I’ve heard so much hype about this book and series but after finishing just book 1 I can’t see myself continuing with the series.
The characters, while written well, seemed a bit contradictory. You have a MFC who wants to be herself yet when things shake her foundation she falters. Your have the MMC who while yes protects her, claims to care for her, doesn’t seem to trust her fully and shared truth in bits and pieces.
This constant contradiction between characters and slow building story made this a hard read for me. I enjoy a slow build show more true, but this was very, very, very slow. show less
I struggled to get through this one. I’ll give props for the different spin on werewolves and vampires and the world building but the overall story felt…lackluster.
I’ve heard so much hype about this book and series but after finishing just book 1 I can’t see myself continuing with the series.
The characters, while written well, seemed a bit contradictory. You have a MFC who wants to be herself yet when things shake her foundation she falters. Your have the MMC who while yes protects her, claims to care for her, doesn’t seem to trust her fully and shared truth in bits and pieces.
This constant contradiction between characters and slow building story made this a hard read for me. I enjoy a slow build show more true, but this was very, very, very slow. show less
This book... oh this book, how you have left me betrayed, dismayed and wondering what the heck happened here??
I am at a loss as to why everyone is raving about this one. Maybe I wasn't in the right headspace. Maybe I wasn't in the demographic... or maybe we read different books entirely. Whatever the case may be, I could not finish this one. I tried, I really did, I even got the audiobook thinking that things might be better in another person's voice. Spoiler alert... it was just as disastrous. The beginning was a big steaming pile of info dumpage. The characters and plot were tropey and not in the "Ahhh, I Love This Homey Feeling, Reliably Delicious Person/Scenario" way. This was such a disappointment I might be off of vampire reads show more for a long while and I am most definitely off of Mrs. Armentrout.
Overall:
DNF 52%... Nuff said show less
I am at a loss as to why everyone is raving about this one. Maybe I wasn't in the right headspace. Maybe I wasn't in the demographic... or maybe we read different books entirely. Whatever the case may be, I could not finish this one. I tried, I really did, I even got the audiobook thinking that things might be better in another person's voice. Spoiler alert... it was just as disastrous. The beginning was a big steaming pile of info dumpage. The characters and plot were tropey and not in the "Ahhh, I Love This Homey Feeling, Reliably Delicious Person/Scenario" way. This was such a disappointment I might be off of vampire reads show more for a long while and I am most definitely off of Mrs. Armentrout.
Overall:
DNF 52%... Nuff said show less
I think this book is a combination of all the tropes I hate.
Poppy is not like other girls, but complains she wants a normal life. She is Chosen, she is Special. She hides her face but is conventionally beautiful.
She is immediately attracted to some guy. She can't stop thinking about his eyes. Every interaction they have feels unnecessarily sexualized. Is this supposed to be romantic? Because sometimes I felt the urge to pepper spray Hawke through the pages.
I can't with this book. There might be an interesting high fantasy in here, but I am too annoyed by the characters to bother.
(I did like her friendship with Tawny, though it feels very wrong that the only poc in this book is just the main character's friend.)
Poppy is not like other girls, but complains she wants a normal life. She is Chosen, she is Special. She hides her face but is conventionally beautiful.
She is immediately attracted to some guy. She can't stop thinking about his eyes. Every interaction they have feels unnecessarily sexualized. Is this supposed to be romantic? Because sometimes I felt the urge to pepper spray Hawke through the pages.
I can't with this book. There might be an interesting high fantasy in here, but I am too annoyed by the characters to bother.
(I did like her friendship with Tawny, though it feels very wrong that the only poc in this book is just the main character's friend.)
A blessing from the gods!
Holy Smoking Bananas! I lived and breathed this story until the last page. I didn't even take a break to eat. It was just that good.
I read a lot so it's hard to impress me but I'm definitely impressed.
I fell in love with Poppy and Hawke. I felt everything she felt. I hurt when she hurt. I cracked up at the banter between them and I cheered them on.
I can't even express how much I enjoyed this story. Well, I guess I just did.
Holy Smoking Bananas! I lived and breathed this story until the last page. I didn't even take a break to eat. It was just that good.
I read a lot so it's hard to impress me but I'm definitely impressed.
I fell in love with Poppy and Hawke. I felt everything she felt. I hurt when she hurt. I cracked up at the banter between them and I cheered them on.
I can't even express how much I enjoyed this story. Well, I guess I just did.
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Author Information
167+ Works 59,772 Members
Jennifer L. Armentrout was born on June 11, 1980. She writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. Her works include the Covenant series, the Lux series, and The Dark Elements series. She also writes adult and new adult romance under the name J. Lynn. (Bowker Author Biography)
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- From Blood and Ash
- Original title
- From Blood and Ash
- Original publication date
- 2020-03-29
- Important places
- Masadonia, Solis; New Haven, Solis
- Dedication
- To You, the Reader.
- First words
- “They found Finley this eve, just outside the Blood Forest, dead.”
- Quotations
- Fear and bravery are often one and the same. It either makes you a warrior or a coward. The only difference is the person it resides inside.
Death is like an old friend who pays a visit, sometimes when it’s least expected and other times when you’re waiting for her. It’s neither the first nor the last time she’ll pay a visit, but that doesn’t make any de... (show all)ath less harsh or unforgiving.
Nothing is ever simple. And when it is, it's rarely every worth it.
When you listen to me, I think the stars will fall.
Bravery and strength do not equal goodness.
You deserve so much more than what awaits you.
Never cave to panic. If you do, you die. He’d been right. Fear could heighten the senses, but panic slowed everything down.
It’s okay, you know?” “What is?” “Everything that you’re feeling,” he said. “And everything that you’re not. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)That damn dimple appeared in his right cheek and then in his left. Casteel Da'Neer, the Prince of Atlantia, smiled fully as he lifted our joined hands and said, “We go home to marry, my Princess.”
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.6
- Canonical LCC
- PS3612.Y5467
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 6,432
- Popularity
- 1,890
- Reviews
- 81
- Rating
- (4.10)
- Languages
- 14 — Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Portuguese (Portugal)
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 45
- ASINs
- 7