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Blood and Ash #6
The Primal of Blood and Bone
In the shadows and flames, Primals will fall…
And from the blood and ash, new gods will rise.
In the thrilling penultimate chapter of the viral BLOOD AND ASH series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout, Poppy and Casteel face their most perilous challenges yet as old enemies rise and ancient powers stir from their slumber.
Bound by love but driven by destiny, they must navigate a world on the brink of
devastation—where every choice has deadly consequences. With their bond tested and their future hanging in the balance, the fate of the realm rests on the strength of their hearts and the power of the Deminyen.
And from the blood and ash, new gods will rise.
In the thrilling penultimate chapter of the viral BLOOD AND ASH series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout, Poppy and Casteel face their most perilous challenges yet as old enemies rise and ancient powers stir from their slumber.
Bound by love but driven by destiny, they must navigate a world on the brink of
devastation—where every choice has deadly consequences. With their bond tested and their future hanging in the balance, the fate of the realm rests on the strength of their hearts and the power of the Deminyen.
772 pages, Hardcover
First published September 23, 2025
17937 people are currently reading
199910 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer L. Armentrout
154 books157k followersHey Guys! Please note: I don't send out ARCs for review. If you're interested in reviewing a book of mine before release date, please contact the appropriate publisher. I also do NOT check my Goodreads email.
To email me, please use the below addy.
jenniferlarmentrout@live.com
# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Charles Town, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. In early 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and death of cells in the retina, eventually resulting in loss of vision, among other complications. Due to this diagnosis, educating people on the varying degrees of blindness has become of passion of hers, right alongside writing, which she plans to do as long as she can.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Tor, HarperCollins Avon and William Morrow, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her Wicked Series has been optioned by PassionFlix. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA. Her adult romantic suspense novel TILL DEATH was a Amazon Editor’s Pick and iBook Book of the Month. Her young adult contemporary THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER is a 2017 RITA Award Winner in Young Adult Fiction. She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.
She is the owner of ApollyCon and The Origin Event, the successful annual events that features over hundred bestselling authors in Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult Fiction, panels, parties, and more.
To email me, please use the below addy.
jenniferlarmentrout@live.com
# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Charles Town, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. In early 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and death of cells in the retina, eventually resulting in loss of vision, among other complications. Due to this diagnosis, educating people on the varying degrees of blindness has become of passion of hers, right alongside writing, which she plans to do as long as she can.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Tor, HarperCollins Avon and William Morrow, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her Wicked Series has been optioned by PassionFlix. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA. Her adult romantic suspense novel TILL DEATH was a Amazon Editor’s Pick and iBook Book of the Month. Her young adult contemporary THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER is a 2017 RITA Award Winner in Young Adult Fiction. She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.
She is the owner of ApollyCon and The Origin Event, the successful annual events that features over hundred bestselling authors in Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult Fiction, panels, parties, and more.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,671 reviews
November 11, 2025
✅ Kieran (but he was not present enough to make it worth it)
✅ Last 150 pages
✅ Reaver / Little glimpses of the drakens
🆗❌ Poppy and Cas
❌ So much repetitiveness
❌ Plot & pointless side plots
❌ Pace
❗️❗️Trigger warnings: deaths of families (including children), death of loved ones, mild gore, stabbing, blood drinking
❗️❗️ I recommend re-reading at least the last few chapters of A Soul of Ash and Blood before jumping into this book, because it picks up exactly where ASOAAB left off, referring to things that were said and done in the last chapter of ASOAAB.
Review of:The Primal of Blood and Bone The Primal of Disappointment and Waste of Time
I can't give this book more than 1.5 stars. And even then, I am wondering if I should give it only 1 star. The only reason I finished it is because I told myself that I made it this far into the series, I had to continue, but it was tedious.
WHERE WAS THE PLOT?
This book is 90% filler and repetition of conversations, and 10% interesting, plot-related action.
I am so disappointed. I fell in love with this series when the first book was released, and reread it every time a new book got released, but now I am just fed up with it. I liked it until TWOTQ, and then it started to go downhill. I was wary when I read that the author decided to split this final book into two books, because there were too many things going on to fit into only one book, and I was right. This book is about 600 pages too long. Whatever happens in the next book, she could have easily squeezed it into this book if only she had removed all the repetitive conversations and inner monologues. I ended up skimming most of it between the 30% and 80% mark.
This could have been a 500-page-long book. It was so repetitive and pointlessly long. Poppy is asleep for the first 300 pages, and (almost) all we read about is Cas and Kieran wondering where Millie went, and why Isbeth wanted Poppy. Then the story drags on and on and on for hundreds of pages. For example, once Poppy wakes, Cas explains to her everything that happened while she was in stasis, meaning we get to read about it twice. Later on, Poppy would have a long-winded and repetitive conversation, only to summarize it all to Cas when she sees him after, so they can then explain it all to Kieran once he joins them. This one freaking conversation was already dragged on for almost 50 pages; no need to repeat it twice afterwards. A simple “Poppy explained everything that was said to Cas” or “she made sure to tell Kieran everything that happened” would have sufficed.
The setting was boring. Up until the 50% mark, most of thestory conversations happened in the same 2 rooms. Poppy and Cas have sex every once in a while, to change the vibe and pace, and then we are back to having long-winded conversations in a bedroom.
Also, I need to say it at least once in this review: I am so fed up with the freaking prophecy!
So. Fed. Up.
When Poppy finally wakes, it’s only to discover how very special she is… Even more than before. I mean… How many times can a character level up before it becomes ridiculous? Cas and Poppy are behaving as if they have nothing to fear from Kolis because they are so special and powerful now, when Kolis is a Primal who is thousands of years old. There is a line between confidence and stupidity, and Cas seemed ready to cross it a few times…
We still have the good old info-dumps through conversations and Poppy asking 6738 questions, until she gains this new magical foresight that allows her to just know things. It was annoying. She also thought she knew better than anyone now, and her vibe for this book was mostly “I will do whatever I want because I am supra powerful.” She does not listen to other Primals and thinks she is so strong and badass that she can take on anyone. It was reckless, foolish, and made her feel quite immature at times.
Cas was so annoying. He was always very protective of Poppy, which is something I think everyone liked about him, but he is taking it to another level here. He loses his shit whenever someone talks about doing something that might be painful for Poppy, even if it is for her own good. He barely managed to control himself when a Primal came to help her, because the procedure that Poppy needed was hurtful, so Cas reasoned that the Primal would hurt Poppy, and he was against it. I repeat, he was against it because it would hurt Poppy for a while, but it was the only way to help her. He also feels almost jealous when Poppy hugs one of her male friends, even though he knows he has nothing to worry about. Cas was swoonworthy in the first books, but in this one, he annoyed me. He felt like a hormone-driven teenager with anger issues.
There was some useless drama between Cas and Kieran that was dragged out… Just like the rest of the book. I understand why Cas is pissed at Kieran, but he should also understand that Kieran was not the only one to blame, and he should be able to calm down and talk it out after a few days. He remains pissed at Kieran forever, creating tension and pointless drama between them that could have easily been resolved if they’d talked to each other or talked about it to Poppy when she asked about what was going on between them. It only made me more annoyed at Cas, especially since it meant Kieran was mostly absent from the book because of their fight. Those two have been joined at the hip since birth, and Cas lets this one thing drive them apart? And even worse, Poppy gets no heat at all when she was the one who made Kieran promise something that pissed Cas off.
The miscommunication between Poppy and Cas made no sense. At all. After everything they’ve been through, and seeing how strong their relationship is, why the fuck did the author feel the need to add miscommunication in this book? Just, why? It doesn’t fit with them and the bond they share.
The side plot about Cas’s mysterious ancestry was not relevant to the main plot and felt pointless. I guess that the author added that part only to show that Cas, too, is super powerful and special and unique and so very awesome. Same for Poppy’s adoptive father, Leo. Apparently, he is not whoPoppy was told he was, but I don’t really care, and I do think they have bigger things to focus on, like Kolis wanting to take over the world… The same goes for Tawny; she is nice, but we barely saw her after the first book, so I don’t care that much about her, and the side plot about her and her soul was yet another thing I didn’t care about in this book. It felt as though the author just threw in any side plot ideas she had into this book, without any care whether it was logical and connected or not.
Kieran should have been the main character. The book would have been much more interesting and engaging. Instead, I had to live with the few crumbs the author gave us. He is there, but remains mostly on the sidelines, and it is a tragedy, because he has been the MVP in this trio for a while now.
Kieran and Poppy… What is happening there? I was ready for the joining to happen, and it made sense for it to happen, but then things seemed to go back to normal, with Cas and Poppy in a romantic relationship, and Kieran being the third wheel. Kieran shared a deep and strong bond with Cas, and a deep connection with Poppy, too, without romantic feelings, though. Now, the author keeps hinting at something more between them. Whether it’s romantic or sexual desire, on the other hand, she doesn’t seem ready to fully commit to the idea of a throuple, so we are left with an awkward dynamic between them, and some whiplash for us readers.
Delano deserved better, too. I want justice for Kieran and him. Delano was there simply to act as a therapeutic wolf for Poppy. He remained on the sidelines, was there for her to pet and hug, and was dismissed after that.
The Drakens were not used to their full potential. Freaver is there, mostly to antagonize Cas and Kieran, and try to get Cas to see how stupidly he was behaving. Nektas is mentioned a few times, but is completely absent from the book, and we see AUrelia and Thad maybe twice in the whole book. Jadis’s rescue was underwhelming, just as the rest of the book.
Overall, this was a waste of my time and a massive disappointment. The ending was explosive and full of deaths, sure, but it doesn’t make up for the 1,150 pages I had to read to get there. I do not know if I will read the next book, because I am really frustrated and pissed right now.
On a side note: is Thorne (the Fate) from this book, the same Thorne we meet in Fall of Ruin and Wrath? Because I was told that both series would eventually be connected (because, why not?) and at that point I wouldn't even be surprised that Fate-Thorne from this book is the same as Douche-Thorne from Fall of Ruin and Wrath.
Why the need to connect both series? I have no freaking clue.
1. From Blood and Ash ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. The Crown of Gilded Bones ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
4. The War of Two Queens ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
4.1 Cupcakes and Kisses ⭐⭐⭐
5. A Soul of Ash and Blood ⭐⭐.5
Visions of Flesh and Blood ⭐.5
Flesh & Fire series
1. A Shadow in the Ember ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. A Light in the Flame ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. A Fire in the Flesh ⭐⭐⭐
4. Born of Blood and Ash ⭐⭐⭐
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✅ Last 150 pages
✅ Reaver / Little glimpses of the drakens
🆗❌ Poppy and Cas
❌ So much repetitiveness
❌ Plot & pointless side plots
❌ Pace
❗️❗️Trigger warnings: deaths of families (including children), death of loved ones, mild gore, stabbing, blood drinking
❗️❗️ I recommend re-reading at least the last few chapters of A Soul of Ash and Blood before jumping into this book, because it picks up exactly where ASOAAB left off, referring to things that were said and done in the last chapter of ASOAAB.
Review of:
I can't give this book more than 1.5 stars. And even then, I am wondering if I should give it only 1 star. The only reason I finished it is because I told myself that I made it this far into the series, I had to continue, but it was tedious.
WHERE WAS THE PLOT?
This book is 90% filler and repetition of conversations, and 10% interesting, plot-related action.
I am so disappointed. I fell in love with this series when the first book was released, and reread it every time a new book got released, but now I am just fed up with it. I liked it until TWOTQ, and then it started to go downhill. I was wary when I read that the author decided to split this final book into two books, because there were too many things going on to fit into only one book, and I was right. This book is about 600 pages too long. Whatever happens in the next book, she could have easily squeezed it into this book if only she had removed all the repetitive conversations and inner monologues. I ended up skimming most of it between the 30% and 80% mark.
This could have been a 500-page-long book. It was so repetitive and pointlessly long. Poppy is asleep for the first 300 pages, and (almost) all we read about is Cas and Kieran wondering where Millie went, and why Isbeth wanted Poppy. Then the story drags on and on and on for hundreds of pages. For example, once Poppy wakes, Cas explains to her everything that happened while she was in stasis, meaning we get to read about it twice. Later on, Poppy would have a long-winded and repetitive conversation, only to summarize it all to Cas when she sees him after, so they can then explain it all to Kieran once he joins them. This one freaking conversation was already dragged on for almost 50 pages; no need to repeat it twice afterwards. A simple “Poppy explained everything that was said to Cas” or “she made sure to tell Kieran everything that happened” would have sufficed.
The setting was boring. Up until the 50% mark, most of the
Also, I need to say it at least once in this review: I am so fed up with the freaking prophecy!
So. Fed. Up.
When Poppy finally wakes, it’s only to discover how very special she is… Even more than before. I mean… How many times can a character level up before it becomes ridiculous? Cas and Poppy are behaving as if they have nothing to fear from Kolis because they are so special and powerful now, when Kolis is a Primal who is thousands of years old. There is a line between confidence and stupidity, and Cas seemed ready to cross it a few times…
“I am the Primal of Blood and—”
“Incredibly Foolish Actions?” he interrupted.
My head jerked back. “Excuse me?”
We still have the good old info-dumps through conversations and Poppy asking 6738 questions, until she gains this new magical foresight that allows her to just know things. It was annoying. She also thought she knew better than anyone now, and her vibe for this book was mostly “I will do whatever I want because I am supra powerful.” She does not listen to other Primals and thinks she is so strong and badass that she can take on anyone. It was reckless, foolish, and made her feel quite immature at times.
“Got nothing to say?” Reaver spat. “This realm is shit out of luck with a King who can’t even bring himself to rule the kingdom he just conquered and instead has the Crown’s Advisor doing so.”
Cas was so annoying. He was always very protective of Poppy, which is something I think everyone liked about him, but he is taking it to another level here. He loses his shit whenever someone talks about doing something that might be painful for Poppy, even if it is for her own good. He barely managed to control himself when a Primal came to help her, because the procedure that Poppy needed was hurtful, so Cas reasoned that the Primal would hurt Poppy, and he was against it. I repeat, he was against it because it would hurt Poppy for a while, but it was the only way to help her. He also feels almost jealous when Poppy hugs one of her male friends, even though he knows he has nothing to worry about. Cas was swoonworthy in the first books, but in this one, he annoyed me. He felt like a hormone-driven teenager with anger issues.
There was some useless drama between Cas and Kieran that was dragged out… Just like the rest of the book. I understand why Cas is pissed at Kieran, but he should also understand that Kieran was not the only one to blame, and he should be able to calm down and talk it out after a few days. He remains pissed at Kieran forever, creating tension and pointless drama between them that could have easily been resolved if they’d talked to each other or talked about it to Poppy when she asked about what was going on between them. It only made me more annoyed at Cas, especially since it meant Kieran was mostly absent from the book because of their fight. Those two have been joined at the hip since birth, and Cas lets this one thing drive them apart? And even worse, Poppy gets no heat at all when she was the one who made Kieran promise something that pissed Cas off.
The miscommunication between Poppy and Cas made no sense. At all. After everything they’ve been through, and seeing how strong their relationship is, why the fuck did the author feel the need to add miscommunication in this book? Just, why? It doesn’t fit with them and the bond they share.
The side plot about Cas’s mysterious ancestry was not relevant to the main plot and felt pointless. I guess that the author added that part only to show that Cas, too, is super powerful and special and unique and so very awesome. Same for Poppy’s adoptive father, Leo. Apparently, he is not whoPoppy was told he was, but I don’t really care, and I do think they have bigger things to focus on, like Kolis wanting to take over the world… The same goes for Tawny; she is nice, but we barely saw her after the first book, so I don’t care that much about her, and the side plot about her and her soul was yet another thing I didn’t care about in this book. It felt as though the author just threw in any side plot ideas she had into this book, without any care whether it was logical and connected or not.
Kieran should have been the main character. The book would have been much more interesting and engaging. Instead, I had to live with the few crumbs the author gave us. He is there, but remains mostly on the sidelines, and it is a tragedy, because he has been the MVP in this trio for a while now.
Kieran and Poppy… What is happening there? I was ready for the joining to happen, and it made sense for it to happen, but then things seemed to go back to normal, with Cas and Poppy in a romantic relationship, and Kieran being the third wheel. Kieran shared a deep and strong bond with Cas, and a deep connection with Poppy, too, without romantic feelings, though. Now, the author keeps hinting at something more between them. Whether it’s romantic or sexual desire, on the other hand, she doesn’t seem ready to fully commit to the idea of a throuple, so we are left with an awkward dynamic between them, and some whiplash for us readers.
Delano deserved better, too. I want justice for Kieran and him. Delano was there simply to act as a therapeutic wolf for Poppy. He remained on the sidelines, was there for her to pet and hug, and was dismissed after that.
“Fuck me,” Reaver muttered.
“No, thank you,” Kieran retorted, stalking forward, his gaze trained on Poppy.
“I wasn’t offering,” the draken spat.
The Drakens were not used to their full potential. Freaver is there, mostly to antagonize Cas and Kieran, and try to get Cas to see how stupidly he was behaving. Nektas is mentioned a few times, but is completely absent from the book, and we see AUrelia and Thad maybe twice in the whole book. Jadis’s rescue was underwhelming, just as the rest of the book.
Overall, this was a waste of my time and a massive disappointment. The ending was explosive and full of deaths, sure, but it doesn’t make up for the 1,150 pages I had to read to get there. I do not know if I will read the next book, because I am really frustrated and pissed right now.
On a side note: is Thorne (the Fate) from this book, the same Thorne we meet in Fall of Ruin and Wrath? Because I was told that both series would eventually be connected (because, why not?) and at that point I wouldn't even be surprised that Fate-Thorne from this book is the same as Douche-Thorne from Fall of Ruin and Wrath.
Why the need to connect both series? I have no freaking clue.
1. From Blood and Ash ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. The Crown of Gilded Bones ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
4. The War of Two Queens ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
4.1 Cupcakes and Kisses ⭐⭐⭐
5. A Soul of Ash and Blood ⭐⭐.5
Visions of Flesh and Blood ⭐.5
Flesh & Fire series
1. A Shadow in the Ember ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. A Light in the Flame ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. A Fire in the Flesh ⭐⭐⭐
4. Born of Blood and Ash ⭐⭐⭐
Follow me on Instagram 🙂
Want to read
January 22, 2023Original 21 March 2022:
🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯
🕯🕯🕯🕯 MANIFESTING 🕯🕯🕯🕯
🕯🕯🕯🕯 KIERAN’S POV 🕯🕯🕯🕯
🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯
🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯
🕯🕯🕯🕯 MANIFESTING 🕯🕯🕯🕯
🕯🕯🕯🕯 KIERAN’S POV 🕯🕯🕯🕯
🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯
Want to read
April 27, 2022if kieran finds a lover, i'm going to die
September 30, 2025
What the hell kind of fuckery was this?
I love J.L.A.'s books and the angst and drama she usually brings into everything she writes, but this book was just a damn mess. For starters, it was basically a filler book. Too damn long with too much unnecessary BS and nothing really meaningful or exciting. Too much freaking foreshadowing with no answers in sight, until finally some of the plot twists started popping up and even then I wasn't particularly excited because they just felt nonsensical. The one concerning Poppy was disturbing and the one concerning Casteel just plain bad. Drama for drama's sake, I tell you, with apparently no thought to plot quality or character arcs.
The miscommunication between Poppy and Casteel didn't make any sense considering the stage of their relationship. Are you going to tell me that all the crap they went through before was for nothing since both were plagued by stupid doubts and uncertainty at the first sign of trouble? The same goes for the drama between Casteel and Kieran, resulting in the latter being virtually absent for most of the book.
What about the fact J.L.A apparently has yet to make up her mind about the nature of the relationship between Poppy and Kieran? Excuse me, but we got way too many hints about them being more than just friends or queen and advisor, but the author also seems to be scared of taking a definite stand on it giving the other moments in which she seems to contradict herself. Talk about whiplash!
Finally, for all the powers and abilities Poppy is suppose to have, she is always in deep shit and having to be saved by someone else. It seems all she does is lusting after Casteel, getting her ass kicked, recovering and licking her wounds and then pestering about how she is a big bad motherf*cking Primal who can take care of business all by her lonesome just to be proven wrong. Restart and repeat.
I am tired, fellow lovers (are we really? after all this?) of the Blood and Ash series. We better get decent answers and plotlines in the final book. This mess better be solved and the characters given decent finales. And the next book better truly be the final one, for pity's sake. Enough is enough.
I love J.L.A.'s books and the angst and drama she usually brings into everything she writes, but this book was just a damn mess. For starters, it was basically a filler book. Too damn long with too much unnecessary BS and nothing really meaningful or exciting. Too much freaking foreshadowing with no answers in sight, until finally some of the plot twists started popping up and even then I wasn't particularly excited because they just felt nonsensical. The one concerning Poppy was disturbing and the one concerning Casteel just plain bad. Drama for drama's sake, I tell you, with apparently no thought to plot quality or character arcs.
The miscommunication between Poppy and Casteel didn't make any sense considering the stage of their relationship. Are you going to tell me that all the crap they went through before was for nothing since both were plagued by stupid doubts and uncertainty at the first sign of trouble? The same goes for the drama between Casteel and Kieran, resulting in the latter being virtually absent for most of the book.
What about the fact J.L.A apparently has yet to make up her mind about the nature of the relationship between Poppy and Kieran? Excuse me, but we got way too many hints about them being more than just friends or queen and advisor, but the author also seems to be scared of taking a definite stand on it giving the other moments in which she seems to contradict herself. Talk about whiplash!
Finally, for all the powers and abilities Poppy is suppose to have, she is always in deep shit and having to be saved by someone else. It seems all she does is lusting after Casteel, getting her ass kicked, recovering and licking her wounds and then pestering about how she is a big bad motherf*cking Primal who can take care of business all by her lonesome just to be proven wrong. Restart and repeat.
I am tired, fellow lovers (are we really? after all this?) of the Blood and Ash series. We better get decent answers and plotlines in the final book. This mess better be solved and the characters given decent finales. And the next book better truly be the final one, for pity's sake. Enough is enough.
September 25, 2025
Ok, I’ll start this review by saying that I absolutely LOVED the first books of FBAA, and it used to be one of my favorite sagas. I thought the story was beautiful, the spice was present and hot, just the way it should be.
I really enjoyed TWOTQ even though I had started to feel some pacing issues in the plot, but there was such a strong relational dynamic being built that it didn’t bother me. Kieran, a character I adore, was growing in importance in the story to the point of becoming one of the mains, which is not an easy thing to establish in a romantasy. I felt like he had found exactly the right place, his interactions were amazing…
And then came POBAB… and I’m just so disappointed. I had so many expectations for the development of this saga. The dynamic between the three main characters didn’t move an inch in this book. I even feel like it regressed (we used to have flirting between the three of them, they slept together…). Now, Kieran is completely sidelined, almost absent throughout this very long book, when he literally carries the story… His powers are underused, his feelings too…
And at the same time, the main character, Casteel, became unbearable. I struggled with him the entire book. His POV chapters were a torture to read, so repetitive. The smut with Poppy had been amazing in the earlier books, and since the saga is long, the addition of a slow-burn enemies-to-friends-to-lovers arc with Kieran really brought extra spice. But now that the author has backtracked on that build-up, we’re left with bland, repetitive scenes that feel like we’ve read them ten times already. Casteel acting like a hormone-driven teenager who can’t think about anything else completely ruins his charm. His personality really degraded in this book. The communication issue with Kieran makes no sense—or at least, it’s completely illogical that it drags on for so long.
We’re talking about Kieran, his best friend for CENTURIES, someone he trusts so much he doesn’t mind him seeing his wife naked, watching them have sex, sleeping cuddled up with them—someone that important to him, someone he literally called “mine” at the end of the previous book… and now suddenly he’s giving him the cold shoulder and barely talks to him. Meanwhile, Poppy, who was at the origin of the promise, gets absolutely no blame and he doesn’t even bring it up with her… And she—who’s used to having Kieran around all the time, who notices he’s absent and that something is wrong—just vaguely asks about it and accepts vague, clearly dishonest answers? Come on.
Honestly, their behavior throughout this book completely pulled me out of the story. These weren’t the characters I was used to reading about, and I couldn’t recognize them anymore. Out of the three, my favorite is probably Kieran, and since he was almost entirely absent, it was just frustrating. At this point, Casteel could die and Poppy move on with Kieran, and I honestly wouldn’t even care, because to me, he’s one of the few characters who hasn’t become insufferable. I want him to have his HEA, I want him to be more than just Poppy’s accessory.
And yes, I had been hoping since TWOTQ for a throuple ending… I’m deeply disappointed that JLA seems to have abandoned that beautiful idea after all the teasing of the last few books. It feels like everything that was built before was for nothing. To me, it’s a step backwards, and of course, that makes the spice and the main couple dynamic far less interesting.
I’m also disappointed that the story didn’t spend more time resolving threads from the previous books—like Shea’s story, more interactions between Malik and Milicent, real progress in Casteel’s relationship with his brother, or even giving Delano an actual arc beyond just being there to die at the end.
In short, this book was a struggle to read: lots of dialogues that didn’t move the plot forward, nor the relationships between the characters. Sure, there were some good moments—it’s not all bad—and I still enjoy JLA’s writing style, but honestly at least 60% of this book could have been tightened, and we should have seen real character evolution, at least in the second half. And please, stop sacrificing Kieran, who is one of the best characters in the entire series. I just hope he won’t be thrown at some random last-minute love interest in the final book, and that he’ll finally get his POV and his story told.
As for me, I think I’ll wait for reviews before picking up the last book—and I’ll want to be spoiled on whether Kieran actually comes back to the forefront, because if not, I’ll stop here and just pretend in my head that their story ended at the end of TWOTQ.
I really enjoyed TWOTQ even though I had started to feel some pacing issues in the plot, but there was such a strong relational dynamic being built that it didn’t bother me. Kieran, a character I adore, was growing in importance in the story to the point of becoming one of the mains, which is not an easy thing to establish in a romantasy. I felt like he had found exactly the right place, his interactions were amazing…
And then came POBAB… and I’m just so disappointed. I had so many expectations for the development of this saga. The dynamic between the three main characters didn’t move an inch in this book. I even feel like it regressed (we used to have flirting between the three of them, they slept together…). Now, Kieran is completely sidelined, almost absent throughout this very long book, when he literally carries the story… His powers are underused, his feelings too…
And at the same time, the main character, Casteel, became unbearable. I struggled with him the entire book. His POV chapters were a torture to read, so repetitive. The smut with Poppy had been amazing in the earlier books, and since the saga is long, the addition of a slow-burn enemies-to-friends-to-lovers arc with Kieran really brought extra spice. But now that the author has backtracked on that build-up, we’re left with bland, repetitive scenes that feel like we’ve read them ten times already. Casteel acting like a hormone-driven teenager who can’t think about anything else completely ruins his charm. His personality really degraded in this book. The communication issue with Kieran makes no sense—or at least, it’s completely illogical that it drags on for so long.
We’re talking about Kieran, his best friend for CENTURIES, someone he trusts so much he doesn’t mind him seeing his wife naked, watching them have sex, sleeping cuddled up with them—someone that important to him, someone he literally called “mine” at the end of the previous book… and now suddenly he’s giving him the cold shoulder and barely talks to him. Meanwhile, Poppy, who was at the origin of the promise, gets absolutely no blame and he doesn’t even bring it up with her… And she—who’s used to having Kieran around all the time, who notices he’s absent and that something is wrong—just vaguely asks about it and accepts vague, clearly dishonest answers? Come on.
Honestly, their behavior throughout this book completely pulled me out of the story. These weren’t the characters I was used to reading about, and I couldn’t recognize them anymore. Out of the three, my favorite is probably Kieran, and since he was almost entirely absent, it was just frustrating. At this point, Casteel could die and Poppy move on with Kieran, and I honestly wouldn’t even care, because to me, he’s one of the few characters who hasn’t become insufferable. I want him to have his HEA, I want him to be more than just Poppy’s accessory.
And yes, I had been hoping since TWOTQ for a throuple ending… I’m deeply disappointed that JLA seems to have abandoned that beautiful idea after all the teasing of the last few books. It feels like everything that was built before was for nothing. To me, it’s a step backwards, and of course, that makes the spice and the main couple dynamic far less interesting.
I’m also disappointed that the story didn’t spend more time resolving threads from the previous books—like Shea’s story, more interactions between Malik and Milicent, real progress in Casteel’s relationship with his brother, or even giving Delano an actual arc beyond just being there to die at the end.
In short, this book was a struggle to read: lots of dialogues that didn’t move the plot forward, nor the relationships between the characters. Sure, there were some good moments—it’s not all bad—and I still enjoy JLA’s writing style, but honestly at least 60% of this book could have been tightened, and we should have seen real character evolution, at least in the second half. And please, stop sacrificing Kieran, who is one of the best characters in the entire series. I just hope he won’t be thrown at some random last-minute love interest in the final book, and that he’ll finally get his POV and his story told.
As for me, I think I’ll wait for reviews before picking up the last book—and I’ll want to be spoiled on whether Kieran actually comes back to the forefront, because if not, I’ll stop here and just pretend in my head that their story ended at the end of TWOTQ.
May 20, 2022
⛔️WARNING ⛔️ this book series contains sharing your partner/wife, threesome. If your not into that like me, if it’s not your cup of tea, than please don’t start/continue with this book series. You will only get disappointed in the future! The author should have said it from the beginning that there will be a threesome & it will be a throuple kind of relationship and not at the end of the fourth book of a series! What is the whole point of this rare soulmates/heartmates thing (two hearts - one soul)? Honestly I realized what a jealous person I am after going through the Joining/Post Joining scenes, lol.
Throuples are not for me!!! I was fine with the way
her and Kieran were while Cas was gone because I
agree that they were just platonically leaning on
each other during a tough situation. But during the
Joining and definitely after, the vibe was too much for me.
I don't want either Cas or Poppy sharing emotional
heart space or physical space with another person.
They're heartmates, husband & wife, and king &
queen, they’re each others everything - nothing should come between or on the
side of that. The scene where all three are sleeping
together days after the Joining and the comment
about Poppy's armor are what took it too far for me
and what made it seem like there was potential for
this to become a regular thing. I feel like most
people love the "mate" aspect of fantasy romance
where there's this one of kind soul connection and
territorial nature that develops that is also the reason why I loved the last three books ❤️ and the addition of
Kieran kind of puts a damper on that relationship now.
I just wish I had known all of this before I started with the series, I would have saved myself the time and money 🥺 because sharing scenes and throuples are just not for me! The reason I loved this series in the first place were the tropes: fated mate couples, enemies to lovers, one bed, "who did this to you"! Now this whole "heartmate bond" feels like a joke!
Edit ✍️: It's also kind of funny to see people get upset about someone's opinion or my rating of this series. It's okay if you agree with me or not, there are also five stars for this unpublished book, lol 😅.
Just for the record, I'm a huge fan of Jen's since her Lux series, I have all of her books on my shelf, but the last one (The War of Two Queens) was a huge disappointment and the dynamic just wasn't for me. Honestly I hated it 😩
Throuples are not for me!!! I was fine with the way
her and Kieran were while Cas was gone because I
agree that they were just platonically leaning on
each other during a tough situation. But during the
Joining and definitely after, the vibe was too much for me.
I don't want either Cas or Poppy sharing emotional
heart space or physical space with another person.
They're heartmates, husband & wife, and king &
queen, they’re each others everything - nothing should come between or on the
side of that. The scene where all three are sleeping
together days after the Joining and the comment
about Poppy's armor are what took it too far for me
and what made it seem like there was potential for
this to become a regular thing. I feel like most
people love the "mate" aspect of fantasy romance
where there's this one of kind soul connection and
territorial nature that develops that is also the reason why I loved the last three books ❤️ and the addition of
Kieran kind of puts a damper on that relationship now.
I just wish I had known all of this before I started with the series, I would have saved myself the time and money 🥺 because sharing scenes and throuples are just not for me! The reason I loved this series in the first place were the tropes: fated mate couples, enemies to lovers, one bed, "who did this to you"! Now this whole "heartmate bond" feels like a joke!
Edit ✍️: It's also kind of funny to see people get upset about someone's opinion or my rating of this series. It's okay if you agree with me or not, there are also five stars for this unpublished book, lol 😅.
Just for the record, I'm a huge fan of Jen's since her Lux series, I have all of her books on my shelf, but the last one (The War of Two Queens) was a huge disappointment and the dynamic just wasn't for me. Honestly I hated it 😩
November 11, 2025
10 Oct 25: This is long but ...
If “here, damn!” were a book, this would be it.
This book is an insult. That a published, established author with a full team could write and release something like this is appalling. From a storytelling perspective, it’s a disaster; structurally incoherent, plotless, poorly paced, and filled with character regression.
The biggest issue plaguing the entire series is the constantly shifting lore and the lack of a cohesive plot. For a book this long, it's bloated with endless internal monologues and repetitive scenes that rehash the same conflicts without progressing them. We’re told things matter, only for the narrative to undercut their importance moments later. This book effectively retcons so much of the lore of the entire series that it left me wondering what was the point of stablishing said lore to begin with. Nyktos can't taste emotions? Really? That was such a pivotal moment for Sera and Nyktos that apparently doesn't matter now. Primals can't lie? Since when?! Complicated ≠ complex.
It’s not that nothing significant happens, it does, but events are so trivialized they lose all impact. The appearance of beloved characters like Attes’ and Seraphena’s, for instance. Casteel being disrespectful towards Sera made me want to throw my earbuds at the damn wall. Such insolence towards THE Queen of the gods; The being responsible to Atlanteans' and the Wolven's existence was nauseating. Jadis being freed felt like an afterthought. Kieran, as a primal of dual life should have been the one to free her. Those moments should've been monumental, especially for Poppy, but they were not. Half the book takes place in a damn bedchamber in which Casteel isolates Poppy for almost three weeks! And no, I’m not exaggerating. Also, for the love of all that is holy, get Poppy some real clothes.
The central conflict, not Kolis, oh no, but the rift between Casteel and Kieran over that promise, drags on endlessly without structure or payoff. Do you really expect me to believe these two men, who have gone through so much together for hundreds of years, would let this one mistake tear them apart so easily? I call bullshit. Miscommunication and lack of is stretched to absurdity, with no emotional climax, growth, or resolution. Casteel and Poppy’s relationship is also strained, and if the goal was to challenge theories about the trio being together, this could’ve been resolved with and hear me out here … a conversation?!
One of the strongest characters, our beloved Kieran, is sidelined and stripped of agency, despite supposedly gaining new, exciting powers. How many times have we been told how important of a being a primal of life is? But a primal Wolven of life is just, meh? Yeah, right. He spends most of the book off page doing the ruling that Poppy and Casteel are supposed to handle. Meanwhile, he’s reduced to a narrative prop and literal punching bag. At this point, break the damn joining bond and FREE MY MAN from these people’s nonsense. His development isn’t just ignored, it’s actively undone. And now we're just going to throw a possible, and so random, love interest at him? *sigh* KIERAN DESERVES BETTER!
The dialogue is somehow both overwritten and underdeveloped. Characters repeat themselves constantly. We’re spoon-fed the same information multiple times, much of it already covered in prequels. Emotional conversations are interrupted, avoided, or drowned in exposition.
And the profanity and modern language? Excessive to the point of parody and makes the entire tone of the book feel off. I’m not at all sensitive to strong language, but it’s relentless and breaks immersion. It doesn’t serve character voice or tone; it just feels jarring. How did we go from sensual teasing and soft euphemisms to language so crass it undercuts the entire atmosphere? “F*ck” and its variations appear nearly 600 times. We also have these amazing terms that have no place in this setting:
Fuckboy (used incorrectly, btw)
Damn Straight
Shit going down south
Leave you hanging
Samesies
Dickmatized
Walking red flag
Gunning for you (there are no guns in their world!)
Hindsight is 20/20 (what?!)
Holly fuck balls!
In his asshole era (said unironically)
Based on vibes
The relationships between Kieran, Poppy, and Casteel have either stagnated or regressed. Again, do you really expect me to believe these three people whose hearts beat at the same rhythm would allow one mistake to split me apart like that? Yeah, no. Poppy is infantilized to an uncomfortable degree, why is she suddenly being treated like a child? She spends most of the book frozen in indecision, buried under grief, but refuses to confront it. Girly pop, THINK! Casteel is emotionally shut down, lashing out at Kieran with zero growth. And while I understand his descent into what he's become, it was very forced. And Kieran, once a rock-solid voice in the series, gets nothing. No arc, no power showcase, no respect.
Character deaths are cheapened, and the emotional weight of earlier books is stripped away. Worse, this book serves no clear narrative purpose. It doesn’t stand on its own, nor does it meaningfully set up what’s next. It exists solely to bridge two (hopefully) better books. And that’s infuriating, especially after the last book was also filler.
All of this might be forgivable if the emotional arcs were compelling, but they’re not. Characters are stuck in the same emotional state for hundreds of pages. The tone never shifts. The same conversations are recycled. The same pain is rehashed. It’s exhausting.
Objectively, this book fails to deliver a satisfying story on any level. No plot structure, no thematic progression, no emotional payoff, no strong character arcs. The pacing is terrible. The dialogue is bloated. And the relationships that once carried the series? Mishandled to the point of irrelevance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 Sep 25: I'm too pissed to render a proper review.
If “here, damn!” were a book, this would be it.
This book is an insult. That a published, established author with a full team could write and release something like this is appalling. From a storytelling perspective, it’s a disaster; structurally incoherent, plotless, poorly paced, and filled with character regression.
The biggest issue plaguing the entire series is the constantly shifting lore and the lack of a cohesive plot. For a book this long, it's bloated with endless internal monologues and repetitive scenes that rehash the same conflicts without progressing them. We’re told things matter, only for the narrative to undercut their importance moments later. This book effectively retcons so much of the lore of the entire series that it left me wondering what was the point of stablishing said lore to begin with. Nyktos can't taste emotions? Really? That was such a pivotal moment for Sera and Nyktos that apparently doesn't matter now. Primals can't lie? Since when?! Complicated ≠ complex.
It’s not that nothing significant happens, it does, but events are so trivialized they lose all impact. The appearance of beloved characters like Attes’ and Seraphena’s, for instance. Casteel being disrespectful towards Sera made me want to throw my earbuds at the damn wall. Such insolence towards THE Queen of the gods; The being responsible to Atlanteans' and the Wolven's existence was nauseating. Jadis being freed felt like an afterthought. Kieran, as a primal of dual life should have been the one to free her. Those moments should've been monumental, especially for Poppy, but they were not. Half the book takes place in a damn bedchamber in which Casteel isolates Poppy for almost three weeks! And no, I’m not exaggerating. Also, for the love of all that is holy, get Poppy some real clothes.
The central conflict, not Kolis, oh no, but the rift between Casteel and Kieran over that promise, drags on endlessly without structure or payoff. Do you really expect me to believe these two men, who have gone through so much together for hundreds of years, would let this one mistake tear them apart so easily? I call bullshit. Miscommunication and lack of is stretched to absurdity, with no emotional climax, growth, or resolution. Casteel and Poppy’s relationship is also strained, and if the goal was to challenge theories about the trio being together, this could’ve been resolved with and hear me out here … a conversation?!
One of the strongest characters, our beloved Kieran, is sidelined and stripped of agency, despite supposedly gaining new, exciting powers. How many times have we been told how important of a being a primal of life is? But a primal Wolven of life is just, meh? Yeah, right. He spends most of the book off page doing the ruling that Poppy and Casteel are supposed to handle. Meanwhile, he’s reduced to a narrative prop and literal punching bag. At this point, break the damn joining bond and FREE MY MAN from these people’s nonsense. His development isn’t just ignored, it’s actively undone. And now we're just going to throw a possible, and so random, love interest at him? *sigh* KIERAN DESERVES BETTER!
The dialogue is somehow both overwritten and underdeveloped. Characters repeat themselves constantly. We’re spoon-fed the same information multiple times, much of it already covered in prequels. Emotional conversations are interrupted, avoided, or drowned in exposition.
And the profanity and modern language? Excessive to the point of parody and makes the entire tone of the book feel off. I’m not at all sensitive to strong language, but it’s relentless and breaks immersion. It doesn’t serve character voice or tone; it just feels jarring. How did we go from sensual teasing and soft euphemisms to language so crass it undercuts the entire atmosphere? “F*ck” and its variations appear nearly 600 times. We also have these amazing terms that have no place in this setting:
Fuckboy (used incorrectly, btw)
Damn Straight
Shit going down south
Leave you hanging
Samesies
Dickmatized
Walking red flag
Gunning for you (there are no guns in their world!)
Hindsight is 20/20 (what?!)
Holly fuck balls!
In his asshole era (said unironically)
Based on vibes
The relationships between Kieran, Poppy, and Casteel have either stagnated or regressed. Again, do you really expect me to believe these three people whose hearts beat at the same rhythm would allow one mistake to split me apart like that? Yeah, no. Poppy is infantilized to an uncomfortable degree, why is she suddenly being treated like a child? She spends most of the book frozen in indecision, buried under grief, but refuses to confront it. Girly pop, THINK! Casteel is emotionally shut down, lashing out at Kieran with zero growth. And while I understand his descent into what he's become, it was very forced. And Kieran, once a rock-solid voice in the series, gets nothing. No arc, no power showcase, no respect.
Character deaths are cheapened, and the emotional weight of earlier books is stripped away. Worse, this book serves no clear narrative purpose. It doesn’t stand on its own, nor does it meaningfully set up what’s next. It exists solely to bridge two (hopefully) better books. And that’s infuriating, especially after the last book was also filler.
All of this might be forgivable if the emotional arcs were compelling, but they’re not. Characters are stuck in the same emotional state for hundreds of pages. The tone never shifts. The same conversations are recycled. The same pain is rehashed. It’s exhausting.
Objectively, this book fails to deliver a satisfying story on any level. No plot structure, no thematic progression, no emotional payoff, no strong character arcs. The pacing is terrible. The dialogue is bloated. And the relationships that once carried the series? Mishandled to the point of irrelevance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 Sep 25: I'm too pissed to render a proper review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2025
I have a lot of thoughts regarding this book/series and some of them at this point will not be nice.
Let me start by saying this disclaimer I love Jennifer L Armentrout’s writing and story telling. I’ve been a fan of hers since she rolled out the Lux series. With that being said I also love the From Blood & Ash series especially how it began. But regretfully my love for this series is waining. Now after reading the 6th installment, which take in mind was supposed to be the final book.
However, Jennifer said she felt the story just couldn’t be wrapped up in this book and we need just one more to resolve the story. Which honestly at this point is a cop out. And it feels like we are dragging this story out in a last effort cash grab. Absolutely nothing happened in this book until the last 20% of the book. The other 80% of this book was Cas throwing a temper tantrum and mini reunions with the prequel crossover characters. Which don’t get me wrong I loved seeing Sera and Attes making appearances. But at least have them be more useful to the story.
I’m so freaking annoyed with this book and I had such high expectations for it. I think I’m more annoyed that I have to do another dragged out book of Kolis being a douche and not getting his effing karma yet.
I can’t in good conscience recommend this book series anymore and that kills me to say this because it was one of my all time favorites. So do yourself a favor if you’ve never read it, then don’t. Unfortunately for me I’ve been suckered in and I will be torturing myself one more time just to see how it ends
Let me start by saying this disclaimer I love Jennifer L Armentrout’s writing and story telling. I’ve been a fan of hers since she rolled out the Lux series. With that being said I also love the From Blood & Ash series especially how it began. But regretfully my love for this series is waining. Now after reading the 6th installment, which take in mind was supposed to be the final book.
However, Jennifer said she felt the story just couldn’t be wrapped up in this book and we need just one more to resolve the story. Which honestly at this point is a cop out. And it feels like we are dragging this story out in a last effort cash grab. Absolutely nothing happened in this book until the last 20% of the book. The other 80% of this book was Cas throwing a temper tantrum and mini reunions with the prequel crossover characters. Which don’t get me wrong I loved seeing Sera and Attes making appearances. But at least have them be more useful to the story.
I’m so freaking annoyed with this book and I had such high expectations for it. I think I’m more annoyed that I have to do another dragged out book of Kolis being a douche and not getting his effing karma yet.
I can’t in good conscience recommend this book series anymore and that kills me to say this because it was one of my all time favorites. So do yourself a favor if you’ve never read it, then don’t. Unfortunately for me I’ve been suckered in and I will be torturing myself one more time just to see how it ends
September 24, 2025
I’ve been waiting years for this book- so excited- marked it on my calendar. She has completely lost the plot. The plot of this book is ridiculous. The series should have ended at War of Two Queens.
February 12, 2024
not the 1 star reviews whining and crying about a threesome in book 4 😭 y’all said i’m ok with all the smutty shenanigans of this series but a threesome and one line abt poppy being hot to kieran is where i draw the line 😭
who cares if they become a throuple or not, what’s a constant is that poppy and cas are heartmates and they will never stop loving one another. adding or not adding kieran to the mix doesn’t change anything and if you don’t like, stop reading because guess what… most of us live for this shit! the joining has been abundantly clear from book 2, kieran and poppy’s and kieran and cas’ dynamic has been steadily growing and establishing itself since his introduction. their threesome didn’t come out of left field and if they decide to be a throuple, that’s also predictable and it grew so naturally out of their love and appreciation for each other. be so serious right now.
y’all need to calm the hell down with your review bombing of a book that isn’t even out yet! cas’ pov just came out a couple months ago and y’all bombed it too because you thought it would be a full instalment and not a retelling but that’s what it’s marketed as!!! the irony of these reviewers lacking reading comprehension is crazy.
who cares if they become a throuple or not, what’s a constant is that poppy and cas are heartmates and they will never stop loving one another. adding or not adding kieran to the mix doesn’t change anything and if you don’t like, stop reading because guess what… most of us live for this shit! the joining has been abundantly clear from book 2, kieran and poppy’s and kieran and cas’ dynamic has been steadily growing and establishing itself since his introduction. their threesome didn’t come out of left field and if they decide to be a throuple, that’s also predictable and it grew so naturally out of their love and appreciation for each other. be so serious right now.
y’all need to calm the hell down with your review bombing of a book that isn’t even out yet! cas’ pov just came out a couple months ago and y’all bombed it too because you thought it would be a full instalment and not a retelling but that’s what it’s marketed as!!! the irony of these reviewers lacking reading comprehension is crazy.
August 9, 2022
1 star until you redeem yourself.
Give us back PoppyCas from the first three books because they were destroyed in the 4th. And for the love of god don’t let Casteel remain only a cheerleader for ‘Miss emotinally cheating my husband with his best friend while he is captured’🤡
Give us back PoppyCas from the first three books because they were destroyed in the 4th. And for the love of god don’t let Casteel remain only a cheerleader for ‘Miss emotinally cheating my husband with his best friend while he is captured’🤡
September 24, 2025
I'll be honest here: I did not read the entirety of this book. I skimmed through it, mostly for Sera. But here's what I can tell you. First, this series should be done years ago. It has been dragging out for quite a few years now, as evident by literally everything. Second, there are a lot of things that are just really so very RANDOM. The whole thing with Casteel? The "consequences" of the Joining?
Do you ever think back to the first 2 amazing books and wonder, "how exactly we ended up here?" Maybe you should. Maybe you should.
Do you ever think back to the first 2 amazing books and wonder, "how exactly we ended up here?" Maybe you should. Maybe you should.
September 26, 2025
oh god. im not one to write long reviews but this one pissed me off so bad.
sometimes we need to know when to let go. i really wished that jla had let the fbaa series go like... three books ago.
the first thing i must say is that the pacing in this book is really terrible. i had already noticed that jla has been having some problems with this for a while now but this one takes the trophy. nothing really relevant or interest happens until like 90%.
and this terrible pace and lack of interesting things is especially terrible since all the chapters are so repetitive. i felt like i was reading the same chapters over and over again. even the "important" events that happen in this book only feel like something that was already used in the seranyktos books. poppy was thinking the same things in every single chapter and don't even get me started on casteel.
actually, i need to talk about casteel. he was one of my favorites book boyfriend of all the time. he was charming, smart, estrategic, cunning, sarcastic and yet there was something kind about him. i really adored him and was always excited to see his pov.
but this book... it really killed all my love for casteel.
i noticed in the last book that he already looked like a shadow of himself. all his thoughts were about poppy and sex and he seemed to live only to please her, without any autonomy outside of her existence.
this book only took this things even further. casteel had the same annoying thoughts in every single chapter. and it was terrible. he was obsessive, overprotective and overall annoying. when he wasn't being a bitch about something he was thinking sexual things every 5 seconds in the most inappropriate times.
casteel became someone so... shallow. he feels like every dumb fuckboy. he only thinks about sex and talks about poppy in such a weird way. he ignores every possible strategy and difficult but right choice. he's truly insufferable and I'm really impressed and disappointed at how jla ruined of her best characters. is so much worse than what she did to nyktos in his last book.
i really think that sex is jla's achilles heel. and, you see, im not some prude. i like scene sex a healthy amount. i think they can be important to the narrative, if done right.
jla's last few books felt like some pwp. just straight up porn. at the most inappropriate times, too many times. all characters do is think about sex. casteel felt like some 15 yo who just lost his virginity and is obsessed. the same thing happened to nyktos in the last book but sometimes he still had control — casteel? not so much.
and the joining. yeah, im not a fan of the whole threesome and throuple thing. it's so annoying how many mentions this fucking thing has. i really felt betrayal when i realized that, all of the sudden, she was forcing this throuple down my throath. it's bad narratively speaking since it came out of fucking nowhere in twotq. but i gotta give it to her, even after all the backlash, she's definitely doubling it down.
putting this aside, i just thought this book was simply... bad. the writing was definitely weaker, the plot went nowhere, there was too many scenes just to explain obvious things rather than to show, it felt repetitive and it simply lacked creativity. i considered dnfing this book too many times
fbaa was one of my favorite series and im so disappointed, i never thought that i would be able to give any of these books 1 star.
but here we are. 1200 pages of nothing.
the series just lost itself and it breaks my heart to see characters that i adore so much become... this.
i have no expectations for the final installment of the series. don't know how jla is coming back from this low.
sometimes we need to know when to let go. i really wished that jla had let the fbaa series go like... three books ago.
the first thing i must say is that the pacing in this book is really terrible. i had already noticed that jla has been having some problems with this for a while now but this one takes the trophy. nothing really relevant or interest happens until like 90%.
and this terrible pace and lack of interesting things is especially terrible since all the chapters are so repetitive. i felt like i was reading the same chapters over and over again. even the "important" events that happen in this book only feel like something that was already used in the seranyktos books. poppy was thinking the same things in every single chapter and don't even get me started on casteel.
actually, i need to talk about casteel. he was one of my favorites book boyfriend of all the time. he was charming, smart, estrategic, cunning, sarcastic and yet there was something kind about him. i really adored him and was always excited to see his pov.
but this book... it really killed all my love for casteel.
i noticed in the last book that he already looked like a shadow of himself. all his thoughts were about poppy and sex and he seemed to live only to please her, without any autonomy outside of her existence.
this book only took this things even further. casteel had the same annoying thoughts in every single chapter. and it was terrible. he was obsessive, overprotective and overall annoying. when he wasn't being a bitch about something he was thinking sexual things every 5 seconds in the most inappropriate times.
casteel became someone so... shallow. he feels like every dumb fuckboy. he only thinks about sex and talks about poppy in such a weird way. he ignores every possible strategy and difficult but right choice. he's truly insufferable and I'm really impressed and disappointed at how jla ruined of her best characters. is so much worse than what she did to nyktos in his last book.
i really think that sex is jla's achilles heel. and, you see, im not some prude. i like scene sex a healthy amount. i think they can be important to the narrative, if done right.
jla's last few books felt like some pwp. just straight up porn. at the most inappropriate times, too many times. all characters do is think about sex. casteel felt like some 15 yo who just lost his virginity and is obsessed. the same thing happened to nyktos in the last book but sometimes he still had control — casteel? not so much.
and the joining. yeah, im not a fan of the whole threesome and throuple thing. it's so annoying how many mentions this fucking thing has. i really felt betrayal when i realized that, all of the sudden, she was forcing this throuple down my throath. it's bad narratively speaking since it came out of fucking nowhere in twotq. but i gotta give it to her, even after all the backlash, she's definitely doubling it down.
putting this aside, i just thought this book was simply... bad. the writing was definitely weaker, the plot went nowhere, there was too many scenes just to explain obvious things rather than to show, it felt repetitive and it simply lacked creativity. i considered dnfing this book too many times
fbaa was one of my favorite series and im so disappointed, i never thought that i would be able to give any of these books 1 star.
but here we are. 1200 pages of nothing.
the series just lost itself and it breaks my heart to see characters that i adore so much become... this.
i have no expectations for the final installment of the series. don't know how jla is coming back from this low.
September 29, 2025
Is there a reason Armentrout’s obsessed with the word “fuck”? It’s excessive and laughable. As disappointed as I was with the way she handled Sera and Nyktos’ story, I’m not surprised that this book fell flat, too.
For some reason, she feels the need to develop the main male leads into nothing more than walking dildos who are only capable of thinking with the wrong head (see: Nyktos). Casteel either says or thinks some variation of “fuck” in what feels like literally every other sentence. And when Poppy is in scene? Even at the most inappropriate times? Well, guess what—all he wants to do is “fuck.” He comes off worse than an angsty, horny teenager who’s just discovered porn. In addition to being unable to think past his lust, he’s a neanderthal. He makes jarringly, frustratingly stupid decisions and has the common sense of a dropout street thug for what’s apparently supposed to be Poppy’s wellbeing.
Maybe I’m just not a fan of brainless jocks. I can’t tell if the deterioration of Armentrout’s character development—and her writing overall, to be honest—is fan-service. Perhaps she thinks that her readers drool puddles over broody uber-powerful toxic alpha males (and they might—I’m just one reader), so she gave them one on steroids. I really enjoyed the first book or so of Flesh and Fire. She had a compelling story, characters with personalities you wanted to root for, etc. Now, I’ve pretty much effectively lost faith in her ability to write books I can enjoy or even take seriously.
To put the cherry on top, the smut was constant, cheap, and extremely cheesy. Same problem I had with the later books in Flesh and Fire. This is coming from someone who loves a good romance. For God’s sake, can they be in the same room without wanting to bang? And when they do bang, does it have to be that crass? It felt like reading an unedited Wattpad draft. Gag. Needless to say, I found myself skimming.
She can have a star for the story. I was interested enough to want to see it through. But the number of times I wanted to DNR this book probably amounts to nearly the number of times Casteel blurted “fuck.”
For some reason, she feels the need to develop the main male leads into nothing more than walking dildos who are only capable of thinking with the wrong head (see: Nyktos). Casteel either says or thinks some variation of “fuck” in what feels like literally every other sentence. And when Poppy is in scene? Even at the most inappropriate times? Well, guess what—all he wants to do is “fuck.” He comes off worse than an angsty, horny teenager who’s just discovered porn. In addition to being unable to think past his lust, he’s a neanderthal. He makes jarringly, frustratingly stupid decisions and has the common sense of a dropout street thug for what’s apparently supposed to be Poppy’s wellbeing.
Maybe I’m just not a fan of brainless jocks. I can’t tell if the deterioration of Armentrout’s character development—and her writing overall, to be honest—is fan-service. Perhaps she thinks that her readers drool puddles over broody uber-powerful toxic alpha males (and they might—I’m just one reader), so she gave them one on steroids. I really enjoyed the first book or so of Flesh and Fire. She had a compelling story, characters with personalities you wanted to root for, etc. Now, I’ve pretty much effectively lost faith in her ability to write books I can enjoy or even take seriously.
To put the cherry on top, the smut was constant, cheap, and extremely cheesy. Same problem I had with the later books in Flesh and Fire. This is coming from someone who loves a good romance. For God’s sake, can they be in the same room without wanting to bang? And when they do bang, does it have to be that crass? It felt like reading an unedited Wattpad draft. Gag. Needless to say, I found myself skimming.
She can have a star for the story. I was interested enough to want to see it through. But the number of times I wanted to DNR this book probably amounts to nearly the number of times Casteel blurted “fuck.”
Want to read
September 23, 2025AAAA everyone make way!! my babies im back for u!!! brb as I literally go hunt down my copy ASAP!! happy release day!! ❤🤍❤🤍
September 24, 2025
This was awful and painful to get through. The story has morphed into something completely different. Random subplots and side characters thrown in for the sake of it. She should have ended this two books ago. This book is nothing but a cash grab because the original plot has been left behind and now we’re somewhere completely different and the writing isn’t good. Considering she spent way too long writing this and it’s a lengthy book - this was barely 2 stars. The stars are for Casteel and Poppy even though she really is ruining Casteel’s character. We also barely saw Kieran after him behind a significant character in the last two books. Also, I hated the use of modern language “walking red flag” and “vibes” - why?? Poppy going to New York was the weirdest side quest. So disappointing.
breathlessly-anticipating
April 22, 2025This is some bullshit, finding out this book is gna be split into two and the ending is delayed for a year AGAIN? I don’t think I have the patience, JLA needs to wrap it up and quickly 😾
Want to read
March 22, 2022And the agony begins... Here we are again playing the waiting game. Honestly i deserve a 𝐅𝐔#𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐋 for the amount of waiting i've endured and continue to endure for this series. Between this one and 𝐓𝐅𝐀𝐅 prequel I'm a goner.
Let's not kid ourselves here, i'm not delusional enough to not know that by the time this one gets released, i will have Re-read the reading soul out of 𝐓𝐖𝐎𝐓𝐐. Pretty much until I've memorize every 𝐆𝐎𝐃𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐍 word of it. Just like the rest of 𝐅𝐁𝐀𝐀.
I won't even mention what will happened to me when I'll see ��𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛 𝐎𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 for this one. Because if you thought my reaction to 𝐓𝐖𝐎𝐓𝐐 was too much, boy you have seen nothing yet. Believe me.
Let's not kid ourselves here, i'm not delusional enough to not know that by the time this one gets released, i will have Re-read the reading soul out of 𝐓𝐖𝐎𝐓𝐐. Pretty much until I've memorize every 𝐆𝐎𝐃𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐍 word of it. Just like the rest of 𝐅𝐁𝐀𝐀.
I won't even mention what will happened to me when I'll see ��𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛 𝐎𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 for this one. Because if you thought my reaction to 𝐓𝐖𝐎𝐓𝐐 was too much, boy you have seen nothing yet. Believe me.
general-books-i-own-to-be-read
September 12, 2022I discovered there's going to be a 5th book (and that this is a planned SIX book series), so as a Goodreads Librarian I immediately added books #4, #5, and #6 to the Goodreads database and the author's official GR page under the "Blood and Ash" series qualifier :-D!! Yay for all the books!!
September 26, 2025
I thought this was the last fucking book I had to read in this series….
I’m going to be blunt, I did not like this book one bit. I don’t even know where to start right now.
Up until about 40-45% of the book, nothing happened. Literally nothing. 3 conversation took place over and over again with the same people. But the funny part is that none of them actually listened to each other. And this was true for the whole book, don’t get me wrong. I’m just saying that nothing else happened first.
And then, we kind of got to see some people running around and reacting to things Kolis did but nothing else. Casteel was bitching a lot about everything and he was controlling and manipulative, the usual. Poppy was just saying “I did not ask for permission, I do what I want” over and over again. Oh and I just realized in this book that she is 19???? What the fuck? I mean she does not feel like a 19 year old ever. Well, except that she thinks about sex all the time.
And the only interesting character, Kieran was done dirty in this book my guys. He was just there to be there. Always left behind. An afterthought. Also, JLA just killed off half the characters for no reason. I was really suspicious about the pacing cause nothing happened, they just sat around and talked or argued. And then, the ending happened and my first thought was (yell with me) MONEY GRAB FILLER BOOK. Oh and the best part is that this was a 100% a first draft. Never saw an editor. Never read by anyone else just the author. Noone looked at it and told her maybe not to publish this in this form. It was so cringe sometimes. Talking about red flags. Literally. How the characters behaved. Always talking about everyone’s cocks. If something serious was brought up, they just sweeped it under a rug. Oh she was abused horribly. I can’t think about that. Oh they were killed in an unmentionable way. Let’s not look at them. And so on.
Also, Nyktos and Sera. Or literally anyone from the other series which is a million times better than this with that awful ending. The characters who show up in this book. They are acting nothing like themselves. To be fair, most of them weren’t even needed cause they know so many things our characters have to learn from someone else instead of just… you know.. telling them?? Sharing information so they can help? Who does that?? I can’t tell you how much I hated this book. Instead of writing a good finale for this otherwise great series, we got a whole tangled mess of nothing, destroying any and every character arc. How can I love these characters after this book? Why couldn’t I get something semi satisfying without having to read this? Like this destroyed my love for both series? I have to scrub this from my memory and be very upset and sad cause I was so fucking excited to read this. I’m sorry to anyone who decided to read this review cause I’m going to leave this unedited. If JLA can do it with that monster length of a book of hers, I can too.
I’m going to be blunt, I did not like this book one bit. I don’t even know where to start right now.
Up until about 40-45% of the book, nothing happened. Literally nothing. 3 conversation took place over and over again with the same people. But the funny part is that none of them actually listened to each other. And this was true for the whole book, don’t get me wrong. I’m just saying that nothing else happened first.
And then, we kind of got to see some people running around and reacting to things Kolis did but nothing else. Casteel was bitching a lot about everything and he was controlling and manipulative, the usual. Poppy was just saying “I did not ask for permission, I do what I want” over and over again. Oh and I just realized in this book that she is 19???? What the fuck? I mean she does not feel like a 19 year old ever. Well, except that she thinks about sex all the time.
And the only interesting character, Kieran was done dirty in this book my guys. He was just there to be there. Always left behind. An afterthought. Also, JLA just killed off half the characters for no reason. I was really suspicious about the pacing cause nothing happened, they just sat around and talked or argued. And then, the ending happened and my first thought was (yell with me) MONEY GRAB FILLER BOOK. Oh and the best part is that this was a 100% a first draft. Never saw an editor. Never read by anyone else just the author. Noone looked at it and told her maybe not to publish this in this form. It was so cringe sometimes. Talking about red flags. Literally. How the characters behaved. Always talking about everyone’s cocks. If something serious was brought up, they just sweeped it under a rug. Oh she was abused horribly. I can’t think about that. Oh they were killed in an unmentionable way. Let’s not look at them. And so on.
Also, Nyktos and Sera. Or literally anyone from the other series which is a million times better than this with that awful ending. The characters who show up in this book. They are acting nothing like themselves. To be fair, most of them weren’t even needed cause they know so many things our characters have to learn from someone else instead of just… you know.. telling them?? Sharing information so they can help? Who does that?? I can’t tell you how much I hated this book. Instead of writing a good finale for this otherwise great series, we got a whole tangled mess of nothing, destroying any and every character arc. How can I love these characters after this book? Why couldn’t I get something semi satisfying without having to read this? Like this destroyed my love for both series? I have to scrub this from my memory and be very upset and sad cause I was so fucking excited to read this. I’m sorry to anyone who decided to read this review cause I’m going to leave this unedited. If JLA can do it with that monster length of a book of hers, I can too.
November 19, 2025
2⭐️
I feel almost guilty, that I did not like it. I can only imagine how much time and effort it took to write book this long.
I knew this series is going to be drawn out . To be completely honest I was so scared to read this and the fact that I ve seen many bad reviews and lots of DNFs , I wasn’t even sure I want to do it.
I want to stress out is that I loved this series. It was one of my first romantasy series and Casteel wasn’t just my book boyfriend he was my HUSBAND 👌🤣🤣.
With that being sad I have to say that no romantasy should have 1270 pages.I can see why people are frustrated with it. It is full of filler and necessary dialogue that is often “icky”. Yes, there were times that I cringed - Hard.
Biggest disappointment was Casteel. Man when did He become such a grumpy controlling prick I have no idea. His fits of jealousy were childish. Well, needless to say he is NOT my husband any more 🤷♀️.
Poppy was fine I actually liked her a lot.
Kiernan, wasn’t there as much as I would like.
There was that one argument between Casteel and Kiernan that started at the beginning of the book that took 1100 something pages to solve. In my opinion could have been solved with one sentence, but that would mean they would have to communicate and that obviously was not an option.
Gentle spoiler alert ‼️
Guys, Kolis is still going strong 😂😂😂😂.
I feel almost guilty, that I did not like it. I can only imagine how much time and effort it took to write book this long.
I knew this series is going to be drawn out . To be completely honest I was so scared to read this and the fact that I ve seen many bad reviews and lots of DNFs , I wasn’t even sure I want to do it.
I want to stress out is that I loved this series. It was one of my first romantasy series and Casteel wasn’t just my book boyfriend he was my HUSBAND 👌🤣🤣.
With that being sad I have to say that no romantasy should have 1270 pages.I can see why people are frustrated with it. It is full of filler and necessary dialogue that is often “icky”. Yes, there were times that I cringed - Hard.
Biggest disappointment was Casteel. Man when did He become such a grumpy controlling prick I have no idea. His fits of jealousy were childish. Well, needless to say he is NOT my husband any more 🤷♀️.
Poppy was fine I actually liked her a lot.
Kiernan, wasn’t there as much as I would like.
There was that one argument between Casteel and Kiernan that started at the beginning of the book that took 1100 something pages to solve. In my opinion could have been solved with one sentence, but that would mean they would have to communicate and that obviously was not an option.
Gentle spoiler alert ‼️
Guys, Kolis is still going strong 😂😂😂😂.
Want to read
June 6, 2021*insert Cardi B voice*
OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT??? OH MY GOD! WHAT IS THAT?!?
👁️👄👁️
OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT??? OH MY GOD! WHAT IS THAT?!?
👁️👄👁️
Want to read
November 26, 2022🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯
🕯🕯🕯🕯 MANIFESTING 🕯🕯🕯🕯
🕯🕯🕯🕯 KIERAN’S POV 🕯🕯🕯🕯
🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯
(First posted here)
🕯🕯🕯🕯 MANIFESTING 🕯🕯🕯🕯
🕯🕯🕯🕯 KIERAN’S POV 🕯🕯🕯🕯
🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯
(First posted here)
October 6, 2025
This is the longest book I have ever read. And not by number of pages but by the sheer will power it took me to push myself to finish this. The absolute worst installment in the series counting all the .5s prequels and whatever.
90% of this book is pure filler with repetitive thoughts and constantly summarizing every piece of information over and over again. Honestly at least 40% of the 1300 pages are spent talking in a bedroom. It could have easily been cut down to 4-500 pages without missing a single piece of information. Now I do not mind the authors over describing writing style. I do mind endlessly milling around the same thought (I kid you not I read 12 pages of pointless inner monologue and that’s the only time I counted it).
We finally found a way to stop Poppy from asking a million questions a minute. We did not find a way to have her character development progress further, on the contrary I feel like she took a massive step back. The woman has been through hell and back and still is having issues finding even a shred of self confidence while being supposedly the most powerful primal in existence. Her decisions have been horrendous to the point where the entire plot felt nonsensical.
I’m not even sure how you ruin a character like Casteel so deeply. I was so excited to get his POV but he is written exactly like Poppy. I can honestly tell no difference between their voices. When he’s not whining he’s a posturing peacock with anger issues. And honestly I did not need to hear how his dick was constantly hard at the worst possible time.
Kieran. No, we don’t get his pov. Instead we get him being absent for at least 50% of this book for no good reason whatsoever. The entire conflict could have been resolved with one conversation but no. We can’t do that ofc.
This book just ruined relationships, plot lines, and was simply filler. After 2 other filler books.
The 1 star I have it was for Attes. That’s all. I’m mad and likely as incoherent as the piece of literature I just read.
90% of this book is pure filler with repetitive thoughts and constantly summarizing every piece of information over and over again. Honestly at least 40% of the 1300 pages are spent talking in a bedroom. It could have easily been cut down to 4-500 pages without missing a single piece of information. Now I do not mind the authors over describing writing style. I do mind endlessly milling around the same thought (I kid you not I read 12 pages of pointless inner monologue and that’s the only time I counted it).
We finally found a way to stop Poppy from asking a million questions a minute. We did not find a way to have her character development progress further, on the contrary I feel like she took a massive step back. The woman has been through hell and back and still is having issues finding even a shred of self confidence while being supposedly the most powerful primal in existence. Her decisions have been horrendous to the point where the entire plot felt nonsensical.
I’m not even sure how you ruin a character like Casteel so deeply. I was so excited to get his POV but he is written exactly like Poppy. I can honestly tell no difference between their voices. When he’s not whining he’s a posturing peacock with anger issues. And honestly I did not need to hear how his dick was constantly hard at the worst possible time.
Kieran. No, we don’t get his pov. Instead we get him being absent for at least 50% of this book for no good reason whatsoever. The entire conflict could have been resolved with one conversation but no. We can’t do that ofc.
This book just ruined relationships, plot lines, and was simply filler. After 2 other filler books.
The 1 star I have it was for Attes. That’s all. I’m mad and likely as incoherent as the piece of literature I just read.
September 25, 2025
I went into this book already annoyed. The Flesh and Fire series dragged, and when I saw this wouldn’t be the final installment, I expected more filler. I was right.
Spoilers ahead.
The pacing was awful. After a whole book of Poppy in stasis, she still didn’t wake until chapter 9. Instead we got Sera-like flashbacks (the worst part of FAF, now recycled), then an exorcism arc, then endless infighting. Cas punishing Kieran was infuriating and made the Joining feel pointless.
Kolis being unstoppable again made all past struggles irrelevant. Nyktos or other Primals added nothing, so it was back to square one like in FAF. The first nine chapters were just Cas — irrational, selfish, and horny — and the rest wasn’t much better.
Secrets and delayed conversations (“we’ll talk later”) dragged everything down. Poppy only learned Cas can shift in chapter 33. Sera showed up in 34 — finally something interesting. Everything else felt like filler.
The series kept recycling itself: Poppy as Sotoria mirrored Sera, the “seduce Kolis then kill him” plan repeated FAF, Isbeth returned after four books spent defeating her. Past victories didn’t matter because villains kept coming back.
Cas used to be my favorite, but his POV ruined him. He’s hypocritical, hostile, and petty. His silent treatment before battle and “trust” fight in chapter 52 were just childish. The ending and his new nature didn’t redeem him.
Overall this was book eleven of going in circles. Female characters kept being martyrs, past plots kept repeating, and nothing felt like progress. Reading it was frustrating and joyless.
I’m only here for closure and because the early books meant a lot to me. If it were any other series, I’d have quit three books ago.
Spoilers ahead.
The pacing was awful. After a whole book of Poppy in stasis, she still didn’t wake until chapter 9. Instead we got Sera-like flashbacks (the worst part of FAF, now recycled), then an exorcism arc, then endless infighting. Cas punishing Kieran was infuriating and made the Joining feel pointless.
Kolis being unstoppable again made all past struggles irrelevant. Nyktos or other Primals added nothing, so it was back to square one like in FAF. The first nine chapters were just Cas — irrational, selfish, and horny — and the rest wasn’t much better.
Secrets and delayed conversations (“we’ll talk later”) dragged everything down. Poppy only learned Cas can shift in chapter 33. Sera showed up in 34 — finally something interesting. Everything else felt like filler.
The series kept recycling itself: Poppy as Sotoria mirrored Sera, the “seduce Kolis then kill him” plan repeated FAF, Isbeth returned after four books spent defeating her. Past victories didn’t matter because villains kept coming back.
Cas used to be my favorite, but his POV ruined him. He’s hypocritical, hostile, and petty. His silent treatment before battle and “trust” fight in chapter 52 were just childish. The ending and his new nature didn’t redeem him.
Overall this was book eleven of going in circles. Female characters kept being martyrs, past plots kept repeating, and nothing felt like progress. Reading it was frustrating and joyless.
I’m only here for closure and because the early books meant a lot to me. If it were any other series, I’d have quit three books ago.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2025
Spoiler free review
Have you longed endlessly for that feeling you had reading From Blood and Ash for the first time again? Well buckle up buttercup because JLA is about to give you that feeling, and more, all over again.
I want to start off this review by saying not only was this my most anticipated read of the year, it is undoubtedly my most anticipated read ever since I finished the last page of The War of Two Queens. I went into this with an incredible amount of hope and excitement, and what I found was beyond any of my wildest expectations. When I say JLA feels like she never left the Blood and Ash world I mean it with my full chest. The energy, pacing, suspense and carefully curated timing of information is so unbelievably on point, it is a clear and present reminder of why this series continues to be a staple of the book community.
We are given answers we’ve long awaited, deep emotional development of characters we know and love, plot twists that are truly impossible to see coming, and new mysteries to unravel in the final book. It’s the epitome of unputdownable because there is no lull, no skim-able parts, and I can see entirely why JLA decided to make this two books. There is absolutely no way any piece of this could be removed in my opinion. Each chapter is vital and has purpose, and I can’t imagine losing any of it.
We all know and love that this world is very rich and has in depth world building, my favorite part about that is how well JLA is able to continue that flow of information. This book picks up perfectly where TWOTQ leaves off without any hiccups, feeling like one continuous book without any clunky jumping back in. It’s clear JLA stayed locked in here and the result of that is seeing now where so many carefully placed plot lines all along were taking us. This is an easter egg loving readers dream read because you’re getting some big reveals here, but it’s not over, because there are more secrets to sleuth out for the next book!
As I mentioned before, it’s clear JLA has meticulously planned out where we are headed and the emotional impact of every choice in between. I for one trust that wherever this finishes will absolutely blow me away, especially after seeing what she did here in Primal that had me reading until dawn every night until I finished it. It was, and still is an honor to go along for the ride JLA is taking us on because like its predecessors, this book made me laugh, scream out loud, cry my eyes out, feel seen in new and haunting ways, and it still found all the room for me to swoon and squeal and kick my feet. It gives you every emotion known to man, and I dare you to not close this book at the end and just stare into the void for an hour musing over how much of an absolute masterpiece it all is. I dare you!
If I could only say one sentence to summarize this book I would say firstly that this is hands down JLA’s best work and that Primal is exactly what makes casual readers into JLAnders. It’s ten out of ten for me with absolutely no notes. This is a perfectly curated example of how reading this world rekindled my love of reading, and changed my life entirely for the better. I know with my entire heart this will take the book community by storm and remind them too of why we are readers.
Narration:
I don't need to say much here because STINA NIELSON IS BACK! She is the voice of FBAA for me and I hear her voice when I read it in print. Her voices for Kieran and Casteel are my absolute favorites. Campbell is also back and ready to bring the sultry dark one vibes to Cas. I loved the bonus narrator at the end that was such a fantastic surprise I won't spoil! All in all it's not a FBAA read for me until I hear Stina's voice so it was pure joy for me!
Thank you so much for this ARC given to me by publisher Blue Box Press & Jennifer L Armentrout, the audiobook was given to me from Macmillain audio. My thoughts are my own.
Have you longed endlessly for that feeling you had reading From Blood and Ash for the first time again? Well buckle up buttercup because JLA is about to give you that feeling, and more, all over again.
I want to start off this review by saying not only was this my most anticipated read of the year, it is undoubtedly my most anticipated read ever since I finished the last page of The War of Two Queens. I went into this with an incredible amount of hope and excitement, and what I found was beyond any of my wildest expectations. When I say JLA feels like she never left the Blood and Ash world I mean it with my full chest. The energy, pacing, suspense and carefully curated timing of information is so unbelievably on point, it is a clear and present reminder of why this series continues to be a staple of the book community.
We are given answers we’ve long awaited, deep emotional development of characters we know and love, plot twists that are truly impossible to see coming, and new mysteries to unravel in the final book. It’s the epitome of unputdownable because there is no lull, no skim-able parts, and I can see entirely why JLA decided to make this two books. There is absolutely no way any piece of this could be removed in my opinion. Each chapter is vital and has purpose, and I can’t imagine losing any of it.
We all know and love that this world is very rich and has in depth world building, my favorite part about that is how well JLA is able to continue that flow of information. This book picks up perfectly where TWOTQ leaves off without any hiccups, feeling like one continuous book without any clunky jumping back in. It’s clear JLA stayed locked in here and the result of that is seeing now where so many carefully placed plot lines all along were taking us. This is an easter egg loving readers dream read because you’re getting some big reveals here, but it’s not over, because there are more secrets to sleuth out for the next book!
As I mentioned before, it’s clear JLA has meticulously planned out where we are headed and the emotional impact of every choice in between. I for one trust that wherever this finishes will absolutely blow me away, especially after seeing what she did here in Primal that had me reading until dawn every night until I finished it. It was, and still is an honor to go along for the ride JLA is taking us on because like its predecessors, this book made me laugh, scream out loud, cry my eyes out, feel seen in new and haunting ways, and it still found all the room for me to swoon and squeal and kick my feet. It gives you every emotion known to man, and I dare you to not close this book at the end and just stare into the void for an hour musing over how much of an absolute masterpiece it all is. I dare you!
If I could only say one sentence to summarize this book I would say firstly that this is hands down JLA’s best work and that Primal is exactly what makes casual readers into JLAnders. It’s ten out of ten for me with absolutely no notes. This is a perfectly curated example of how reading this world rekindled my love of reading, and changed my life entirely for the better. I know with my entire heart this will take the book community by storm and remind them too of why we are readers.
Narration:
I don't need to say much here because STINA NIELSON IS BACK! She is the voice of FBAA for me and I hear her voice when I read it in print. Her voices for Kieran and Casteel are my absolute favorites. Campbell is also back and ready to bring the sultry dark one vibes to Cas. I loved the bonus narrator at the end that was such a fantastic surprise I won't spoil! All in all it's not a FBAA read for me until I hear Stina's voice so it was pure joy for me!
Thank you so much for this ARC given to me by publisher Blue Box Press & Jennifer L Armentrout, the audiobook was given to me from Macmillain audio. My thoughts are my own.
September 26, 2025
all this book did was piss me off
hey jla here is a concept… instead of having them have sex every other chapter or repeating the same conversation 50 times why don’t you focus on the plot and move it forward???? this book had no business being 800 pages. also the ending? stupid. everything that happened in this book? stupid. why you may ask? all for there to be another book. could have easily wrapped it up in this book i’m annoyed. will i read the next book? yes. and that annoys me even more. at this point just give me more sera and nyktos
ALSO with the release getting g pushed back so many times idk if it was dumb to think it would be amazing but it was far far far from it
hey jla here is a concept… instead of having them have sex every other chapter or repeating the same conversation 50 times why don’t you focus on the plot and move it forward???? this book had no business being 800 pages. also the ending? stupid. everything that happened in this book? stupid. why you may ask? all for there to be another book. could have easily wrapped it up in this book i’m annoyed. will i read the next book? yes. and that annoys me even more. at this point just give me more sera and nyktos
ALSO with the release getting g pushed back so many times idk if it was dumb to think it would be amazing but it was far far far from it
September 8, 2022
don’t mind me i’m just being a hater 🚮
September 25, 2025
What the actual fuck.
September 22, 2025
3 very bewildered stars
Oh, so torn here! My feelings are a mixed jumble, and this book messed with my head so much, sending me into a massive book hangover as I processed it all. I love JLA and I love this series, but this book challenges everything, and though the writing is stellar as always, I did not enjoy the story.
Just a note - in no way can you read this as a standalone – in fact, if you don’t remember events from the previous books (it has been a while, after all), I would recommend a reread or at least a flick through to get you back up to speed.
This book is written in dual Poppy/Casteel POV, and it starts with Poppy in stasis, which doesn’t exactly go to plan and when she awakens, she is changed in huge ways. And not just her, Cas and Kieran are also changed, and it has huge implications for their world as the prophecy continues to reveal itself. But there’s no time to dwell on that, their fight to destroy the blood crown and reclaim the kingdom rages on, and an ancient enemy has arisen with Poppy set in his sights. The evil is intense and disturbing, and by the end of this book, nobody is left unaffected.
I have loved every single book of this series – I love the world, I love the characters, I love the romance, and I have been all in for all of it, but for me, this book is just too much.
For starters, it’s a beast of a book, and it feels SO much longer than it needs to be. Things happen, but not enough to fill 1200+ (kindle) pages, and it felt like the book drags a lot.
My main issue, though, is that this book doesn’t feel like a natural extension of the series. There are twists, surprises, and a lot of new information thrown in, and it feels like a forced add-on to the series rather than an organic continuation of the story, and I am really sad with the direction it’s all taken. Things happen in this book that just didn’t need to happen, and honestly, it’s not something I ever wanted to read, and I finished this book wishing that the series ended two books ago.
The love story remains strong, and though events of previous books cast some questions over the direction of the romance, that is well and truly addressed in this book. It’s the Poppy and Casteel show, and their soul-deep connection and wild passion for each other is shown over and over again.
Swoon! But it’s not all roses and sunshine, and there are some miscommunication issues and secret keeping that bring angst and drama, and that have huge repercussions.
The character dynamics are so good, and the scenes with everybody snarking and teasing are lots of fun. It feels like we’re missing a few key players (Kieran barely appears in this book and feels more like a distant side character which was weird), but Reaver and Delano continue to shine and I loved being back with this group.
I just didn’t want the story to unfold like this, and I’m so sad at some of the events in this book. But I am so invested in the characters that I will continue on with the next book of the series to see how it all ends.
But yeah… slightly gutted after this one.
3 stars.
An Advanced Review Copy was provided by the author for an honest review.
Oh, so torn here! My feelings are a mixed jumble, and this book messed with my head so much, sending me into a massive book hangover as I processed it all. I love JLA and I love this series, but this book challenges everything, and though the writing is stellar as always, I did not enjoy the story.
Just a note - in no way can you read this as a standalone – in fact, if you don’t remember events from the previous books (it has been a while, after all), I would recommend a reread or at least a flick through to get you back up to speed.
This book is written in dual Poppy/Casteel POV, and it starts with Poppy in stasis, which doesn’t exactly go to plan and when she awakens, she is changed in huge ways. And not just her, Cas and Kieran are also changed, and it has huge implications for their world as the prophecy continues to reveal itself. But there’s no time to dwell on that, their fight to destroy the blood crown and reclaim the kingdom rages on, and an ancient enemy has arisen with Poppy set in his sights. The evil is intense and disturbing, and by the end of this book, nobody is left unaffected.
I have loved every single book of this series – I love the world, I love the characters, I love the romance, and I have been all in for all of it, but for me, this book is just too much.
For starters, it’s a beast of a book, and it feels SO much longer than it needs to be. Things happen, but not enough to fill 1200+ (kindle) pages, and it felt like the book drags a lot.
My main issue, though, is that this book doesn’t feel like a natural extension of the series. There are twists, surprises, and a lot of new information thrown in, and it feels like a forced add-on to the series rather than an organic continuation of the story, and I am really sad with the direction it’s all taken. Things happen in this book that just didn’t need to happen, and honestly, it’s not something I ever wanted to read, and I finished this book wishing that the series ended two books ago.
The love story remains strong, and though events of previous books cast some questions over the direction of the romance, that is well and truly addressed in this book. It’s the Poppy and Casteel show, and their soul-deep connection and wild passion for each other is shown over and over again.
“I never see you as just Poppy … Not when I all can see is my everything. My world.”
A shudder ran through me.
Casteel dropped his forehead to mine. “There are no moments when I don’t need you with every fucking fiber of my being.”
Swoon! But it’s not all roses and sunshine, and there are some miscommunication issues and secret keeping that bring angst and drama, and that have huge repercussions.
The character dynamics are so good, and the scenes with everybody snarking and teasing are lots of fun. It feels like we’re missing a few key players (Kieran barely appears in this book and feels more like a distant side character which was weird), but Reaver and Delano continue to shine and I loved being back with this group.
I just didn’t want the story to unfold like this, and I’m so sad at some of the events in this book. But I am so invested in the characters that I will continue on with the next book of the series to see how it all ends.
But yeah… slightly gutted after this one.
3 stars.
An Advanced Review Copy was provided by the author for an honest review.
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