Hello, everyone! I actually read a book, and I’m on here today to review/talk about it. Who even am I?? My friend and I decided that if we’re going to spend a bunch of money on fancy special editions of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s From Blood and Ash series, we may as well try to read them and see if we like them!
I was first introduced to From Blood and Ash when I saw it had won the Goodreads award for Romance of 2020. Initially, that made me not want to pick it up – I never can seem to find a romance book that I rate higher than 3 stars unfortunately. To be quite honest, this book shouldn’t be in that category. While a good portion of the plot is very romance driven, the romantic relationship isn’t the end-all be-all of the story. You may come for the steamy scenes, but you stay for the dramatic fantasy plot.
And speaking of plot, boy does this book take some turns. I really loved how immersive the world felt, even though at the beginning I was a little overwhelmed. It felt info-dumpy until about 15% of the way into the ebook, and I felt like I had to push through because of that. After adjusting to being catapulted into the story, I quite liked it. Was it incredibly cheesy and predictable at times? Hell yes. Were some of the scenes way steamy and uncomfortable to read in a public waiting room? Yes, I don’t recommend doing that. But was it incredibly entertaining and addictive to the point where I finished it in three sittings? Definitely.
In good faith I couldn’t rate it higher than 4 stars though. The beginning was a lot to take in, and I wasn’t a big fan of how predictable it was, especially toward the end. I made my guesses within the first third of the book and ended up being right about everything. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t have fun while reading it though – I definitely enjoyed how fast paced and action-y it was throughout. I got major A Court of Thorns and Roses vibes from certain parts, which I didn’t hate. I recommend it for anyone who’s looking for a fun, steamy, reel-you-in kind of story! Make sure you have the second book close by because I know I’ll be starting it very soon.
Until next time,
Lost in Pages 
Great review! I enjoyed this book, more than I thought I would. I really enjoyed the whole ‘ascension’ aspect as something new and different and was a bit annoyed when the plot twist revealed that… well I don’t want to add spoilers but it was pretty generic! I really enjoyed Poppy’s character though, she was surprisingly feminist which I have to admit I wasn’t expecting from this sort of romance book haha. Here’s my review of from blood and ash 🙂 https://hundredsandthousandsofbooks.blog/2021/02/05/from-blood-and-ash-book-review/
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