A Soul of Ash and Blood (Ash and Blood, # 5)
By: Jennifer L Armentrout
Publication: July 18, 2023 by Blue Box Press
712 pages
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Vampire, Werewolves
Source: Borrowed from e-Library
*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.
Goodreads description--TA great primal power has risen. The Queen of Flesh and Fire has become the Primal of Blood and Bone—the true Primal of Life and Death. And the battle Casteel, Poppy, and their allies have been fighting has only just begun. Gods are awakening across Iliseeum and the mortal realm, readying for the war to come.But when Poppy falls into stasis, Cas faces the very real possibility that the dire, unexpected consequences of what she is becoming could take her away from him. Cas is given some advice, though—something he plans to cling to as he waits to see her beautiful eyes open once more: Talk to her.
And so, he does. He reminds Poppy how their journey began, revealing things about himself that only Kieran knows in the process. But it’s anybody’s guess what she’ll wake to or exactly how much of the realm and Cas will have changed when she does.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout revisits Poppy and Casteel’s epic love story in the next installment of the Blood and Ash series. But this time, Hawke gets to tell the tale.
I really waffled on whether or not to read A Soul of Ash and Bone. I'm over the retelling of a story from the opposite perspective for the most part. If a story needs two perspectives, then write it that way from the beginning. However, I decided to continue in this series, and read it because it is listed as a main book and not an in-between story. I will say that one event toward the ending makes it feel like you probably don't need to skip this book if you want to continue the series without being confused when book 6, The Primal of Blood and Bone, is released. However, maybe you could just search that spoiler if you don't want to relive the events of From Blood and Ash.
All of that being said, it's been over four years since I read From Blood and Ash, so I thought I wouldn't mind the refresher. I did like that Jennifer L Armentrout decided to have Casteel tell Poppy his version of the events for a purpose. You'd have to read this book to understand what I mean.
Upon my re-read, I felt like the language was much worse than the first book. This is probably because Casteel uses worse language than Poppy in general, but also Poppy was The Maiden at this point in the story and much more subdued than she is in the current books. The spicy scenes seemed even more spicy than before as well. Again, maybe from a male's perspective. And, I just have to say that the relationship between Casteel, Poppy, and Kieran is so weird. I feel like JLA forgot her audience. I know this series is rated for adults, yet it feels like you get invested and then thrown into a weird menage situation that you dreaded she might have been alluding to, but thought surely not. There are no specific menage scenes in A Soul of Ash and Blood, thank goodness, but there were enough weird comments. I just cannot fathom Casteel wanting to share his heartmate with someone else, even Kieran. It's just so weird. And I am still teetering on the idea of DNFing the series if this continues.
Another pet peeve of mine is that these characters keep evolving into greater and stronger, more powerful beings. Poppy has gone from The Maiden to half-Altantian, Princess to Queen, Goddess to Primal, and I'm probably forgetting some steps in between. Now Casteel has his own transformations that are taking place. I know this is a fantasy series, but this just seems so far beyond the realm of possibility. But I guess they have to keep getting stronger because they keep facing bigger and bigger villains as well. I just end up rolling my eyes every time some new level is unlocked.
In the end, I've found this series to be more and more disappointing as the books have gone by instead of getting better and better. I'm holding out hope for the *last book to be redeeming or at the very least, closure. In many ways, I feel like you could skip A Soul of Ash and Blood. it was okay, and I'd rate it 3 Stars. Maybe 3.5. Have you read A Soul of Ash and Blood? What did you think? Let me know!
*I wrote this review back in February 2025 to save for my "All Things Halloween" series. Since writing this review, Jennifer L Armentrout has announced that she will be splitting "book 6" into two books.
This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of fantasy, paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.
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