From Blood and Ash

This book is allll over social media and has loads of hype but what got me intrigued was the idea of a young woman, whose destiny was chosen for her. Those in power control her every experience and interaction but little do they know; she has secrets of her own. This first book in the popular Teen Fantasy series features a story filled with suspense, action, romance, vengeance, and betrayal.

I'm not a regular Fantasy reader but I found myself quickly pulled into Poppy's life. There are some good twists and a decent (if predictable ending) but this is Armentrout's first foray into high fantasy and, if I'm being honest, it kind of shows. I wasn't a fan of the info dumps describing her world/characters and I found her explanations about the different groups of characters convoluted, but my main beef was the excessive foreshadowing making some aspects of the plot obvious early on. That burns my biscuits.

My favourite part of the book was Poppy (though I was not a fan of her overly complicated full name Penellaphe). She was trained her entire life to fulfill her sacred destiny, but I loved that she had kick-some-serious-ass skills that she keeps secret but also puts to good use. Unfortunately, readers often get stuck in her repetitive inner monologue which made the middle of the book d-r-a-gggg.

This was a good read but didn't quite live up to its hype for me. Even though I had some issues with it, From Blood And Ash was a fun story with a premise that features a mishmash of Fantasy tropes, good banter, great action and some saucier scenes too. I'm still undecided whether I liked the book enough to read the second book in the series. 

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Genre: Fantasy, Teen

Series: #1 in the Blood and Ash series

Publisher: Blue Box Press

First Published: March 29, 2020

Opening Lines: "They found Finley this even, 

just outside the Blood Forest, dead."

Book Description from GoodReads: Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy’s life has never been her own. The life of the Maiden is solitary. Never to be touched. Never to be looked upon. Never to be spoken to. Never to experience pleasure. Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family, than preparing to be found worthy by the gods. But the choice has never been hers.

A Duty

The entire kingdom’s future rests on Poppy’s shoulders, something she’s not even quite sure she wants for herself. Because a Maiden has a heart. And a soul. And longing. And when Hawke, a golden-eyed guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. He incites her anger, makes her question everything she believes in, and tempts her with the forbidden.

A Kingdom

Forsaken by the gods and feared by mortals, a fallen kingdom is rising once more, determined to take back what they believe is theirs through violence and vengeance. And as the shadow of those cursed draws closer, the line between what is forbidden and what is right becomes blurred. Poppy is not only on the verge of losing her heart and being found unworthy by the gods, but also her life when every blood-soaked thread that holds her world together begins to unravel.