Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - From Blood and Ash

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

49 reviews

dalenora's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I really did not enjoy the resolution of this book. As many have covered the plot was very predictable, and I could have told you exactly what all the reveals would be within the first 100 pages. I also found it to be very poorly written, to an almost annoying extent. I don’t tend to expect much of my smutty fantasy novels, I tend to think of them kind of like reality tv where my expectations are pretty low for the prose/plot, but this one somehow set the bar even lower than it had been.

Spoiler

while I was kind of into the way the book explored organized religion and how harmful it can be when it’s used as a mechanism of control, I found the emphasis placed on the main characters virginity/purity to be incredibly uncomfortable, and it undermined any social commentary the book might have had. The way the male main character had what amounted to a fetish for her “purity” just really gave me the ick. I also really took issue with the end of the book and “Hawk’s” behavior. I had been anticipating some conflict when she finally found out the truth, expecting it to follow the same kind of trope where once she understands his motives she is able to forgive him, but with this book I found his behavior totally unacceptable. He didn’t even seem remorseful for hurting her as deeply as he had, and it seemed like he was almost gleeful to be completely shattering her reality. For how much the book focused on the way agency had been taken away from her, and the way Cas himself went out of his way to deconstruct her captivity and make her realize she deserved freedom, it was shocking to me that he turned around and inflicted the exact same trauma on her. He touched her without her consent, refused to listen when she said no, and completely tormented her. It’s just something I cannot excuse or get behind, and as far as I’m concerned he is the villain of the novel for that behavior. I have a feeling they’re going to completely overlook that abuse in future books in favor of continuing the romance, and I just cannot get behind a male love interest who treats the female mc like that. He was totally irredeemable whether they have “chemistry” or not.

I guess despite not really loving this book I was still incredibly protective of the Poppy, so I was still into it to some extent. I just don’t really want that kind of abuse in my fantasy novels, it’s not my cup of tea.

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steen19's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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katbsc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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janeywaneyb's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

A must-read for fans of ACOTR. Poppy is the revered Maiden who lives a sheltered life controlled by the Ascended. As her own ascension nears, her own desires and needs wrestle with the expectations on her. When the handsome Hawke becomes her Royal Guard, Poppy struggles to keep her emotions in check. What follows is some earth-shattering truths that Poppy will need to make sense of if she is to survive.
After book one, this feels like a great series, as TikTok readers have claimed. The first half is a little slow as the world & character building is the focus, the last half of the book has a good pace and of course the passionate smut makes an appearance. I enjoyed this read and will continue with the series.

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ampersandcats's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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mayo_confessionary's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

It has very good moments, but this needs more polishing. It's a very funny and adventurous tale of a girl caged in a world she doesn't want and someone that frees her through blood and pain. But he is infuriating in the bad sense. Also very predictable story, these plot tist are as straight as the main couple are.

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lem0nbalm_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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hannibanani29's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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stevie_osl's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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katyfortner's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I am not quite sure why this book took me so long to read. I kept picking it up and putting it back down. I started with the audiobook and did not like the initial one I was listening to and decided to just go buy the book and read it and it flew by. I am not the biggest fan of the character name choices, but I still enjoyed the journey. I don't normally read vampire books, but I definitely enjoyed this one.

Spoiler

Now, I know Poppy is supposed to be this innocent, naïve maiden, but she was frustrating me so much. I could not believe how long it took her to figure some stuff out when I had an idea for a good bit of the novel and every hint just kept confirming it for me. Like Hawke being the "Dark One", there were so many slip-ups that she should have seen, but didn't. One of them being the Duke being staked by the cane that he hit her with on multiple occasions and Hawke had legit just heard about it from the Priestess' slip-up and he just so happens to have been gone while the Duke was MIA. Also, Hawke had admitted to Poppy that he had killed the Duke like WTF. Then when Delano said, "If the Prince wanted you dead, you'd already be dead. You should eat." Hawke had just said that no one is to lay a finger on her and she doesn't put 2 and 2 together. My final straw was how he had mentioned rescuing the Prince's brother and he just so happens to also have a missing brother that he has said he would do anything to see again.. GIRL WAKE UP!
Overall, I did enjoy the story and will keep on reading the series to see what happens, especially since Cas just casually throws out the whole marriage proposal situation at the end of the book.

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