alxisrae's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
Moderate: Grief, Blood, Gore, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Death, and Confinement
jen1804's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
4.5
⚠️SIGNIFICANT SPOILERS AHEAD⚠️
Poppy and Cas’ relationship is one of my favourite book couples in the history of book couples. And Cas is one to rival the love I have for Rhysand🙊 which is not a statement to be taken lightly bc FEYSAND TIL I DIE. But Cas’ nonchalance is honestly just the best thing to read. I love the two of them together and I love the mixture of plot and romance in this series.
I am OBSESSED with Poppy being this violent, murderous, stubborn, hot headed, sarcastic character, with the ability to fight and kill like it’s nothing, but with a gigantic heart for those she cares about. Or as Casteel describes her:
Poppy and Cas’ relationship is one of my favourite book couples in the history of book couples. And Cas is one to rival the love I have for Rhysand🙊 which is not a statement to be taken lightly bc FEYSAND TIL I DIE. But Cas’ nonchalance is honestly just the best thing to read. I love the two of them together and I love the mixture of plot and romance in this series.
I am OBSESSED with Poppy being this violent, murderous, stubborn, hot headed, sarcastic character, with the ability to fight and kill like it’s nothing, but with a gigantic heart for those she cares about. Or as Casteel describes her:
“Such a stunning, vicious little creature.”
I love her journey throughout this book. When I think back to where we began this third book, in comparison to how we’ve ended, so much has happened! This book does have a lot of plot but that also comes with a huge lot of info dumping which is sometimes difficult to digest and understand. But we love a well thought out, complex and layered story line!
Poppy is a mother fucking god and I am so here for her popping all the way off when it comes to discovering and using her powers. She’s the type of heroine who will burn the world down to save the one she loves and I am so here for that.
Poppy is a mother fucking god and I am so here for her popping all the way off when it comes to discovering and using her powers. She’s the type of heroine who will burn the world down to save the one she loves and I am so here for that.
“Make sure she understands that her survival hinges on Casteel. She will release him, or she will see each and every one of her cities leveled. If she touches him again, I will destroy her precious Malec, and I can. I know where to find him. He lives. For now. And if she kills Casteel? If anyone kills him?” I tilted my head, catching his gaze as he tried to find where the draken had flown off to. “I will make sure her death is a slow one that will take hundreds of years to complete.“
And I also love that it’s the same way Casteel feels about her.
“No risk is too great, nor is anything too sacred. Because she is my everything. There is nothing greater than her, and I do mean nothing.”
Poppy understands that innocent people could die in the process but does she care at this point? no she does not, and I love reading about this sort of I-might-be-the-heroine-but-I-can-be-villainous behaviour that she has going on.
I also hugely rate Queen Ileana as the villain of this series, she is RUTHLESS.
There were moments in this book which gave me goosebumps, and I loved Poppy discovering more and more about who she is, her heritage and her abilities, using them for good and also for WRATH. I absolutely ADORED every time both Cas and Poppy put someone in their place if they disrespected her. And I loved the amount of allegiance and admiration she received in this book, the admiration she deserves I might add. One of my favourite FMCs of all time.
If someone could explain the whole casserole thing to me though I’d be most grateful please and thanks.
Satisfactory ending? Yessssssss so good!
I also hugely rate Queen Ileana as the villain of this series, she is RUTHLESS.
There were moments in this book which gave me goosebumps, and I loved Poppy discovering more and more about who she is, her heritage and her abilities, using them for good and also for WRATH. I absolutely ADORED every time both Cas and Poppy put someone in their place if they disrespected her. And I loved the amount of allegiance and admiration she received in this book, the admiration she deserves I might add. One of my favourite FMCs of all time.
If someone could explain the whole casserole thing to me though I’d be most grateful please and thanks.
Satisfactory ending? Yessssssss so good!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Blood, Confinement, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Sexual content, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Torture
midnacine's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was so fun to return to as an audiobook! I'm excited to re-read A Shadow in the Ember with Stina narrating next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Blood, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child abuse, Classism, Genocide, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Rape, and Vomit
michellemaas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.5
First read: 5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Second read: 4.5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
No thoughts, just a few incoherent sentences.
Poppy being a morally gray badass gives me life.
Casteel losing her and freaking on the battlefield tugged at my stone cold heart.
Poppy, Casteel, Kieran is the trio to end all trios and if there is not a threesome soon I will burst.
The plot finally came together (and it has been a LONG time coming).
I liked that neither the Atlantians nor the Ascended were innocent. Oftentimes authors pick a side when really no one is innocent during a war. There are quite a few things that Jennifer L. Armentrout does that sets her apart from others (that I already discussed in previous reviews so I won't repeat it) but just know that she's really good at her job.
Book 4: The War of Two Queens cannot come soon enough!
Second read: 4.5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
No thoughts, just a few incoherent sentences.
Poppy being a morally gray badass gives me life.
Casteel losing her and freaking on the battlefield tugged at my stone cold heart.
Poppy, Casteel, Kieran is the trio to end all trios and if there is not a threesome soon I will burst.
The plot finally came together (and it has been a LONG time coming).
I liked that neither the Atlantians nor the Ascended were innocent. Oftentimes authors pick a side when really no one is innocent during a war. There are quite a few things that Jennifer L. Armentrout does that sets her apart from others (that I already discussed in previous reviews so I won't repeat it) but just know that she's really good at her job.
Book 4: The War of Two Queens cannot come soon enough!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
aenidpons's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Violence
rachelreadsrelentlessly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Physical abuse
mybookthrone's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Murder, Gore, Violence, Death, Kidnapping, Torture, and Confinement
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, and Cursing
Minor: Physical abuse and Child death
coldbrewbookreviews's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Let me preface this review with this: I am a huge JLA fan. Bury me with her books. So this review could be a little biased.
However this book is my favorite book of all time. I have never quite had such a connection with a book before. I just finished it a few hours ago, and I haven't though about much else. I am ready to reread it, and maybe I will when it releases in 26 hours since I received an early copy (this did not affect my review) so I can read with everyone else.
I love this series, and I thought FBAA was by far the stronger book out of the first two. KOFAF was very much a second book. I still loved it because JLA, but it dragged and didn't reveal as much as I was hoping. That is because JLA was waiting to hit us with this third book. WHOA. She lets it all out in this book, and now I see why she had to extend the series. Not only did she answer so many of our questions, but she brought in new characters and new fantasy races. I'm dying for everyone else to see what shapeshifters we get the in the next however many books. They are going to be better than the wolves (sorry Kieran). The only thing (and it's so minor) that I didn't love about this book is that Kieran got on my nerves. He needs better jokes basically, and I don't fault JLA for this because I think that's just his character. He is definitely the comic relief in these books, but he needs to step up his game or get laid.
One thing I noticed is that we got a lot more fantasy in this book than the previous two books. The romance was as good as ever, but I guess since the chase was gone there was more time for fantasy and A LOT OF POLITICS which honestly I love in a fantasy novel. Give me kingdoms fighting over politics and kingdoms fighting internally over politics and I am in. Sign me up. The politics in this series have always been there, but they were ramped up in this third book.
I thought I would be sad if I didn't get that one thing I wanted out of this book, but honestly it was too good the way it was to notice. I would not change a thing about it, and I am just praying that JLA is almost done with the next book because the ending took my breath away. Literally no breath was left.
"Bow before your queen or you will bleed before her."
However this book is my favorite book of all time. I have never quite had such a connection with a book before. I just finished it a few hours ago, and I haven't though about much else. I am ready to reread it, and maybe I will when it releases in 26 hours since I received an early copy (this did not affect my review) so I can read with everyone else.
I love this series, and I thought FBAA was by far the stronger book out of the first two. KOFAF was very much a second book. I still loved it because JLA, but it dragged and didn't reveal as much as I was hoping. That is because JLA was waiting to hit us with this third book. WHOA. She lets it all out in this book, and now I see why she had to extend the series. Not only did she answer so many of our questions, but she brought in new characters and new fantasy races. I'm dying for everyone else to see what shapeshifters we get the in the next however many books. They are going to be better than the wolves (sorry Kieran). The only thing (and it's so minor) that I didn't love about this book is that Kieran got on my nerves. He needs better jokes basically, and I don't fault JLA for this because I think that's just his character. He is definitely the comic relief in these books, but he needs to step up his game or get laid.
One thing I noticed is that we got a lot more fantasy in this book than the previous two books. The romance was as good as ever, but I guess since the chase was gone there was more time for fantasy and A LOT OF POLITICS which honestly I love in a fantasy novel. Give me kingdoms fighting over politics and kingdoms fighting internally over politics and I am in. Sign me up. The politics in this series have always been there, but they were ramped up in this third book.
I thought I would be sad if I didn't get that one thing I wanted out of this book, but honestly it was too good the way it was to notice. I would not change a thing about it, and I am just praying that JLA is almost done with the next book because the ending took my breath away. Literally no breath was left.
"Bow before your queen or you will bleed before her."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Car accident, Murder, Animal death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
Minor: Torture, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse
Car accident = carriage accident
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