16th finished book of the year: From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

5/5⭐️ - Was it perfect? No. Does it have issues. Sure. However I can’t give it less than five because I honestly loved every imperfect page of it.

I was thoroughly entranced by the world building and the way in which everything pulled together through this book. The relationships between the characters and, the MC’s insecurities about them, spoke to the life experience she was described as having. There are very few passages passing before we find out that she’s the most special, chosen by the gods, person around - which would usually be turn off. Even by badass heroine romantasy standards this is a lot of specialness to heap on in such a small number of pages. However, the way it’s used to describe her circumstances, how being put on a pedestal is not such a great thing at all in this context, is a big part of what made the relationships interesting.

The romance is very much an immediate attraction, but slow to action, kind of thing. There’s a relatively small pinch of spice, but it’s all condensed into a small number of pages, leading it to be pretty damn raunchy. Having previously read all the current The Serpent and the Wings of Night books, I was well acclimatised to the ‘blood sucking = basically absorbing refined pheromones’ trope and so wasn’t much shocked by it. If you’re not into that, just be aware that it’s definitely a major feature in those spicier moments.

I won’t pretend that I didn’t see the big reveal coming, but it was a slow enough of a realisation so as to find the eventual revelation a “aha, I knew it!” moment rather than a “ugh, so obvious”.

I can’t fail to mention that it was incredibly jarring having Masadonia used as a name of a country in the book. It’s rare that I’ll see a fantasy author use a real place, and I really wish those that did.. didn’t.

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