From Blood and Ash (Blood and ash, 1) Paperback – 15 Sept. 2021

A deliciously evil story, a wicked plot, and devilish characters – ‘bloody’ brilliant. My first by this author, and it won’t be my last. A trapped maiden, a solitary life, a forbidden love, and a kingdom that demands the sacrifice of the unsullied maiden are the key ingredients of a story of vengeance and duty.The Plot - Poppy lives the isolated life of a maiden. Not to be spoiled by any of the pleasures and distractions of life. Purity to be demanded by the gods until her nineteenth birthday. However, with the death of her royal guard, Hawke the new comer to the kingdom is appointed. But who is he really? As two kingdoms clash the forbidden relationship between Poppy and Hawke ignites a different type of battle.Review and Comments - Another great story in the world of dark fantasy, that is magical and haunting, with an exhilarating plot, excellent world building, and a level of suspense that inspires a hungry turn of pages and an intriguing array of characters. What more could you ask for.Storyline - The plot was gripping and written at a pace that never slowed, while the author heightened the tension and suspense with excellent twists and revelations that you didn’t know who to trust.Main Characters - Loved the interesting but naughty relationship between Hawke and Poppy. Both forbidden to couple, but inevitable as their teasing and flirtatious behaviour added spice to a story that was already sizzling. I loved the vampire v’s wolverine battle, although not unique.Writing Style - Sometimes the writing style in fantasy novels can feel overworked with bizarre names and turns of phrase. Not this one though. The writing style was excellent, and the flow worked really well.Alluring, imaginative, spellbinding, a fabulous case of brinkmanship, and totally immersive.

An incredible fantasy romance book series and one that should be talked about more. Fantastic plot and character development, I have enjoyed all the books immensely and look forward to the next book being released in the series.

Chosen from birth as the Maiden, Poppy's life has never been her own. She must await her Ascension, when she will discover if the Gods deem her worthy. Until then she lives her life in a gilded cage. Scarce few are allowed to see her face, which she keeps veiled all but most of the time, almost every aspect of normal life and social interaction denied to her. Such is her duty, for the fate of the kingdom depends upon her. Yet that doesn't mean that Poppy doesn't have desires like everyone else, that she doesn't long to simply be able to live and experience. And when Poppy gets a new personal guard for her protection, the handsome Hawke Flynn, things start to become much more complicated, as desire and duty come head to head.Having come across a lot of praise and hype for this series, I thought I would give it a try, and overall was pleased to find this an enjoyable read. I can see that quite a few comparisons have been made to the ACOTAR series by Sarah Maas, which in the end I had mixed feelings about, as whilst I liked the first 2 books, the 3rd left me quite disappointed. This too I think is the first in a trilogy, so I'll wait and see how I feel about the series as a whole, but as an opener, this has certainly got me intrigued to find out what happens next, especially as the book ends on a cliff-hanger.The beginning of the book, I have to say, is a little on the slow side, and it did take me a while to truly begin enjoying it, however, once the pace picked up, this was an easy read to get through and became something of a guilty pleasure. The beginning of the book was also a little confusing in terms of understanding the fantasy world Poppy lives in, but I actually liked that Armentrout didn't spoonfeed the reader in terms of the lore around the world too much, and kind of just let you figure it out naturally as the story unfolded.I really liked the concept of Poppy as the Maiden, a role that is somewhat shrouded in mystery. Poppy has special gifts, in that she can sense people's pain and also alleviate it, and as such it is speculated that she is a child of the Gods. Surviving an attack that killed her parents as a young child, seems to be further proof of her destiny, and yet what that destiny is, Poppy herself has no idea. Much is made of the Ascension, a ritual, that certain mortals go through once they are of age, and where if they are found worthy by the Gods, they receive the blessing and become an Ascended. Such is what awaits Poppy, though her Ascension is marked as being more special than any other. Yet what actually happens at this ritual and what the blessing entails is completely unknown, so too is the fate that awaits her after this, though there is also the prospect of not being found worthy to consider. For Poppy this is a very real possibility, as she is always breaking the rules, and even if she is not caught, surely the Gods will know all and what lies in her heart? Yet a part of her actually wants to be found unworthy, for maybe then she will have a life of her own.And this is where Poppy was an easy character to sympathize with, after all she is a young woman of barely eighteen, who is stripped of all the usual choices in life and all the usual privileges that we take for granted. Her life is not her own, and nor is that by choice, and I thought Armentrout did a good job of capturing just how stifled a life Poppy leads, and the internal conflicts and struggles that imposes upon her. Furthermore, whilst Poppy is merely expected to be this dutiful, virtuous symbol, she is in fact a courageous and spirited young woman, with a natural curiosity and thirst for life, that I think shone through.I really liked the bond between Poppy and her personal guard Vikter, who is somewhat of a father figure for Poppy, and enjoyed her sole friendship with her maid Tawny, too. The relationship that is most integral to this story though, is that between Poppy and her new guard, Hawke. This relationship is a slow build throughout the book, with a lot of teasing banter between the two, which whilst often fun, it has to be said was also at times a bit juvenile and repetitive. Of course Hawke also happens to be incredibly handsome, and so there is the predictable smoldering and sexual tension between them. Yet for all the contrivance, I did actually enjoy their relationship. Hakwe doesn't treat Poppy as the Maiden, he treats her as a person, in a way that no-one else ever has, not even Vikter and Tawny, and as such it is all too easy to appreciate why Poppy falls for him. I also enjoyed the forbidden aspect of this romance, as quite often authors create obstacles just for the sake of tension and to drive the plot, but in a very contrived way. Whereas, here Poppy's role as the Maiden, meant this really was a forbidden romance and thus an obstacle and source of internal conflict for her that was genuine and raised the stakes.Hawke as a character I really liked, for most of this story. I liked his sense of humour, his intuition and the way he always treated Poppy as a person, first and foremost. He had a very easy and natural charm to him and was an easy character to like. That said, there's a turning point in his character evolution, that without giving away spoilers, I can't really say too much about. Interestingly, I was actually aware of this spoiler before going into this book, as I had read the blurb for the second book already, which explicitly gave it away (so if you are interested in reading this book, I would advise not to read said blurb for the second book in the series). I don't personally feel this really detracted from my enjoyment of this book, though it does mean I can't truly say if I would have seen the twist coming or not. By the end of the story though, I'm left unsure as to how I feel about Hawke. Certainly I think he was wrong in crossing a certain line with Poppy in the context of things, and given how he had always stood up for Poppy's freedoms and choices before, I didn't like how he now seemed to be taking them away from her. He definitely seems like a more complicated character where we leave off the story, which may not necessarily be a bad thing. I feel like I need to reserve judgment on his character till the next book for now, as in some ways we've yet to learn what he is truly like. I think he might be depicted as more of a certain trope of hero from here on - the tortured, conflicted kind, which could still be done well, but I just think this sort of hero has a tendency to be overdone sometimes, and whilst the Hawke we know for most of this first book, wasn't the most complicated or even intriguing character, and was a trope of a different kind of hero himself, I liked him as the charming, slightly roguish but also honourable solider, and so in a way I'm now worried I won't like him as much for the rest of the series.There are actually a few twists and revelations at the story's end, which I thought made sense and set up the next book well. We learn a bit more about Poppy's heritage and thus her gift, and we also learn more about the Ascension. Given the mystery that Armentrout keeps around this for most of the book, with certain clues littered here and there, I enjoyed the revelation when it came, as well as the backstory, and look forward to more world-building in the next book.Overall, an enjoyable read. I'm not usually a fan of vampires and werewolves in fantasy, but I actually liked how it was done here. My main criticism of the book would be the actual writing itself, in particular the dialogue, which at times was just a bit too adolescent for me personally. As previously stated, I will await to see my final impressions on the series overall, as where this left off, I have a feeling I will either really like the next book or possibly hate it!