From Blood and Ash

 

7/1/2022

We all know how much of a fan I am of Jennifer Armentrout. She is the author of one of my favorite series, which reminds me that I need to replace the ones that got water damaged. Anyways when I saw this book, I had high expectations. I did see a review on Youtube about the book and the person was a little harsh in the book. I thought to myself that it can't be that bad, so I got the book. I'm about a fourth of the way through the book right now and right now, I'm a little disappointed. The book has a bit of a slow start and it is a little boring. I'm going to give the book the benefit of the doubt and continue reading, but it isn't looking too good. I can't even remember half of the things I read because it just felt like it was repetitive or was too focused on a certain scene for too long. So far if feels like the book focuses on things that aren't that interesting and not on the things that are interesting. Like the part where a girl is found dead in the castle. That would have been interesting. Instead our main character just get a glance and the body before being casted away back to her room where she just speculates what happens. Yeah, she goes back the room to see if she can find anything. Which she finds a petal of a flower that isn't even in the room, thinks it's strange, and then leaves. Never to be visited again as far as I know. Then there is the part where Rylan gets shot with an arrow. A huge epic fight scene could have taken place, Royal Guards could have come to see the assailant and chased after him. Or even having someone save Poppy right at the last second before the assailant takes her life, and it could be her love interest in the book. But instead we get her attacking the assailant twice and then him running off after hearing a whistle. Now let's talk about the things I found completely not important enough to focus so much time on. Like when Poppy came into contact with the guard she admired at the Red Pearl. The whole time she was focused on his looks and was talking about how inexperienced she was. She talked about how what she was doing was completely forbidden because she was The Maiden. With how long this part was, I actually got to a point where I wanted to be like "Okay, I get it. She is being awkward around a hot guy. Can we get a move on?" Another part that I felt like didn't need a lot of focus on it was when she went with Vikter to take care of the cursed. When this came up, I was expecting someone going insane in the town and they had to fight them in order to protect everyone. That wasn't what I got. Instead I got a slow scene where Poppy felt the pain of a grieving wife whose husband was bitten and was turning into a monster. I get that this scene is to make Poppy look more human but it was boring. She talked to the husband and did things she wasn't supposed to before ending his suffering. There is so much that I could have changed in this book and I'm only a quarter of the way. I'm disappointed so far and like I said, there are high expectations because this author wrote one of my favorite, if not my most favorite, book series. I just hope the book improves the more I read. 

7/5/22

I have almost finished From Blood and Ash and it was a task. There are things about this book that show its potential but its still pretty boring. I remember nothing from this book other than the interesting parts where it caught my interest. Like the battle on the Rise against a hoard of Craven. The attack during The Rite. I know some people love this book and some hate this book. I'm kind of in between. The book is okay but needs some improvement. There are two ways this book could be improved. The first way is that we eliminate the whole romance thing. No love or lust interest. Just Poppy's journey of being the Maiden and trying to figure out if that is truly want she wants. Where during her journey she finds out the truth of all that is going on and her process of accepting what she as discovered. The second option is we focus on the romance. Eliminate the whole Maiden thing and make it like a Romeo and Juliet retelling. And how they use their love to overcome the obstacles in there way. Mixing the two options together in my opinion is actually hurting the story. But will I read the second book of the series? Maybe. Did I hate the book? No but I do think it could be improved. I think it is a little harsh to see people call this book trash. It's not trash. It's just okay. If you read this book and you love it, more power to you. Love what you want to love. I'm a huge fan of Jennifer L Armentrout. She wrote one of my favorite series, if not my favorite. But to read this book and not get what I expected from her is a bit of a disappointment. I'm not sure what I'll be rating this book but I'll have to sit down and really think about it for a bit.