JLA was very sneaky with her writing that I could see it go both ways. Either 1. Cas & Poppy are staying exclusive, but having a very close bond with Kieran or 2. This whole thing is turning into a poly relationship, since it wouldn’t take that much since they already crossed the line with the joining and Kieran is already very protective of Poppy. It doesn’t help that Kieran is talking in riddle when Poppy asked him about what kind of love he feels

I should mention, I’m not a 5-star abuser—I can be a fussy bitch. Also, I’ve never read anything by Jennifer Armentrout previously, which I’m feeling pretty embarrassed about. How did I not know this amazing woman existed?? Needless to say, I’m now fan-girling big time. I adored Reaver and his “I don’t really give a shit” attitude in this book, but I would have loved to see more of the drakens. Reaver’s an odd one for sure, but he added many funny moments in this book, and I want more of him in the next one! Alright, the hate this book receives is getting out of hand. I get that a lot of people are very disappointed right now, because they didn't want certain things in this book to happen and they did (myself included). But frankly, some of y'all who rated this book 1 star without EVER reading this series are just pathetic. You only want to jump on the hate train and look woke infront of your friends. 🤡 I wanted more activity during the present or even an appearance of Ash/Sera or even them mentioned of them a bit more, but we got nothing I loved, Poppy, our heroine. She's a badass, and one of the very few heroines in a fantasy book that didn't make me want to pull my hair out. And then our hero, Hawke - he's by far, one of my favorite hero's. I LOVE HIMAll right. I'll admit it. When I saw that A Soul of Ash and Blood was being marketed as Hawke's retelling of From Blood and Ash, I was skeptical. I didn't know how necessary it was going to be, if it was just going to read like a cash grab, or what. But girlies... I was wrong. I was THOROUGHLY wrong. Allow me to explain. It was quite slowwww in terms of getting to the romance and action scenes due to the piles of information the author threw in the world-building aspect. I think it would have benefited the reader if Ms. Armentrout had sprinkled it throughout the book instead of filling the first half of the book with it. (tbh after reading the books 3 times around, I still don't understand everything about the world) However, once I got to the good parts... DAMN IT WAS SO GOOD. The angst, the steam, the banter it was all there!

From Blood and Ash is the first in a fantasy romance series and follows our narrator, 18 year old Penellaphe (Poppy) Balfour. She is a Maiden, and is destined to 'Ascend' as a gift to the gods, and ultimately, save the Kingdom of Solis. Poppy also has a gift, she can sense a person's physical and mental pain, and by touching them, relieve them of some of it. The Ascended are essentially the ruling class over the kingdom, however they are very mysterious. Poppy lives a life where she is expected to be sheltered; speak only to a few, remain completely covered, never leave the castle, never be touched, etc. However, she is not so good at playing this role. She knows how to fight in hand-to-hand combat, and carries a dagger (we love a stabby woman) and often sneaks out. At the beginning of the book, she leaves the castle one night and ventures to The Red Pearl, a notoriously debaucherous tavern. There, she meets a royal guard who ends up kissing her, and thus begins Poppy's internal investigation on whether or not she truly wants to become the Maiden.

Captivating and action-packed, From Blood and Ash is a sexy, addictive, and unexpected fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Laura Thalassa.

I won’t bother telling you the plot, although it is awesome, because you can glean that from the blurb. But I will tell you that I thoroughly happily (a wee nod to chapter 3 right there) enjoyed every moment of it. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a sustained visceral response to a book. If Poppy’s heart was pounding, so was mine; if she tingled, I got goose bumps; and if her eyes watered, I had to blink fast just so I could keep reading. The writing was that good! The only thing that I really loved was the meeting between Ires and Poppy - that was beautiful, albeit short lived, but a great scene full of emotion. Damn, my little marshmallow's getting kinda crispy'' Delano being referred to as marshmallow made me happy. Overall, the characters were pretty good. Poppy is interesting, although she is not nearly as sheltered as JLA tries to make her out to be. She's an excellent fighter, she's witty, and swears. She is definitely naive, but I think that's because she's 18. Hawke was of course hot, but his idea of consent was definitely in the grey area.

The pain was more than worth it. I would spend an eternity taking these bites if that meant she was safe. That it wasn’t her in this cell. That she wasn’t the one in pain.” The entire kingdom’s future rests on Poppy’s shoulders, something she’s not even quite sure she wants for herself. Because a Maiden has a heart. And a soul. And longing. And when Hawke, a golden-eyed guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. He incites her anger, makes her question everything she believes in, and tempts her with the forbidden. Nothing and everything had changed between the three of us since the Joining. Our relationship remained as it had been, but there was an intimacy now that hadn’t been there before. A closeness. A bond we were reminded of every time I felt our hearts beating in tandem.” Then the whole Poppy having feelings mess. This is where it gets complicated and messy. This is the point where I can understand the concerns of some readers, because my biggest concern after TWOTQ is not knowing where the romance aspect is going. Poppy is young, Cas is her first love and she has not much experience with love, so I kinda get that she’s feeling confused about her feelings about Kieran. But at the same time she described it as not romantic love like she has for Cas, but more than she felt for Delano/Vonetta. I just think as humans, we like to label things. So there is either platonic love or romantic love. If it doesn’t fit in neither category it’s hard to grasp, but that’s exactly what I think Poppy & Kieran have. Action, adventure, sexiness, and angst! From Blood and Ash has it all and double that. So many feels and so many moments it made me cheer for the character. Read. This. Book! You'll be obsessed!” - Tijan NYT bestselling author

'Blood and Ash' is an ongoing fantasy series about a Maiden questioning her fate

I’m trying to hold off my judgement for now, cause we don’t know where this is going and JLA is getting enough hate as it is and I don’t need to add more to it. But when I’m reading Book 5 and it’s going to be a poly relationship, then I’m going to write a (respectfully 😌) rant review for sure, but until then let’s wait and see where this story will take us. Kieran: “Don’t forget what he means to me, Poppy. I’ve known him my whole damn life [...] He was and still is a part of me [...] What he means to me has nothing to do with a damn bond [...] I need to go as badly as you do, and he needs me there just as badly as he needs you.” I do appreciate that they had a slow-burn romance and they didn’t have sex in the first chapter when they met. I mean it was close, but I’m really glad they didn’t go all the way that early on. After reading this book for the second time, I didn't particularly love it as much as I did the first time. In saying that, it's still one of my fav books BY FAR. It was my first J.L book, and I'll be reading all of the author's works after this one.

In this book, JLA increased the tension and sexuality of their scenes together. And this scene is a perfect example. In the previous book, Cas fed from Poppy while Kieran held her. In this book, Poppy feeds from Cas while they have sex and Kieras holds her, too. So here’s my analysis of the series for those saying the Joining and Poppy's feelings for Kieran came out of nowhere. Because, honestly? It’s hilarious to see people complaining about JLA pandering to some readers when, who do you think got the idea in our heads to begin with? This is JLA’s world we are living in, and she stuffed it full of hints and foreshadowing pointing straight to the Joining from the very beginning. Don’t believe me? Here are the receipts. Poppy: “[The Joining] would be intimate. Intense. Life-altering. None of us would be the same afterward in any way.” I just like good guys, okay? But the general populace likes the bad boys, the players, the sex gods, so that’s always who ends up in the books. . . . I also don’t like how in romance books the girl is always the virgin and the guy is always the most experienced sexual partner ever. Someone please tell me about an adult romance where the guy is also a virgin, because that’s much more preferable to me.There is strife in the Kingdom, because another group, The Atlantians, led by "The Dark One" are said to have plagued the earth with dangerous creatures called Craven. A group called The Descenters are supporters of The Atlantians and want to see the downfall of the Kindom. Each group believes the other is responsible for all their issues. The Descenters/The Atlantians would also like to see the Maiden killed. AHH THAT CLIFFHANGER!!!!! There are some spoilers below, but I tried to avoid anything major. If you liked book 1 of this series, I think you will like this! It's so sweet. Yes, it's a retelling of book 1 from Casteel's POV, but there are a ton of new scenes in it too that are worth reading, in my opinion. Casteel: “But she has Kieran. He would be there for her. And she would be there for him. Knowing that made it a little easier to breathe [...] They had each other, no matter what.” Casteel: “I never found myself constantly hungering, and I believe you need that to find yourself exploring those things with someone you’re committed to.”