Despite receiving a great deal of rejections before her career began, Armentrout's first book was published in 2011. As of September 2019, she had fifty-three of her fifty-seven total written works published. The majority of her published works for young adults are romance, fantasy and paranormal, and some contemporary and science fiction. Lynn, she writes suspenseful romance novels for her adult readers. She likes writing stories for both age groups to prevent writer burnout. Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash, #3).
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes book three in her Blood and Ash series? She's been the victim and the survivor? Poppy never dreamed she would find the love she? She wants to revel in her happiness but first they must free his brother and find hers. S a dangerous mission and one with far-reaching consequences neither dreamed of. Because Poppy is the Chosen, the Blessed.
She carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. By right the crown and the kingdom are hers.The enemy and the warrior? Poppy has only ever wanted to control her own life, not the lives of others, but now she must choose to either forsake her birthright or seize the gilded crown and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire. Dark sins and blood-drenched secrets finally unravel, a long-forgotten power rises to pose a genuine threat.
And they will stop at nothing to ensure that the crown never sits upon . The fact that there is meant to be THREE more of these books absolutely astounds me. This book was not as addictive in a guilty pleasure sort of was as the first one was, and at least in AKOFAF, things happened? New and interesting characters were introduced?
This one felt like such an unplanned, and unedited mess of words. It's like JLA had no idea any of this was going to happen when she was writing the first two books and then added all this stuff in that she needed to drive her plot for the next three. I honestly have absolutely no idea what she is going to fill those books with. The amount of ~plot twists~ JLA has added to this godforsaken novel has literally taken the fun out of plot twists to begin with.
It's almost like, the reader knows nothing has happened for the last 200 pages so there's probably gonna be a plot twist… and there it is. Another side note, apparently Poppy has lots of '…' in her inner monologues which makes me SO THANKFUL that I am listening to the audiobooks of this series LOL. Forsaken by the gods and feared by mortals, a fallen kingdom is rising once more, determined to take back what they believe is theirs through violence and vengeance.
And as the shadow of those cursed draws closer, the line between what is forbidden and what is right becomes blurred. Poppy is not only on the verge of losing her heart and being found unworthy by the gods, but also her life when every blood-soaked thread that holds her world together begins to unravel. "Jennifer has stepped into the fantasy genre with this absolutely amazing novel. With characters you will love and more than a few twists and turns, get ready for one amazing adventure."
The characters in this novel bring life and heart to this story, each with a distinct voice and personality. They made reader love them, they made reader sad, they made reader angry, they made reader laugh, they made reader cry, and they made reader believe in the promise of love and home. It is an extraordinary piece of work, a perfect balancing act with terror on one side and love on the other. This exceptionally well-written novel is all about suspense, thrill and drama, including the relationships between generations and what happens between long-standing friends.
This book is set in a medieval-esque time period with magic, gods and cursed supernatural creatures. The main character, Poppy, is the Maiden — a chosen one by the gods. The Maiden is protected fiercely in the kingdom and essentially has no free will. Throughout the book, the cursed supernaturals, called descenters and atlantians, attack her kingdom and the people inside.
I'll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, so that's all I'm gonna say. I honestly didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. It's a fantasy romance with lots of smut, for fans who liked the ACOTAR series by SJM.
The Maiden has been revered and hidden from society before her Ascension to power, and her every move is controlled by the Duke and Duchess. When she meets a super handsome and young guard called Hawke, she's immediately intrigued by him, especially when he becomes a big part of her life. It's been blowing up on the socials lately. Everywhere I go, people were talking about it, about the romance, it was being suggested for me on various sites and it was recently announced as the Goodreads Choice Awards Winner for Best Romance. It seemed to fit the bill for the sort of read I am looking for at the moment and so I bought the first book on my kindle.
I read half of it about a week ago – it's very slow in the beginning. Slow as molasses and at about 50% I put it aside as I had a bit of a headache. Only picked it up yesterday to finish it and look, it's better in the second half. There's a lot of action, some answers and some reveals that are probably supposed to be pretty shocking but I kind of already knew them so it was less so.
With the uncertainty of my questions being answered and the possibility of there not being a second book, I'd still recommend this book and any other Armentrout book to someone. Armentrout is hands down my favorite author of all time — I've also met her in real life and talked to her online multiple times, so I may be a little biased. From Blood and Ash is Jennifer L. Armentrout's first High Fantasy to write and it was mine to read.
I never read them before because I was scared I couldn't get into them. I will admit that the beginning started slow, but you can tell that it was because she had to build the story and introduce characters. It works out in the end because the story is amazing! You will laugh, cry, smile, blush, and yell throughout the whole book.
Mystery, betrayal, drama, fighting, death, love, everything you can think of! Jen did such an amazing job with this story and I can't wait to see where the rest of this story takes us. I've never been a big fan of prequels, I always feel like they're so limited in how far they can go as a story because they're literally just set up for something you've already seen or read. Still, I trust JLA as an author by this point, so I'll keep my inner reservation and reluctance and negativity to a minimum and I give this prequel a chance. Too many times in the past have I completely binge-read a book in two days and then I stare blankly at the wall as I realize I have to wait a whole other year until the next one releases. I guess it helps a little, but in reality I also already finished it and it still feels like it will be forever until I find out what happens next in this series.
The next book will be a prequel, which is going to be released later in fall 2021. Jennifer L. Armentrout was born on June 11 in West Virginia. She was inspired to become a writer after reading the works of L.J. Smith, such as the The Vampire Diaries, The Secret Circle Series, The Forbidden Games Series, and a myriad of others.
The book series that remained close to her heart was The Forbidden Games, with the final novel bringing her to tears. Upon completing the series she decided she wanted to leave the same impact on her future readers. Jennifer L. Armentrout's writing is perfect for this book. It's easy to read and understand, yet can fit the atmosphere of the world she's created.
Speaking of the world, it was not what I expected. There are slight nods to creatures we're familiar with but they have unique twists that make them stand out. I remember thinking back when the first book came out and how maybe it was going to be a really good knight/princess centric romance, but OHHHHHHHH am I wrong and so happy to be so! One of the saving graces in the book was Kieran and the dynamic between him, Casteel, and Poppy.
I better get more Kieran in the next book. Their relationship really developed as the book went on, and I was SO here for it. Poppy became so comfortable with the two boys, and the banter between them was honestly a lifesaver in some of the more dull sections of this book, since, and I STRESS, barely ANYTHING happens in this book.
The major events that did happen were brilliant, the fight scenes were well written and the dialogue that wasn't about Poppy and how special or violent she is was so entertaining. A common theme in this review is that, after the first 60%, everything about this book got better. Since in the first 60% literally, nothing happened and the dialogue was so repetitive. There were significantly fewer internal monologues, things actually happened, and the introduction of more characters which really improved this book.
I loved learning more about Atlantia, the history of the world in this book and the Atlantians in general. But, I would have LOVED to have learnt this information another way, rather than a massive info dump question and answer. It wasn't at all engaging, and I feel like there was SO much potential and it just fell flat. I have to say that I still love Kieran , Delano and Emil, Naill and Vonetta. Their banter and comradeship , kept me listening to this book.
To make up for the LACK OF PLOT and any interesting events or developments in the plot or characters or relationships, JLA absolutely used sex scenes to fill out this book instead. I honestly think that the ratio of interesting events and development to sex scenes was WAY OFF. As a side note, everything is spelled so weird I am SO GLAD I'm listening to this book. Honestly, the spelling of the names would have absolutely put me off reading this book in physical form. Poppy wasn't nearly as annoying as the previous two books, but the book itself was just not great.
It started positively, resolving the cliffhanger which the previous book left off. This book could have done with some SERIOUS editing. I didn't even read the physical book, I listened to the audiobook which I ended up ramping to 1.4x speed because, and I repeat, nothing was happening. JLA has made this book so, incredibly long, and it honestly was like… a boring history book about all these people and different species and bloodlines and ugh, that is like 50% of the book and it killed me. As the third book in a series, this will spoil the first two so ~ be warned. ~ So basically, this story is still only from the point of view of Poppy , and she has just realised that she has a whole lotta power in her.
She's met her in-laws in the most awkward and non-conventional way possible, and she's finally reached Atlantia for the first time. That's about all I can say from the cliffhanger ending of A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire. Jeann is an Aussie blogger and reader who loves to read, write and geek out. I love diverse reads, fantasy and #LoveOzYA reads. When I'm not reading or fangirling, I'm being a mum or thinking about my next meal.
The entire kingdom's future rests on Poppy's shoulders, something she's not even quite sure she wants for herself. 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. Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy's life has never been her own. Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family, than preparing to be found worthy by the gods. Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy's life has never been her own.
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. It was just enough without being too much. Conflict was a little annoying, but most of them are. Loved the writing in this one and would love to read more by the author. At times she is stubborn and morally grey, but she is remarkably independent and courageous. If you choose to root for Poppy as she challenges all that she has ever known, this main character is not likely to disappoint.
I also appreciated her love interest, Hawke's, impressively multi-layered and entertaining personality and backstory. Despite his dark past and questionable actions, I also rooted for him. The only downside to FBA is that this book ends on a MAJOR cliffhanger, and there are loose ends. Armentrout hasn't announced if this book will become a series, so for the time being, we don't know if the story will continue.
The ending did leave a lot of possible routes for the second book to go in, and I think it'd be just as good. I have been a huge fan of Jennifer L Armentrouts works for many years, her writing, storytelling and world building have all peaked in this fantasy romance. From Blood and Ashfollows Poppy, who was chosen to be the Maiden. The Maiden must live a solitary life until she is given to the gods at her Ascension, a fate Poppy dreads, despite it being the highest honor. When she gets a new guard, the attractive and alluring Hawke, Poppy finds herself drawn to him, despite knowing that it could make the gods deem her unworthy.
But with a fallen kingdom on the rise, she not only has to worry about losing the gods' approval, but also her life. The Repetitive Worldbuilding Formula…There were some major info-dumps in this book, and the way it's all told to us as an audience has just gotten a little old for me. Basically with how Poppy has so many questions—much to Keiran's dismay—and then either Kieran or Jasper are the human encyclopedias who have all the information she needs. I don't know, maybe there just needs to be new ways JLA can give us this information if there still is by this point in the series.
In 2015, Armentrout's colleague suggested that she do a book signing for the first release in her Titan series. She was opposed to doing a lonely and awkward book signing, so she asked authors to come join her in the daylong event. After this, Armentrout created ApollyCon, which rapidly became a new way for authors and readers to come together in celebration of recently released books. The convention's success continues to grow with each event. But yeah, so far there's at least five books in total.
