Hello, hello, welcome back!
Yes, this is my second post this month, how wild is that?
It appears that July has been a good month for me to get some blogs posted. I’ve read some amazing books and I want to talk to you all about them!!
One of those amazing books is the fifth installment of the Blood and Ash series by JLA, A Soul of Ash and Blood.
This book is everything and more of this series. We are four books deep into this series and there are three books where we got nothing from Cas, but now it’s his turn to show us his side of the beginning and my gosh, let me say right off the bat, I love his brain!!
Before I go any further, I am obligated to let you know I received an advance e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. But even if I had not gotten a copy in advance I would talk to you about this book, because this one is literally one of my favorite series so, there is that.
Let’s read what this book is all about before we dive any deeper, shall we?
Only his memories can save her…
A great primal power has risen. The Queen of Flesh and Fire has become the Primal of Blood and Bone—the true Primal of Life and Death. And the battle Casteel, Poppy, and their allies have been fighting has only just begun. Gods are awakening across Iliseeum and the mortal realm, readying for the war to come.
But when Poppy falls into stasis, Cas faces the very real possibility that the dire, unexpected consequences of what she is becoming could take her away from him. Cas is given some advice, though—something he plans to cling to as he waits to see her beautiful eyes open once more: Talk to her.
And so, he does. He reminds Poppy how their journey began, revealing things about himself that only Kieran knows in the process. But it’s anybody’s guess what she’ll wake to or exactly how much of the realm and Cas will have changed when she does.
**
I have to be honest with you guys, I wasn’t sure how JLA was going to pull this book off. Of course I shouldn’t have doubted her incredible writing skills.
Remember Oblivion? The first three books of the Lux series told by Daemons POV? I was expecting something similar from this book, but what we get is so, so, so much more than that.
Of course A Soul of Ash and Blood gets 5 out of 5 blue stars in the Then There Were Books review book, because it is just the perfect addition to the story, it manages to give us a unique point of view, while actually moving the story along.
Have you ever read an amazing book and you wish you could go back in time and read that book again for the first time?
Armentrout manages to give us such opportunity. That feeling of reading a story for the first time once again.
Without a doubt my favorite book from the Blood and Ash series is From Blood and Ash. The very beginning. Followed very closely by book number two, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire.
So getting the events of From Blood and Ash from Cas’ POV was a treat I didn’t know I needed.
Cas has a unique way of telling us his side, his brain is that of a young guy trying to fulfill his duty, yet his plans get derailed from what he originally set out to do and the more he tries to remain on course, the more he has to adjust his plans, even if he doesn’t want to admit to it.
Reading chapter by chapter how deeply he fell for our beloved Poppy in his own way is the perfect reminder of how much these two are made for each other and how if Armentrout dares to hurt any of our main leads I will scream bloody murder!
They deserve a happy ending and I know JLA will do so, but I am still afraid of what is to come, as much as I am afraid of what Poppy will become.
Cas’ fear of Poppy losing her memories is a real concern that I am not ready to face, specially after reading this book, and if the ending is any indication of what is to come, I am all but ready to get my heart destroyed and put back together by JLA’s words.
For now, I will continue to read A Soul of Ash and Blood as my comfort book just in case things get too intense in the upcoming books (which they probably will.)
A Soul of Ash and Blood is now out (if you are reading this after July 18) and you can get a copy of it anywhere you get your books, included, but not limited to:
Then There Were Books 