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Community Reviews
A roller coaster of fantasy fun!
I’ll start with the actual book review before touching on the scandal that has grown.
In typical JLA fashion, this book is a bit overstuffed with info & description and could probably be 1/4 thinner, at least. As well, there’s so many redundancies between this series & the newer Flesh & Fire series; Poppy & the Consort are basically the same characters, so having two series practically repeating is a bit much with practically doubled info dumps, but I digress. The bulk of this was quite enjoyable! There’s a lot of action, tension, angst, grief, love, lust, surprise…everything you want in a fantasy novel. I just wish she were a better writer, or at least had a better editor.
The characters, both main & supporting, are appropriately loveable & hateable. Even more than Isbeth, Callum is a particularly despicable villain. And Reaver is a delightful addition to our core group of heroes and I am here for all his snark & dry remarks. I’m interested to see where the next book will take us after the ending we are given.
I'd rather not address this, but I think it’s almost necessary at this point. I stayed away from social media after I saw grumblings of how JLA “ruined” the series with this book, so the whole time I was reading, I kept wondering what all the griping was about, then finishing to see it’s all linked to the Joining…get a grip people. The rise in vitriol that female authors of these kind of series receive is disgusting when a storyline or a “ship” doesn’t go a a particular way. Now, I was neither for or against the Joining. That’s up to JLA as a writer and I don’t think she was swayed by fan opinion. Could it have been written better? Probably. Did it detract from the story? No!
Everyone is welcome to their opinions and everyone has their own tastes, which means you can read or not read what you want to. Criticism is ok, but doxxing & threats are disgraceful. This is a fantasy series after all.
Book 1: From Blood and Ash - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Book 2: A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire - ⭐⭐⭐
Book 3: The Crown of Gilded Bones - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Book 4: The War of Two Queens - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Book 5: A Soul of Ash and Blood - TBD
Book 6: The Primal of Blood and Bone - TBD
Book 7: TBC - TBD
I’ll start with the actual book review before touching on the scandal that has grown.
In typical JLA fashion, this book is a bit overstuffed with info & description and could probably be 1/4 thinner, at least. As well, there’s so many redundancies between this series & the newer Flesh & Fire series; Poppy & the Consort are basically the same characters, so having two series practically repeating is a bit much with practically doubled info dumps, but I digress. The bulk of this was quite enjoyable! There’s a lot of action, tension, angst, grief, love, lust, surprise…everything you want in a fantasy novel. I just wish she were a better writer, or at least had a better editor.
The characters, both main & supporting, are appropriately loveable & hateable. Even more than Isbeth, Callum is a particularly despicable villain. And Reaver is a delightful addition to our core group of heroes and I am here for all his snark & dry remarks. I’m interested to see where the next book will take us after the ending we are given.
I'd rather not address this, but I think it’s almost necessary at this point. I stayed away from social media after I saw grumblings of how JLA “ruined” the series with this book, so the whole time I was reading, I kept wondering what all the griping was about, then finishing to see it’s all linked to the Joining…get a grip people. The rise in vitriol that female authors of these kind of series receive is disgusting when a storyline or a “ship” doesn’t go a a particular way. Now, I was neither for or against the Joining. That’s up to JLA as a writer and I don’t think she was swayed by fan opinion. Could it have been written better? Probably. Did it detract from the story? No!
Everyone is welcome to their opinions and everyone has their own tastes, which means you can read or not read what you want to. Criticism is ok, but doxxing & threats are disgraceful. This is a fantasy series after all.
Book 1: From Blood and Ash - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Book 2: A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire - ⭐⭐⭐
Book 3: The Crown of Gilded Bones - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Book 4: The War of Two Queens - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Book 5: A Soul of Ash and Blood - TBD
Book 6: The Primal of Blood and Bone - TBD
Book 7: TBC - TBD
This is book 3 in the series. The story draws you in, following Poppy, who is a strong, scarred yet beautiful heroine. However, I found the romance far too frequent, heavy, and vulgar for my tastes. I like a little more left to my imagination...
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