High Fantasy

A Kingdom of Flesh & Fire (Blood & Ash #2)

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Average Rating: 4.25 / 5

Trigger Warnings:

Poppy has had everything of value stripped away. The truth of the world she’s always believed in, the Queen who cared for her, her trust in the man she was falling for, and the veil that shielded her. Now she’s exposed and trapped with her enemy… but are they enemies still? They certainly continue to view her as a symbol of their enemy. Most dangerous of all, Hawke, the only man who valued her for who she was, is actually the dreaded Dark One. And he only wants to use The Maiden to save his brother. 

Even to herself, Poppy cannot admit that she was falling in love with Hawke – no, Casteel. She refuses to fall prey to one more person who wants to use the icon of the Maiden to get their way. She is determined to resist him and find a way to see her brother and determine whether he is truly one of the Ascended. Cooperating with Casteel is the best way to achieve her own goals, but that means working with him. Working closely with him. Poppy finds herself drawn to him in ways that she can’t understand. This is the man who lied to and betrayed her, and still every touch and look is seductive, awakening a part of her that she didn’t know existed. After years of repression and guilt, is she willing to put herself back behind unbreachable defenses? And if she lets him get close, what happens when he gets what he wants and abandons her? Will she be able to weather that pain?

Poppy doesn’t have long to wrestle with her role in the world for long. Tensions are growing and war will soon be inevitable. Everyone has their own ideas for how that fight should play out. The Atlantian King wants to use Poppy to deliver a bloody message to the King and Queen of Solis. The Descenters would also prefer if she stopped breathing. The wolven, on the other hand, are harder to pin down. Things are further complicated when Poppy’s abilities continue to deepen and grow. What is she capable of? What is her true heritage? And how does she keep the Atlantians, who need to accept her in order for Casteel’s plan to work, from fearing her? Deeply held, warring secrets are at play, and despite all efforts, the blood-soaked truth will emerge.

Corinna: 4.5/5

This book starts off right where it left us hanging at the end of the first novel. I really liked that Armentrout explored Poppy’s growth as she learns more of the truth, different from the distorted history she was told her whole life. We get to see her struggle with her feelings for Cas and vice versa. I was worried that Poppy and Cas’s like/dislike for one another would get carried on too long without a resolution, but I was very happy with how it played out. I liked that they worked through the lies and betrayals that both had experienced. There was more physical and sexual elements in this book, and for the most part it added to the storyline. There was only one unnecessary sex scene that was a little far fetched and extreme, near the end of the battle. All in all, I loved it. It surprised me multiple times with its twists and turns and ended with another bang that left me wanting to immediately dive into the next!

Lydia: 4/5

Unlike the first book, From Blood and Ash, I was able to get into this one right away. I really enjoyed the back and forth of Poppy and Casteel’s relationship and thought that the way Armentrout wrote about Poppy’s growing relationship with the people under Casteel’s rule was done very well. We learned a lot in this book and there was a ton of information. The one thing that dropped this down to a 4 for me was some of the character storylines and development. I thought it took Poppy a long time (too long) to fully invest herself into her new situation – which was opposite of how she was in the first book. She is usually quick to adapt and I felt like that was lacking in this certain storyline. I am very excited for the third and fourth installment however, and will absolutely be reading them right away. 

Megan: 4/5

So much happens in this book that it’s going to be difficult to keep this relatively short. Where do I begin? I did appreciate that the book started a second after the first one ended. There was no time missing from the story. Where many said that book one started off slow, I found this one to be more painful. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, but I easily forgot what was happening every time I put the book down for at least the first half of it. They definitely didn’t need to stay in New Haven that long, nor did Armentrout need to provide that much detail. I did appreciate that she wasn’t as vague about the Atlantian history as she was in the first book.

I did like Poppy and Casteel’s relationship more in this book. While there were times that consent still seemed iffy, both still ended up agreeing (or disagreeing) before anything truly happened. Throughout the book, my feelings for Poppy were all over the place. I loved how she stood up for herself and finally shed the remaining hold that being the Maiden had on her. I may also have read her comments to Dante a few times because they were so good. However, her inner monologue about “just pretending” at times got to be a bit much. Yes, I know you’re only “pretending”, you don’t need to repeat that every other sentence?! But her moment when she truly broke down, looked at her emotions, at her trauma, and past, that’s when it really hit me as to how strong she truly was.

This book was hard to rate. Overall, because the issues I had in book one were resolved, and the ending was not completely suspected, I’ll give it a four.

Sharaya: 4.5/5

I was going to give this book 4 out of 5, but then the last fifth of the book bumped it up. I really enjoyed this second installment to the series! We got to learn more about Armentrout’s world and how it works. We also got to further witness Poppy releasing the shackles that have chained her for her whole life. She may have been physically free, but it took some time to remove the limitations that were ingrained in her mind. I was a little worried about her relationship with Cas at the end of the first book, but I really liked how their relationship developed in this one. Armentrout didn’t gloss over all of the lies and betrayals. Poppy had to work through that stuff. I don’t want to give anything away, however I was very glad that some elements of the story were resolved instead of being drawn out into the third book. There are plenty of other conflicts and storylines for that! I’m very excited to read book #3.

To access a printable list of 10 book club questions, please click here.