★★★☆☆.5
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire is the second book in the Blood and Ash series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. This is going to be a spoiler-free review for this book, but will definitely spoil the first book in the series so if you haven’t read the first one, then pls don’t read this if you don’t want to be spoiled!
Okay! On to the review! So at the ending of the previous book, we found out that Hawke isn’t just Hawke, but is actually Casteel Da’Neer, the Prince of Atlantia, also known as the Dark One. If you haven’t already read my review for From Blood and Ash which explains my chaotic thoughts about that book, you can find it here. Honestly, this one started off just as problematic. There were a few things I liked about this book, and a few things that really, really bugged me. The way Casteel acted, his manipulative behaviour was toxic and made me feel so uncomfortable, and a lot of those feelings followed me throughout the first third of this book too. The way he acts is possessive in a way that isn’t hot and broody but uncomfortable and NOT my vibe. He definitely grew on me as the book continued past the first third and we actually learnt more about him, but I can’t forget the way he acted in the way that apparently Poppy can.
“You can’t spell dysfunctional without fun, now can you?”
This takes me to the utter lack of communication between Cas and Poppy for LITERALLY 90% of this book. It took them SO LONG to deal with their OBVIOUS attraction and it really bugged me. I definitely understand why it would be a serious conflict for Poppy, this man literally lied about who he was for months, but really. Poppy’s internal monologues were too frequent and so incredibly pointless. They were all so repetitive, and at the end of it all, nothing is ever resolved for her. It bugged me, and she bugged me. Plus, their constant referencing to ‘pretending’ was so frustrating.
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.
Make me feel incompetent and kill more than me, Princess.
Jennifer L. Armentrout
One of the saving graces in the book was Kieran and the dynamic between him, Casteel, and Poppy. I honestly wanted more Kieran! 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. We get to see more of the world, learn more of the history of both the world and the characters, but Poppy’s inability to work through anything, the lack of action, events, and literally anything of importance happening in the first 60% is the reason I had to dock off 1 1/2 stars.
Not as good as the first book, but still enjoyable. The last 20% of the book and the cliffhanger have made it impossible for me to not read the next book! I’d love to know what you thought of this! Let me know in the comments, or you can always find me on insta at @kell_read!