Review: A Soul of Ash and Blood (From Blood and Ash #5)

A Soul of Ash and Blood (From Blood and Ash #5)
By Jennifer L Armentrout

Published By: Blue Box Press
Publication Date: July 18, 2023
Date Read: July 16, 2023
Genre: Adult – Fantasy Romance
Source: eARC from JLAnders Reviewers
Format: E-Book
Pages: 636

From Goodreads:
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.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout revisits Poppy and Casteel’s epic love story in the next installment of the Blood and Ash series. But this time, Hawke gets to tell the tale.

“But I wasn’t a good man. I was just hers.”

A Soul of Ash and Blood is probably one of the most anticipated releases of Summer 2024. I know a lot of people who are very excited for this book, but I feel like I need to start this review with the caveat of this book was never going to be my favourite of the series. This instalment of the From Blood and Ash series is first and foremost the the events of book 1 from Casteel’s point of view. I historically, do not read these books as I just don’t enjoy them. And for that reason I was apprehensive going in, knowing this one probably wasn’t going to be for me. And honestly… I was correct.

I did enjoy parts of A Soul of Ash and Blood. I really liked being able to see scenes that we weren’t aware of as Poppy wasn’t present for them. Those chapters I enjoyed, as well as the odd chapters that are set in the present day to bring all of the book together. Because these were new scenes I enjoyed them. However, the majority of this book are scenes we have already seen from Poppy’s perspective, and I know there will be a legiant of fans who love this because they love to know what the other character is thinking. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. I am a plot driven reader through and through, all of my favourite things in a book are always the things that are new, or that are driving the plot forward. So honestly, I was bored throughout a lot of this, because I already knew what happened. I’d seen it through one characters eyes and didn’t feel like I needed to experience it again, personally. Due to this, the pacing of this book for me, was super slow.

Don’t get me wrong, as a whole I did really enjoy the book. There were some scenes that I adored *cough* The Duke *cough*. And I loved seeing Casteel as Hawke. It’s no surprise to people that the first book was my favourite. The guard/princess trope is one of my favourites, so I just loved going back to that sort of dynamic and experiencing that again. It made me kind of miss their dynamic before all the shit hit the fan in the later books. And the later present day scenes were incredible. The ending was phenomenal! Jennifer is superb at writing endings of books, and leaving us hanging. She has been perfecting this for a decade and she is amazing at it.

I absolutely love the From Blood and Ash series and I adore everything about Jen… but for me I was a little bit sad that this book is considered Book 5. Because if it wasn’t and it was just Cas’ POV I would have just skipped it as I know, personally, it’s not something I enjoy. I have been a reader of Jen’s for 12 years and I still haven’t read the alternate point of view of Lux for this reason, because they’re just not for me. If you are a lover of alternate point of view books then you are going to absolutely adore it. If you’re not, you could honestly get away with just reading the present day scenes for this one. I am excited for the final Cas and Poppy book coming, and I can’t wait for it. Overall, A Soul of Ash and Blood is everything every Casteel fan has been waiting for. It adds more depth to this already beloved story, while also leaving you begging for more.

“We were two pieces that fit together, and our souls had recognised that, even if neither of us had.”