The Crown of Gilded Bones

Dec 12

Written By Ally Talley

Blood and Ash #3

By Jennifer L. Armentrout

*Read after the Flesh and Fire series (the prequel series to Blood and Ash)*

TheStory

At the end of A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, Poppy’s true heritage, a descendent of the gods and the true ruler of Atlantia, is revealed. But it’s not as simple as just taking the throne. There are still people out there that do not wish to see the crown on Poppy’s head. All Poppy ever wanted was to control her own life but now she has decisions to make that impact far more than just herself.

The kingdoms’ secrets wrapped in lies are coming to light. An old power is rising. But the greatest threat to everyone is the Queen of Blood and Ash. It is up to Casteel and Poppy to set things right, all while still trying to find both of their brothers.

Once Poppy’s birthright is revealed, all the wolven bond to her directly, since she had the blood of the gods in her. But as per usual (*blech*) in our beloved fantasy book, Poppy is captured with the intention of turning her over to the Ascended and therefore stopping the fulfillment of a prophesy. Obviously, that doesn’t happen.

Poppy becomes something other after her Ascension and has a tough time dealing with it. While the cadre deals with everything, even more hateful people arise, causing issues. And Poppy still has to decide if she will take the crown that is her birthright. But this story isn’t just about them - the gods are coming back into play, and not all of them are happy.

TheReview

There is so much going on throughout this entire book. You certainly don’t get bored. It’s a solid, in-depth storyline that flows throughout the entire book - straight through, no lulls. As with the previous books in this series, we start off right where we left off from A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire. I actually thought the beginning sounded like an ending, like how a book would end on a cliffhanger. It’s just such a kick-off right into the drama but the resolution quickly follows. It was nice knowing there was still a whole book to read.

In terms of characters, I absolutely love the morally (light) grey characters just loving each others’ flaws and not being overly worried about their own flaws. On a different character note, this is the first book in the series that is looking like the main relationship might end up being multiple partners (Cas, Poppy, and Kieran). It doesn’t actually happen here but there is some serious foreshadowing (and a few seriously schmexy scenes) that this could be the case. Who knows? Maybe everyone is just exploring their sexuality. But given that this isn’t my vibe when I read romance, I’d like to know in advance if the main relationship is going to be multiple partners. If it comes to fruition in the next book, I’ll let you know.

The ending was, once again, shock after shock. I like to think I’m decent at picking up on foreshadowing and figuring out the twists before they happen, but I was pleasantly (and repeatedly) surprised with all different aspects and revelations at the end of the book.

I repeat again (in case you missed my previous wonderful and life changing reviews), JLA does such a great job of blending action, friendships, romance, spice, etc. throughout the whole. Her writing in this series is fire.

Slight Spoiler: I’m REALLY over main characters getting captured. It’s all very dramatic but STOP IT!

This one could tie with A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire for the best book in the series so far. It just hit different than the other ones. Highly recommend (as with every book in this series so far).