A Shadow in the Ember
Flesh and Fire #1
By Jennifer L. Armentrout
TheStory
A princess hidden away for her entire life, secretly trained as an assassin to kill one specific being. The Primal of Death, promised a maiden. And an arranged marriage. What could possibly go wrong? The answer: everything.
Sera Mierel has had one purpose her entire life - to marry the Primal of Death, Nyktos, in order to get close enough to kill him and end the Rot plaguing the land. The only way a Primal can be killed is by being murdered by someone they love. But her plan goes awry when she starts to develop feelings for him.
TheReview
In the beginning, Sera runs into a man named Ash and they immediately have to “make out” to avoid being caught out together at night. Which… what? The scene seemed so forced and completely out of the blue. I have to imagine that there could have been a better scene written here. And during the scene, there is so much dialogue. Like an insanely huge amount of back-and-forth between Sera and Ash. The whole scene here just seemed so forced and the writing… meh.
The real action doesn’t start until about 40% of the way through, but then I couldn’t put it down. Sera does end up marrying Nyktos. I really started liking him and the relationship about half way through the book. The relationship seemed more natural and far less forced by the author. The poor man is just so twisted up inside. I just love sad boy energy. “He’s just misunderstood, MOM!”
I’m definitely feeling some ACOTAR influence here. Nyktos is like Azriel and Rhysand mixed together with a little bit of Tamlin (calm down, I said a little bit). Take that how you will, but I liked him.
There were some major shocks and twists that I didn’t see coming and few that I did but were still satisfying. There is really good foreshadowing here that I am very curious to see come to fruition going forward. I feel like I get where it’s going.
The ending was super confusing for me. I reread it once to try to get all the info but it didn’t really help. I’m hoping maybe I’m just dumb and some clarification is coming in the next book.
Overall, I enjoyed the read for sure and after the first half, I couldn’t put it down.
It’s important to note that I was so confused about which series was which when it came to Blood and Ash vs. Flesh and Fire (and all the other books that sound like these titles or series but aren’t even a part of the same story). I do not read prequels (okay, there are some exceptions, but generally it’s a no from me). I did not realize that this whole Flesh and Fire series is a prequel to the Blood and Ash series. So everything with Nyktos and Sera happens prior to Poppy and Hawke in the Blood and Ash series. Maybe I’m just dumb but if you are planning to get into this series - Flesh and Fire AND Blood and Ash - it is a huge commitment.
TheRating
Storyline: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
World Building: 3/5
Spice: 1/5
Writing: 3/5
Overall: 4/5
Flesh and Fire Series
A Shadow in the Ember
Flesh and Fire #1
A Light in the Flame
Flesh and Fire #2
A Fire in the Flesh
Flesh and Fire #3
Born of Blood and Ash
Fire and Flesh #4