Reviews with content warning for Rape - From Blood and Ash

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

28 reviews

vermontsnowboarder's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I've described this book to people before as pocket trash. You know it's terrible.

The writing isn't great. In terms of the plot, there are a lot of plotholes—things that don't really make sense, and once you start to pull at one, the entire thing unravels and doesn't make any sense. Armentrout needs a better editor. There are A LOT of unnecessary moments and words. The FMC has so many inner monologues that it's exhausting and pointless. Her views and random thoughts do not add to the story; they take away from it by bogging the reader down.

The worldbuilding is lackluster. It's supposed to be grand and sweeping and yet, it's flat and blase. It's not just that things are waiting to be revealed; it's that there is a lack of description and connection to the world in which this story is set.

Another thing that really bothers me is the blatant racism. The FMC's "best friend" is a black woman named, I kid you not, Tawny. Are you ready for her role? She is the FMC's lady's maid. The MCC's best friend is a black man who can shift into a werewolf (wolven) named Kieran (which means black, in case you didn't know), who is bound to the MCC. So basically, both of them are servants. The main characters and those in power are all white.

Want a book with loads of sexual assault? This book has it in spades. The MCC hides his identity and uses his false one to get close to the FMC, proceeds to seduce her, take her virginity, and then gaslight her by telling her that it was "real". He knew full well that she never ever would have gone near him if she had known who he really was. After he takes her virginity, he continues invading her space and touching her despite her telling him no several times.

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taobooks's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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courtneylmal's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

0.25

What was that ending?

This book started out pretty shaky BUT I was won over by the amazing work of the narrator. She had a way of narrating things so that the banter and characters flowed in a way that the prose didn’t. I will also credit the book with the fact that Poppy felt like an 18-year-old girl scrabbling for control in her own life. The themes and exploration of them was interesting. Poppy’s character lent to these themes and it was fairly well done. Aside from that, the foreshadowing as fairly well done.

What really tanked this book for me was the last quarter of the book roughly. While it was declining slightly before the twist was revealed, that’s what destroyed the book for me. Everything about the characters and who they were felt like it vanished. Their actions stopped making sense and while I thought some changes after the reveal of the twist were well some, most didn’t. I stopped understanding Poppy and her actions. I found myself so frustrated with her and what she was doing that it tanked the book for me.

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cassie_heintz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book made me feel like I was reading ACOTAR again in a way. Some of the main characters had a good amount of depth too them but wished I got more from others. It has a few plot twists that made me confused as to where the plot was gonna go but still really enjoyed it. Still upset that one of my favorite characters died but it’s ok, I’ll survive 🥲

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