Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

A Soul of Ash and Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

14 reviews

mabs_grace's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

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

2.75

I’m going to be honest, I don’t really see the point of this being the 5th instalment of the series. A novella? Sure, but a whole ass that’s just the first book from Cas’s POV seems pointless.  There were only like 7 chapters in the present, the rest was flashback to book 1. It feels like the book didn’t move the plot forward at all. This should have been a .5 book (4.5) not a full book (5). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Torture

itmakessenseincontext's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Controversial, but I think this was the best book in the series.

As in the most well written. 

I loved how it was structured, and how JLA explored mental health, trauma, recovery, and worthiness through Casteel, and I felt myself relating to him a lot in this book, and I was in tears a few times because certain passages felt like a callout. In a good way, because it made me think about how I treat myself, and why certain passages were triggering for me.

If you are just here for more or Poppy and Cas and finding out what happens next you won't enjoy it, and I think that's why people dislike it. But if you approach it as a look into Casteel's mind, vulnerability, trauma, and healing its a wonderfully well written book, and an enjoyable read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Addiction

I really want to emphasise the Mental Illness, Self Harm, and Suicide trigger warnings. I dont know if I was just really vulnerable while reading, but these topics hit me very hard, and I'm normally able to deal with them very well. They are addressed with care and sensitivity, but if you have gone through this they will be extremely relatable, at least they were for me

abicaro17's review against another edition

dark emotional funny slow-paced

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

2.0

This was tortuous. So goddamm slow and boring. Almost everything in here is part of the first book and she we already knew. I was pulling my hair out and skimming shit bc fuck this. This made me hate Cas a little because he clearly knew what would happen if he slept with her before she knew the truth too. Even Kieran did! That said, the scenes that are new (present day stuff, scenes where Cas was separated from Poppy, and the pre-Poppy stuff) were interesting, funny, and pretty sick. I wish thus was a novella with just the 150 pages of new stuff. I would have given it a 3.5-4 but everything else makes this book burnable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Bullying, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, Classism, Stalking, Child abuse, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

itsmaddiebauer's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

I appreciated seeing Casteel’s perspective of the first books events. THAT BEING SAID this could have been a bonus chapter? Or maybe make it a different short story in different editions of the book. I know the series is decently long with a ton of twists and turns. Having a reminder of their history and the first book is nice because I read it so long ago but my goodness. This could have been a novella? Or special edition whatever. 

What I did like -
I enjoyed the moments between Cas and Kieran. I was looking forward to the present time moments just for them. I wish we had bits and pieces of Kieran’s POV because I want to get into his head and see what he’s thinking and feeling. 
I want more Cas/Kieran moments. I want to see more of their relationship. I want some of their past relationship and what it’s evolved to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Blood, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Sexual content

katie_thrives's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.5

This was not it for me. When I first started reading, all I could think was “oh no, she was contracted for another book to come out and had no new ideas and…here we are.” I hoped I would change my mind but…

I did not.

This was just book one and two of FBAA from the opposite perspective, with 2% new content in the last chapter. In most cases, this may endear the reader to the other character further, but tbh it actually made me like him less 😂

I know some readers crave these kinds of books (shoutout to everyone who asks for more early ACOTAR from Rhys’s perspective), but I am not that person. If I already know what happened, I have lost interest. I can infer feelings well enough from good writing, even from the non-POV character, so I don’t need a whole book on their thoughts and motives. But if that’s your thing, I guess you may love this!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Self harm, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

wackly93's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Blood

Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

hq_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

3.5

It was really great to get Casteel’s POV from the first book, but again, JLA’s writing is quite drawn out…
While Casteel’s inner thoughts were new I didn’t feel that we learned that much new information and for some reason, I found the romantic moments from the first book more powerful from Poppy’s POV.

That being said, it was fun to delve into this series again. I just hope the final book is worth the wait!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Child death, Death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Body shaming

kaydie96's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

From Blood and Ash is my favourite of this series, so getting to relive it through Hawke’s POV was such a delight! I loved getting to see his take on events and the feelings he had while going through it all. Especially my favourite scenes. Each of those felt like a little treat ❤️

I also appreciate how it was a bit of a breather. There’s so much that happens in this series CONSTANTLY so just getting to experience this walk down memory lane was much needed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Cursing, Torture, Blood, Child death, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, War, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Body shaming, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

janeywaneyb's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

Let's be honest this is just a retelling of From Blood and Ash but in Casteel's voice. Nothing happens, even the normal cliffhanger isn't that great, that you don't already know, I maybe have a little bit more love for Kieran. It was good to revisit the start of their relationship and hear how Cas fell in love with Poppy but reads a little like fan fiction. I'm still not convinced this book was needed. I would have preferred for the story to be moved on and for us to meet the Primals and gods but especially Nyktos, Sera and Kolis. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Death, Body shaming, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Confinement, and Blood

ahse1dances's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

I didn’t realize when I purchased this that it would mostly be a retelling of the first book from Cas’s perspective. You do get new content and some minor furthering of the overall plot. Mostly it serves as a needed refresher of all of the terminology and stuff that gets pretty muddy as the series develops. I definitely think that Ms. Armentrout needs to invest in a thesaurus though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Confinement, Death, and Body shaming