Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

A Soul of Ash and Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

17 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

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

potalian's review

slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Grief, Kidnapping, War, Murder, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Body horror, and Torture

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

ka_ke's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Gore, Sexual content, Classism, Gaslighting, Blood, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Cursing

Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

moonybritney's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful tense fast-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? No

5.0

I devour the books in the Blood and Ash series as soon as I get my hands on them and this one was no different. When reading the first book, I thought it would be nice to get one from Cas' perspective and I'm glad we did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Classism, Cursing, and Blood

Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, and Kidnapping

yarisbooksandbevs's review

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective 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? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed seeing things from Cas’s perspective. Especially after knowing everything we know. I kind of liked this one better than the first.  It was nice to see what he was going through and a little bit into why he made the decisions he did. The ending really surprised me and I did not see it coming.

I love the bond the three of them have. I wasn’t expecting Cas to shift and I just want to know if she recognized them! I will be heartbroken if she doesn’t

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Grief, Torture, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Self harm, Confinement, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Kidnapping, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, and Stalking

mlglenn's review against another edition

dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, and Kidnapping

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

taryn_g's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Child death, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, War, Kidnapping, and Confinement

Minor: Misogyny