Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

A Soul of Ash and Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

10 reviews

beebowbabe's review

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

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

5.0

Had me giggling and licking my feet the whole way through a pretty tense point in this series lol. 💛💛

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Body shaming

None of the abuse is done by the main characters. The suicidal thoughts are in the past.

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). 

---

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. 

---

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

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.

---

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

---

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

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!

---

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.

---

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. 

---

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Confinement, Death, and Body shaming

zanazy's review

adventurous dark emotional informative sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

I loved this book! I didn’t think having Casteel’s POV was necessary, but I was wrong. The book picks up right after the ending of TWOTQ and you get a little teaser of what is happening in the main/present story, however, the bulk of the book is the story of Cas as he decides to kidnap the maiden to use as leverage for his brother’s freedom. As we all know, plans change and seeing the first book from his POV adds so much depth to his character, I see him in a new, better light. Kieran is also part of his POV and this adds some great depth to him too. I hope that we get books 2 & 3 from Cas’ POV as I was left wanting much more. Brilliant way to add to the story and characters. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent, Violence, and Torture