Book Review: Born of Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Read all my book reviews here. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for more book recommendations!

Let the record show: I finished this 700-page book in just a few days. I want that entered into evidence up front, because this review contains real complaints, and not one of them slowed me down. That’s the maddening magic trick of Jennifer L. Armentrout — I can see the seams and I cannot stop turning pages.

This is the Flesh and Fire finale, so no premise talk at all — every noun would spoil three books. What I can say: it’s the book where the prequel finally shakes hands with the main Blood and Ash series, and that handshake is the point.

What I Loved About Born of Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The connective tissue. I came into this prequel series expecting to be underwhelmed, and instead the threads tie back into the main Blood and Ash books really well — plus a few character decisions late in the series surprised me and deepen the main-series story rather than just footnoting it. Prequels almost never hand you that. This one does.

It also knows its audience cold. This book understands exactly what romantasy readers show up for and delivers it steadily — which sounds like faint praise and isn’t. Plenty of books never figure out what they are.

What I Didn’t Love About Born of Blood and Ash

The prose runs light. There were stretches where the writing felt thinner than the story deserved, and I found myself wishing for more sophistication in the plotting, the characters, and the sentence-level craft. That’s what took this from a five-star finale to a three-star one for me: the ambition of the structure kept outpacing the polish of the execution.

Final Thoughts on Born of Blood and Ash

If ACOTAR and Fourth Wing are your comfort zone, this series belongs on your TBR — that’s the exact shelf it lives on. Start with A Shadow in the Ember, and if you haven’t met Poppy yet, From Blood and Ash is the front door to the whole universe.

My final score: 3 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Do I recommend this book? 👍 Yes — a satisfying finale for anyone invested in this world.

🔥 A Deadly Trials Romantasy on Kindle Unlimited: The Ash Trials

Saffron Vale wakes in a ruined wedding dress, locked in a prison for the kingdom’s deadliest criminals — with no memory of who she is.

To survive the brutal Ash Trials, she must outlast shifters, spellcasters, and something even more dangerous: the truth about herself. Her only allies? A traitorous commander from her past and an assassin who swears she’s the real monster here.

The truth could save her — or destroy everything.

Get the book now on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited: