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A Soul of Ash and Blood

Blood and Ash, Book 5

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A Soul of Ash and Blood

By: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Narrated by: Tim Campbell
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About this listen

Only his memories can save her…

A great primal power has risen. The Queen of Flesh and Fire has become the Primal of Blood and Bone—the true Primal of Life and Death. And the battle Casteel, Poppy, and their allies have been fighting has only just begun. Gods are awakening across Iliseeum and the mortal realm, readying for the war to come.

But when Poppy falls into stasis, Cas faces the very real possibility that the dire, unexpected consequences of what she is becoming could take her away from him. Cas is given some advice, though—something he plans to cling to as he waits to see her beautiful eyes open once more: Talk to her.

And so, he does. He reminds Poppy how their journey began, revealing things about himself that only Kieran knows in the process. But it’s anybody’s guess what she’ll wake to or exactly how much of the realm and Cas will have changed when she does.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout revisits Poppy and Casteel’s epic love story in the next installment of the Blood and Ash series. But this time, Hawke gets to tell the tale.

©2023 Jennifer L. Armentrout (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Fantasy Fiction Paranormal Paranormal Romance Romance

Critic Reviews

“Narrator Tim Campbell returns to the role of Casteel Da'Neer in the fifth book in the Blood and Ash series.… Tim Campbell captures the sarcastic and flirtatious sides of the prince. Campbell's sonorous voice is as easy to fall in love with as the character of Casteel, making Campbell the perfect casting choice.”—AudioFile Magazine

“Expertly and vividly performed with the impressive narrative vocal styles of Tim Campbell, this…will have a very special attraction to fans of vampire romance fantasy fiction. Original, self-contained, and a must for the growing legions of Jennifer L. Armentrout fans.”—Midwest Book Review
All stars
Most relevant
I love this series, and having Casteel's perspective was enjoyable. However, there was unfortunately a little too much direct retelling for it to feel like a mainline book to continue the narrative. It was almost word for word all of book 1 with a different internal monologue which didn't really add much to the narrative, characters, or world building. The 'present' scenes were great, but added little to the story progression. It felt very drawn out and by the end (especially with how it ends) felt like it was negging the reader a little. This book could have been incredible if half of the retelling was scrapped (like most of the word for word interactions with Poppy weren't really necessary to portray Hawke's perspective) focusing more on what we didn't see in book 1 (his interactions with Keiran, behind the scenes plotting etc) and mixing more with real time things happening. Had it not ended where it did and given a sliver more story progression the 'twist' if you can call it that, would have been far more impactful. If you're super into this series, I'd leave this book until right before the next one comes out. Because you'll feel significantly dissatisfied coming out of this, it doesn't feel like a complete entry to the series. Retelling from different perspectives can be really great ways to get a look at a different side of a narrative and develop characters beyond what the original perspective could, but it does need to be fresh and not feel like you're reading the exact same book. I feel like the books 2-4 characterise and recount Casteel's thoughts and actions from book 1 enough that there was not a single surprise in the retelling parts. This would have made a great companion read but felt like a tease as a mainline title, especially when all of the story progression and events could easily fit into just a chapter or two. Hopefully book 6 is jam packed to make up for it.

A shame this was a mainline book

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I have very mixed feelings about this book.
From what I’ve seen people either hated it or loved it.

I feel pulled in both directions because the parts that I didn’t like REALLY disappointed me, but the parts that I enjoyed I REALLY loved.

I really hesitated with giving this book either a 3 or a 4.

On one hand I loved reliving the iconic scenes and quotes. For me especially because it was narrated by Tim Campbell and he’s one of my favourite narrators. I already thought he did such an amazing job narrating the Cas pov chapters in book 4 so to hear him say the iconic quotes from book 1 had me squealing with joy.

HOWEVER…

I did not need the ENTIRETY of book 1 retold. I would have been happy with a Best Of and a couple of bonus scenes. There were a lot of scenes that felt unnecessary and which weren’t adding much to that story.

What was also disappointing was that the flashback chapters were significantly longer than the present day chapters. Just to give you an idea on Audible the flashback chapters were roughly 20-30min while the present day chapters were about 9min (except for a couple that were 30min).

So if you remove the flashbacks there is barely any story progression.

Which is frustrating because in the last book Cas and Poppy were separated for over half of the book. And now in this book Poppy is in a coma for ALL OF IT!!! Grrrr lol

I could be completely wrong but it’s almost like the author is trying to buy herself time to allow the prequel series to catch up?
I’m sure I’m wrong but it’s just the vibe it’s giving off.

And it’s a shame because the present day chapters were SO GOOD omg. I loved the scene where Cas and Kieran are sitting shoulder to shoulder on the bed and Cas opens up about a traumatic moment. It got me super emotional.

And that plot twist towards the end?!
Excuse meeeee?????!!!!

As Emil says:
WHAT THE FUCKETY FUCK?!!!!

Also that cliffhanger kinda pissed me off.
The fact we don’t know if Poppy remembers.
I’m not gonna lie I really hope the next book isn’t Poppy having lost her memories. That would be so predictable and so disappointing.

I think as a reader I would have preferred to just have a Best Of narrated by Cas and for Poppy to be in a Coma for maybe only a quarter of the book.

That would have satisfied my need to hear Tim Campbell say the iconic quotes AND given more story progression.

I also agree with what a lot of fans are saying, that this book should have been separate from the main series.

All in all I feel excited and at the same time really apprehensive about the next book.

I feel very conflicted…

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Loved seeing the story from Cas view. It had also been a while since I read the earlier books so I did a co reading between it and Blood & Ash and it was a good refresher.

The voice is exactly what I would have pictured Cas to sound like and the twist at the end was a nice touch.

Interesting to see Cas POV

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When I realised it was a retelling from Cas' pov, I was a bit hesitant, but as the story went on, I really got into it. during book 1, you only hear Poppy's thoughts and doubts, and to hear Cas pov during those times where she really struggled is very heartwarming.

Really Good

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Loved hearing Cas' point of view and perspective. Made me love his character even more. So pumped for the next books.

Amazing!

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