#it's giving nyktos

[katrinegrey]

BRB while I explain to my therapist that my type is fictional people serving love through adorkably awkward acts of service.

[runningwiththeoceans]

give me Nyktos or give me deäth

[incorrectfbaaquotes]

Nyktos: I think Sera is in trouble. Rhain: Alright. Struggling to give a fuck, if I’m honest.

[playcaroplay]

I just finished A Fire in the Flesh and have spoily thoughts

I really wanted to like this book. I want to like this series so badly, but the last four books in this universe have felt so rushed and poorly edited. It has felt like Sera’s story exists solely to retcon plot points to buttress Poppy’s plot inconsistencies. And Sera’s mirror image personality is explained away because of Sotorias soul, and family lineage. They’re the same personality type with different hair.

1) Dialogue - I find the same dialogue being recycled has fallen flat for me. Sera and Poppy’s “tempers” and “stubbornness” feel like an easy way to introduce conflict or tension but it doesn’t often advance the plot or character arc. There are so many stagnant beats where Sera/Poppy and any character have this type of conversation:

Character A: slightly controversial but logical opinion

Sera: NO that is Wrong.

Character A: Rationalizes point

Sera: Do you want me to stab you?

Character A: oh shit

Sera: I’m known for my temper

Character A: I’m impressed/insulted.

(And if it’s Nyktos then you follow up with)

Nyktos: Your anger makes me horny

Sera: Ew, but also same.

Nektas: you two are so funny with your arguing/mean girls mom beat - you guys ok? Want condoms?

Sera: *walks away feeling empowered because she spoke her mind*

I would hope an editor would catch on to these repetitive beats and try to either pare them back or vary them enough that there’s purpose behind it.

2) Secondary characters are just there to watch the scene. You’ll notice in many instances, Sera and Ash have a blow up, and the side characters are there purely to comment on what’s happening and narrate Sera’s character arc. If you took them all away the scene would remain the same.

Ex. Sera fighting Ash in the courtyard in book 2. The secondary characters provide nothing but audience commentary.

Or in FTIF when Rhain is speaking to Sera about her deal and freeing him, and then Ash wanders up and they have another “you don’t know the meaning of the word argue” argument and the side characters literally step away from them and they repeat the age old conversation beat I listed above.

What’s the point in introducing a huge cast of secondary characters if their only purpose is to bear witness alongside the reader. Instead you could have them take an active role in the plot, and have impactful relationships, opinions and action that drive the plot home. They’re just padding.

This entire series could take place in Ash’s bed and you wouldn’t notice the difference.

3) Weak conflict- Using Kolis as the example. We understand from book 2 that he’s a monster. But the stakes are significantly lowered when his and Sera’s opinions stay the same the whole way through FITF.

Consider what the story would have been like if he and Sera found moments of genuine empathy and understanding. What if they shared moments of humour or appreciation for each other? Think of how conflicted Sera would be about destroying him.

Is his kindness just manipulation? Or is there a deeper reason behind his actions that she doesn’t know yet? The fact that Sera is always aware of his tactics makes it hard to invest in her goal of becoming his weakness.

I care less about Kolis seducing Sera or vice versa because I know it won’t actually happen. We already know Sera is devoted to Ash and she’s revolted by Kolis. So her conflict about “becoming nothing” and fulfilling her duty is a nonissue.

4) Show, don’t tell. Seras discoveries while in captivity are quite passive. Either Kolis or Callum just straight up tell her the secrets. She’s in a cage so she has to rely on characters telling her what’s happened. It feels like the plot of the book happened outside the room, and we are just getting reports about it.

Consider Sera manipulating Kolis into giving her time out of the cage where she has opportunity to wheel and deal with other gods and discover secrets in more active ways. (Ex hunting down a revenant and having them talk through their transformation. Or talking to an Ascended about their blood lust and their fight for humanity.)

Even in the final chapters. Ash confesses to Sera that he had visions of her and removed his Kardia after he met her. He tells her that removing the Kardia was irrelevant in the end. Yet again another plot point that’s rendered useless and discussed in a passive manner. Such a let down after all that conflict in book 2. It almost felt like these scenes were drafts of the dream walking beats and JLA added in at the end because she liked them.

Consider those revelations happening at the lake as she’s trying to say goodbye to Ash. The anguish and betrayal she would feel about his decisions, but still clinging to their last moments together.

All in all, I feel like JLA was done dirty in the sense that pumping out these books every year hasn’t given her the time to dig into her own universe.

[mika-no-sekai-blog]

I finished this yesterday aaaand

still can't get Thorne out of my head. I love Casteel, I love daddy Nyktos, but Prince Thorne? He put them all in his pocket

Body like carved from marble?

Big and hard 🍆?

“You’re not going to be able to take all of me like this. Not yet.

But na'laa?

You’re going to want to.”

Fucks like rabbit even whole day?

And all the 'You should've known better than to run. I will always catch you'?

Uhm, give me a break 🥵🥵

Where are all the fanfiction about him anyway? 👀

[hawkefaery]

Characters meetings in Blood and Ash that I'm most exciting for:

Malec and Eloana plus Valyn

I want go see the world burn honestly. I said this already but I want Eloana and Malec to have this resentful attitude where they trow beef at everything the other says. And plus Valyn because I know my man will have eloana's back against everything. Besides, I can see Malec don’t liking Valyn not because he wants Eloana back or something but I believe Malec gives vibes of being that type of man that believes his dick changes a woman’s life forever so the fact that she remarried, moved on, had a life and named someone else king??? I think he would be like “this fucking idiot who he think he is, i am a god i am so much better than he him” bla bla bla and then Valyn, as I said he is always there for eloana plus he said he believed that Malec did not deserve her love so I don’t think Valyn likes Malec either, he probably recents him for what he did to his beloved wife (honestly same valyn)

I hope we get at least a snake peak of Sera and Isbeth

this is an obvios one, I just want to see isbeth literally suffering and sera having fun

Malik and his parents

this one is going to hurt me like a bitch. It already did when Valyn seemed about to cry when he saw Malik again and Malik couldn’t even look at his father. Malik recents his parents for hiding the truth from him so there is so much tension in here. I want the pain that come with this reunion but I hope that at the end everything is happy again

Millicent and Ires

I want ires to see his daughter again and not just poppy

Jadis and Nektas

an obvious one

Ires and Malec

There is a lot to unpack between this two. I highly doubt they will be just ok with one another after everything that happened around them. I think this could be a tensed moment for resentment, blame and idk I just feel that it can’t be all perfect and harmonic between these two after every thing that happened

Malec and his parents

If a remember correctly, Nyktos and Sera knew where Malec was entombed and they actually had guards guarding the entrance yet they did not take him of his entombment do I wonder if Malec knows that or if he will find out at some point, I think this will be tense too, and again I don’t think they can just pretend nothing happened

[goddess-aelin]

Ok here we go: THEORY TIME!

There are so many thoughts swirling around about ALITF so I'm going to try to get these out as coherently as possible.

I honestly have no clue what is going to happen in the next book. Obviously we know that Nyktos and Sera survive, have twins, etc. But we don't know the manner of how Sera survives, especially when it seems pretty hopeless right about now. So most of these focus on how Sera can survive.

There were a lot of things that stood out to me throughout the book, mostly about prophecies and literally in the first 20 pages.

"You haven't heard why he cannot save you as he is now."

This is Holland talking to Sera and Nyktos when they are discussing that she can only be saved by the blood of someone who loves her, right before we find out that Nyktos can't love.

I thought this was a really weird choice of words the first time I read it and I think it's a really weird choice now, too. Why would JLA put that in there like that if it didn't have some significance. She absolutely could've stopped the sentence with "you haven't heard why he cannot save you." Period. End. Done.

As he is now implies that a change can be made in some way.

-Change could be like him changing into his wolf form. Can he maybe love in this form? Could he save her if he takes her blood in this form and gives his own back?

-Or could he change in some other way? His heart can change? Could he get his kardia back via Maia or via growth? Throughout the book, it was talked about the Primals "falling." Aka falling in love. Before this, they didn't love either. So would it be possible for Nyktos to gain back his kardia or find some other way to love? I say yes. I think this is the most likely theory that I have. I truly think in the end, he's going to be able to love in some way. (TBH, I think he already does love her but just doesn't understand how and what he feels. You don't do the stuff he does for just anyone. And I think him wanting to love is indicative of that.)

-It also said somewhere in the book that even the fates can't tell what happens with love. So the fact that they don't know for sure that he will never be able to love her solidifies my point.

2. "It allows them to love another not of their blood, irrevocably, selflessly." This was Penellaphe talking about what a Kardia is. My initial thought with this too was so he can love someone of his blood? Hmm...

-If Sera would have his blood, could he love her then? Thereby saving her with the blood of someone who loves her?

-Could he love his sons if she was already pregnant and therefore be able to save them? I know mortals can't carry primal babies but it's been said time and time again that Sera isn't exactly fully mortal and can do things that a normal mortal can't. I think this is a stretch but it's a fun theory. And a really, really sad one.

3. I think they're heartmates.

Obviously this probably isn't a super uncommon theory BUT I do think this will factor into saving her.

-Maybe not being able to love will be negated if they're acknowledged heartmates.

- I'm not convinced that Nyktos is actually present in his wolf form at the end of the ALITF. We know from FBAA that heartmates can enter each other's dreams. Sera isn't exactly in the best state with blood loss and such at this moment so could she be hallucinating him? The thing that makes me think this is that I don't think she's ever seen or discussed Nyktos having a wolf form. So how would she immediately know that's him? Especially when she was super out of it and didn't even see Attes arrive. And also, no one else senses his presence? There's only one way and that's because she just knows. She can feel him in her heart.

4. This last part brings me to the last part of the prophecy which talks about a wolf in moonlight. Perhaps a key to saving her? She didn't acknowledge that Nyktos could be that wolf in the moonlight prior "seeing" him in the woods while Kolis was feeding on her so...I just really don't think he's actually there. I think we're going to get some angst for a while, a'la the poppycas separation.

5. The Prophecy itself isn't directly linked to Sera/Nyktos but rather to the series as a whole.

I mean, I'm sure someone has pointed this out before and maybe it's been confirmed. But "A first daughter, with a blood full of fire, fated for the once-promised king. And the second daughter with blood full of ash and ice, the other half of the future king. Together they will remake the realms as they usher in the end."

I'm not great with reading prophecies lol but I feel like the first daughter (Milicent) fated for the once-promised king (Malik, obviously he's not promised the throne anymore) and the second daughter (Poppy) who is the other half (literal heartmate) of the future king (Casteel, who is the king.) Just too much of a coincidence. Kolis explained this away as him and Eythos and Nyktos vs Sera and Mycella. But I just don't see it. I think he's stretching. And though Sera and Nyktos will be involved of course as the grandparents of Poppy, I think the prophecy is ultimately about Poppy.

Ok y'all. That's all I got for now. Lmao. It was a lot so thanks if you took the time to read it and of course, come into my messages and scream with me about this.

[why-cant-i-be-an-atlantian]

I've said this before but I feel so bad for Nyktos when he learns that Sera's plan was to exploit his love to kill him

Like the poor dude, his parents suffered awful fates because of love, so he spends his entire life trying to avoid it, and then he finally starts getting close to Sera, and then finds out the entire time her plan was to do what he feared most

Like I know he was a bit of an asshole to Sera after that but like I'm sooooo glad JLA is giving him realistic hurt feelings and not just making him forgive her right away. I want to see him hurting and I want to see Sera hurting because she hurt Ash and I want to see how they're going to fix it

I love love love the love interests who are as complex as the main characters I love Nyktos

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Flesh and Fire Review Round-Up

I really like having reviews all together for series. That might just me me, but this went over decently well with the Bridgerton books, and frankly I thought the full Flesh and Fire series was VERY fun, so why not give you my whole journey with this quartet in one place? This is also Sera and Ash's journey, and they're objectively more interesting than I am, so think of this as their TLDR!

SPOILER WARNING. These reviews are spoilery AF. Proceed at your own risk, and don't come crying to me if you get spoiled after I've told you I'm spoiling things.

CONTENT WARNING. These books include some pretty heavy subject matter, and to talk about the books, I have to talk about the heavy topics too. So content warning for violence, sexual assault, mentions of suicide, violence, death, abortion, and physical, mental, and psychological abuse. This series does have a happy ending, but please take care of you. No book is worth your peace or mental health, so skip this if you need to. We'll be here if and when you're ready, and if you don't ever want to engage with these books/this post, we will happily see you in a space that you want to be and feel safe in.

A Shadow in the Ember

My middle sister and I have been sharing books since elementary school. Our tastes diverge a bit, and we definitely have favorite genres that the other pehaps does not roll with (literally, my PhD is in English lit and hers will be in bioinformatics, we are the Humanities-STEM divide writ large), but overall we can almost always find common ground in books. This sister is the reason I read The Hunger Games, so when she handed me this book, I dived on in...and now I have THOUGHTS. Let's talk A Shadow in the Ember.

Some light spoilers below the break. Nothing major, but take care if you haven't read the book yet!

When handing me this book, my sister basically said that she wasn't terribly invested in the leads, but the worldbuilding and subplot held her attention, and I have to agree with that assessment. Sera and Ash (or Nyktos, or Primal of Death...seriously, how did an editor not take one look at that and insist on the author picking ONE name???) are fairly generic YA protagonists. Sera has just enough character to not be Katniss or Bella Swan or [insert popular YA heroine here], but she's designed to be a canvas upon which a reader can project themself. Sometimes that's fine, and I want a blank slate I can find-and-replace myself onto. Other times...other times I would like an actual character to read about. Ash is very much the same; I imagine that a teenage reader could project themself onto him without too much trouble. The protagonists are definitely not the reason to read this book.

That said, some of the secondary characters--particularly Ezra and Nektas (seriously, where was the editor on this book? Nyktos and Nektas is just begging readers to get confused)--are intriguing and compelling and very fun to read about.

The worldbuilding and the (somehow this is a) subplot about the primals and who switched powersets with whom was incredibly interesting, and I was very much there for it. The concern about what the heck to do about the literal land dying and a prophecy/bargain with a primal that may or may not be real was intriguing. That said, it was worldbuilding and subplot rather than main plot, so it's not as fleshed out as I would have liked.

Overall, I agree with my sister on this one: I was weirdly invested in the background and worldbuilding, but the protagonists could have been any generic SFF protagonists, and while that didn't make the book less enjoyable to read, I definitely wanted the protagonists to be more than blank slates to project on.

A Light in the Flame

Ok, so two things are simultaneously true: First, if the sex in a book grinds the plot of a book to a screeching halt for like five consecutive chapters, that's just bad writing. Pacing is a THING, and the middle of this book didn't have it. Second, I am too invested in Sera and Ash's story to stop at this point, especially with the flippin' cliffhanger of this book. So let's talk A Light in the Flame.

Abandon all expectations of this being a spoiler-free review, ye who enter here. There will be spoilers.

Also some discussions of consent and assault.

Ok. Seraphena and Ash are AWFUL at communication, and I feel like if we improved that just a skoosh and cut some of the unnecessary sex scenes to tighten up the pacing, this book would have been excellent. Unfortunately, it's kind of caught somewhere between erotica and romantasy and doesn't balance those influences well in the pacing. Plus, we had all of book 1 to establish that Ash and Sera aren't good communicators, so when we got to the "oopsie poopsie, walked in on Ash and the mean girls primal appearing to be boning" misunderstanding, I was just like...have we seriously not moved past this?

And while we're here: I will acknowledge that men being assaulted by women happens, and it doesn't get the weight and representation in fiction it probably should. I also appreciate that this book handles it like the trauma and totally nonconsensual thing it is...but just because it's a guy doesn't mean I like reading about it. Because the book explicitly pulls feeding and sex apart as things that can but by no means have to go together, it pulls the metaphor away from sexual assault a bit. It's a weird one though because how much of Ash and Sera's relationship is sex, and how much the worldbuilding doesn't support reading this as not a sexual assault. It's a bit tangled and strange, but I can't even necissarily say it was badly handled, because unlike the majority of fictional instances where this happens to male characters, it's not written off as a joke. I just think the worldbuilding and intent are a little contradictory here. Like...yeah, sure, Ash and mean girls primal didn't ever actually have sex, but I literally struggle to the point of being totally unable to read this mini character arc as anything other than a sexual assault allegory. And I do not understand the mental gymnastics Sera does to try to pull apart forced feeding from sexual assault, because she did try that, but I was not following.

Moving beyond the pacing issues and issues with conflicting intent and worldbuilding, Ash and Sera's relationship was compelling. I appreciate the shift we see in Sera as she learns to value her own life--and the stab-twist as she is then condemned to die anyway, probably at Ash's hand was amazing (I am low-key an angst hound)--and in Ash as he begins to untangle all the conflicting control and wildly out of control aspects of his life. The character growth and dynamics there were always fun and believable and I was super invested in Ash and Sera's relationship with each other and their relationships with other characters.

Sera's relationships with the castlefolk--and Nektas and Reaver in particular--are darling and really lovely to read about. I also liked that we finally got to see her relationships with other primals, and her relationship with Kolis--such as it is.

Real quick before we wrap up, I just want to reiterate/clarify the point I rather haphazardly made in the intro. I don't have anything against sex scenes in books in principle. Go ham, authors, and readers can enjoy if they so choose. No judgement on their existence or the enjoyment of said scenes by readers or writers. What I object to is when sex in books that aren't explicitly meant to be erotica actually impedes the plot. And I think this book, especially the middle sections, had sex scenes impede the forward motion of the plot. We could have either cut back on the number of sex scenes or tied the plot into the sex scenes more closely so the plot kept moving even as Sera and Ash were smushing bits. So the mixed genres here was a bit of a detriment rather than a strength for this specific reason.

Just in general, the character work and worldbuilding in this book were excellent. The nice little parallel at the end where both Ash and Kolis want the embers out of Sera, but Ash refuses to kill Sera and Kolis refuses to kill Sotoria and if neither one sucks it up and kills her, her impending Ascension almost certainly will was also *chef's kiss*. I cannot wait to see how Sera wriggles out of THAT one, and the angst quotient is through the roof and I am HERE for it.

A Fire in the Flesh

One of these days, I swear I'm actually not going to do a thing I say I'm not doing. But today is not that day. This review isn't going to be as in-depth as usual, mostly because I just honestly don't have that much to say about it, and what I do have to say is...less complimentary than I shoot for on this blog. So all that said, I guess we're talking A Fire in the Flesh.

CONTENT WARNING: Some brief discussion of sexual assault. Always take care of you first; this book is not worth triggering or retraumatizing yourself over and we will happily see you next time if you need or want to bow out from here.

My biggest critique of this book is that it is generously half a book stretched to 600-odd pages. Like, you could have easily condensed the timeline, nixed about a third of the overall angst, and made this a really strong half of another book. The endless dragging out of Kolis releasing Ash and the agonizingly slow negotiations between Sera and Kolis could have paced faster without losing the stakes or the weight. Honestly, losing some of the dragginess might have ADDED to the weight, because honestly this book hit a point for me where you can only sit in a cage agonizing over whats-ifs and wherefores for so long before I am screeching at the book to *move the fuck on already*. There was too much of this book. Take some back, please.

Now before I jump into the conversation this book clumsily tried to have about sex and consent, I want to make one thing crystal clear:

Consent is important. Talking about consent is important. People knowing that they can choose to revoke consent literally at any time is important. Knowing what isn't consent is also important. This is an important topic and it deserves page time.

That said, maybe the king of "my dick wasn't actually inside you so it doesn't count" and gaslighting's court is not like...the best place to have that conversation. Especially with the mean girl primal (yes, she has a name, I don't care) actively going "I got off so its not rape" and making Sera question her own feelings about Kolis's assault on her. Gaslight is probably not the vibe you want in a romance book.

And yeah, the book tries to have nuanced conversations about this, but I didn't find them particularly well handled. The pacing and bloat of the book might have had something to do with that, because honestly I got tired of the repetitive nature of all of this. Again, brevity and speed might have strengthened an otherwise weak attempt at dealing with the absolutely fucky relationship North America has with sexual assault and its propensity to minimize, victim blame, and gaslight. And again, THIS TOPIC IS IMPORTANT. This book just wasn't well structured and paced enough to pull off the conversation it wanted to have, and then it also threw in the scene where Sera breaks a glass dildo in half and murders a guy with it. That is FARCICAL. Pick a tone and stick with it when you're trying to have a weighty conversation.

I will say that the ascension bits at the end and Ash full-on going "if you die, I'm dragging the world to hell after you" was entertaining, in a twisted kind of way. I did also think that it was an extension of the last two books' "Ash and Sera can't communicate if their lives depend on it" problem, but I'm starting to think this series is treating that like a feature rather than a bug, so... *shrug*.

That's more or less my take on this book. It was too long, it was too slow, and it could easily have been the first ten chapters of a stronger book. I wish I could say it was at least a dumb fun read, but the pacing just absolutely killed the reading experience for me.

Born of Blood and Ash

The book gods SMILED on me with this one, y'all. The book officially came out August 13, 2024, but it showed up a few days early to arrive on my doorstep the morning of my birthday. It was a TREAT <3

I was a little on the fence at the end of A Fire in the Flesh, because it was a lot of STUFF and I felt like the necessary aftermath was...just straight up not present. Well I should have more faith in authors, because this book handled the aftermath BRILLIANTLY, Ash and Sera finally figure out communication, and they get to kick unreal amounts of ass as they also figure out working through trauma. I absolutely adored this book! Small caveat: I have not read the Blood and Ash series. I have no idea what happens in those books, so it could not and did not color my read of the Flesh and Fire series, so if you HAVE read the Blood and Ash books, your experience may differ from mine and your mileage may vary.

This is your SPOILER WARNING and you CONTENT WARNING. I'm gonna spoil the crap out of this book. Please also be aware that this is going to require discussions of trauma, sexual assault, recovery from sexual assault, abortion, and a whole lot of murder. Take care of you and give this one a pass if you need to. We'll be here if and when you're ready.

So just to cover all my bases, and to start with a trend I REALLY hope we keep seeing in books, I'm going to share JLA's content warning from the front of Born of Blood and Ash here:

I love that authors are giving readers more autonomy to make informed choices about the books they engage with, and honestly given the hard conversations in this book? Well done JLA for including it. Because she's not exaggerating here; Sera was assaulted in multiple ways by Kolis in the last book, and this book is where that trauma comes home to roost.

Sera's reaction to her trauma resonated for me, because she spends a HUGE chunk of this book literally telling everyone "it was nothing," "I'm fine," "he didn't rape me [because there wasn't penetration]" (and just to be clear: He did. She gets there, but it takes time to process), and "other people experienced way worse than I did." We're not even ENTERTAINING the idea that she might have had a point, because the book absolutely does not and she DOESN'T have a point. Her experience was awful and it was real and her reactions and trauma are valid. That doesn't mean she sees it that way right away though, and I also appreciated that we got a reveal that Sera had been hiding the memory of what truly happened from even herself in this book. It can take time to acknowledge even to yourself what happened, and I honestly appreciated the time and space Sera got in this book to work through acknowledging the trauma in her own time.

So often the world wants you to just get better immediately, and that's not how brains work. That Sera was given the time, space, and support she was throughout the book was honestly lovely to see--especially since we had people like Kyn, Veses, and Kolis actively trying to twist and weaponize a narrative to try to shame, isolate, and embarrass her. But Ash was having none of that, and nor were Attes, Rhaine, or Aios. They also were very clear that they didn't need to know anything that Sera didn't want to share, and that is another really important piece for handling trauma. Nobody was judging, nobody needed Sera to be "the perfect victim" to support her. They simply validated her and offered whatever support she wanted or needed. That support and understanding was truly lovely to see, and there were moments I was full-on over here crying because of the support and grace extended to Sera as she found her own strength and her own ability to process and move forward.

And despite the fact that Sera does begin to process and move forward, there is no "have one good cry and one good conversation and suddenly everything is 100% better" nonsense. At the end of the book, Sera is in a SIGNIFICANTLY better space, and she is living with her trauma and experiences, but they're not gone. They've simply shifted, to be a part of her that she acknowledges and handles and has good and bad days with. I personally find that way more comforting and hopeful that magical disappearing trauma in books.

I could go on for a LONG time about how much I appreciated how this book handled Sera's management of her trauma, but at some point it's going to devolve into "OMG THIS WAS DONE SO SO WELL" over and over. The last little piece I'm going to say about it for the moment is that while some people might find the beginning of the book repetitive as Sera has very similar conversations about her trauma with people over and over, I would counter that with the fact that honestly? That felt deeply realistic to me. You have to bleed off the poison of just mentioning the cause of the trauma, and sometimes you need to visit and revisit that, and that is ok. Sera was allowed and given space to do that, and the world would be better if that was the case IRL too.

Now, just because we have to deal with the trauma Kolis dealt out in the previous book doesn't mean he's sitting on the beach with a book. No, Kolis is over here still trying to be the Primal of Blood and Ash and to get Sotoria back and basically wreak havoc and vengeance on everything and everyone. So not only are Sera and Ash working through the aftermath of the previous book, but Sera has to figure out her new set of Primal skills, face down Kolis and the Arae, and she has to deal with her own perceived monstrosity. That last one gets really bad when Kolis murders her entire human family, and in rage and grief Sera kills a LOT of people. Then brings some of them back to life, while forgetting that that will kill OTHER other people. Sera is super not ok after this, and spirals into "Oh my gods, I'm just as bad as Kolis" and we spend a really nice amount of time with Ash and Attes and Aios talking to Sera and helping her work through what monstrosity is and when a little monstrosity might be a virtue rather than a vice.

Again, this conversation isn't simple, it doesn't simply absolve Sera of her actions, and it doesn't even go "Oh no, sweetie, it's ok! You're not a monster!" because that would be a lie. Monstrosity exists, it is part of the reality of who Sera is and what she's become. But there is a really lovely acceptance of that, and a negotiation of how you live with monstrosity and where the hard lines are. I really appreciate the acknowledgement of that reality and the negotiation of it. There was something almost Eliot Spencer from Leverage about it, because it was coming to an equilibrium about who and what you are and how to leverage that for the most good you can do.

(Ok, I swore I wasn't going to take any cheap shots at Rhysand in this conversation, but I cannot help myself, because if ANYONE needs a come to Jesus about their own monstrosity and when it stops being ok, it's the lead bat boy!!! I said to someone when I was reading this book that JLA is the anti-SJM in some really key ways, and I stand by that...especially when it comes to the pregnancy thing.)

We're just going to take that parenthetical segue, because it's there and I am so excited to talk about the OTHER really good (if brief) conversation this book has: the pregnant person's choice when it comes to deciding whether to keep or abort a pregnancy. I did a whole little post about this while I was still reading because it was done SO WELL, and I'm just going to let Aios speak for herself about this one, because here is what she says to Sera:

Aios nodded. "Okay." She cleared her throat, her eyes glistening. "There doesn't need to be a choice [about whether to go into battle pregnant] at all." My breath snagged, and I recoiled. "I'm the Primal of Life, Aios." "You are Seraphena first." The eather intensified behind her pupils. "A woman who has fought for her autonomy. This is your body." My fingers dug into my knees. "You're a goddess of fertility, so hearing you speak of terminating a pregnancy to the Primal of Life is...kind of odd." "What I am allows me to fully understand the complex nature of these things." She reached between us, tucking a stray curl behind my ear. "Sometimes, the time is simply not right. It happens. And if anyone faults you for that, that is on them. Not you. They do not live your life. It is their problem. Not yours."

THIS IS HOW YOU HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT ABORTION. You speak directly to the pregnant person and give them all the information about their body. You remember that it is THEIR body. You don't judge. You offer space and compassion. This was such a kind, compassionate, and realistic conversation and I was almost in tears again about how well this was done.

(And again, to take a wee bit of a cheap shot at ACOTAR...JLA had the dang conversation here. SJM was just like, "C-sections aren't a thing, so I guess Feyre's going to just die. Abortion? That doesn't exist. Time for Rhys's man pain to take precedence over Feyre's choices about her own damn body!)

Sera decides to keep her babies, but the fact is? She had a choice. She would have been supported and loved whatever choice she made. There is a power to that kind of love, support, and acceptance that--once again--we could use more of IRL.

Those are kind of the big three conversations and themes that the book focuses on, but it's not all heavy and conversation-driven. The sex scenes are fewer in this book that previous ones, but they're well done and they don't bog down the dang plot, which I appreciate. Additionally, we get some purely DELIGHTFUL Ash and Sera being BAMF and going full primal. There are also some delightfully sweet scenes with Reaver and Jadis, plus some peak comedy with Sera trying to stop everyone and their mother from bowing to her.

And the best thing? Ash and Sera have cracked the communication code and they actually have FREAKING NAILED IT. That is character growth, and that is setup and payoff. I adored it.

Overall, while the middle two books of the series were a little hit and miss for me, the quartet as a whole was fantastic. I'm so happy my sister pestered me until I let her put the first book in my hand, and we've had such fun reading them. I cannot recommend these enough, and I absolutely adore Ash and Sera's dynamics.

[committingtothetbr]

Review: A Shadow in the Ember by J.L.A

I can't believe I'm still here and done with the third book in the TBR challenge! I'm so happy I'm actually sticking to it and starting to see some progress. I'm starting to see my book shelf free up and it's making me feel all giddy LOL. Even though we have a long way to go, let's get to it with the wrap-up of this banter, love-bomb-filled, sexy, and steamy fantasy romance that is bound to rip you to shreds as JLA does.

This book is the first prequel novel to the From Blood and Ash universe, and this is absolutely hypnotic. After. being on the SJM train for quite some time, I had read the first three books in the FBAA universe and then I started SJM. Obviously, that took so much time!! However, I'm back with JLA baby and I'm ready! Going into this novel, I was aware that this was going to be a novel based off Nyktos, a Primal (or god) who we briefly met in I believe it was A Crown of Guilded Bones. He gave Daddy energy then, and I just knew we were in for a little treat! I, of course, was hesitant to read this as this was the first book without our beloved Casteel, but nevertheless, I persisted.

And let me tell you something-- I was completely invested!!! It's not history repeating itself, but it's history repeating itself. And knowing what we know now in the FBAA universe, A Shadow in the Ember is an incredibly easy read with the main female protagonist Sera in almost the same footsteps as Poppy. We see a whole new universe unfold with draken and it completely opens up a new storyline to which we hadn't seen before or come across.

Sera is one hell of a fighter and a character, but she doesn't really resonate with me that much and is pretty forgettable. Maybe that's because of the lack of care for her own life and the negative outlook and tone that she may carry, but I know that maybe my ideas and opinions will change on the upcoming books.

This was an intriguing storyline, but I refuse to believe that Nyktos could be so silly and to think that Sera was not supposed to ever come across the idea of killing him. I think it's pretty apparent that that thought should have come across her doorstep once or twice before, I don't really know why Ash is so naive when it comes to THAT. lol.

I usually don't give five stars out this much, but I already bought the next book and I'm invested in the story line. For me not to give the book a high rating would be doing a disservice to the author. Regardless of what people may think when it comes to the editing style, Jen always keeps me invested and coming back for another book. JLA, you easily sucked me back into your world, you.

Personal Rating: 5/5

[katrinegrey]

A Fire in the Flesh final thoughts

Major Spoilers (and rambling) ahead y'all. You've been warned.

[This was typed on mobile. I apologize in advance for the terrible formatting and spelling in addition to my post-book excited nonsensical ramblings.]

Excuse me while I scream and cry and bemoan the next 6 months we'll have to wait to see Sera and Nyktos and everyone again even though we literally just got the new book yesterday.

I'm so happy with where this book cutoff too. Like, there's still plenty that has to happen but there's no awful cliffhanger. The first like two thirds were a little bit of a struggle, not gonna lie, but in true JLA fashion that last third was *chef's kiss*.

I thought Nyktos was going to be my favorite character to come out of this book, as he had with the previous two, but he wasn't. It's fully Sera and by an absolute fucking mile. She's perfect.

The parallels in this book between Flesh and Fire and the Blood and Ash series were exactly what I've been hoping for. All the little pieces are starting to come together in a big way with the plot (pretty poppy, sotoria's whole storyline, why Kolis was never killed outright, etc.) but also all of the tiny little tidbits thrown in. Sera slamming her hands over her face, the cavern, how she keeps talking about how she would want to treat her kids...it was all so beautiful.

Getting to know some of the other characters better was great too. That was one of my biggest complaints, how so many of the side characters weren't fleshed out as far as they feel like they could have been. That changed quite a bit with Attes and Rhain, but even the villainous characters like Callum, Kyn, Veses, and Calliphe. The depth they're given without giving a pass to the awful things they've committed was masterfully executed.

I will say, on a very personal and petty side note, there was a severe lack of young draken in this one, and I will pout until May about the lack of Jadis and Reaver. However, that part where Sera is mostly unaware in her dreamlike state, while but she feels Jadis on her legs was just too cute for words.

Speaking of words, my GODS did Nyktos have some. I was a little worried with as little page time that boy had in the first two thirds that they weren't going to be able to flesh him out enough to satisfy, but ho mama was so wrong. Chapter 39 to finish was perfection of every kind. Heartbreaking and hot and sweet.

And if anyone has a petition going for an ASOAAB type book of Sera in stasis from Nyktos' perspective, I will totally sign it.

Seeing Sera go full Primal in the next book will be so worth the wait. I desperately need to see her talk to Ezra again too.

Rating: 5 stars

[cap-mack-23]

Theories on how Sera will survive the Ascension: (SPOILERS for ALITF)

ASH will Ascend Sera:

1. Ash has "fallen" for Sera in the same vein as the Ancients "fell" and developed kardia/emotion in the first place. This is evident in Nektas's language "he is how you wish him to be." It's clear he is unable to recognize what love feels/tastes like and is unable to place the emotion at the coronation once Sera realized she was in love with him. He feels peace with Sera according to Nektas, we know peace is a defining feature of true love in the JLA-verse because Aios (goddess of love, etc in Poppycas time) describes it as such when Sera asks her before the coronation. He is willing to choose Sera's safety over that of his people/the shadowlands/the world - he admitted he wasnt protecting the embers, he was protecting Sera. This emotional reaction is not the logical/able to put aside caring for the greater good he described in SITE as the advantage of not loving one person above all others.

-there's also the language I've seen pointed out that without a kardia you cannot love someone "not of your own blood" and how Sera has consumed Nyktos's blood so its a loophole

2. Ash will have his kardia restored by Maia or Aios (since Sera Ascended her at the end of ALITF) and will make it to Sera before Kolis drains her of blood and starts the Ascension

-I havent thought this one out as much because it seems more direct narratively, but the “narratively direct” route just doesn’t seem like JLA’s style so this one is much less likely to me

KOLIS will Ascend Sera:

1. This was my immediate assumption at the end of ALITF because Kolis had already begun the process of draining Sera for the embers when he realized she had Sotoria's soul within her. We know that Kolis loves Sotoria (in a twisted, possessive way) and he is currently the Primal of Life, so he could meet the "blood of the Primal that one of the embers of life belonged to" criteria even though he stole his embers from Eythos. Holland states "she will die without the love of the one who Ascends her." We know that only one of the embers in Sera technically belongs to Ash so the other ember (I believe it belonged to Eythos, right?) is the one that would likely respond to Kolis since he stole his brothers birthright and we know he drained Eythos's life force as well (there's also the loophole of blood meaning family, Kolis being Nyktos's uncle and blood relative). 

Narratively, Kolis saving Sera and Ascending her into the Primal of Life makes sense because of the narrative trend of Kolis/Nyktos being swapped in Sera's understanding (her destiny was to kill Kolis, not to kill Nyktos; Kolis caused the Rot, not Nyktos; she tries to run off to seduce Kolis and continue her plan that was originally meant for Nyktos, etc). This also provides reason and closure for Sotoria's soul and possibly explains why Nyktos states he believes Sera is right and she has two souls, hers AND Sotoria's, instead of being another reincarnation of Sotoria alone (I imagine Sotoria's soul/life force would be removed from Sera's body/drained in place of Sera's).

Also Kolis bringing about his own reckoning because of his obsession with Sotoria, giving her/Sera the power to end him and fulfill the prophecy makes for great storytelling

-my main hangup about this is that its not a great message about love because clearly Kolis is toxic and I would hate for it to be confirmed he does truly love Sotoria, but with the narrative trend of unhealthy/ obsessive love (Isbeth to Malec, Eythos/Mycella/Kolis, Nyktos's whole reason for removing his kardia being the fall of the Ancients due to love) and Sera's philosophy on goodness/trying to be good I feel like its a real possibility

——

also thoughts on how the requirement to Ascend a mortal into a primal impacts the original Ascension between Poppy/Casteel? Was Poppy's Ascension into the True Primal of Life and Death/Blood and Bone also reliant on Cas's true love and will for her to live?

[incorrectfbaaquotes]

Rhain: Whose turn is it to give the pep-talk?

Nyktos *sighing*: Sera’s.

Sera: Fuck shit up out there, but don’t die!

Bele: Inspirational.

[nova-opteryx]

Honestly can't remember if I shared these yet! A drawing if ky'ra and nyktos stretching and them some beads I designed for them to give to a oc that belongs to a friend!

[hawkefaery]

It is not a secret that I absolutely hate Malec and I give a shit whose son he is, and despite I do like Ires, Nyktos and Sera, I rarely speak of them because I do like them but nothing special.

HOWEVER, can we please talk for a second about how cute it would look Sera and Nyktos playing withe their sons in the pool?? like omg how adorable, both mother and father doing supper powerful tricks to entertain their little ones. It’s just adorable to picture

[luxmaeastra]

Lumas snarled yet Mania kept him pinned her teeth bared.

"Why are you here?! Why are you friendly with my Galina?!"

Lumas closed his eyes leaning into the bonds he'd made over his long life. The thread shimmered, alive and waiting. Epithumia looked up at him from her bed. Her body glowing as she watches him approach from her balcony.

"Would you be my consort Lumas?"

Lumas remembered how soft her skin had felt under his fingers. He remembered her coy smile as she looked to him.

"That is Silba allowed such a thing?"

"She will, she and I are honored to serve you Epithumia. Are you sure you want someone like me?"

"A war hero? A loyalist till the end? What else could I want?"

He felt the magic flow through his veins, the runes flaring over his skin. He threw Mania off and stood dusting him off. Mantus stared at him looking to Mania as she stood and stared at him.

"Where - where is my sister?"

"Give me what I want Mania."

Mania stared at him, he held her gaze. He was so close - so close he could almost feel her pulse.

Mania's face crumpled and she slowly sank to her knees. Lumas followed knelting by her holding his hand up. She sniffed and slowly pulled the emerald from her pocket. He gripped her hand pulling her to her feet. He held the key out to her.

"She's in a villa, happy as can be."

Lumas swept past her to Mantus and met his gaze.

"Prepare the vat."

"Lumas -"

"Do it."

Mantus jaw tightened and he moved to Mania. He guided them all down the hallway to a small room with a raised stone tub. It was in the middle of the room, ley lines focused on it making it a nexus point. Fresh blood was being filled in the tub. The slaves mute and broken already.

Lumas didn't care swiping some of the blood to sample. He held a finger out to Silba grinning as she sucked of his finger. Viren swallowed his revulsion and looked to his father.

"What is happening?"

Nyktos swallowed and felt Ilyios appear a second before he materialized. Neither answered Viren. Though his mother was here now as was his aunt. What was happening?!

Lumas stepped forward as held the green jewel.

"Do you remember how things were like before all of this Saetan?"

Saetan gave a sad smile and squeezed Cassandra's hand.

"Yes. Are you sure Lumas? This -"

"Yes. Yes I am sure."

"She may not be the same -"

"Are any of us?"

Lumas cradled the gem looking to Saetan.

"What is the story you will spin Saetan?"

"The truth."

"No, no you will tell her something better. He left, he died to be with her - he's locked away in some forgotten prison. You will not her the truth."

Saetan's face softened and he nodded.

"As you wish Lumas."

Viren looked to the gem, he could see it was cracked with dark veins. Since when did Saetan give into anything Lumas said.

Viren stiffened feeling a wave of power pull Sarai and he and their siblings back.

"I wouldn't do that, a Reborn Asteri will be ravenous and prey on any weak ones they see. You know in my day they'd lock young and disobedience Asteri in with the Reborn ones. Solved two problems at once."

Nkytos stared gripping Viren's sleeve.

"Father what are you -"

Vanth grinned at his sons pulling them both into quick hugs and winnowing to where Lumas stood.

"You actually did it. I never doubted you Lumas."

"No you called me insane."

"Because you were."

Vanth squeezed Lumas shoulder as he dropped the gem in the blood.

--------

The blood had drained from the pool, the room had gone dark, no light entered it. Viren watched in awe his grip tightening on Sarai as the light began to trickle back into the room. The light was going from the tub and back to through the ley lines.

"A give and take of power, of magic Viren. Everything must have balance."

He swallowed and resisted the urge to look at his mother. She'd changed too much to be that person anymore - even if Keir desperately and secretly wished she would.

The figure rose from the tub, the light would have blinded a witch, it would have incinerated everything it touched. It dimmed slowly, seeping back into the Asteri who sat in the tub.

Viren couldn't see her but he could see the tangle blond hair. The slight tremors of her body.

She reached for Lumas hand gripping it tightly.

"Papa? Uncle Saetan? Auntie Cassandra? I - where - where is he? Where is Bacchus?"

It had been one of the reasons why he had ensured Galina was safely tucked away, even as friendly as his father was with her, he knew better than to trust a snake. Elier stood behind his sister and brother-in-law, his eyes watched as the older members of the room teamed among themselves. Even Morven was standing nearby, the look of displeasure of being summoned was as clear as his displeasure for him.

She was shaking, even if his sister was standing strong beside her mate, he could see the subtle signs. What emotions were going through her in that moment? What thoughts? Even though Galina was his Queen and she would always be his number one, his sister would always be his second after her and his children. He always wanted to make sure she was safe, make sure she was happy and protected.

As everything continued to shift and change, she shifted closer to Viren when she felt his grip tighten. Her eyes never left the vat, the figure that sat there. She had heard of her siblings before her, she had heard whispers and had seen paintings in passing. She had been one of the few she had been compared to again and again.

Saetan moved forwards, holding out a robe for her. His eyes connected with Lumas, he wasn't going to take the reigns on this one. Yes, he had agreed on the story they would tell, but at the same time, she needed her father before anyone else.