A Soul of Ash and Blood

Blood and Ash, Book 5

De: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Narrado por: Tim Campbell

Duración: 19 h y 43 m

Resumen del Editor

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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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

Fall in love with Cas all over again!

I went into this with ALL the excitement and hope and I will start off by saying it blew my expectations! I didn’t quite know what to expect after we got the sneaky synopsis reveal for what was in store and as per usual Jen served it all! We got Daddy Cas POV telling his side of the story while simultaneously moving the plot forward from where we left off in TWOTQ. We get a bunch of scenes we hadn’t before that open new questions, a hundred more theories and what appear to be sneaky breadcrumb reveals! We get so much awesome Dark Daddy Cas kicking ass and taking hearts in the name of our Poppy, even if he doesn’t quite allow himself at that time to admit it. We get SO MUCH Kieran and Cas that we hadn’t before and I reveled in every moment!

This was by no means just a retelling of FBAA (book one) from Cas POV it is that and SO SO MUCH MORE! I was swept off my feet by all the swoon worthy moments, and I’m loving the fact I have so many new questions and theories brewing after so many big reveals and new insight. I’d happily take this style of writing for every book in FBAA and ASITE if it were possible honestly because so much happened alongside so many questions being answered. Where we leave off as always just has me screaming I NEED THE NEXT BOOK and reaching to reread both series all over again with the new information gained.

The pacing was fantastic and at no point did I feel like I was being given old news or slogging through info dumps etc. Everything was fresh, entirely new and exciting and the reveals were scream worthy! Seriously, Jen outdid herself and I could not have asked for ASOAAB to be any more or any less! 5 big bright I love Casteel stars for yet another triumph of a book!

Now to the audiobook! Narrator Tim Campbell is back (he narrated TWOTQ Casteel POV) with a bang! Or shall I say…a growl? You will not find a voice actor who can do a better dark daddy voice than Tim Campbell in my opinion. His intensity fits our passionate Cas, and gives a lot of extra depth to how strongly he feels things. If you’ve ever wondered what a Romantasy writer meant when describing a male character growling, Tim will answer that question and leave you fanning yourself after like OH that’s what they meant! He will leave you shaking in your boots and smiling like that grinch gif!

For me there were big boots to fill here as a HUGE Stina Nielson fan who narrated all characters up until TWOTQ including Cas, so shifting to a new narrator joining the team in TWOTQ was concerning, though unwarranted entirely. Even though he smashed it in TWOTQ as a dual narrator I wondered if it would be jarring with a whole book without Stina, but again it was totally unwarranted. I don’t think anyone could have filled her shoes better honestly, and at no point did I find myself struggling to connect the Cas voice I’ve grown accustomed to with Stina, to the one performed by Tim Campbell. His voice is so utterly unique, and the best word I can think to describe it is intense. Intense, and full of a dark mysterious depth that is absolutely everything needed for a fantasy read with otherworldly characters. This doesn’t sound like Todd from HR, this sounds like an Atlantian ready to burn the world if need be in the name of love. He will have you coming back for more and rewinding the spicy scenes again and again. He fully encapsulates why spicy reads are truly best with audio.

My only small suggestion is that some of the female voices he does could be fine tuned a bit to not sound as high pitched at times. Because in some scenes it can make the character sound younger, or exaggerated especially in spicy scenes, which can take you out of the moment a bi in my opiniont. However his male voices cannot be touched they are straight up flawless! I especially love his Nektas voice!

Overall it was an absolute joy to get to ARC read this book, especially in both formats and I will be listening to this audiobook again and again! This was yet another smash hit for Jen, and I can’t wait to see where she takes us next!

Thank you so much Jillian Stein of Blue Box Press for the Ebook/hardcover present of my dreams, and to Brilliance Audio for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. My views are entirely my own, and honest.

Lovely drink of water, waiting for wine.

The excitement hearing Cass POV was thrilling. I sooo hoped he'd include when the three of them joined together, but alas, no such luck. I'm grateful for the tid bits of knowledge from Cass PoV, yet I can't help but feel a little salty over the Massive Cliffhanger. This book is a teaser similar to Cass seduction threat in book 1.

Another Grand Slam!!!

To prepare for reading this book, I reread all of the books in the series. At first, I thought I was going to be annoyed, but after only a few minutes, I really enjoyed seeing the story unfold through Castile’s eyes. Jennifer Armentrout is a genius. She has a way of captivating her audience that very few authors are capable of. I love this book series.

Reliving was just as Great!

Yet another great read in this installment. JLA is a fantastic Author always bringing you deep into the story. She had me on edge even in this one. I can’t wait for the next! ❤️

Such Good Storytelling

I love when authors redo the book in the perspective of the other main character and its really different from the original story. It makes you understand perspective and what the other character goes through.

Love love loved

I loved every moment of this book!! His POV brought so much more to the story line. Can’t wait for the next one!!! Please don’t make us wait a year.

Disappointed

I love this series but was disappointed that this entire book was basically a recap.

Loved it!

I absolutely loved hearing the story told from Cas's POV. Getting to see more into Cas/Kieran's relationship and hearing Kierans thoughts of poppy. This made me love Kieran even more ❤️ The last chapter got pretty crazy there, and I'm really hoping that's where the book in October picks up from which I believe was the point of having past and present instead of it just being a POV retelling. Seeing a lot of negative comments complaining about it being mostly a retelling, which I don't understand, did u all not read the description of the book before u got it? because that is literally what it says the book will be. I'm really hoping the next book it narrated by both Stina and Tim.

Fantastic

I really enjoyed this book! I want to keep hearing more from Cas’s pov! I know it was a retelling but it was more than that. Having his point of view and knowing how she felt in the exact same moment was super interesting. I’m already waiting for the next book!

So disappointed

Total waste of time it's nothing but a recap of the first book getting a refund... I do enjoy the series but this one was a complete slap in the face. Feel like I've been punked