Samantha (bookgramsaga reviews)'s Reviews > A Soul of Ash and Blood

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

''But I wasn't a good man. I was just hers.''

Safety warnings:
- No cheating
- No OW/OM drama
- Mention of self-harm
- Trauma/PTSD
- Violence/d*ath
- Loss of loved ones
- Mention of r*pe/s*xual assault
- Mention of torture
- Cliffhanger

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

This won't be a long review (at least as I type that statement).

ASOAAB is all from Cas's POV. We a few ''present'' chapters that are concerning the current situation after TWOTQ but most of this book mainly focuses on FBAA finding out what he was up to while he is away from Poppy and how his plans and plots came to be. Along with many reveals.

It also gives us the whole story from his POV about how he fell in love with Poppy and how all the plans he had for years went right out the window along with the gradual realization that she was his and he was madly in love.

I will say the first three chapters (which I read when JLA released them a while back) still hit hard for me. I am obsessed with the prequels (they are my favorite) and seeing IRES finally, and him being saved was such an intense moment. We find out more about where Jadis is and Nektas taking Ires home to heal. It was just a real emotional moment for Poppy which I kind of wished we could have seen it from her eyes and felt her emotions.

Poppy is still actually going through her ascension and it's not complete, she needs to go into stasis and come back from it before it's all officially done. Nektas tells Cas that she might not remember herself or everyone once she awakens (this has happened twice in his knowledge in history). He advises him to TALK to her and just keep her constantly hearing him which he does and this how we get the story of FBAA Cas (and pre-FBAA).

We find out a lot about Cas and how his mind was working when he was trying to successfully become her guard and everything else that occurred between them.

There are a few sad things he reveals about his time during captivity and afterwards (things he still deals with even right before meeting Poppy). He used self-harming to take the pain of his imprisonment and the consequences of his actions. It's heavy and we get to understand more about him....

BUT AND THIS IS WHAT ANNOYED ME:

According to both Cas and Kieran (multiple times in this book) - Cas never truly told the story of what happened to Shea and there are things that he opted out when telling her the story. He says he will finally tell her when she awakens. WHAT IS IT? Shea is dead because he talks about her death and even JLa said she is dead just recently. This annoyed me because we got 4 books of them building trust and always being honest with each other and this is not revealed?? and we have to wait until next summer to find out? I am in distress.

We do get to see Millie and Malik in present time, and they have returned to Cas. We find out WHY Millie ran, and the truth is she was scared that when the battle happened that her grandmother would be there, and she would kill her as Sera is known for hating Revenants. Malik left obviously because she was gone, and she is his heartmate...something that Malik says she does not know, and he won't say anything because she hates him. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THEIR BOOK.

Malik also tells Cas why he stayed for so long and again it's all because of Millie and he would never leave her no matter what but again she hates him because of the things he has done (which we don't know what he is referring to).

About 80% of this book is based on FBAA events but the present does not really move forward much since Cas is spending every single moment holding Poppy while she sleeps and telling her stories.

We do get a few amazing reveals though at the end though:

1) Cas falls asleep while holding Poppy and a Rev attacks him, injuring him with an ancient bone dagger and he is paralyzed
2) Cas is panicking, and this primal power comes into play, and he SHIFTS INTO A CAVE CAT (which is what Ires/Malec can turn into WHICH they got from Sera)
3) He is unable to process who he is while in that form, but he knows Poppy is his and destroys the Rev
4) Kieran is able to communicate with him without speaking and brings him back
5) Poppy awakens right at the last sentence, and she is officially a primal (her eyes are no longer green)

There is a lot to unpack about the ending but it's also so vague that you don't know what could be happening in the final book (for Poppy and Cas).

A reason this book got 4 stars and not 5 is related to a few things:

1) I wanted more activity during the present or even an appearance of Ash/Sera or even them mentioned of them a bit more, but we got nothing
2) I would have liked to see Poppy's POV about seeing her father and the small moment they had shared
3) This was a retelling for FBAA, and I debated before this came out about rereading it but honestly, I am glad I didn't because this helped me remember so many of the moments.

Also out of context moment:

''Damn, my little marshmallow's getting kinda crispy'' Delano being referred to as marshmallow made me happy.

I cannot wait for F&F book 3 - I need Sera and Ash like I need my next breath. These two are THE COUPLE for me and I have a feeling it will as epic as I want it to be.

We won't know the conclusion to FBAA (Poppy/Cas) until spring/summer 2024 but we will get the compendium in February so that should hold me over after F&F 3!

16/03/2023: WE HAVE A SYNOPSIS!

I am not okay!

The fact that we all thought this would be a complete retelling of the first book only to find out it's actually going to be Cas telling Poppy stories about his life before her and recounting their time together in the beginning BECAUSE HE WAS ADVISED BY SOMEONE to talk to her in her current state.

We know damn well who that someone has to be.

I love this kind of storytelling and I am happy that it won't entirely focus on the first book or the past but we also will get a bunch of current updates to keep us well fed until the next books are out!