Ailís's Reviews > A Soul of Ash and Blood

** spoiler alert ** Do I think a Casteel POV of events that happened in book 1 was necessary? No.

Did I like the book? It was okay but I had a few problems with it.

I saw Casteel in a new light, and it wasn't necessarily a good one.

What I loved:
✅ Ires meeting Poppy
✅ Casteel shifting

What I didn't love:
❌ Too much focus on Casteel's previous sex life
❌ Minimal background on Cas' captivity
❌ Little to no progress on current plot

From the teasers and other posts that Jennifer released on her FB group about ASOAAB, it seemed like this book wasn't going to simply be a rehashing of events from Book 1, it would also deal with the trauma Casteel went through during his time as Isbeth's captive.

Unfortunately, this was only touched on very lightly and did not delve any deeper than surface level. Instead, the trauma was used as an excuse for Casteel to become a manwhore for all intents and purposes and it all boiled down to having the choice to fuck whomever he wanted.

I honestly found this baffling. I understand that people deal with trauma differently, but I really would have preferred if Jennifer would have come at this from a different angle and really got into the nitty gritty of his trauma. I think it would have made for a darker read and given us better look at Casteel's character.

A lot of page time was devoted to Casteel's past and current escapades and his prowess in the bedroom and how his good looks got him laid quite easily. Now, while we don't have actual scenes of Cas being intimate with anyone other than Poppy, I could have honestly done without it. It had been alluded to in previous books but actually having to read about it, I just didn't need it.

The scenes with Britta ground my gears somewhat but I got that they were necessary; I was kind of shocked that Casteel was contemplating fucking her when the opportunity had presented itself even though a few chapters earlier he had made it clear in his mind that he wasn't interested in going down that road any longer. This gave me the ick considering the visceral reactions he had been having to Poppy.

I also didn't really care for his thoughts on his own shock at not wanting to have casual sexual encounters with people. Again, his shock at not wanting to join in with Kieran when he was fucking a descenter named Circe (whom Casteel had already been with perviously) this scene went into graphic detail and again it was not something I wanted to read about.

The focus on sex in this book and it not being with the FMC just didn't sit right with me. I know it is crazy that I am saying this as I love smut but for this story that we have been following for 4 books so far, did we really need this? As I said, I saw Cas in a new light and I didn't like what I saw.

It is clear to me now that Jennifer is setting up the final book for either a committed Poly relationship between Cas, Poppy & Kieran or at the very least a casual fucking relationship between all three and I am not here for it.

This series made no intimations or mentions of this kind of relationship until book 4. If it had been part of the series when it started, I wouldn't have minded but Jennifer included Heartmates in this world and I fail to see why this was included if the mates in question will be opening up the relationship.. it makes a mockery of the whole fated-mates trope, surely?

This is further alluded to when Cas shifts into a cave cat and recognises Kieran as his saying "mine". whereas with Emil, he just wanted to kill him.

The "Present" chapters bar the beginning of the book and the very end of the book held no information of any interest to progress the current plot forward. The remaining present chapters contained a monologue of how Casteel and Kieran digested certain times in the past with Poppy. We dd see a quick drop in by Millicent and Malik but again, very minimal information was given here.

The only thing that I really loved was the meeting between Ires and Poppy - that was beautiful, albeit short lived, but a great scene full of emotion.

To be brutally honest, it was rinse and repeat throughout this book; a complete regurgitation of what happened in book 1; it was both monotonous and fatiguing to read.

Verdict: There was no need for a book from Casteel's POV. I wish we could have gotten the next F&F book and then finish Poppy's story next year. I wouldn't bother with this book if I didn't have to but the author has put crucial information at the beginning and end of the book that you need to know before diving into The Primal of Blood and Bone. I really don't like when authors do this as it feels like a cash grab.