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Arena♡'s Reviews > A Heart of Blood and Ashes

A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane
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really liked it
bookshelves: fantasy-and-or-paranormal-romance, enemies-to-lovers



“There are enemies, and there are monsters. Always slay the monsters first, because enemies may one day become allies—but monsters never will.”

Firstly, Thank you so much, Chandler for recommending me this fabulous book!

That being said, when I first started this book, I don’t think I was really invested into it not until the third chapter anyway, which was probably one of the reasons for my four star rating I’ll come back to this soon, but other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book! Even though the start was a little slow, it all went up hill from the time Maddek and Yvenne met! These two were just so combustible and you could see the sparks flying from miles away!

Both main characters are amazingly written and I think the author did a great job of portraying their personalities.

Maddek:
Maddek was the son the king and queen of Parsatheans and commander of the army. Naturally, since he was the son of the king and queen, he was a prince, but that’s not how the Parsatheans decided their kings, no, instead the tribes voted. But either way, Maddek was truly deserving and had proved himself on numerous occasions but, in his heart, he knew that he was a warrior and to rule his people, he needed a warriors thinking and a king’s heart, the latter, something he lacked.

Yvenne:
Yvenne is daughter of king Zhalen, the king of Syssia. Her existence is a secret and she is his most guarded secret, someone very few people know about. From the day she born, she was locked up in a tower, not knowing about the world existing outside those walls, except for what her mother told her, who was imprisoned in the same tower, poisoned and left her there to rot, dying slowly and painfully by her father.

Yvenne’s mother had moonstone eyes, that allowed her to see beyond, a gift which she used to entertain and warn Yvenne by telling her stories of the outside worlds and about people’s life. That was how Yvenne knew about the outside world, through her imagination and through her mother’s descriptions.

She had the moonstone eyes too, which showed her as Nyx’s heir. She didn’t have the ability to see beyond like her mother, nor was she a warrior-queen, instead she was frail and weak, tortured by her own father and brothers. But even though she didn’t know how to yield a sword, she had her tongue, which was sharp as a whip, and her most important weapon.

Plot:

Maddek receives news of the death of his parents, and soon learns that they were killed by Zhalen. He is furious and when he hears the news and wants revenge but the alliance council takes Zhalen’s testimony that the king of Parsatheans assaulted a women and Zhalen therefore had to kill him while in reality, nothing like such had happened. Nevertheless, the alliance council took his testimony as the truth and forbade Maddek from extracting his revenge.

Maddek refused to listen to them. And when he learned that his parents were lured to Syssia by a letter written to his parents by the princess, he is livid and see’s his chance to exact his revenge when he is informed that she’d be journeying to Toleh to marry the king of Toleh. He then journeys with the Dragon’s to get Princess Yvenne and ambushes her on her way to Toleh.

The Dragon are Maddek’s group of warrior guards; there are six of them

His original plan was to kill Yvenne and toss her over the wall of Syssia as revenge but she persuades him to marry her instead, and in return she promises to help him kill her father for her thirst for revenge burns brighter than his. Maddek had decided to kill Zhalen either way, but marrying her would humiliate Zhalen to the deepest level and well, it would help Yveene too because if her father and all of her brothers are dead, then she can take up the throne of Syssia. Syssia is a matriarchal kingdom.

Reason it was a 4 star read for me:

↪︎The beginning was slow as I mentioned before and I wasn’t really invested in it, not until they met anyways.

↪︎Maddek really hurt her at times even though unintentionally. He refused to see things from Yvenne point of view which was something I didn’t like.

↪︎Maddek was unwilling to hear out Yvenne where his mother is concerned and her side of the story which was unpleasant, especially when he almost ripped her tongue out.


Final Thoughts:

This story was beautifully told with it’s amazing characters and a mind-blowing storyline. I loved both of them so much, Yvenne with her insightful and strategic mind and Maddek with his warrior heart. I also loved how they strived each other to be better and how both of them gave each other lessons; Maddek teaching her to be a warrior-queen and Yvenne helping him to have a king’s heart and helping him towards ruling as a king. The side characters were just as amazing and I loved how close they were and didn't treat Yvenne as an outsider and instead welcomed her, albeit gradually because they still had their doubts about her killing their king and queen. Needless to say, I would highly recommend this book!
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Reading Progress

August 14, 2020 – Shelved as: books-i-own-tbr
August 14, 2020 – Shelved
August 15, 2020 – Started Reading
August 16, 2020 –
48.0% "Am I the only one who switches to book language after reading a book? For example, a little while ago, I said, I'm tired and I wish to rest for a while instead of something like I'm tired so I'm gonna go to sleep or something, which btw resulted in pointed stares, delirious laughter and endless teasing by my family😂🙈"
August 19, 2020 – Shelved as: fantasy-and-or-paranormal-romance
August 19, 2020 – Shelved as: enemies-to-lovers
August 19, 2020 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-20 of 20 (20 new)

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message 1: by julia (new)

julia i wish i was as fancy as you haha i'd say i find myself thinking in like 3rd person every now and then LOL


Arena♡ Julia wrote: "i wish i was as fancy as you haha i'd say i find myself thinking in like 3rd person every now and then LOL"

hahah! it happens to the best of us🙈


message 3: by Lana Reads (new)

Lana Reads Fantastic review, Arena!
Is there magic there? It's fantasy, do I understand correct?..


Arena♡ Lana Reads wrote: "Fantastic review, Arena!
Is there magic there? It's fantasy, do I understand correct?.."


Thanks Lana!💖
No, there isn't any magic, only mentions of gods and goddesses, Vela, a goddess, makes an appearance once. Other than that, there are mythical and fictitious creatures but no magic.


message 5: by Lana Reads (new)

Lana Reads Arena♡ wrote: "Lana Reads wrote: "Fantastic review, Arena!
Is there magic there? It's fantasy, do I understand correct?.."

Thanks Lana!💖
No, there isn't any magic, only mentions of gods and goddesses, Vela, a g..."


Thank you :) It's just my wish for magic is somehow very strong at the moment, heh.


Arena♡ Lana Reads wrote: "Arena♡ wrote: "Lana Reads wrote: "Fantastic review, Arena!
Is there magic there? It's fantasy, do I understand correct?.."

Thanks Lana!💖
No, there isn't any magic, only mentions of gods and godde..."


No problem! :))


message 7: by [deleted user] (new)

Wow, how do you write these great reviews? So detailed. 👏


Arena♡ Thanks Lorraine💖
I think my reviews are longer when its a fantasy book because there is honestly so much to tell! Even now, there are a couple of things that I skipped in this review🙈 I usually just add my opinions + the plot of the book and = ta-da!


message 9: by [deleted user] (new)

Arena♡ wrote: "Thanks Lorraine💖
I think my reviews are longer when its a fantasy book because there is honestly so much to tell! Even now, there are a couple of things that I skipped in this review🙈 I usually ju..."


Ta-da! Is right. ✔️👍👏
If you tell us everything......we won’t need to read the book 😂


Mrinmayi Welcome Joey!!!🥰
Glad you enjoyed it!!!
AWESOME REVIEW🤩
Yeah..Maddek was being difficult at times BUT TBH I have read romances where the H is so cruel..it made Maddek an angel in my eyes😂


Arena♡ Lorraine wrote: "Arena♡ wrote: "Thanks Lorraine💖
I think my reviews are longer when its a fantasy book because there is honestly so much to tell! Even now, there are a couple of things that I skipped in this revie..."


Thats true😂 prolly why I skipped half of the stuff, I know it seems impossible, but this book was just that long!


Arena♡ Mrinmayi wrote: "Welcome Joey!!!🥰
Glad you enjoyed it!!!
AWESOME REVIEW🤩
Yeah..Maddek was being difficult at times BUT TBH I have read romances where the H is so cruel..it made Maddek an angel in my eyes😂"


Thanks Chandler!!💖
Yes, I agree, Maddek really was an angel!

(sorry, couldn't resist it😂)

especially compared to the H in the last book I read! Had to dnf it!



Mrinmayi Arena♡ wrote: "Mrinmayi wrote: "Welcome Joey!!!🥰
Glad you enjoyed it!!!
AWESOME REVIEW🤩
Yeah..Maddek was being difficult at times BUT TBH I have read romances where the H is so cruel..it made Maddek an angel in m..."

Awww...your poor soul..
Which is why I am picky about romances😅
I LOVE reading them...but only if they are safe


message 14: by Rachel (new) - added it

Rachel Wow!!! So insightful and filled with interesting tidbits!! Fantastic review! I loved this author when she was writing as Meljean Brook and I'm excited to try these new stories of hers. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.


message 15: by Arena♡ (last edited Aug 19, 2020 08:52AM) (new) - rated it 4 stars

Arena♡ Mrinmayi wrote: "Arena♡ wrote: "Mrinmayi wrote: "Welcome Joey!!!🥰
Glad you enjoyed it!!!
AWESOME REVIEW🤩
Yeah..Maddek was being difficult at times BUT TBH I have read romances where the H is so cruel..it made Madde..."


I know! I dnf'ed it at chapter 2 like how bad can a book be that u dnf it after 2 chapters?
I'm picky about them too, but this one was a MC romance, it genuinely seemed nice...guess not really🤷🏻‍♀️☹️


Arena♡ Rachel wrote: "Wow!!! So insightful and filled with interesting tidbits!! Fantastic review! I loved this author when she was writing as Meljean Brook and I'm excited to try these new stories of hers. Thanks for s..."

Thanks a lot, Rachel💖
I haven't read any of her books before, but I can't wait to read more by her especially after this one!


message 17: by Monique (new) - added it

Monique Amazing review, Arena! 🧡 I'm so excited for this one, sounds like exactly my kind of thing 😃


Arena♡ Saint Monique wrote: "Amazing review, Arena! 🧡 I'm so excited for this one, sounds like exactly my kind of thing 😃"

Thanks Monique!💖
I can't wait for you to read this book! Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did!


Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell Great review! Now I'm even more excited to read it!


Arena♡ Nenia ☀️ My Snark Is Worse Than My Bite ☀️ wrote: "Great review! Now I'm even more excited to read it!"

Thanks Nenia❤️ Can't wait to hear your thoughts about this book!


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