Furthermore, I also loved reading about Poppy and the way Cas sees her. As he gets to know her he sees her as the wonderful, beautiful badass that she is and falls helplessly in love with her, even though he can't bring himself to admit it. Poppy is such a powerful driving force in his life, affecting his every decision from the moment they met in The Red Pearl until the present, and she didn't even know it. Also, it was interesting to experience her presence from someone else's point of view, especially someone who loves her as passionately and unconditionally as Casteel.

A Soul of Ash and Blood (Blood and Ash, Book 5 My Thoughts on A Soul of Ash and Blood (Blood and Ash, Book 5

I know people are mad about the emotional intimacy between Kieran and Poppy, as well as the Joining. Personally, I'm not really sure why the Joining was surprising for anyone...why would JLA introduce the concept in book 2 unless she planned for it to happen? It would've been weird if it didn't. I think Kieran and Poppy's relationship makes sense. There's just so much love there. Casteel and Kieran have been bonded for literal centures, closer than any 2 people can be; seeing Poppy and Kieran develop an unbreakable bond like that too now that they're both bonded and love Casteel just makes everything feel complete to me. But I know people will yell at me for having that opinion, I guess. Poppy awakens right at the last sentence, and she is officially a primal (her eyes are no longer green) Edit: I am so glad I am not reading this shit. This is the 5th book in this series. We need more than smut, fluff, and random dialogue. We need a PLOT. The past scenes were great, getting to see Poppy through Cas’ eyes from the beginning, finding out what Cas was up to during the periods he was away from Poppy, and it was a really great way of fleshing out his character. I admit that I was worried going into this, because Cas seemed like a very 2d character during his POV in TWOTQ if I’m honest, mostly just talking about his obsession with Poppy and his constant risky boners, but Cas really feels like a much more fleshed out character after this. We find out a bit more of how he coped with his trauma, how he was still very much in a confused state during the start of FBAA, and, with the help of the present day sections, how much he’s grown over the series. Really top notch, and I feel like the next book will really benefit from the attention Cas has had in this one. 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).

Table of Contents

The sixth (next) book which hasn’t been released yet nor is there a release date/name as far as I’m aware. So, we’re in the waiting game for the next book of the series to find out what happens. If I remember correctly, that will also be the last book of the series, so all the unanswered questions should be wrapped up in that. All right. I'll admit it. When I saw that A Soul of Ash and Blood was being marketed as Hawke's retelling of From Blood and Ash, I was skeptical. I didn't know how necessary it was going to be, if it was just going to read like a cash grab, or what. But girlies... I was wrong. I was THOROUGHLY wrong. Allow me to explain. If you are familiar with the series, then you know all about his captivity, but we never truly got to experience first-hand just how much those years he has been held got to him and how deep they ran within him. Those moments really made my heart shatter into a million pieces. How he spoke about what he did to dull the pain, even if temporarily, touched some part of me that I never knew could be reached and what he did to silence the voices, to turn it off.. there are truly no words, or maybe there are too many, but it just hit close. Hearing him talk about how he thought of himself, even still to this day... how they still find him in the silence… But that is the thing with trauma, isn’t it? It creeps up on you, no matter how much time has passed, no matter how much you want to forget. That broke me.

Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash Series Book 1) eBook From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash Series Book 1) eBook

Some of them are Cas just talking to or caring for Poppy, others are him reflecting on the past with Kieran and Delano, some are him talking with others about what’s happening in the present about things that recently happened, and one is an action scene that is a major set up for the next book. Mostly, it’s just reflections on how Cas viewed things in the past vs the present with a bit of character development. Typically, Cas is joined by Kieran or Delano as he’s recounting his memories to Poppy. Though there are also moments with Emil, Malik, and Millie. And they, or rather Kieran, points out that he was well aware of Cas developing feelings for Poppy and that he never blamed Cas for his coping mechanisms when he was initially freed from capitivty the first time. Even though it was weakening him especially as Cas was self-harming. Which was something that we didn’t know he did before.Loved it! When I heard this book was coming out I felt like it was going to be a waste of time reading book 1 from Cas' POV and I was so wrong!! 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. i love Casteel Da'Neer and he ist one of JLA's best male lead for sure, but unfortunately this series has run it's course. if JLA would've published this book after A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire or The ​Crown of Gilded Bones, i would've gobbled it down cuz Casteel supremacy and all. but after The War of Two Queens and the drama surrounding it, my excitement for this series is not how it used to be. i'll keep reading this series bc i want to see how it all ends, but JLA should've ended this series as a trilogy... To answer your first question: no, this is not just a retelling of the same scenes we saw from Hawke's perspective. To answer your next question: yes, this reads like its own independent story with brief present day interludes. 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.