Hello hello and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today I’m bringing you my review of The War of Two Queens, book four in the Blood and Ash series. I’ll keep my review spoiler free as always, but if you haven’t read the other books and are concerned about spoilers, you might want to skip the synopsis. You can find my reviews of the other books below:
From Blood and Ash (#1)
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (#2)
The Crown of Gilded Bones (#3)
Synopsis
From the desperation of golden crowns…
Casteel Da’Neer knows all too well that very few are as cunning or vicious as the Blood Queen, but no one, not even him, could’ve prepared for the staggering revelations. The magnitude of what the Blood Queen has done is almost unthinkable.
And born of mortal flesh…
Nothing will stop Poppy from freeing her King and destroying everything the Blood Crown stands for. With the strength of the Primal of Life’s guards behind her, and the support of the wolven, Poppy must convince the Atlantian generals to make war her way—because there can be no retreat this time. Not if she has any hope of building a future where both kingdoms can reside in peace.
A great primal power rises…
Together, Poppy and Casteel must embrace traditions old and new to safeguard those they hold dear—to protect those who cannot defend themselves. But war is only the beginning. Ancient primal powers have already stirred, revealing the horror of what began eons ago. To end what the Blood Queen has begun, Poppy might have to become what she has been prophesied to be—what she fears the most.
As the Harbinger of Death and Destruction.
Review
This series absolutely captivated me right from the very beginning, when it came to reading this one, because of our personal circumstances, my head just wasn’t in the game. So I decided to reread from the beginning. And it grabbed me all over again.
Especially as I read from the beginning through to the end of this book, I was able to fully appreciate the character development as being so immense. Looking back to how Poppy began, to where she ends the book at, is just unbelievable, both to her, and to the reader: and that’s what you want things to feel like. If it’s going to be something dramatic, it needs to be dramatic, and Armentrout knows how to pack the drama into the pages.
As always, there were moments that had me in tears, some that had me laughing aloud, and some that had me on the edge of my seat. Some even managed to have me doing all three, which is a unique skill, and one that is well deserving of the praise this series earns.
The moments between Poppy and Cas, but also Poppy and Keiran, were really special. The level of affection that has developed between the latter two especially was genuinely heart warming. They’ve grown from steady distrust, to mutual respect, to caring about one another strongly enough that they would do anything for one another, and this kind of genuine character journey is always great to see on the page. Keiran is able to reach Poppy when her powers become strong, but he does it because he has faith in her to be able to control it, even when she worries that she can’t.
I also can’t review this book without talking about another character dynamic. Keiran and Reaver. That’s it. That’s the whole paragraph. No, more seriously, this again is a completely different character dynamic to see on page, and it’s one where they simply do not like one another (does Reaver like anyone?) but are forced to interact, and more than that, to work together. Not only does this add another layer to the story, but it creates some much needed lighthearted moments in what could easily be a very somber story.
With such a dramatic ending, I simply cannot wait for the next book, and am as grateful as ever to the author for such swift turarounds with her books… Knowing I don’t have to wait too long is the only thing stopping me from rereading immediately!
Thanks for stopping by for this review today. As above, you can find more my reviews of the previous three books in order should you want to, and to make sure you never miss out on a post, you can follow my blog, too.
And On She Reads 