Books, Boots and Bakeries

Alright, I might get shot for this – but I didn’t love From Blood and Ash. There, I said it. It’s one of those books that has become a bit of a romantasy rite of passage, and yet… it just didn’t hit for me the way it clearly did for the masses.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read most of the series. So something kept me coming back—maybe stubborn hope, maybe Hawke, maybe just the lingering belief that it had to eventually deliver on all that promise. But I can’t help thinking this story would have been much stronger as the original three-book series Jennifer L. Armentrout apparently planned, rather than the never-ending saga it’s become. There’s a lot of filler, a lot of angst, and honestly, where was the editor?

I originally tried listening to it on Audible and hated it. Not even a little bit—full body cringe. I gave it a red-hot go, but eventually decided this was one that needed to be read the old-fashioned way—eyeballs and all.

The plot twist? Saw it coming a mile away. And Poppy? Bloody frustrating. There were entire sections where I wanted to shake her. But the story itself? Genuinely good. I just personally think it needed a firmer hand and a tighter arc.

That said, I will always be grateful to this book for one thing: it sparked a friendship. A girl I work with added me on Goodreads (a risky move, one that could’ve gone either way, man), and from there we bonded over our shared feelings about this series. We grabbed a tea together (thank God for lemongrass and ginger on a cold winter day), and by the end of it, we’d agreed to make it a catch-up tradition every couple of months when she’s in my hometown. The rule? We both read the same book beforehand and compare notes like the book-nerds we proudly are.

And honestly? That’s the real win. This book, even if I didn’t love it, helped build a connection, and that kind of community means way more than whether or not a plot twist landed or a main character drove me up the wall. Sometimes it’s not about loving the book. Sometimes it’s about what the book brings into your life.