*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.
Publisher: Blue Box Press
Release Date: October 19th, 2021 Pages: 647
Source: Paperback
THE STORY:
Born shrouded in the veil of the Primals, a Maiden as the Fates promised, Seraphena Mierel’s future has never been hers. Chosen before birth to uphold the desperate deal her ancestor struck to save his people, Sera must leave behind her life and offer herself to the Primal of Death as his Consort.
However, Sera’s real destiny is the most closely guarded secret in all of Lasania—she’s not the well protected Maiden but an assassin with one mission—one target. Make the Primal of Death fall in love, become his weakness, and then…end him. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot.
Sera has always known what she is. Chosen. Consort. Assassin. Weapon. A specter never fully formed yet drenched in blood. A monster. Until him. Until the Primal of Death’s unexpected words and deeds chase away the darkness gathering inside her. And his seductive touch ignites a passion she’s never allowed herself to feel and cannot feel for him. But Sera has never had a choice. Either way, her life is forfeit—it always has been, as she has been forever touched by Life and Death.
RATING:
ONE-WORD REVIEW: ADDICTIVE
OPENING LINE:
"You will not disappoint us today, Sera."
REVIEW:
#DaddyNyktos
That's it.
That's my entire review.
“𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓀𝒾𝓈𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒾𝓉.” 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓃𝓈𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝒹 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒. “𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝑔𝑜 𝒶𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝓇 𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝐼 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜.”
All jokes aside, A SHADOW IN THE EMBER was an utterly delicious experience. Yes, it was an experience. I loved reading about Poppy's grandparents and how their love story set things in motion for her and the kingdoms of FROM BLOOD AND ASH so many years later. I thought it was so cute to read Sera and Nyktos and think "Oh that's who Poppy gets that trait from."
“𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓃’𝓉 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓈𝑒𝒹𝓊𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒶𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝒷𝒷𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒽𝑒𝓈𝓉.”
We know how Sera and Nyktos’ story ends, so to speak, and yet it was still a wild ride. And don’t get me started on the DRAGONS!
As for the cast of characters: there are many! A SHADOW IN THE EMBER has a wide range of characters. Some you’ll love and a few you will hate. *Hint hint*: Sera’s mother. The treachery. And that’s all I will say about that.
“𝐻𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝑒𝓅𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓈𝓀𝓎 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓁 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓊𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓁𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒾𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂, 𝓌𝒽𝑜𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓇𝒾𝒻𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔.”
Highly recommend A SHADOW IN THE EMBER! The entire series is chef’s kiss.
CHARACTERS:
SERAPHENA MIEREL: Sera was much like Poppy's character--or rather the other way around. She was a kind, outspoken badass who was, unfortunately, underloved and appreciated.
“𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒶𝓂. 𝐼’𝓋𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌𝓃. 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓈𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓇𝓉. 𝒜 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇 … 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒹𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝐼 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁.”
NYKTOS: When I tell you I would've crumbled like a dry cookie left out in the sun upon meeting Nyktos, I'm not exaggerating. Self-control? I have none. Second thoughts? What is that?
“𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹’𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝓊𝓅 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓅,” 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒫𝓇𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓁 𝑔𝓇𝑜𝓌𝓁𝑒𝒹. “𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝑜𝓊𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒.” 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒? 𝒜𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝒾𝒸𝓀𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝒶𝓉. 𝒩𝑜𝓌 𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
# 1 NEW YORK TIMES, # 1 International, and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout lives in West Virginia. She also writes under the name J. Lynn. When she's not hard at work writing, she spends her time, reading, working out, watching zombie movies, and pretending to write. She shares her home with her husband, his K-9 partner named Diesel and her hyper Border Jack Apollo, and a slew of farm animals that include alpacas, goats, and sheep.
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Happy Reading!
