The Primal of Blood and Bone by Jennifer L. Armentrout is live!

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Blurb

In the shadows and flames, Primals will fall…

And from the blood and ash, new gods will rise.

What was dreamt.

Poppy was never meant to awaken, and the consequences are devastating and far-reaching, stirring ancient powers from their slumber and transforming Casteel and Kieran in ways even the Fates couldn’t have foreseen. But what that means is the least of their concerns. For now.

What was foreseen.

The Blood Crown has fallen, but what has risen is a far greater danger than they’ve ever faced. From flesh and fire, the Great Conspirator has returned to the mortal realm, and he wants only one thing. They must stop the true Primal of Death before he regains his strength, and it won’t be easy. Even weakened, his influence is undeniable. His power, unthinkable.

Has come to be.

While the future of the realms rests upon them, they won’t stand alone. The gods have awakened—each harboring their own blood-soaked secrets. But they must navigate an unbalanced realm, where every choice—past and present—has the potential to not only undo everything they’ve fought for but also destroy the very bonds that have Joined them together.

For the Harbinger and the Bringer of Death and Destruction has risen.

 

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Review

3 very bewildered stars

Oh, so torn here! My feelings are a mixed jumble, and this book messed with my head so much, sending me into a massive book hangover as I processed it all. I love JLA and I love this series, but this book challenges everything, and though the writing is stellar as always, I did not enjoy the story.

Just a note – in no way can you read this as a standalone – in fact, if you don’t remember events from the previous books (it has been a while, after all), I would recommend a reread or at least a flick through to get you back up to speed.

This book is written in dual Poppy/Casteel POV, and it starts with Poppy in stasis, which doesn’t exactly go to plan and when she awakens, she is changed in huge ways. And not just her, Cas and Kieran are also changed, and it has huge implications for their world as the prophecy continues to reveal itself. But there’s no time to dwell on that, their fight to destroy the blood crown and reclaim the kingdom rages on, and an ancient enemy has arisen with Poppy set in his sights. The evil is intense and disturbing, and by the end of this book, nobody is left unaffected.

I have loved every single book of this series – I love the world, I love the characters, I love the romance, and I have been all in for all of it, but for me, this book is just too much.

For starters, it’s a beast of a book, and it feels SO much longer than it needs to be. Things happen, but not enough to fill 1200+ (kindle) pages, and it felt like the book drags a lot.

My main issue, though, is that this book doesn’t feel like a natural extension of the series. There are twists, surprises, and a lot of new information thrown in, and it feels like a forced add-on to the series rather than an organic continuation of the story, and I am really sad with the direction it’s all taken. Things happen in this book that just didn’t need to happen, and honestly, it’s not something I ever wanted to read, and I finished this book wishing that the series ended two books ago.

The love story remains strong, and though events of previous books cast some questions over the direction of the romance, that is well and truly addressed in this book. It’s the Poppy and Casteel show, and their soul-deep connection and wild passion for each other is shown over and over again.

“I never see you as just Poppy … Not when I all can see is my everything. My world.”
A shudder ran through me.
Casteel dropped his forehead to mine. “There are no moments when I don’t need you with every fucking fiber of my being.”

Swoon! But it’s not all roses and sunshine, and there are some miscommunication issues and secret keeping that bring angst and drama, and that have huge repercussions.

The character dynamics are so good, and the scenes with everybody snarking and teasing are lots of fun. It feels like we’re missing a few key players (Kieran barely appears in this book and feels more like a distant side character which was weird), but Reaver and Delano continue to shine and I loved being back with this group.

I just didn’t want the story to unfold like this, and I’m so sad at some of the events in this book. But I am so invested in the characters that I will continue on with the next book of the series to see how it all ends.

But yeah… slightly gutted after this one.

3 stars.

An Advanced Reader Copy was provided by the author for an honest review.

 

Blood and Ash

 

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About the Author

#1 New York Times and #1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true.  When she’s not hard at work writing. She spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, hanging out with her husband and her Border Jack Apollo. In early 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and death of cells in the retina, eventually resulting in loss of vision, among other complications. Due to this diagnosis, educating people on the varying degrees of blindness has become of passion of hers, right alongside writing, which she plans to do as long as she can.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Tor, HarperCollins Avon and William Morrow, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her Wicked Series has been optioned by PassionFlix. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA. Her adult romantic suspense novel TILL DEATH was a Amazon Editor’s Pick and iBook Book of the Month. Her young adult contemporary THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER is a 2017 RITA Award Winner in Young Adult Fiction. She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

She is the owner of ApollyCon and The Origin Event, the successful annual events that features over a hundred bestselling authors in Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult Fiction, panels, parties, and more.

 

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