A review by fantasy_fiction_and_fae
Born of Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This is the 4th book of the series so I'm not going to do a breakdown of all that because the book is huge, no one has time for that. However, it would probably have been shorter if all the times Sera repeated the same lines were either shortened or removed. She was in love with Ash, we get it. Sera's inner monolog was long and unnecessary. Regardless, I love this series. With that said...
 
The last few chapters... Holy crap... Now I need to read the From Blood and Ash series again to compare what happened in these books to that timeline and what they see and discover since it seems only parts of the stories are revealed in the future and I forget some of the little things mentioned. 
 
SPOILER mini rant DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BLOOD AND ASH BOOKS OR FINISHED THIS SERIES 
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YOU WERE WARNED 
 
Seraphena Mierel, aka Sera, aka Meyaah Liessa, spoke with Ward (one of the Fates) regarding Sotoria (Kolis' obsession) being reborn in the future just as she has been for centuries. Sera knew that as long as Kolis was still alive, he would do anything to get to her, in stasis or not. Sotoria despised Kolis and did not want to be with him and he just didn't get it. He loved her (in his own sick demented way), he was obsessed with her and would stop at nothing to have her regardless of how she felt about him. LOSER! 
 
Sotoria's future was out of everyone's hands, so Sera asked Ward (one of the Fates) to give Sotoria a fighting chance just as Holland was her Viktor (who unbeknownst to her was a Fate). Holland watched over Sera and showed her how to fight and defend herself from any harm knowing what could happen to her in the future but could not intervene or warn her. She was fearless to the point of foolishness, but it was in her DNA to fight back as well as be very sassy to dangerous people. The apple did not fall far from the ancient tree when Poppy was born. 
 
Ward agreed to Sera's request to train the future Sotoria to defend herself which he did very well. Just as Holland trained Sera, he will serve as her Viktor and teach her everything she needs to know to defend herself including gifting her a very rare and important dagger. If you read From Blood and Ash you know the significance of the dagger. 
 
Sotoria was reborn and named Penellaphe Balfour, aka Poppy, aka Meyaah Liessa, and she knew Ward as Vikter Wardwell. Vikter was the head guard of the palace and was her main personal guard. He was one of the few people who knew Poppy's true face and trained her to fight and defend herself in secret as the "Chosen Maiden" was not to learn how to fight. He was the closest thing she had to a father since her parents were murdered when she was a child before she found out who her real parents were. 
 
So WARD who is one of the Fates is Poppy's "Vikter" aka Vikter Wardwell  DID NOT DIE in the Blood and Ash series as Poppy thought! Poppy was devastated when she thought that Holland was killed just as Poppy was devastated that Vikter was killed during the raid at the palace where she lived. 
 
I AM SCREAMING right now! It's been a while since I read the Blood and Ash series and the next book is set to publish on June 10th when Poppy wakes from stasis. I wonder if she will see Ward again once she wakes up because he couldn't be killed like a normal human being and that is exactly what Poppy was led to believe all the years he trained and protected her before she left with Hawke aka Casteel (Cas). Holland went to see Sera once she was with Ash, so I am assuming that once she wakes from Stasis to rise as the predicted Queen Primal of Life and Death, Ward/Vikter will then show himself and he will explain everything to Poppy. I also think that she will be the only one who can kill Callum and I wonder if she will remember who he is to her once she transforms into her Primal state. I'm thinking yes. We shall see. I can look back at this to see if I was correct in my assumptions. 
 
Sera and Ash (aka Nyktos) had planned to release Sotoria from the star diamond where Sera placed her to keep her safe until they could deal with Kolis and then let her choose where her soul went, but one of the fates who wants the ancients to rise again took it and gave it to her brother Callum. Then we find out who Callum is in relation to Sera and it seems that even he had no idea that Sera was from his bloodline. He wouldn't find out and had no idea if he would ever since he took off with the star where his sister Sotoria was placed. It makes me wonder if his choices would have been different if he knew he was blood-related to Sera and if Sera had told him the feelings and reactions that Sotoria got when it came to things Kolis said and did when her soul was inside Sera. Regardless, Callum plans to keep the star safe until it is time to release Sotoria so she can live again in a new life which in turn would start to wake Kolis from his stasis slumber. Kolis must have played some heavy head games with him to convince him that his sister belonged with him for Callum to consider ever giving her to him as Kolis wanted. Otherwise, why would he wish to hand over the sister he always loved to a monster like that?  
 
All I know is I need the last Blood and Ash book STAT so I can see if I was correct in my assumptions.