From Blood and Ash Review: Spice, the Twist and Reading Order

What Is From Blood and Ash About?

This is a romance first and a fantasy second. The story is told entirely in Poppy's first person, and most of its length is spent on her small acts of rebellion: sneaking out in a mask, fighting with daggers she isn't supposed to own, and testing how far her new guard will let her go. The world, with its Ascended rulers, monstrous Craven and the shadowy Atlantians beyond the walls, arrives in pieces, and many readers say they felt lost for the first stretch.

It's also the opening of a long saga, and it reads like one. The romance has a full arc here, but the political story is only beginning, and the final quarter turns the book into something sharper and darker than its first 300 pages. Readers who expect a tight standalone romantasy get a slow set-up for a series that has since grown to six novels and a novella, with a final book announced.

What Makes This Forbidden Bodyguard Romantasy Work

• Poppy's voice: Positive reviewers on Goodreads and The Library Ladies keep naming Poppy herself, sheltered but defiant, as the main reason they kept going.
• The banter: Reviewers from Under the Covers to Goodreads five-star raters single out the Poppy and Hawke dialogue as funny and quick, often ahead of the plot.
• The slow burn: The first explicit scene doesn't arrive until well past the midpoint, and fans say the long build is what makes it land.
• The back quarter: A 4.5-star TL Branson review took six days to reach 40 percent and read the rest in one six-hour sitting, a pattern other fans repeat.
• The world reveal: Even readers who guessed the twist say the late recontextualising of the Ascended and Atlantia made them want book two at once.

Book Synopsis

Penellaphe Balfour, Poppy to the few people allowed to speak to her, is the Maiden. She was Chosen by the gods, she wears a veil in public, and nobody but a handful of guards and her keepers may touch her or look at her face. In a year or so she will Ascend, and until then she lives in Castle Teerman in Masadonia under the eye of the Duke and Duchess, waiting for a future she never chose.

Poppy doesn't wait quietly. Her guard Vikter has secretly trained her to fight, she carries a dagger, and she sneaks out at night with her companion Tawny's help. On one of those nights, masked and anonymous, she ends up in a private room at the Red Pearl, a pleasure house, with a golden-eyed stranger who has no idea who she is. She gets her first kiss and runs before he can learn her name.

Then the stranger turns up at the castle. Hawke Flynn has just joined the Royal Guard, and after an attack inside the walls he's assigned to be Poppy's personal guard, with orders to stay at her side day and night. He's arrogant, he's funny, and he talks to her as if she's a person rather than a relic. Outside the walls the Craven are growing bolder, and whispers of the Dark One and his rebels follow every new death. The closer Hawke stands, the harder it gets for Poppy to tell whether he's the threat or the escape.

Our Review

Poppy is the reason this book works. She's sheltered and sharp-tongued at once, she wants a life before her life is taken away, and Armentrout makes her small rebellions feel like stakes rather than whims. The Library Ladies' Serena said Poppy was entertaining enough that she stopped minding the world-building, and that's the most common shape of praise we found: readers forgive a lot because they like being in Poppy's head.

The second strength is the dialogue between Poppy and Hawke. It's teasing, it's quick and it's modern, and it carries a long middle where very little else happens. The slow burn is structural here. The book holds back the first explicit scene until past the halfway mark, and the tension built in all those guard shifts is why fans say the back quarter hits so hard. Lindsey Dahling's five-star review admits she was bored at 16 percent before the banter won her over.

Where it struggles is pacing, and that's the dominant complaint by a distance. A three-star Goodreads reviewer found the first two thirds tedious and the last quarter excellent, and even fans concede the opening runs slow. Behind that stack the writing complaints: repeated phrases and descriptions, internal monologue that circles the same thought, modern slang in a medieval-style world, and recurring descriptions (honeydew is the example readers mock most) that a heavier edit would have cut. Then there's the twist. An ARC reviewer at Under the Covers saw it coming from almost the beginning, and many critical reviews say the same, although other readers say the foreshadowing was the point.

Reset one expectation. The award, the covers and the BookTok reputation sell a spicy, fast romantasy. Book one is the slowest and least explicit in the series, with a world that's kept deliberately vague until late. If you want instant immersion, push to the 40 percent mark before you judge it. If you came for heat, know that it arrives late and is outnumbered by guard shifts and conversations.

There's also a consent conversation worth knowing about. Some critics on Goodreads fault Hawke for pushing past Poppy's stated limits, and a Cannonball Read reviewer who enjoyed it called it bad but compelling, saying some sex scenes seem designed to raise consent questions. Readers who loved it tend to read Hawke's pushiness as part of a dangerous-man fantasy. Readers who didn't tend to see manipulation. Both camps are large.

Our honest note: A heroine people love and a strong final act, wrapped in a slow, repetitive first two thirds and a reveal many readers spot early. Read it if banter and a forbidden guard will carry you to the 40 percent mark; skip it if clunky prose pulls you out of a book faster than a good romance pulls you in.

How Spicy Is From Blood and Ash?

Spicy, but late and less than the series reputation. The Otherworld puts it at 4 of 5, relaying romance.io's band, and lists roughly four chapters with explicit content (30, 33, 38 and 39), all after the midpoint. MoodReads also rates it 4 of 5. The She Reads Romance Books series guide calls book one relatively tame next to the later books, and a TL Branson reviewer counted about two explicit scenes and called the rest PG-13. We score it 4: when the door opens it's frank, but you wait a long time for it.

Expect the heat to rise across the series rather than peak here. Readers and guides agree the sequels are steamier, and the long slow burn is the main event of this book. Poppy is 18 at the start, and the series guide recommends the books for readers 17 and over. If spice is your reason to pick it up, the second book is where it delivers more often.

Who Should Read This Book?

You'll likely love it if: you like a forbidden bodyguard with a smart mouth, a heroine who rebels in small ways before big ones, and a slow burn that makes you wait, and you're ready for a long series.

You may want to skip it if: repeated phrases, anachronistic slang and info-dumps will bother you on every page, or you need a world that makes sense from chapter one.

In short: addictive for many and padded for some; give it to the 40 percent mark and you'll know which camp you're in.

What Readers Are Actually Saying (October 2026)

Six years on, From Blood and Ash is still the doorway to one of romantasy's biggest series. The conversation runs on Goodreads, on r/fantasyromance and across BookTok and Lemon8, where spicy-chapter lists for the series circulate widely. The tone has shifted since 2020. Early reviews were mostly delight at a new obsession, while later threads, like an October 2024 r/fantasyromance rant review that drew 64 upvotes, come from readers asking how such a flawed book became so popular. The December 2024 Sony TV announcement and the September 2025 release of book six keep sending new readers back to book one.

Why readers love it: Readers love Poppy, Hawke and the banter between them. Five-star reviews call the romance electric and the book addictive, and Lindsey Dahling's review is typical: bored early, hooked by the dialogue. The Library Ladies gave it 7 and 8 out of 10, praising the side characters and the vampire mythology, and the Stina Nielsen audiobook (about 19.75 hours) earned an AudioFile Earphones Award, so the voice carries in audio too. Many fans say the final quarter, with its reveals, is what turned a good read into a series they finished.

What readers argue about and complain about: The complaints cluster around craft. The r/fantasyromance rant lists repetition inside sentences, overused verbs, Poppy saying whatever constantly and modern slang, and the most upvoted comment there, at 31 votes, is about anachronistic language. Goodreads critics call it fanfiction-like, mock the honeydew descriptions and say the twist is visible early. Consent comes up as a second axis, with some readers objecting to Hawke ignoring Poppy's boundaries. The defence is that the confusion is deliberate and the twist is foreshadowed on purpose, a case the TL Branson and Bookishelf reviews both make.

The series question worth asking first: This book does not resolve. The romance has its arc, but it ends on a cliffhanger that sends you straight into A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, the highest-rated book in the series at 4.31 on Goodreads. After that the averages fall book by book: 4.15, 4.08, 3.86 and 3.54 for The Primal of Blood and Bone (2025). A free novella, A Crown of Ruin, followed in December 2025, and Armentrout calls the forthcoming The Throne of Bone and Ash Poppy and Cas's final book, with no English release date yet. The four-book Flesh and Fire prequel is a companion series, and the author says the two are meant to be read together in release order, so you'll move between them from book four onward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is From Blood and Ash spicy?

Yes, but late. It has a few explicit open-door scenes, all after the midpoint, and a long slow burn before them. The Otherworld and MoodReads both rate it 4 of 5; we score it 4.

How many books are in the Blood and Ash series?

Seven are planned. Six novels are out, the sixth in September 2025, plus the novella A Crown of Ruin, and The Throne of Bone and Ash will be the final Poppy and Casteel book.

What order should I read Blood and Ash and Flesh and Fire in?

Release order, per the author. A common order is From Blood and Ash, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, The Crown of Gilded Bones, A Shadow in the Ember, The War of Two Queens, A Light in the Flame, A Soul of Ash and Blood, A Fire in the Flesh, then Born of Blood and Ash and The Primal of Blood and Bone.

What is the twist in From Blood and Ash?

Spoiler ahead. Hawke is really Casteel Da'Neer, the Atlantian prince the kingdom calls the Dark One, and the Ascended who rule Poppy's world are vampires feeding on their people. Many readers guess the first part early.

Why do people say the writing is bad?

Mostly repetition. Critics point to repeated phrases and descriptions, circular inner monologue, modern slang in a medieval world and info-dumps. Fans tend to accept the style for the banter and pacing of the final quarter.

Does From Blood and Ash end on a cliffhanger?

Yes. The romance reaches a turning point, but the plot breaks off mid-crisis and leads straight into A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, so have book two ready.

If You Loved From Blood and Ash, Read These Next

For another long romantasy where a sheltered heroine discovers who really rules her world, read A Court of Thorns and Roses, the series this one is most often compared to. If you want the same kind of addictive pace with dragons and higher stakes, try Fourth Wing. And for a forbidden, banter-heavy romance with a secret that the hero keeps from the heroine, pick up Serpent & Dove.

Browse more in forbidden love romance, slow-burn romance and fantasy romance.

The Bottom Line

From Blood and Ash sets out to launch a sprawling vampire romantasy through one woman's rebellion, and it gets the woman right before it gets the world right. What works: Poppy's voice, the Poppy and Hawke banter and a back quarter that turns readers into series readers. What doesn't: a slow first two thirds, prose that repeats itself, and a twist many readers call early. If you can push past the 40 percent mark and want a long series to binge, it earns its fandom. If clunky writing breaks the spell for you, this will be a slog.

Check From Blood and Ash on Amazon

The Eikna Overall Ranking

On the Eikna scale, From Blood and Ash ranks as a hugely popular but uneven romantasy opener, strongest in its heroine and banter, constrained by pacing and repetitive prose, and best approached as the start of a binge rather than as a polished standalone fantasy.

The Evidence Scorecard

Eight dimensions, each scored out of 5 from the reader and critic evidence above. Overall is anchored on the reader ratings and adjusted for how much the recurring complaints cost the reading experience. Heat describes how explicit the book is; it is not a quality judgement. Every line marked ✓ is a checked finding, including the limits. How we assess books.

Sources We Checked

• Goodreads: From Blood and Ash (average, ratings, distribution, reviews)
• Goodreads: Blood and Ash series page (ratings for books 1 to 7)
• Goodreads: Flesh and Fire series page
• Goodreads Choice Awards 2020: Best Romance
• Jennifer L. Armentrout: FAQ (reading order)
• Jennifer L. Armentrout: A Crown of Ruin
• Yahoo News: the best reading order for Blood and Ash and Flesh and Fire
• Bookish Goblin: September 23 2025 book releases
• Reactor: Blood and Ash series to get TV adaptation
• The Otherworld: From Blood and Ash spice level
• MoodReads: From Blood and Ash
• Bookish Goblin: From Blood and Ash summary (Vikter's training, the garden attack)
• She Reads Romance Books: From Blood and Ash series guide
• The Library Ladies: Book Club Review, From Blood and Ash
• Under the Covers: ARC Review, From Blood and Ash
• TL Branson: From Blood and Ash review
• Bookishelf: From Blood and Ash review
• Cannonball Read: From Blood and Ash
• r/fantasyromance: FBAA rant review (mirror)
• Blackstone Library: From Blood and Ash audiobook
• A. S. Neill Library catalogue: edition details and ISBNs
• romance.io: From Blood and Ash (blocked to our fetcher; band taken from The Otherworld)

Checked October 6, 2026. Ratings and counts change; the numbers above are as of that date.