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Blood and Ash [Dramatized Adaptation] #1, Part 2

From Blood and Ash (Part 2 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation]

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A Maiden...

Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy’s life has never been her own. The life of the Maiden is solitary. Never to be touched. Never to be looked upon. Never to be spoken to. Never to experience pleasure. Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family, than preparing to be found worthy by the gods. But the choice has never been hers.

A Duty...

The entire kingdom’s future rests on Poppy’s shoulders, something she’s not even quite sure she wants for herself. Because a Maiden has a heart. And a soul. And longing. And when Hawke, a golden-eyed guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. He incites her anger, makes her question everything she believes in, and tempts her with the forbidden.

A Kingdom...

Forsaken by the gods and feared by mortals, a fallen kingdom is rising once more, determined to take back what they believe is theirs through violence and vengeance. And as the shadow of those cursed draws closer, the line between what is forbidden and what is right becomes blurred. Poppy is not only on the verge of losing her heart and being found unworthy by the gods, but also her life when every blood-soaked thread that holds her world together begins to unravel.

Adapted from the novel and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!

Audiobook

Published September 25, 2024

6 people are currently reading
191 people want to read

About the author

Jennifer L. Armentrout

169books150kfollowers
Hey Guys! Please note: I don't send out ARCs for review. If you're interested in reviewing a book of mine before release date, please contact the appropriate publisher. I also do NOT check my ŷ email.

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# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Charles Town, 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 Jack Russell Loki. 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 hundred bestselling authors in Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult Fiction, panels, parties, and more.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
Profile Image for Lucie V..
1,128 reviews3,347 followers
April 14, 2025
� Strong main character
� Swoon-worthy love interest / Morally grey
� "Touch her and die"
� Slowburn and sweet romance
� Sexual tension and some sexy moments
� Funny and witty banter
� Action
� Original way to present vampires
� Complex world-building
� Pace and plot
✅� Some info-dump in the first 15% of the book
❗️❗️ Kind of cliffhanger
❗️❗️ Trigger warnings: death, emotional and physical abuse

_______________________

Third read/listen: This book was even better the second and third time I read it because I already knew about the world-building so I could entirely and solely focus on Poppy, Hawke, and Kieran (he is also amazing, and I need more of him).

The weird echo was not as noticeable in this second half, which is great. This dramatized adaptation was spectacular! Definitely an experience I recommend to any fan of this book.

Also, Lord Mazeen sounded and felt so creepy in the dramatized adaptation, he gave me bad shivers every time I heard him.
_______________________

**This is a review for both parts of the dramatized adaptation.

Oh. My. God.
So much drama, so much angst, so worth it.
😍😍😍

“With my sword and with my life, I vow to keep you safe, Penellaphe,� he spoke, voice deep and smooth, reminding me of rich, decadent chocolate. “From this moment until the last moment, I am yours.�


Poppy is The Maiden, the one and only chosen by the gods, not meant to be touched, looked at, or to do anything that was not previously approved by her guardians. She is stuck in this life of isolation and utmost solitude, where she watches the world from behind her veil and can’t voice how she is feeling. She is expected to be grateful for this honor, and for the fact that the gods chose her, and to behave like the perfect demure Maiden. With her nineteenth birthday approaching, she will have to leave for the capital, where she will prove that she is worthy of the gods, will ascend (a ritual in which one drinks the blood of the Gods and becomes immortal), and help protect her people against the curse affecting them and the Atlantians trying to take their lands.

A Maiden doesn’t question the gods� plans. She has faith in them without knowledge of them.
Maybe I truly wasn’t worthy of being a Maiden, because I found it hard to have faith in anything without knowledge of it.


Poppy is not happy, living the life of a recluse, and she does have a few secrets of her own. She has a special ability that allows her to feel and soothe people's pain, and she likes to escape from her rooms at night and experience “normal� life. The weight of all the expectations and the yearning for a normal life that she carries are getting too heavy for Poppy to bear, and she decides to sneak away from the palace for one night of freedom to go to the famous Red Pearl. When she ends up a few hours later in a private room with Hawke, a young, charming, gorgeous, and skilled guard, she gets a taste of what she has been missing and what she will never be allowed to have for herself. Things get even more complicated and full of confusing feelings when Hawke gets appointed as her new royal guard. Hawke can’t know that she was the one he met at the Red Pearl, for if he tells Poppy’s guardians, this is a sure way for Poppy to be found unworthy of her role as the Maiden.

The first 15% of the book is a little slow, but get ready because the rest is amazing. This book is addictive, even though the pace is slower at times, and I feel that it will be even more enjoyable the second or third time around.

“It doesn’t matter if I want--�
“And you do want.� His whisper danced over my cheek. “What you want is me.�
My breath caught. “That doesn’t matter.�
“What you want should always matter.�


The world-building is great, even if some things may be a little confusing at first, and I loved the two main characters. The mix of a fantasy setting with the Greco-Roman-inspired Gods and the new and innovative way to present vampires gave an awesome result. Even though nothing in this book is really new when taken individually, the author managed to take all these pieces and mix them to create something original and very entertaining. There are also some unexpected twists and betrayals and some politics thrown in the mix, making the plot even more interesting.

Poppy is a little bland in the first few chapters, but she shows soon enough that she is not the boring and tame Maiden that she was raised and expected to be. She is not feeling as thankful as she should be. She wants adventure, she wants to help her people, and mostly, she wants to live. As the Maiden, she can't interact with anyone except her two personal guards, her lady in waiting, and the Duke and Duchess, who are supposed to take care of her. Poppy is stuck in a life full of restrictions and abuse, and no one ever questioned it, until her new guard, the gorgeous Hawke Flynn, comes into her life and starts treating her as a human being and not just as a religious symbol.

“You're an absolutely stunning, murderous little creature.�


Hawke is my new obsession. He officially made it to my ultimate book boyfriends (not so short anymore) list. The way he stands up for Poppy when everyone else -even the ones who love her- usually look the other way when she is being psychologically or physically abused was amazing. I was cheering him every time he would remind Poppy that she deserved to be treated like a human being, or every time he would stop someone from being mean to her and let them know how despicable and worthless they were for even thinking about hurting her. The line between Hawkes’s duty to be Poppy’s guard and his desire to know her more intimately gets pretty blurred, especially as Poppy builds the courage to ask for what she wants instead of what’s expected of her for the first time in her life, and it created some sexual tension that was highly enjoyable.

“I'll say it again. I don't care what you are. I care about who you are.�


Hawke is an amazing character, and his relationship with Poppy is wholesome and so intense. The mix of banter and sexual tension was a delight to read. I would have continued reading for another 100 pages just for their banter and Hawke’s sexual innuendos. Their relationship is a slow burn that feels natural and is also full of sexual tension. I loved every moment they had together, and I adore how Hawke knows Poppy can handle herself and trusts her to be useful instead of insinuating that she needs him to protect her. They reminded me of Feyre and Rhysand in , which is perfect because I just love them, and I hope Poppy and Hawke's relationship . Near the end of the book, there is more tension between them, and I hope we will continue to have drama, angst, and this mix of love/hate/it’s complicated in the next book (at least for the beginning because I need my regular dose of love/hate and angst).

There are some good secondary characters in this book, but I feel and hope that we will get to know them more and appreciate them more in the next book. This first installment was more focused on the world-building, the layout of the conflicts and politics, and developing the relationship between Poppy and Hawke. Still, I liked Viktor and his fatherly love towards Poppy, and I also loved Kieran, even though we did not see much of him. I hope to see him more in the next book and to know more about him and his special relationship with Hawke. There are also a few villains in this book, and they are despicable and creepy. They’re the kind that you just hate and can’t wait for them to finally get what they deserve.

“Promise me you won't forget this, Poppy. That no matter what happens tomorrow, the next day, next week, you won't forget this - forget that this was real�


My brain and my heart are still reeling from the rollercoaster of emotions I felt in the last 20% of the book. Even though From Blood and Ash is over 600 pages, I read it in two days, and it went by so fast. It is a good thing that I waited until the second book was out before starting this series. I don't know how I would have been able to wait for a whole year before reading the next book.


1. From Blood and Ash (Part 1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] ⭐⭐⭐⭐�


🙂
Profile Image for crusadeannihilation.
66 reviews36 followers
October 7, 2024
Just finished part 2 of this two part graphic audio! I didn’t want to add it til now bc I didn’t want part 1 to count as a book read til I finished the second part :)

As someone who has read all the books physically and listened to the original narration, I loooved this adaptation. It was so so good !

Poppycas <3333
Profile Image for Natasha Boudreau.
186 reviews8 followers
October 19, 2024
Part 2/2
⭐⭐⭐⭐�
how they manage to get the perfect casting every time, I'll never know.
Hawke, Poppy, Vikter, 10/10
I have been waiting for part 2!
Profile Image for MaKenna.
173 reviews5 followers
January 29, 2025
Damn�. Yes! This was so good. I listened to the graphic audio while following along with the physical book. My only complaint about the graphic audio is that it is abridged. Which I didn’t realize before. I just want all the descriptor sentences.
But damn I was over halfway done but flew through the rest in one night. So glad to finally start this series.

All I can say is <3 Hawke
Profile Image for whatashisreading | missing the wing leader.
369 reviews2 followers
October 22, 2024
HOLY SMOKES. The second half was so much better than the first. I’m so glad I waited until the graphic audio came out, but now I’m stressed because the next one doesn’t come out until December! Gahhhh

Songs:
You kill me (in a good way)- SWS
Gave you I Gave you I- Gracie Abrams
Profile Image for Mimisays411.
118 reviews8 followers
January 13, 2025
I have read this book before, but listening to the GraphicAudio Version of this book is an absolute epic experience! The voice acting is so spot on and it’s so enjoyable! They are so talented! I vibe with all of it! Already one of my favorite series and then with the GraphicAudio just took it to a whole new level! Definitely worth listening/reading to this version of from blood and ash. Enjoy the journey my bookish friends!
Profile Image for Haley Wilkey.
36 reviews1 follower
January 12, 2025
Loved the dramatized version! The series as a whole isn’t my favorite, but I LOVE this first book.
Profile Image for Rucky.
44 reviews
October 30, 2024
I found out that if I am unsure about reading a romantasy, trust GraphicAudio on making it more entertaining.

I tried reading Blood and Ash in a physical form, but I just couldn't get into the story, no matter how hard or often I tried. It took this version to finally get me into the story, making me fall in love with Poppy more than the words on paper ever could. Katie Booth and Stewart Crank had me in a vice grip with their depictions of Poppy and Hawke
Profile Image for Bianca.
369 reviews4 followers
November 19, 2024
Casteel's voice is pure sin!

Loved reliving the beginning of the FBAA world through Graphic Audio. They simply can not produce a bad audio version.
Profile Image for Book Tipp.
136 reviews45 followers
February 4, 2025
Quizás al principio me ha costado conectar con las voces y el acento, pero vaya maravilla, amigas.
Pensaba que me gustaba tanto porque fue la primera saga de fantasía que leí, pero no amigas, es una joya por sí misma. La construcción del mundo, los personajes (no solo los principales), los plot twists, como está escrito (en este caso actuado), todo es perfecto.
He escuchado otros GraphicAudio (Fourth Wing) y sentía que había cosas que no me acababan de gustar (las escenas spicy por ejemplo), pero aquí siento que ha mejorado mucho y que realmente es como escuchar una película con los ojos cerrados
Solo estoy fastidiada porque solo hay hasta la primera parte del segundo libro...
Ahora no nos queda otra opción que seguir leyendo la saga.
Profile Image for River.
364 reviews9 followers
November 1, 2024
Ugh. The pain? The spice? The plot???? Legendary. The way I’d do anything for this man. He said “you can do nothing wrong� or something along those lines had me going FERAL. I am not sure I will ever recover from this
Profile Image for Athena Shoolery.
417 reviews1 follower
March 17, 2025
The Rite was awesome, as expected. And yes I absolutely sobbed for Vikter, losing him in graphic audio was TOUGH. Hawke's big reveal at Newhaven and the whole shitshow that turns into was also awesome.

I kiiiind of expected more from the scene out in the snow at the end (iykyk). It's such a frantic and kind of crazed moment I expected there to be some intense music or something like they did in Fourth Wing the first time Violet uhhh....wields her signet lol. They had some little drum n bass thing going for that and I felt something similar would have fit here, too. But it was kind of weirdly quiet. Still very hot, but weirdly quiet.

Also they just say “vampire� when the word is vampry?? I mean they are essentially vampires but that’s not the word that’s used in the book. And I HAAAAAATE how they pronounced Delano. They pronounce it Deh-lay-no.

But these are minor things. I love being back in this world and it’s fun with the whole cast 🥹

UGH I shouldn't have jumped into the graphic audio when I only have the first book in this format. Jumping back to regular narration for book two is going to suck but I'm def waiting on the next audible sale.
26 reviews
November 11, 2024
i really liked part 1 of the audiobook as i loved casteels va but idk for some reason this one just fell a bit flat for me? i had just finished acosf and absolutely loved nesta and cass's portrayals and this one just felt so much more one dimensional and bland for me idk. was still alright but coupled with the writing, it just wasn't really anything special
Profile Image for Sarah.
222 reviews11 followers
October 4, 2024
this GraphicAudio adaptation was honestly perfect � the voice actors for all the characters fit so well, the music & sound effects (the wolven?! put me in the GROUND) was top tier. i had so much fun & i cannot wait for the next chunk of the adaptation especially with the plot points to come!!!
Profile Image for lifeasmegs_.
64 reviews2 followers
October 1, 2024
That might have been my favorite graphic audio 😮‍�

I just love Cas so much
Profile Image for Kerry.
518 reviews19 followers
October 2, 2024
I love this series, and the graphic audio is great. Now I need to reread Midnight Cas (a soul of ash and blood) while waiting for the next ga to drop!
Profile Image for Amanda.
583 reviews
October 8, 2024
Audiobook. Library. This GA was soooooo good. So enjoyable and a great reminder of what I love about this series.
Profile Image for Savannah Medina.
678 reviews29 followers
October 28, 2024
Absolutely fantastic audio. The way the graphic audio brings these stories to life gives me so much joy!
Profile Image for Iris Johnson.
132 reviews1 follower
December 2, 2024
Remove half a star for the snow scene�. You know what you did Hawk
And add half a star for the tub scene � you knew what you were doing Kerian
Profile Image for Maeve.
50 reviews
January 5, 2025
Squealing. Haven't felt this way since acosf
Profile Image for Neisha Hale.
24 reviews
April 9, 2025
graphic audio is top tier as always!

I was floored by Hawk!! that ending?! ahh!! I loved this!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jess A..
156 reviews2 followers
November 25, 2024
This book is much more cringe than I remember it being the first time I read it😅
Hawke's voice actor got better by the second half of this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews

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