Review: The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: Blood and Ash #3

Publication date: June 8th, 2021

Pages: 576

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Synopsis:

She's been the victim and the survivor...

Poppy never dreamed she would find the love she's found with Prince Casteel. She wants to revel in her happiness but first they must free his brother and find hers. It's a dangerous mission and one with far-reaching consequences neither dreamed of. Because Poppy is the Chosen, the Blessed. The true ruler of Atlantia. She carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. By right the crown and the kingdom are hers.

The enemy and the warrior...

Poppy has only ever wanted to control her own life, not the lives of others, but now she must choose to either forsake her birthright or seize the gilded crown and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire. But as the kingdoms' dark sins and blood-drenched secrets finally unravel, a long-forgotten power rises to pose a genuine threat. And they will stop at nothing to ensure that the crown never sits upon Poppy's head.

A lover and heartmate...

But the greatest threat to them and to Atlantia is what awaits in the far west, where the Queen of Blood and Ash has her own plans, ones she has waited hundreds of years to carry out. Poppy and Casteel must consider the impossible--travel to the Lands of the Gods and wake the King himself. And as shocking secrets and the harshest betrayals come to light, and enemies emerge to threaten everything Poppy and Casteel have fought for, they will discover just how far they are willing to go for their people--and each other.

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Story:

I absolutely love that the author sprinkles in little tidbits of Poppy's history without giving away the big shocker that I feel is coming. She twists and turns from one chapter to the next and introduces new challenges and obstacles for the couple to overcome. Poppy and Casteel are the most solid they have ever been and the only thing holding them back in the fact that their people don't wish to accept Poppy because she could be dangerous to them. I think it more so is a good representation of how societies as a whole struggle with the unknown. How people have a hard time dealing with change even if it might be for the benefit of them. I like that the author stuck to that realism instead of trying to make the Atlantians blindly accepting Poppy into the fold. Every single book in the series so far has been completely wrapped in this overwhelming goal to unite the kingdoms and free the people. Give people a choice in how they want to live their lives without rulers dictating it to them with threats of deal and persecution. From one book to the next I find myself on the edge of my seat and desperate for more.

Characters:

• Poppy - I can't seem to find much flaw in Poppy. The more I learn about her, the more I see her fight, the more heart she shows for her people, the more I can't seem to find any reason to dislike her. I dislike how much she has thrown at her but at the same time she is so willing to bend and move in whatever way she needs to to protect those she cares about and even those she doesn't even know. 

• Casteel - I have never seen a male character as completely and utterly in love with the female main character as Casteel is with Poppy. She could massacre an entire population of people and he would simply ask her why and accept whatever reason she gave. That probably goes hand-in-hand with the fact that Poppy would never do such a thing without some sort of really good reason behind it. She shows she's bloodthirsty, Casteel tells her how hot he finds it. Another facet of her complicated biology comes out, he is there to tell her how special she is. She doubts herself, and he is there once more to build her up until she can stand on her own two feet. 

Writing:

The only thing that I struggle with is keeping up with all the twists and turns in parentage that seem to come about. What god is parent to who? Who is a god and who is the royal of gods? Who is alive and who is simply sleeping? Poppy is genetically linked to who? It's a lot to keep straight to the point where I needed to find a family tree online to trace it all back. That in comes with the risk of spoilers though so it was pretty difficult. Maybe if there were a little more cut and dry connections it would be easier for the readers to keep track and not become overwhelmed.

Overall:

Aside from my own struggles to keep track of who birthed what person, I love this series and can't get enough. In fact, as soon as I finished this book, I couldn't even write this review before I was desperately looking for the next one in the series. I needed to know what happened! Poppy and Casteel are one of my favorite fictional couples and I can't wait to see what else happens in their world.