Back in 2021, I read A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout for the first time. Now, it got published in my native language and since I’m on a rereading spree, it was time to rediscover this one as well.
- Title: A Shadow in the Ember
- Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
- Series: Flesh and Fire #1
- Publication date: October 19, 2021
- Publisher: Blue Box Press
- ISBN: 9781952457494
- Number of pages: 645
- Genre: New adult, Fantasy
Born shrouded in the veil of the Primals, a Maiden as the Fates promised, Seraphena Mierel’s future has never been hers. Chosen before birth to uphold the desperate deal her ancestor struck to save his people, Sera must leave behind her life and offer herself to the Primal of Death as his Consort.
However, Sera’s real destiny is the most closely guarded secret in all of Lasania—she’s not the well protected Maiden but an assassin with one mission—one target. Make the Primal of Death fall in love, become his weakness, and then… end him. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot.
Sera has always known what she is. Chosen. Consort. Assassin. Weapon. A specter never fully formed yet drenched in blood. A monster. Until him. Until the Primal of Death’s unexpected words and deeds chase away the darkness gathering inside her. And his seductive touch ignites a passion she’s never allowed herself to feel and cannot feel for him. But Sera has never had a choice. Either way, her life is forfeit—it always has been, as she has been forever touched by Life and Death.
Before I dove into this book, I’d expected to be sucked in as much as with the first “Blood and Ash” novel. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. To be fair, I immediately noticed many similarities between both Poppy’s and Sera’s story and this annoyed me. I know this is a prequel, but I expected this book to start differently. Okay it did, but it soon followed the From Blood and Ash storyline and structure.
Despite the storyline being similar, the characters were different here. Sera has been trained all her life to play the role of the vailed maiden. However, she secretly is an assassin with a hidden agenda. However, I found Ash and Hawke really similar to eachother again. Also, the cruelty of the people who should be caring for Sera is really similar compared to the cruelty Poppy faces. However, the girls both really care about their surroundings and the people of their country. The difference is that Sera has seen more of the world and therefore knows more. She has way less questions than Poppy, which is refreshing.
Although the writing is okay, it took me a very long time to finish A Shadow in the Ember. I felt like I wanted to rush it. My first read was done within a week, but this reread took me nearly a month. It has to do with the translation as well, because can we just stop translating character names? I hate that with a passion. For your information, they translated Ash.
Another reason why it took me longer to finish the book is the quite slow and repetitive plot. I again felt like I was reading From Blood and Ash, but set in a different time. However, there are differences between that book and this one, but still those similarities always bugged me. However, several things from The Crown of Gilded Bones fall into place now. And the dragons come to live in this book, as well as their bond with the gods. This bond is strong, Nyktos’ and nektas’ in particular. Unfortunately, it was easy for me to put this book down and leave it there for a while. I just wasn’t intrigued by the story as much as I wished.
Did I enjoy rereading A Shadow in the Ember? Yes, I mainly did, taking everything into account. However, all the similarities between From Blood and Ash kept bugging me. I find Sera more likeable than Poppy in the first book. Many things fall into place once reading this novel, but I like the banter between the characters in From Blood and Ash more. Also, I’m not the biggest fan of the characters in A Shadow in the Ember. Again, it’s not a particularly bad book, but just not what I’d expected to get. Furthermore, 645 pages is a little bit too big in my opinion as well.
Leave a Reply