Jennifer L. Armentrout

Bow Before Your Queen Or Bleed Before Her…

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.

And now she will become Queen…

Blood and Ash Book 3

The Crown of Gilded Bones

Are…. Are these royal, godlike beings and werewolves about to eat GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE? Is this series set in the Midwest?? I’m in love.

Kendra Leigh 

Dark brows lifted as Vonetta glanced at Casteel. “I honestly don’t know what this one is referring to, but I was thinking about a green bean casserole.”

Bow Before Your Queen Or Bleed Before Her… From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes book three in her Blood and Ash series. 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. And now she will become Queen…

Dominika 

 It’s my duty as your husband to make sure you feel safe enough to be real.

Anna Stewart

I will forever cringe at the word honeydew.

Hill

arwen

Kaitlyn

This book was literally the best book so far. Kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time WOW

Sidney Schaffner

The smut in this is top tier. However, the information dumping makes me wanna die.

Danielle Annika

Madison Keiran

3.5 stars. I deserve financial compensation for having the word honeydew ruined for me. Also, much respect for Cas having a life-long stuffed animal companion. ALSO, why are we three books in and there STILL hasn’t been a Poppy/Cas/Kieran threesome, I’m getting impatient

Tatiana

The Crown of Gilded Bones: 2/5


  “You will bow before your Queen.” Casteel eyed the Atlantian coolly. “Or you will bleed before her. It is your choice.”

Premise:
The much anticipated third book in the From Blood and Ash series has finally hit the shelves. Without giving too much away, Poppy must navigate her new life regarding her newly discovered bloodline. She wars between doing what is best for her, versus the best for her people, as a new threat rises to seize Atlantia. Poppy is now thrown into a new plot, awakening old powers and discovering new ones within herself.

Writing & Plot:
This category where most of my issues come into play. The book's beginning 150 pages are nonstop. The reader is vastly overwhelmed with information. A lot of political strategies are the middle 300 pages, and the final 150 finally picks up again. The pacing is usual within these books, so it wasn't too jarring for me, but I was confused at some points. The plot overall, though, is entertaining. 

Now, for the writing. The Crown of Gilded Bones overwhelmingly feels like the first draft, in my opinion. Some paragraphs repeat the same information repeatedly and pages filled with text that has nothing to do with anything. The dialogue chapters stretch out so much that it teeters on the intersection of bland, predictable, and annoying. I feel like the book could have cut 200 pages, and it still would have had the same plot.

Was it essential to have Poppy's father revealed four different times? With four other people? I felt like The Crown of Gilded Bones fell apart with Poppy's heritage. The bloodlines were extremely confusing towards the end of the book and almost impossible to follow. I was getting annoyed with the constant back and forth with reveal after reveal flip-flopping. 

Overall, I feel like an editor could have solved all of these issues. This book could be great if it was just edited a bit more and honed into the crucial pieces rather than every tiny detail. There was much emphasis on Poppy's everyday life, and JLA could have omitted pages of these details. It was easy to lose the light of a more significant plotline. 

Sidenote, I have no idea how JLA will extend this to six books. 

The ending, though? It was okay.

Characters:
On the other hand, I think Poppy has vastly improved in The Crown of Gilded Bones from A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire. I caught the vibe that she is finally thinking for herself, but I still wish she would be a bit less co-dependent on Casteel. That aside, I understand this is a romance book, so it is only my personal preference. Furthermore, some parts of Poppy gave off "pick me" vibes. I get it, girl; you're unique.

Along these lines, I liked Casteel more within this installment, but there was still the "trope" that he thinks being stabbed is hot. I don't know, parts of Casteel make me wildly uncomfortable, but he was okay.

Kieran is excellent. Probably the only character in this book that I enjoyed.


  "There cannot be equality in power if there is no choice."

Conclusion:
I feel conflicted because this book was good in some ways, but in others, this book suffered. The plotline lacked the addictive qualities its two predecessors had and dragged on for too long, attributed mainly to the massive info dumps put within Poppy's extremely unnecessary detailed inner monologues.

In my opinion, this book did not quite live up to the previous two, and I am getting so tired of this series. Just make it end.

isabella

garnet

big ab

the beginning and the ending of this book made up for the rest of the book.
i felt like 70% of the book is one huge information dump and just consists of people talking, it is incredibly boring. but the beginning and ending are actually fun, content-filled, and totally engaging.

I was nervous starting this book because I've seen alot of hate for The crown of gilded bones but I think this is the best of this series. The plot for the most part was fast paced and there were many twists and turns. I loved the characters and Poppy and Casteel will always be my favorite book couple. The tension between them is to die for and I just love reading about Poppy and Casteel so much 

June

Hailey Watts

taryn

2.5 stars, still fun with weird pacing, thin plots to go with the softcore porn. But I am enjoying the adventure.

Wasn't my favorite and definitely took me much longer to finish than the others. Usually by the end I'm super invested but I never really felt that "I must keep reading" vibe. However, still gonna read the fourth book 🤪 can't ditch bby casteel like that

Manda

This one was my favorite out of the series so far! Right from the beginning, you’re really thrown into where the last book left off which really didn’t end after the climax. Very fast paced, lots of action and moving parts. Loved it! 

Ashley Krajnak 

becky oh

Thank you so much to Social Butterflies for giving me a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.


Another confession: Casteel just took my heart away 💖

 ___________________

I have to say, I am the most luckiest people on the planet to actually read this book. Like, when I asked if I was able to get an ARC copy of this book, I had so many doubts. Who wouldn't? We're talking about THE Blood and Ash series book number 3 here (minus the short book of Hawke aka Casteel's POV at the Red Pearl). But oh my lord, you all should've seen my face when I saw the cover of 'The Crown of Gilded Bones' right on my kindle. I screamed. And when I say screamed, I mean SCREAMED THE HELL OUT (it bothered my next door neighbour a lot).

Of course, I didn't leave my butt out of my bed until I savoured every words written on the pages, reading every bit of emotions Poppy felt and from others, the heated love radiating from Casteel and Poppy. To be honest, I think I fell more in love with Kieren than Casteel but we won't talk about that . . . 

***

There were so many things improved while I was reading this book. First off, the whole Poppy-being-violent part that was mentioned quite A LOT in AKOFAF but in TCOGB, it was reduced (I am so happy about this) because of course I loved that JLA showed Poppy was a definite badass but it seemed too much. Sure, there are bits here and there where Poppy threatens her beloved husband to stab her (which we all know he likes) these kind of things happened like once in a while. 

Plus, the romance got so much more sizzling I thought it was going to burn my kindle. But it was also quite sweet in a way. There were some ups and downs with Poppy and Casteel's relationship but that only made them to be stronger: to sacrifice for each other and love each other so much more. I think TCOGB has the most sizzling moments and SO MUCH sweet, cheesy and romantic gestures here and there both from Casteel and Poppy. And their small bickering and threatening each other (Poppy with her violent threats and Casteel's with those secrets-behind-the-words threats) and I loved all those moments and cherished them in my heart.

Alas, the pace seemed kind of slow. Like, half-way through the book we FINALLY meet Casteel's parents properly. Like, JLA put a lot of descriptions in every chapter and I loved reading them but they just dragged some parts where actions were needed. 

***

This book starts off right after where Queen Eloana bowing down and that's when all the drama starts to happen. There were so many questions bubbling up inside me about how this was possible and so many damn questions about Poppy's abilities. These were all answered throughout the book and I was very grateful for that. However, I think there were too many informations in this book for me to consume. Some things didn't make sense to me so I had to go back and read again so that I was able to understand better. I think JLA wanted to put in as much informations as she could so that when the next book is out, there would be more actions, drama and love (I'm telling y'all, the ending of this book made me so mad but I'll explain that later). 

Of course, Poppy gets quite emotional and consumed by all these knowledge coming into her head but she takes them better than I did. When she learns that she is the true heir of Atlantia and has seize the gilded crown to become queen, she becomes too overwhelmed. There are so many dark secrets that are being unraveled both for Poppy and Casteel, their enemies and growing and the staked are so much higher. Even the first 6 chapters of the books have so much actions my eyes were so wide. It even made me cry a little bit in the middle of the book . . .

***

Poppy becomes so much stronger and her powers keep growing and growing throughout this book. And we can totally see that she is a badass character and she becomes so much beautiful. To me and Casteel. She saves so many people that she cares and loves about and I was grinning when she snapped at some Lords in Atlantia and spoke her mind freely. Although, I was a little sad that she didn't have many friends (it was heavily focused on her, Casteel and Kieran). Unsurprisingly, her random questions never end for Kieran that I actually feel sorry for him. If she asks him why the stars glow or some random shit, I will laugh SO HARD. 

Casteel, our beloved (dark) prince charming who never fails to amaze me in every way. He shows so passionately about how he loves Poppy to anyone and really teases and makes Poppy blush and smile. They really are a true couple I will ship forever and always. He also makes such good quotes that I highlighted about 14 that was said from him. 

Kieren, my very very adorable (and arragont) wolven made me fall in love with him too. He becomes so much more into this book than any other books in this series and I am very grateful that he is happier through this journey of TCOGB (who knows what or even WHO makes him happier . . . I'm not going to say anything). 

I am not going to say ANYTHING about the Joining . . .

And (O.M.G) the ENDING makes me want to rip my kindle apart. JLA seems to like her readers hanging on a cliffhanger before everything falls apart. I was CRYING with several tissues lying around me when it was about 96% of the book. And DAMN the ENDING makes me so so excited for her next book (which is what, MONTHS AWAY). 

But I loved this book so much. It was improved a lot from the last two books from this Blood and Ash series and let's not forget the tag: TeamCasteelDa'Neer 

Also, I wanted to give you guys all a small gift if you are a fan of this Blood and Ash series (; If you haven't read it yet, below is a link to three sample chapters of TCOGB!! (breathe, breathe). This is NOT a spoiler since it was announced in JLA's subscribing email.

https://jenniferlarmentrout.com/books...
(you just have to click on the link, then scroll down to "where to purchase" and there should be a blue tab wich says 'three chapters' and tah dah three chapters for TCOGB!)

(Bre)anne✨

This series truly has my heart ♥️ It continues to get better and better! The beginning was an absolute emotional wreck! I love the plot development and the continued depth to the characters and world building. I love it! 

Roxanne Ramirez

This series truly has my heart ♥️ It continues to get better and better! The beginning was an absolute emotional wreck! I love the plot development and the continued depth to the characters and world building. I love it! 

Casteel and Poppy 💕

The series is slowly getting better. Way too much unnecessary filler. The whole shock factor just got confusing and hard to track. The ending felt rushed, should’ve ended three chapters sooner at the end of the meeting. 

Katrina Brye

Jodie Reads

Wilma Lindmark

The way this series have me in ha chokehold is ridiculous. The plot, romance and smut was immaculate. I have nothing to complain about because this series just keep getting better for every book and when I think it goes in one direction it gives me whiplash when it completely turns around. And the worst thing is when a book is predictable but that was not the case in this book. This book gets all the emotions out from me, it had me sobbing, curling my toes, smiling like and idiot and some times I wanted to throw the book across my room. Which makes me hate it and love it in the same time because it broke my heart and nothing will ever be close to as good as this.

And don't get me started on Poppy, Casteel and Kieran. I love them so much and will not hear any negative about them. I love how they act together and their relationship. It so wholesome and sweet and hilarious. I can't even string a sentence together because it will not give them justice. 

Can't wait to the next book.

The crown of gilded bones is my favorite of the blood and ash series so far. I really need to recover from yet another intense plot twist ending but what the heck this book was amazing 

I was nervous starting this book because I've seen alot of hate for The crown of gilded bones but I think this is the best of this series. The plot for the most part was fast paced and there were many twists and turns. I loved the characters and Poppy and Casteel will always be my favorite book couple. The tension between them is intense and I just love reading about Poppy and Cas so much. The plot twist at the end left me reeling and I'm so glad that The war of two queens is already out ! 

Poppy's inner monologue tired me sometimes and Kiernan is right, she asks too many questions. Along with the guess who is Poppy's father but nobody actually knows who it is. These things were a bit tiring at times but I still really enjoyed reading this book and I just can't get enough of Poppy, Cas and Kiernan 

The crown of gilded bones is my favorite of the blood and ash series so far. I really need to recover from yet another intense plot twist ending but what the heck this book was amazing 

I was nervous starting this book because I've seen alot of hate for The crown of gilded bones but I think this is the best of this series. The plot for the most part was fast paced and there were many twists and turns. I loved the characters and Poppy and Casteel will always be my favorite book couple. The tension between them is intense and I just love reading about Poppy and Cas so much. The plot twist at the end left me reeling and I'm so glad that The war of two queens is already out ! 

There were a few things I didn't like :

Poppy's inner monologue tired me sometimes and Kiernan is right, she asks too many questions. Along with the guess who is Poppy's father but nobody actually knows who it is. These things were a bit tiring at times but I still really enjoyed reading this book and I just can't get enough of Poppy, Cas and Kiernan 

The Crown of Gilded Bones Blood and Ash Book 3

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