Review: A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout

A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Flesh and Fire #1
Published by Blue Box Press on October 19, 2021
Pages: 712
Genres: Fantasy, Romance


Amazon B&N Apple Kobo Audible

The Flesh and Fire series is set in the beloved Blood and Ash world.

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.

Confused, confounded, befuddled, perplexed. That pretty much sums up my feelings about A Shadow in the Ember, book one in the Flesh and Fire series. It seems like everyone LOVES this book, so clearly I’m in the minority. Granted, I haven’t read the Blood and Ash series, to which I now know this book is a prequel. Since this is the first book in a new series, though, I assume it could stand alone.

The entire book hinges on Sera’s life-long mission to marry the Primal of Death, make him fall in love with her, and then kill him in order to save the kingdom of Lasania from progressive decay and destruction. Her mission was forged after her ancestor made a deal with the Primal of Death eons ago to save the people. So she has to kill the Primal who saved her people in order to save her people again? Huh? After reading all 700+ pages—Yes, that’s right. Seven. Hundred. Pages.—I still don’t understand what killing him would accomplish.

Armentrout’s attempt to build a rich fantasy world is admirable, but there is waaay too much going on. In addition to an overabundance of characters to keep track of—How many times did I mistake Nyktos and Nektas??—my mind was overwhelmed with a barrage of details to sift through. Eather vs. embers; the Chosen vs. Consorts vs. Maidens; Primals vs. Kings vs. gods; Culling and Ascension; viktors and Arae; Gyrms and Shades; and so on. These may be obvious to those familiar with the Blood and Ash series, but as a newbie I was confuzzled.

The book opens with an enticing prologue. I liked what a fearless badass Sera is right from the start, but she’s also incredibly annoying. She disobeys rules and then gets an attitude when she inevitably has to be rescued. She’s impulsive and argumentative, and the constant bickering grows tiresome. I could probably deal with all of that if there was any character growth, but there isn’t any. I was crazy about Ash, though. He’s so caring and patient, yet he’ll bring down a world of pain on those who cross him. I’m glad the story takes the time to develop Ash’s relationship with Sera, but much of the book could be condensed. Huge chunks really drag. There’s a driving pulse towards the end that makes it a page turner—albeit a puzzling one—with twists, but then it ends on a cliffhanger.

If you’re a fantasy lover who is crazy about in-depth world-building then this might be the book for you. It just wasn’t for me.

Related Posts