ARC Review: "Visions of Flesh & Blood: A Blood and Ash/Flesh and Fire Compendium (Blood and Ash, #5.5)" by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Visions of Flesh and Blood: A Blood and Ash/Flesh and Fire Compendium by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary from GoodReads

VISIONS OF FLESH AND BLOOD: a Blood and Ash/Flesh and Fire Compendium is a comprehensive companion guide for background, history, reader-favorite information, art, and reference materials. Combined with original short stories and scenes from some of the world’s most beloved characters, as well as never-before-seen visual enticements, it’s a treat for the senses.

Told from the point of view of Miss Willa herself, the compendium acts like research material but reads like a journal and cache of personal notes, allowing the reader to revisit the characters and history they so love yet view things in a different way.

VISIONS OF FLESH AND BLOOD by Jennifer L. Armentrout with Rayvn Salvador is a must-add addition to the series that any Blood and Ash/Flesh and Fire fan will enjoy.

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REVIEW

I received an e-ARC from the author & publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

It is a rare chance to read a compendium of a fictional world. Make it a world made by my favorite Jennifer Armentrout and I am sold! What I need to stress here is the fact that this book is only a compilation of information and summaries of the characters' lives set in both prequel and main series, sparkled with extra short stories, interviews, and amazing art as also maps.

Well, technically it is Miss Willa writing everything who is also a character from the series and the author of the spicy diary Poppy loves to read. Through her words, we see how the mythology of the Primals and the gods was created and how the story of Sera, Ash, and Kolis (characters from the Flesh and Fire series) unfolded without giving spoilers if someone has not read the prequel series.

Personally, I laughed at the Kierran interview, and the stories Willa says about herself and her commentary on Poppy and Cas. The art for Poppy, Cas, and Kierran is top quality. My favorite was also that of Vonetta and Emil too! There are also some minor developments like letters addressed to characters and descriptions of the world.

Despite being a compendium it is very well structured and can be easily read. Needless to say it works as a perfect addition to both series because anyone can read the summary of the plot so far (in the time this review is written the final books of the prequel and main series have not been published yet). That way someone can enjoy both what they need to know and get the eye candy which is the art, maps, and Willa's steamy stories.

In conclusion, this is the perfect part that adds to the world-building of this massive series by Jennifer Armentrout and personally, I can not wait for the final books!

                                


About the author:

# 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. 

Cover Reveal: "Rise of the Melody" by Wendy Higgins

 I am delighted to reveal the cover for the upcoming book by one of my favorite authors Wendy Higgins! Find more info below!

Summary

From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the YA paranormal Sweet Evil series comes a modern fantasy romance of mystery with Celtic and Gaelic mythology.

Seventeen-year-old Colette “Letty” MacIntyre has everything going for her: a great life with her Aunt Lorna in Brooklyn, a promising singing career, and enough distractions to forget the tragic disappearance of her parents. She’s banking on a bright future in the city until strange things begin to happen. People are suddenly having peculiar reactions to her singing voice, and a giant wolfhound starts following her like a lost puppy. But the cherry on top is when the mayor of her long-forgotten birthplace, Shehan, a town on a mountainous island off the craggy northern coast of Maine, shows up on her doorstep with an impossible revelation: the folklore stories she grew up hearing are real. Letty is the last land siren on Earth…and he needs her help.

An escaped kelpie—a monstrous water horse—is terrorizing Shehan, and Letty’s voice is the only thing that can stop it. Despite the shock at learning her heritage, Letty returns to the island, which is filled with as much mystery as it is fog. She wants answers to her parents’ disappearance as well as a chance to prove herself. But in a race of mighty druids and formidable Scottish witches, Letty’s power is an anomaly, feared and reviled by the mystic community. Her lineage must be kept secret. It becomes even harder to fulfil these tasks when a new enemy threatens her—an alluring, powerful druid boy filled with darkness who would just as soon kill her as kiss her.

Will her deadly melody be enough to save the town and herself?

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About the author:

Wendy Higgins is the USA Today and NY Times bestselling author of the SWEET EVIL series from HarperTeen, the high fantasy duology THE GREAT HUNT, her independently published Irish Fantasy SEE ME, and her indie NA science fiction UNKNOWN trilogy.

After earning a Creative Writing degree from George Mason University and a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford, Wendy taught high school English until achieving her dream job as a full-time writer.

ARC Review: "A Fragile Enchantment" by Allison Saft

A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary from GoodReads

In this romantic fantasy of manners from New York Times bestselling author Allison Saft, a magical dressmaker commissioned for a royal wedding finds herself embroiled in scandal when a gossip columnist draws attention to her undeniable chemistry with the groom.

Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.

But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more—until an anonymous columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible.

Transporting readers to a Regency England-inspired fantasy world, A Fragile Enchantment is a sweeping romance threaded with intrigue, unforgettable characters, and a love story for the ages.

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AMAZON | WATERSTONES

REVIEW

I received an e-ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. 

Tackling 2024 with this lovely YA book, set in a magical world where emotions can be woven into cloth, blights can be made just with a thought and social class is everything.

Niamh is a dressmaker born with the rare ability to weave emotions to the clothes she makes. Living in a region conquered by Avaland she is invited to the royal palace to create the wedding ceremonial clothes of the Prince and Princess. But Prince Kit is abrasive and does not wish to marry, while Niamh is battling with her own secret; her magic is sapping her of her life force.

Add in the political unrest due to the disparities between classes; both will have to deal with that and their growing feelings for each other.

I enjoyed the Victorian-era-inspired world; the descriptions were beautiful and the setting unique. It has been a while since a YA book held my attention, and I may return to the category again. My only issue was with how sometimes Niamh would act like a ten-year-old, quick to judge by appearances and not look into the core of the issue, despite starting as a character who had the seriousness of the situation. There was character development, especially from Kit's side which I liked as also from the King and the rest of the secondary characters.

The ending was also good and felt complete.

Recommended for the lovely descriptions and the magic woven into them.

About the author:

Allison Saft is the New York Times and indie bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic and Down Comes the Night. After receiving her MA in English Literature from Tulane University, she moved from the Gulf Coast to the West Coast, where she spends her time rolling on eight wheels and practicing aerial silks. She lives with her partner and an Italian greyhound named Marzipan.