From Blood and Ash by: Jennifer L. Armentrout Book Review! New favorite?

This book had me hooked from start to finish! If I didn't think I could like Armentrout's books anymore than I already do, she proved me so very wrong. In this book, Poppy is destined to be an Ascended which means she has to prove that she's worthy of the Gods. She is taught never to question her position just to fulfill it when that time arrives. Poppy had a lot of rules to follow with being the next Maiden who many people are relying on to ascend. Poppy literally can't do anything except her lessons, attend meetings, and eat. Poppy is frustrated with that life and secretly doesn't want it. But she knows she should want this life. It's her destiny. When Poppy meets Hawke she begins to question everything she thought she wanted and even starts to slowly rebel even more than she already has. With Hawke being assigned her royal guard after a heartbreaking death, it's even harder to fight what she truly knows she wants. But Poppy isn't just a Maiden awaiting the day she ascends. She's been learning to fight with Vikter (who is her other royal guard) so she can help keep out the Craven. Craven are like vampire zombies from what I gather. Whenever Poppy wants to do something she's not supposed to such as fighting, reading, etc she disguises herself with a cloak and mask. This doesn't fool Hawke and he finds Poppy intriguing. Poppy likes Hawke more than she should. Hawke let's Poppy handle herself and sees her as more than just the next Maiden. Hawke doesn't care if Poppy breaks the rules in fact, he kind of likes it. He even encourages it. Hawke sees Poppy for who she truly is and also starts to like her more than he should. He even tells her he doesn't care about the rules. Hawke believes Poppy should live a life she wants. But as her royal guard he still takes his role seriously in protecting Poppy. As Hawke and Poppy grow closer, Poppy becomes more frustrated about who she's supposed to be and what she actually wants. Poppy reminds me of princess Jasmine and Mulan wrapped all in one. Jasmine because she stays silent for awhile until another horrible death let's her unleash everything she's held in. Mulan because of course her fighting skills and disguising herself to go into battles. This book has a little bit of everything for everyone. There's action, friendships, steamy romance, sarcastic humor, etc. I read this book in two days! It's rare for me to like bigger books because sometimes they just tend to drag on and on. I didn't feel like that with this book. Poppy did have long thoughts, but they didn't bore me. In the beginning, it did drag on a bit, but it got very interesting rather quickly. I thought that Poppy was a strong character since the beginning. I didn't see someone who went from being weak to strong. I see someone who went from being strong, to even stronger. When we first meet Poppy she knows how to fight and if she's punished she deals with the punishments on her own. Even when Vikter asks her why she gets summoned (which is for the punishments) she doesn't tell the truth. Poppy is very wise, she knows nothing would be done even if she did say something. Not only that, but she picks up on some things pretty quickly. A lot of people think Poppy is this damsel maiden who can't do anything, but wait for her day to ascend. She really proves everyone wrong later in the book when her home becomes under attack. The attack and certain deaths lead the King, Queen, and Duchess to come to the decision to release Poppy to the King and Queen for protection. But the journey to the King and Queen takes a very unexpected turn. Poppy gets betrayed in a huge way that makes her question everything about her life all over. Poppy wants to believe in everything she was taught her entire life. She doesn't want to be believe everything she thought she knew was a lie. But a certain betrayal makes it harder for her to know what's true and what's a lie. I didn't think this book was hard to keep up with, I thought everything was explained quite well. Maybe not in great detail until near the end, but enough for me to understand what was going on. I do wish the Atlantians and Vampyrs were explained more towards the beginning instead of saving it for the end. But also, I know that Poppy was only told so much about them. So, I think Armentrout wanted us to find out when Poppy did purposely. Poppy thought she knew everything and the way she was taught was correct and that was that, no further questions or explanation. She was taught to just listen and follow the rules. But near the end Poppy was able to ask the one person she trusted more than anyone all the questions her heart desired. The last 100 pages or so was definitely shocking! I was not expecting all the twists and turns that took place. The other parts of the book had tiny twists here and there, but nothing compared to the final chapters where the story really starts to unfold. This book is definitely my favorite. I read this book in 2 days! I read 200 pages the first day and finished the last 400 the next day it was that great of a book! This book had everything I could ever want in a book (literally). I read a book last year where I thought it had everything I wanted in a book. But this book added an element I didn't know was missing which was Atlantians (vampires) which I love reading about! This book is New Adult Paranormal Fantasy and I love it! Armentrout took two of my favorite genres and created this magnificent beast of a book! I felt so many emotions while reading it, I feel like at times I could barely keeping up with them. I felt happy, angry, so sad I cried, etc. I don't think I ever laughed when a character died and I laughed like a maniac when a certain someone died because I hated them so fuckin' much! Armentrout did a a fantastic job of sweeping me up into this world and not letting me get out of it. Even when I wasn't reading because I had to eat or whatever else I still thought about it. Each chapter was something exciting! Even the little scenes with the meetings just held my attention when normally events like that bore someone. My grip on this book I swear grew tighter and tighter especially near the end as I read along. The book was literally in my face a few times this book was that amazing. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone! I soaked this story up like a sponge and I can not wait for book number two! Also, I included how I picture Poppy and Hawke at the bottom!