I feel like the reader doesn’t really see much of villains in this book, much like From Blood and Ash, but the reveals and teasers that made up the book really hyped me up for a proper look at the villains as the series proceeds. Since A Shadow in the Ember is the first book in its series, this mostly felt introductory, so I can’t wait to see more of them here. I am a sucker for the found family trope, so I love it when the protagonists are surrounded by a family-like band of characters, and this delivered that.

Armentrout gave us a strong cast of supporting characters here and I loved that. I saw many reviews pointing out how multifaceted Nyktos is as a person and I truly witnessed that in A Shadow in the Ember. I went in expecting someone with a hardness and coldness befitting his Primal nature, which means he’s superior to even the gods in this universe, but he wasn’t. I saw many similarities between Sera and Poppy from From Blood and Ash, but also plenty of differences. While she’s thrust into this great destiny to save her kingdom, it is obvious that Sera is capable of much more than just carrying out an assassination to save Carsodonia. She has the hardness and perseverance of an assassin and a warrior but also a very passionate and empathetic heart. Sera is a complicated female protagonist. Either way, her life is forfeit-it always has been, as she has been forever touched by Life and Death.Ĭontent warnings: blood & gore, explicit sexual content, infant death, murder, suicide, toxic family relationships

And his seductive touch ignites a passion she’s never allowed herself to feel and cannot feel for him. Until the Primal of Death’s unexpected words and deeds chase away the darkness gathering inside her. A specter never fully formed yet drenched in blood. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot. Make the Primal of Death fall in love, become his weakness, and then…end him. 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.

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. The Flesh and Fire series is set in the beloved Blood and Ash world.īorn shrouded in the veil of the Primals, a Maiden as the Fates promised, Seraphena Mierel’s future has never been hers.

A shadow of ember