The ​Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout | Goodreads

3.5 stars

SONG:

Meghan Trainor – What If I

One thing for sure, if you didn’t enjoy
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
, you will sure as hell not enjoy
A Crown of Gilded Bones
, because it’s as slow-paced with a lot of info dumping again. ??‍♀️

Personally, I thought the book started out strong, right where the second book left off. I would say until chapter 10 it’s pretty well paced after that it started to drop and has the same vibes of AKOFAF with not much happening tbh, just Poppy and Casteel going from one place to the next one and talking to people and then then the last 20-25% are INTENSE. I’m still stressed just thinking about everything that happened. *googles how to find your inner zen*

The fact that we have to wait a year until the next book comes out.. nothing screams masochist louder than reading fantasy series that are still on-going. ?

SPOILER WARNING
: you know the drill. everything from here includes spoilers for the book and I have actually a lot to unpack and didn’t hold back with the spoilers. sorry in advance if this is a mess, I’m just writing all my thoughts down without any structure. ?

*
*
*
*
*

Threesome/Joining:

I want to say something about that topic first, because I was so stressed about the potential of it and how it would ruined the romance for me. Therefore, I’m so fucking relieved to say that there is no threesome/joining happening in TCOGB or not not as we would expect LMAO. There is a threesome, but neither Poppy nor Casteel are take part in it. Poppy and Cas attend a wolven wedding, after a while things get heaten, because apparently wolven like these public affections. So Poppy and Cas watch how Kieran and another girl get it on and also see a threesome between strangers.

As far as the joining, it was only mentioned like one or two times in the whole book and idk if it will happen or not, because Poppy is already bonded to all the wolven and the only reason I’d see the joining happening is maaaaybe when they want extend Cas lifespan, cause Poppy is prob going to live longer than he is, but that’s a big maybe and honestly, I can’t see JLA doing that. Blood and Ash is the 5th series by JLA that I’ve read and she has never done anything remotely sharing and I hope she wont start now and cave to the demands of the fans who want to see the joining so badly, cause that’s a NO from me.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s get to the rest

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

WHAT WAS GREAT

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

➴ King Casteel Da’Neer

credits

credits

That man. I– I just love him. He would do anything to protect Poppy, come hell or high water, nothing is going get to her. There is just something about a Hero who would gladly sacrifice the whole world, if that means that his love is going to life. He’s so unapologetic about it has 0 fucks to give and I love him for it.

Excuse MEE, but that was hot!! ??? He can rip out my spine anytime he wants if he does it with such passion. ?

And one last fanart, because it’s ???

credits

➴ Queen Poppy Balfour

credits

Poppy is getting more powerful with each book. To be honest, I don’t think Poppy needed all the power that she got, because even without it she would have been kickass with her dagger.

What plays a central role in this book is Poppy’s heritage and birth parents. It was giving me a headache. My head is turning at all of the reveals… it was a lot to take in.

One of the best part of this book is Poppy putting people in their place when they disrepect her. LIKE YES QUEEN. ???? A huge aspect of Poppy’s whole development is finding her voice and stop being silent and does it verbally and physically. When Poppy unleashes her power, you know shit is getting real. That last scene when she sends the Queen her message? That was so badass and I love it.

➴ The romance

credits

The day this series will stop working for me is when I get tired of Poppy and Casteel’s romance and that hasn’t happened yet. That’s the reason why I don’t mind the snail pace when nothing is happening, cause I read this series for the romance anyway and not for the history lessons.

They are so cute and make me feel all kind of emotions. ? after two whole books without any love confessions, we get all the ‘I love you’s in TCOGB FINALLY!! Especially that first one hits so hard, because of what happened to Poppy and when Cas decide to Ascend her. That one hurt. ?

THE HELL??? They are so cheesy sometimes and I love it. Sick sick sick why do they have to be so in love and make me feel lonely? Poppy and Cas had so many dumb banter (I say dumb in the most loving way) that had me smiling from ear to ear.

TCOGB must be JLA steamiest book (that I read), cause uhhh Cas and Poppy getting it on quite a lot. ? I mean that shower scene and table scene where he fucks her while she has to read passages from Willa’s diary out loud hot damn.

credits

And please let them reunite quickly in Book #4. I hate it when the couple separates for long. Poppy better save her man as fast as possible from that deranged person. I’m scared what is going to happen to Cas.

credits

➴ Kieran

credits

It’s time that JLA stop killing off all his love interest. First that girl that he loved and lost and now this Lyra girl. Kieran deserves better.

Kieran is such a good side characters who is featured a lot in this book. He a great friend to both Cas and Poppy and he deserves all the happiness. I’m excited to see what’s in store for him.

➴ Poppy & Kieran’s friendship

Does Poppy asking a lot of question and Kieran acting annoyed at her thousand questions get old? Yes.. Occasionally it’s getting on my nerves. But I come to accept that it’s just their dynamic. Let’s pray that they find another form of conversation in the next couples of books. ?

I love that they are developing a deeper relationship and how they starting to care for each other a lot (all platonic or like brother/sister). Poppy is now another person that Kieran would defend with his own life, not just because he is bonded to her, but because he cares for her as a dear friend.

➴ the plot thickens

It’s debatable if the story moves fast enough or not, but I feel like we’re finally getting SOMEWHERE. I still have a million questions and with every question answered, ten more are knocking at the door, BUT I’m so glad that I finally got to know about Tawny, Malik and Ian’s whereabout.

I’m so glad that Tawny is fine and hasn’t ascended. I’m curious what role she is going to play in the upcoming books, cause I don’t think she has any power since she is only a mortal. Could she be a potential love interest for Kieran?

I’m super sad about what happened to Ian. I was looking forward to Poppy and Ian’s reunion and while happened it was too short, before it ended in another tragedy. Poppy deserves a break form all this shit!!

Malik seems fine though…seems like he is working together with the Queen of Solis, but my theory is that he pretending. But I wouldn’t be too sad if he’s imprisonment turned him truly mad either.

Are we about to get a bitch fight between Eleona and Isbeth?? I find Eleona pretty suspious and I hope she is trustworthy. Would hate for Cas to lose a parent. Where the fuck is Malec? What’s with his twin brother? SO MANY QUESTIONS ?

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

WHAT WAS A SNOOZE

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

➴ the information dumping continues

JLA hasn’t done herself any favors with the world she created. It’s overloaded with creatues… like if vamprys, craven, wolven, deities, gods, mortal, ascendend weren’t enough.. now throw in draken, the revenants, gyrms, the unseen, primals and I’m throwing hands. JLA couln’t decide which fantasy aspect to include so she just threw in EVERYTHING. The person who has to update/write these wiki articles for the blood and ash series. RIP.

at one point it got so bad with the history lessons that I got a headache and had to put the book down. For those chapters in the middle, I decided to get the audiobook and it was the best decision EVER. I can 100% recommend getting the audiobook if you’re struggling a little all the information. It was way easier to process listening someone reading the story instead of reading the textbook. This is also the reason why I just can’t give this book a higher rating. I really loved the beginning (chapter 7 is superior!) and I love the last 20% of the book, but everything in between ehh i don’t know about that.

What more does JLA wants to cover in the next 3 books???? Is this going to be more history about the gods and deity? There is still the spin off series about Nyktos and I have no idea how much more the author wants to expand this world. I’m just praying that by the end of this book I still like the characters and that the series is not getting dragged through the mud like the Shatter Me series.

➴ repetitive dialogues

while I’m glad that JLA lessen the Poppy being stabby remarks, there are still a lot of dialogues that are repetitive, like Poppy and Kieran’s asking questions or Cas saying 492849x that he is in awed with Poppy. BOY I GET IT OKAY. You’re whipped and completely trash for her, but I can’t hear it anymore. ?

Also if I hear someone saying that Poppy is has the blood of gods one more time I’m going to scream. There were more things that were repetitive and could’ve been easily cut, but I’m too tired to remember them.

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

WHO MAKES ME FEEL EXTREMELY STABBY

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

➴ Isbeth that bitch. Wow I really really really hate her. Even though I hate her sm, I’m glad I feel something towards her.. because most villains are kinda bland. She’s a cunning & ruthless bitch. Does it make any sense that I kind of admire her, but at the same time just want to see her die a painful and slow death? I can’t wait for Poppy to cut her up into tiny little pieces ?️?️?️

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

SPECIAL MENTION

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

Hello Daddy Nyktos. ?

I love his cameo in TCOGB and it made me a little excited for the spin off series! He seems so unbothered by everything and I love his attitude LOL.

October, here we come with Nyktos and his consorts.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════

CONCLUSION

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

Was this my favorite book in the series? No, but I still enjoyed it a lot, because I love the characters and the romance and that’s the most important part. The book was tedious at times, especially during the middle. At least I kind of know what to expect now from this series… with 3 more books, the pace is not getting any better, I just hope that JLA stops with the world-building, cause this series doesn’t need any more creatures. It already has plenty of them.

┍━━━━━━━━━━━━━┑

BLOOD AND ASH SERIES

#1 3.75 stars
#2 4 stars
#3 A Crown of Gilded Bones – 3.5 stars
#4 (….) – tbr
#5 (….) – tbr
#6 (….) – tbr
┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙ One thing for sure, if you did n’t enjoy, you will sure arsenic hell not enjoy, because it ‘s as slow-paced with a fortune of information dumping again. ??‍♀️Personally, I thought the book started out potent, right field where the second book left off. I would say until chapter 10 it ‘s pretty good paced after that it started to drop and has the like vibration of AKOFAF with not much happening tbh, equitable Poppy and Casteel going from one place to the adjacent one and talking to people and then then the final 20-25 % are INTENSE. I ‘m calm stressed just thinking about everything that happened.The fact that we have to wait a year until the future book comes out.. nothing screams masochist louder than reading fantasy series that are still ongoing. ? : you know the bore. everything from here includes spoilers for the book and I have actually a fortune to unpack and did n’t hold back with the spoilers. deplorable in gain if this is a mess, I ‘m merely writing all my thoughts down without any structure. ?I want to say something about that topic beginning, because I was so stress about the electric potential of it and how it would ruined the romance for me. therefore, I ‘m so fucking relieved to say that there is no threesome/joining happening in TCOGB or not not as we would expect LMAO. There is a trio, but neither Poppy nor Casteel are choose part in it. Poppy and Cas attend a wolven wedding, after a while things get heaten, because obviously wolven like these public affections. then poppy and Cas watch how Kieran and another girl get it on and besides see a trio between strangers.As far as the join, it was entirely mentioned like one or two times in the whole bible and idk if it will happen or not, because Poppy is already bonded to all the wolven and the lone argue I ‘d see the joining happening is maaaaybe when they want strain Cas life, lawsuit Poppy is prob going to live longer than he is, but that ‘s a large possibly and honestly, I ca n’t see JLA doing that. Blood and Ash is the fifth series by JLA that I ‘ve read and she has never done anything remotely sharing and I hope she habit start now and cave to the demands of the fans who want to see the join indeed badly, cause that ‘s a no from me.Now that ‘s out of the way, let ‘s get to the rest════ ⋆★⋆ ════════ ⋆★⋆ ════credits @ theclever.crow credits @ dominiquewesson That man. I– I just love him. He would do anything to protect Poppy, come sin or high water, nothing is going get to her. There is merely something about a champion who would gladly sacrifice the whole global, if that means that his love is going to life sentence. He ‘s so unapologetic about it has 0 fucks to give and I love him for it.Excuse MEE, but that was hot ! ! ??? He can rip out my spine anytime he wants if he does it with such mania. ?And one concluding fanart, because it ‘s ???credits @ jeleynai credits @ theclever.crow Poppy is getting more brawny with each book. To be honest, I do n’t think Poppy needed all the power that she got, because even without it she would have been kickass with her dagger.What plays a central function in this book is Poppy ‘s inheritance and birth parents. It was giving me a concern. My head is turning at all of the reveals … it was a fortune to take in.One of the best part of this book is poppy putting people in their place when they disrepect her. LIKE YES QUEEN. ???? A huge aspect of Poppy ‘s whole growth is finding her voice and stop being mum and does it verbally and physically. When poppy unleashes her world power, you know shit is getting real. That end scene when she sends the Queen her message ? That was therefore badass and I love it.credits @ nessiarts The day this series will stop working for me is when I get tired of Poppy and Casteel ‘s romanticism and that has n’t happened yet. That ‘s the reason why I do n’t mind the escargot footstep when nothing is happening, cause I read this series for the woo anyhow and not for the history lessons.They are indeed cunning and make me feel all kind of emotions. ? after two whole books without any love confessions, we get all the ‘I love you ‘s in TCOGB FINALLY ! ! specially that first one hits then intemperate, because of what happened to Poppy and when Cas decide to Ascend her. That one hurt. ?THE HELL ? ? ? They are so bum sometimes and I love it. Sick sick nauseated why do they have to be so in love and make me feel lonely ? Poppy and Cas had then many dumb banter ( I say dumb in the most love way ) that had me smiling from ear to ear.TCOGB must be JLA steamiest bible ( that I read ), cause uhhh Cas and Poppy getting it on quite a distribute. ? I mean that shower picture and board setting where he fucks her while she has to read passages from Willa ‘s diary out brassy hot damn.credits @ _ellieoo_ And please let them reunite promptly in Book # 4. I hate it when the couple separates for long. Poppy better save her man as fast as potential from that deranged person. I ‘m frightened what is going to happen to Cas.credits @ arda.arts credits @ theclever.crow It ‘s time that JLA stop killing off all his love interest. First that girl that he loved and lost and now this Lyra female child. Kieran deserves better.Kieran is such a full side characters who is featured a fortune in this book. He a great ally to both Cas and Poppy and he deserves all the happiness. I ‘m excite to see what ‘s in store for him.Does Poppy asking a set of question and Kieran acting annoy at her thousand questions get old ? Yes.. Occasionally it ‘s getting on my nerves. But I come to accept that it ‘s equitable their active. Let ‘s beg that they find another form of conversation in the adjacent couples of books. ?I love that they are developing a deep relationship and how they starting to care for each other a lot ( all platonic or like brother/sister ). poppy is now another person that Kieran would defend with his own life sentence, not just because he is bonded to her, but because he cares for her as a costly friend.It ‘s arguable if the report moves fast enough or not, but I feel like we ‘re ultimately getting SOMEWHERE. I however have a million questions and with every question answered, ten more are knocking at the door, BUT I ‘m so glad that I finally got to know about Tawny, Malik and Ian ‘s whereabout.I ‘m so glad that Tawny is fine and has n’t ascended. I ‘m curious what function she is going to play in the approaching books, causal agent I do n’t think she has any power since she is only a person. Could she be a likely love interest for Kieran ? I ‘m ace deplorable about what happened to Ian. I was looking ahead to Poppy and Ian ‘s reunion and while happened it was besides short, before it ended in another calamity. Poppy deserves a break imprint all this damn ! ! Malik seems finely though … seems like he is working together with the Queen of Solis, but my theory is that he pretending. But I would n’t be besides sad if he ‘s captivity turned him truly huffy either.Are we about to get a bitch battle between Eleona and Isbeth ? ? I find Eleona reasonably suspious and I hope she is trustworthy. Would hate for Cas to lose a parent. Where the fuck is Malec ? What ‘s with his counterpart brother ? so many QUESTIONS ?════ ⋆★⋆ ════════ ⋆★⋆ ════JLA has n’t done herself any favors with the world she created. It ‘s overloaded with creatues … like if vamprys, craven, wolven, deities, gods, mortal, ascendend were n’t enough.. now throw in draken, the revenants, gyrms, the unobserved, primals and I ‘m throwing hands. JLA coul n’t decide which fantasy view to include thus she equitable threw in EVERYTHING. The person who has to update/write these wiki articles for the blood and ash series. RIP.at one point it got so bad with the history lessons that I got a headache and had to put the book down. For those chapters in the middle, I decided to get the audiobook and it was the best decision EVER. I can 100 % recommend getting the audiobook if you ‘re struggling a short all the information. It was way easier to process listening person reading the story rather of reading the textbook. This is besides the reason why I just ca n’t give this koran a higher rating. I truly loved the begin ( chapter 7 is ranking ! ) and I love the last 20 % of the bible, but everything in between ehh i do n’t know about that.What more does JLA wants to cover in the next 3 books ? ? ? ? Is this going to be more history about the gods and deity ? There is still the spin off series about Nyktos and I have no estimate how much more the author wants to expand this world. I ‘m merely praying that by the end of this bible I distillery like the characters and that the series is not getting dragged through the mud like the Shatter Me series.while I ‘m glad that JLA lessen the Poppy being stabby remarks, there are inactive a lot of dialogues that are repetitive, like Poppy and Kieran ‘s asking questions or Cas saying 492849x that he is in awe with Poppy. BOY I GET information technology OKAY. You ‘re whipped and completely trash for her, but I ca n’t hear it anymore. ?Also if I hear person saying that Poppy is has the lineage of gods one more time I ‘m going to scream. There were more things that were insistent and could ‘ve been easily cut, but I ‘m excessively tired to remember them.════ ⋆★⋆ ════════ ⋆★⋆ ════➴ Isbeth that cunt. Wow I very truly truly hate her. even though I hate her samarium, I ‘m glad I feel something towards her.. because most villains are rather politic. She ‘s a cunning & pitiless cunt. Does it make any sense that I kind of admire her, but at the like time just want to see her die a atrocious and decelerate death ? I ca n’t wait for Poppy to cut her up into bantam fiddling pieces ?️?️?️════ ⋆★⋆ ════════ ⋆★⋆ ════Hello Daddy Nyktos. ?I love his cameo in TCOGB and it made me a short excite for the spin off series ! He seems so unbothered by everything and I love his attitude LOL.October, here we come with Nyktos and his consorts.════ ⋆★⋆ ════════ ⋆★⋆ ════Was this my favorite book in the serial ? No, but I still enjoyed it a lot, because I love the characters and the romance and that ‘s the most crucial part. The ledger was long-winded at times, specially during the middle. At least I kind of know what to expect immediately from this series … with 3 more books, the pace is not getting any better, I barely hope that JLA stops with the world-building, cause this series does n’t need any more creatures. It already has plenty of them.┍━━━━━━━━━━━━━┑ # 1 From Blood and Ash # 2 A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire # 3– 3.5 stars # 4 ( …. ) – tbr # 5 ( …. ) – tbr # 6 ( …. ) – tbr┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙