A Light in the Flame
Ratings75
Average rating4.3
I had a harder time getting through book two and found myself skimming sections. Seraphena's thoughts were exhausting - leaving you stuck in a state of emotional whiplash. Especially taking into consideration how much - or how little - time has passed. Definitely not my favorite read. Feeling hesitant about picking up book three. Might have to read something else in between.
That said, this line appears about 97% of the way in and made me laugh out loud:
“‘Most of them. Yeah. What?' He snorted. ‘You look surprised. Come now, you've met a few of them.' He shook his head. ‘You've seen firsthand how fucking annoying most of them are.'
Well, I couldn't argue with that, but...”
I hate cliffhangers! I'm frustrated with the descriptions in this book. Where the characters are and their position in the space they reside is never clear and that greatly stunts my ability to see the scene in my head. Like her legs are where? And they are accomplishing this how? No clue. I still hate the miscommunication. I love all of the draken though, and Bele and Rhain. I still prefer Poppy to Sera, but I'll still continue the prequel series.
Honestly, A Light in the Flame ascended me to primalhood. SO GOOD. It is hard to write a review because all I want to do is gush about how much I love this book. I will attempt to be coherent in this review, but you have been warned.
While some readers may criticize A Light in the Flame for being slow and too much in Sera/Ash’s heads, I personally loved it all the more because of that. Their story is devastatingly beautiful, and wrecked me more than I care to admit. If you have a tendency for empathy, get prepared now because I felt every single emotion from Sera throughout this book. I left longing, heartbreak, I felt devastation, shame, joy, love, lust, happiness… just wow. My heart was in constant ache for her and Nyktos, never getting on the same page and always just out of reach. The insecurity she feels throughout the book is so sad was presented stunningly, as is her anxiety. I have never felt more seen in a book than I have in A Light in the Flame and the Flesh and Fire series as a whole. Not many books go into detail on these kinds of emotions and thoughts for as long as this one did, and I loved it.
The chemistry between Sera and Nyktos/Ash was insane and left me heated after every interaction. Their spice is simply perfection, and SO GOOD.
Moving into the world building and characters, Jennifer Armentrout blessed us with plenty and for that I am so happy. We learn a lot more history, we meet a lot more primals and gods, we get to know some wonderful and some horrible gods. There are feuds and battles, we visit multiple lands within Iliseeum, and watch Sera and Nyktos/Ash do lots of things. I have come to love Nektas, Jadis, Reaver, Aios, Belle, Rhain, Ector, and Scion so much.
The dynamic of Sera’s secret being out and the Shadowlands group disliking her was a very interesting and captivating angle. I really enjoyed watching her win them back over with everything she did.
We meet the Arae, learn about a prophecy, realize some terrible things, and see what people are truly made of.
I am not sure how to put everything I am thinking about this book into words. It left me emotionally exhausted in the best of ways, with one hell of a cliffhanger and a lot of heartbreak but also hope. I feel slightly betrayed by the book ending this way, but love it nonetheless.
Overall, A Light in the Flame by Jennifer Armentrout is a fantastic read, and I LOVED this second book in the Fire and Flesh series.
Originally posted at woarr.com.
Ahhh, it's going to another year before book 3 comes out! So why 4 stars? This is about 400 pages of nothing and then 200 pages of actual plot and then BOOM cliffhanger.
I really enjoyed reading this installment of the Flesh and Fire novels. I cannot wait until the next book in the series is out! You might want to throw the book against the wall in some places, but you really have to stick with reading it to the end, regardless. Everything will make more sense than it did in A Shadow In The Ember. In the end I wanted to cry that it was over. I think this is the last book series I will read after each installment comes out. I can't handle waiting. It's so hard because JLA's books are SO excellent! Love them all!
The story of this book picks up immediately after “An Ember in the Ashes” and because of that, I would recommend rereading the last chapters of the book to refresh the memory of the last events. Sera is trying to deal with the discovery of the life embers inside her, that she has Sotoria soul and may be the only weapon to end Kolis, and that, because she tasted some of Nyktos blood, she will inevitably go through the culling, resulting in her death.
The end of the Rot in both realms is dependent on Sera survival of the culling and consequent Asecension to Primal of Life, or on the successful removal of the Embers and subsequent transfer to Niktos.
This book feels like a middle book of a series and doesn't have a lot of action, consisting mostly of the build-up of Sera and Niktos relationship, some political dynamics between the Primals and set-up/ preparation for the next part of the story.
JLA writing continues to improve and it has been a delight to see her grow as a writer.
3.5 starts rounded up because of Nyktos.
P.S - I knew this would happen, but cliff-hangers should not be allowed.
