The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout – a Review

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Description:
She’s been the victim and the survivor…

Poppy never dreamed she would find the love she’s found with Prince Casteel. She wants to revel in her happiness but first they must free his brother and find hers. It’s a dangerous mission and one with far-reaching consequences neither dreamed of. Because Poppy is the Chosen, the Blessed. The true ruler of Atlantia. She carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. By right the crown and the kingdom are hers.

The enemy and the warrior…

Poppy has only ever wanted to control her own life, not the lives of others, but now she must choose to either forsake her birthright or seize the gilded crown and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire. But as the kingdoms’ dark sins and blood-drenched secrets finally unravel, a long-forgotten power rises to pose a genuine threat. And they will stop at nothing to ensure that the crown never sits upon Poppy’s head.

A lover and heartmate…

But the greatest threat to them and to Atlantia is what awaits in the far west, where the Queen of Blood and Ash has her own plans, ones she has waited hundreds of years to carry out. Poppy and Casteel must consider the impossible—travel to the Lands of the Gods and wake the King himself. And as shocking secrets and the harshest betrayals come to light, and enemies emerge to threaten everything Poppy and Casteel have fought for, they will discover just how far they are willing to go for their people—and each other.

And now she will become Queen…

 Review:

The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout is the 3^rd book in her fantastic Blood and Ash series. I loved the first two books in this series, and could not wait to read more about Poppy and Cas, and I am happy to say I loved this book even more.

The story begins immediately after the last book ended, with Poppy receiving a harsh introduction to Cas’s parents (The Queen and King of Atlantia), as well as the people of Atlantia. Though she is now the wife of Atlantia’s prince (Cas), as well as the Chosen one, she is the true ruler of Atlantia, as she carries the blood of the gods.  But many do not respect her, and someone she considered a friend betrays her and puts her life in danger; because of her uncontrollable powers, the bond between Cas and Kieren has been broken, as all the wolvens are now fully bonded to her. It will take Cas, Kieran and the other wolvens to find a way to rescue her, and learn more about her powers and true heritage.

Poppy will embark on a journey to stop the Blood Crown from destroying Atlantia, but first she needs to find a way to meet with the King of the Gods to ask for help, as well learn her heritage and how to deal with her powers.  She and Cas must decide to step forward to take over her rightful crown, in order to defeat the enemy.   

Poppy and Cas are just so great together, as their steamy scenes were fun and cute. The camaraderie between them as well as Kieran, makes this such a fun enjoyable story, especially releasing the tension with all the dark and violent scenes throughout the entire book.  Armentrout continues to give us great secondary characters, Kieran, Vonetta, Delano, Naill, Emil, Hisa, as well as the god awful villians.

As I have noted previously, Poppy was a fantastic heroine, being strong, feisty, independent, a fierce warrior in her own right; and I got a kick out of her many questions, which Kieran teased her a lot about.  Cas was equally as wonderful as Poppy, being strong, loyal, and totally in love with Poppy.   

What follows is an exciting action filled adventure that had me holding my breaths so many times.  The last half of the book was mind-blowing, with intense violence, danger, constant action, heart wrenching and surprising twists, making me unable to put the book down. There were so many reveals, shocking twists along the way, especially the last third of the book, which was mind blowing and filled with many emotions. 

The Crown of Gilded Bones was another intriguing continuation to this fantastic series, with wonderful world building, and lots of action, suspense, violence, passion and fantastic characters.    As we race to the exciting heartbreaking, shocking, mindboggling climax, there are some amazing revelations.  The Crown of Gilded Bones also a fun, enjoyable, romantic and intense story line that had a bit of everything.

Bravo to Jennifer L. Armentrout, who has once again written such an amazing high fantasy, that kept me glued to my seat. Though the ending was a cliffhanger, it was so well done, with me cheering Poppy on. I was surprised to learn that this is no longer an trilogy, and will end up with 6 books in this series.   I suggest if you enjoy fantasy, you need to read this series, but you must start with the first book.

Reviewed by Barb

Owned Copy