A shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout is the first in the Flesh and Fire series. Jennifer L. Armentrout’s storytelling ability is astounding and brilliant. I am always amazed with the way she makes these whole universes out of nowhere and continues to string everything together in a manner that is completely awesome. With A Shadow in the Ember, the author dives further into the world she initially presented in the Blood and Ash Series. This time with an altogether new cast of characters, all of which I rapidly and completely became invested in.
The story of this novel is set many years before Blood and Ash. The land of Lasania is dying due to a curse with encroaches on the land somewhat more everyday. Seraphina gets an opportunity to cure that. She was promised to the primal of death 10 years before her birth, to be his partner. Most think that is what destiny holds for her, but she knows her responsibility is to make him experience passionate love for her and when he is weakened she should kill him. That is the best way to save her home.
Sera character is really simple to like. She is strong and always tries to help everyone around her. She is a warrior for people and there are a few secrets to be addressed. Like for what reason is the curse eating the land and for what reason are some of the gods are killing people in Lasania. Sera meets Nyktos on a night she sees the terrible deaths of a family. He didn’t have the foggiest idea what he was getting into when he prevented her from attempting to go up against two gods. Sera likes to fight with him more than anything else. I liked how the heat between them was practically momentary as they exchanged words with one another.
Nyktos wasn’t truly going to claim his partner. He attempted to allow her to have the existence he thought she needed, yet subsequent to investing time with her that is impossible. He has such countless enemies; it isn’t safe for a human he cares about to be in his court. Still Seraphina has a method of getting under his skin and making him settle on incautious choices.
I truly felt for Sera, how hard is it to realize that you should kill somebody, even more so in the event that you need to sacrifice somebody you are developing the love for. Nyktos/Ash appears to be a good guy all in all. He is a god capable of horrible things yet he is considerably more kind than most of the gods. He actually has some mankind left in him which makes Sera’s task seriously troubling.
A shadow in the Ember has superb characters that pull you into their story immediately and leave you desperate to find out more. There’s lots of world building, action and betrayal lurking around the corner. I liked every one of the exciting twists. Exactly when I thought I had an idea about things, it was pulled free from me and I was left with one exciting cliffhanger.
Overall! A Shadow in the Ember is an excellent companion novel to the Blood and Ash Series. This story left me entranced and completely enthralled. I have many unanswered questions and can not hold back to discover the appropriate responses. Jennifer L. Armentrout has taken out every one of the stops with this book. In the end all I can say is “Hang on readers! You are in for an amazing ride.”
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