Ok so never wrote a review before but I rly want to share my opinion aswell. While I kinda get why people are so disappointed with the book I also don’t. It wasn’t unexpected at all, that the joining turned into more than just the exchange of blood. jla has been hinting on this since book 2. I also don’t agree on the whole emotional cheating thing. Yes poppy has special and intense feelings for Kieran but she mentioned herself that it’s not the same as her feelings for Casteel. The three of them love each other sm but in DIFFERENT WAYS! I knew since book 3 that poppy’s and Kieran’s relationship/ feelings would be different because they are extremely close, they aren’t like family but they are also more than friends. It’s also never been talked about or mentioned how this would end up in a relationship with the three of them. They even said they’ll do the joining again if Kieran finds someone. Lets just hope Kieran will also find someone in the future. Before starting this book I’ve been kinda rooting for Kieran and reaver.I just love reaver in general, he really carried this book. But as I said I am also kinda disappointed, poppycas is everything but with the whole Kieran thing it didn’t feel the same. Overall I feel like this book could have been WAAAY shorter. I was so sure that sera would show up in this book but nope not rly. Yes she played a big part in the end but I was hoping for sm more.The first half of the book was also way to long, I feel like nothing rly happened and it took to long to save Casteel and get our poppycas reunion. I also didn’t like how we barley got poppy x tawny scenes and just the lack of scenes we got of their friends like Delano in general. The way my heart stopped when hisa, niall, emil and Delano died- Anyways besides these negative parts I still rly enjoyed the book. Especially the last chapters which were intense as always. The characters in this book still mean so much to me and I love the friendships sm. I also rly enjoyed the dual povs. Unlike a lot of other people I’m still excited for the next books, even tho jla really stretched this series. I feel like these 6 books could’ve easily been put into a great trilogy lmao

Ich kann mich nicht erinnern, wann ich jemals mich so sehr durch ein Buch gequält habe. Sehr enttäuschender 4. Band, nicht mal, weil die Geschichte schlecht ist (sie ist weiterhin durchaus interessant) sondern aufgrund der Protagonistin, ihrem nicht vorhandenen emotionalem Wachstum bzw. eher sogar emotionaler Verkrüppelung und dem Schreibstil der Autorin. Sie schafft es leider nicht die wichtigen 10% Story-Elemente spannend rüber zu bringen, ohne 90% Trash in jeden zweiten Satz zu stecken. Sie sollte sich die Bücher von Sarah J. Maas zur Hand nehmen und mal lesen, wie man Geschichte und Romantik gut vermischen und trotzdem beides authentisch rüber bringen kann. Dafür müssen Charaktere nicht halb-tot rumvögeln, weil sie es keine 2 Sekunden mehr aushalten. Zudem sollte sie ihren Wortschatz erweitern, da in jedem zweiten Satz "Oh Götter" steht.

They really let Jennifer L. Armentrout do whatever she wanted on this one and it shows. This book was the last straw for me and this series. It’s pacing was just so random. God nothing happened. Every time Casteel said “my Queen” I wanted to shot him, Poppy and myself. The best parts of this book where the one’s he wasn’t in. Didn’t care about the whole Joining. (People seem to forget that as readers we don’t have a right to decide how a book will play out.That is up to the author). Every single book in this series (minus the first) has 300+ of nothing and 50 pages of “dramatic showdown”. 2/5✨ Should have stopped reading this series two books ago.

5 ⭐️ o 9/10⭐️ Questo libro fa concorrenza con The Crown of Gilded Bones a livello di gusto personale: succedono cose qui che mi portano anche a considerarlo molto più interessante di TCoGB però ci sono quei 4/5 momenti in cui ho storto tanto il naso e non mi hanno fatto impazzire (spiego meglio nella parte spoiler). Con questo libro la resa dei conti è arrivata e credo che tutte le domande rimaste non riguardino più il tempo presente ma il passato (ergo la serie spinoff). Tra l’altro io pensavo di aver capito alcune cose riguardanti domande che ci tenevamo dietro dal primo libro ma invece no, adesso (almeno spero) siamo arrivati alla conclusione di tutti questi punti di domande che secondo me sono stati gestiti molto bene (… forse uno non è stato ben approfondito ma secondo me se ne parlerà in seguito). Sto apprezzando sempre di più l’impegno che l’autrice sta mettendo in questa serie e il suo passo per esplorare un genere che prima (credo) non abbiamo mai affrontato è molto interessante. Tenendo conto che molte tematiche (complotti, lotta tra il bene e il male, abusi, amicizia, amore ecc.) lei le ha già affrontate in altri romanzi, resta il fatto che ha fatto un buon lavoro (forse anche dal fatto che la casa editrici le sta dando carta bianca per la lunghezza dei romanzi? Molto probabile). Parlando della polemica nata da questa storia dico solo: che se vi da tanto fastidio quello che è successo allora mollate il libro e non rompete le scatole. È una scelta dell’autrice che ha preso e a posteriori ti puoi accorgere che ha molto senso e si poteva sospettare da ben prima di questa cosa. Quindi siete solamente dei bigotti che non volete accettare che il mondo è vario ed è bello per questo (anche se qui stiamo parlando di high/epic fantasy). Riguardo a questa cosa io spero che l’autrice riesca a gestirla in modo adeguato, ma comunque non critico nulla di quello che ha deciso di fare. È una sua scelta di trama e a me va bene così. Ho criticato alcune scelte fatte dai lei per altre serie, ma comunque non riguardanti una tematica come questa e soprattutto quando ci sono comunque prove a dimostrazione di ciò (capisco se qualcuno mi venga dire che sono poco chiare, ma almeno ci sono). Quindi non rompete e se vi da così tanto fastidio, chiudete il libro, rivendetelo se rivolete indietro i soldi, e smettetela. (parlo meglio nella parte spoiler). Per ultima cosa non so che dire del fila, non capisco se per me è troppo frettoloso o ha i giusti tempistiche, tenuto conto che non è il finale della serie, ma ne mancano ancora 2 libri prima di potersi dire conclusa la cosa. Io non capisco tutta questa disperazione dietro visto, secondo me c’è stato di peggio (per esempio il finale del secondo per me è molto più disperazione-frustrazione visto come è finito). Comunque è assodato che questa serie rientrerà tra le mie preferite in assoluto e sentirò la mancanza di questi personaggi quando tutto questo finirà. Parte spoiler------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allora parlando della cosa che non mi ha convinto, per come l’autrice l’ha gestita, e mi riferisco a quando Tawny dice il nome della Consorte a Poppy. Premettendo che io sono della filosofia di leggere secondo l’ordine di uscita (almeno quasi sempre), non capisco tutto questo segreto da parte dell’autrice: per chi ha letto lo spinoff già lo sa, non c’è tanto mistero su quello (anche perché nello spinoff i caratteri sono molto simili quindi è veramente difficile che non possano essere imparentati…), e se qualcuno non ha voluto leggerlo comunque non la trovo una grande idea nasconderlo così al lettore. Un'altra cosa che mi ha dato fastidio in questo libro, che nei precedenti non mi ha dato tanto fastidio perché era gestita in modo diverso, è quando Poppy salva casa e perdono tempo a fare sesso. Ora capisco quando Cas era in piena sete di sangue, ma il giorno dopo? Veramente dovevate sprecare così tanto tempo per fare i vostri comodi da permettere a Isbeth di trovarvi? Almeno potevate fare una scena di sesso ed dopo una scazzottata tra i fratelli (scena che non può essere tolta, ovviamente). Ma non tre scene di sesso di seguito solo per far vedere che Poppy è molto aperta a prescindere dal suo passato, ma che poi comunque di fatto permette a Isbeth di trovarli (e comunque secondo me ce ne ha messo di tempo per trovarli). Riguardo a Millicent sorella di Poppy: ho iniziato ad avere dei sospetti le prime scene di dialogo tra Cas e Millicent. Ma la conferma con la profezia di Vikter. Era abbastanza semplice. Riguardo alla polemica Poppy-Cas-Kieran dico solo che a inizio libro ho iniziato a sospettare che fosse quello il gran polverone suscitato e prima ho acceso una candela pregando che non stesse per nascere un triangolo amoroso in competizione tra Cas e Kieran per il cuore di Poppy (avrei veramente urlato di rabbia per questo). Ma quando ho letto di come Cas non abbia problemi e anzi le scene tra Cas e Kieran sono molto interessanti a riguardo e spiegherebbero delle cose che io nei precedenti libri manco ci ho fatto molto caso. Infatti dopo aver letto del dialogo tra Poppy e Cas riguardo a Kieran, ci ho ripensato e molte scene nei precedenti libri le ho riviste in tutt’altro modo. Per esempio: Cas che costringe Kieran a partire nel 2° libro da Spesa End quando sono arrivati gli Ascesi ha molto più senso se la si considera che Cas non voleva che Kieran si ferisse nello scontro. Inoltre Cas se può cerca sempre Kieran per proteggere Poppy, come se si fidasse solo di lui. Non solo perché sono cresciuti insieme ma forse perché quello che Kieran e Cas provano l’uno per l’altro non è semplicemente amicizia. Nel 3° poi ci sono molti momenti in cui Kieran vede Poppy in vesti molto succinte e Cas non si lamenta, anzi non dice proprio nulla a riguardo. Invece se Niall o Emily guardano in un certo modo Poppy, Cas era pronto a saltargli alla gola. Quindi possessività di Cas ce ne abbiamo, ma con Kieran mai. Per non parlare della notte nelle nebbie, che dormono tutti vicini, per come venivano descritti in realtà l’autrice ne ha parlato ma era talmente naturale per Cas e Kieran che manco te ne accorgi veramente perché non noi lettori viviamo ancora in un mondo in cui non è facile accettare che due persone possano amare una terza allo stesso modo o in modo differente ma comunque totalizzante. Anche la parte riguardante Shea, Kieran si stupisce che Cas ne abbia parlato con Poppy, perché era talmente una cosa personale che Cas non ne ha parlato con nessun’altro a parte che con lui. Quindi secondo me ci si arriva, solo che non siamo abituati (pure io) a leggere nei libri di menage à trois (sana) nei libri. Quindi, per ora, tanto di cappello zia Arme. Complimenti. Per ultimo il finale: io non mi aspettavo che l’obbiettivo finale di Isbeth fosse risvegliare (pro)zio Kolis. Io pensavo veramente che fosse semplicemente “uso Poppy per bruciare tutto il mondo” ovviamente sperando con non fosse banale come cosa. Invece a puntato proprio a risvegliare il vero artefice della distruzione: Kolis. Quindi ora voglio saperne di più tra Nyktos e Sera, visto che noi sappiamo come è andato a finire il finale dello SpinOff; non sappiamo quanto soffriremo.

I did really enjoy this book. I dont know if its just me and I didn't pay enough attention or am just not smart enough but I didn't completely understand the whole thing with what was done to Kolis and why exactly Malecs almost death freed him and why poppy should have been the one to be killed so please if someone did understand all of that explain it to me. For me the whole thing was not quite logical and that is the only reason I didn't give this book 5 ☆s. But maby that is just me and my lack of ability to remeber so much plot and history from all of the books :/

*sinking to my knees and praying to Jennifer L. Armentrout* Dieses Buch, diese gesamte Blood and Ash Reihe, ist großartig. Der Schreibstil ist wie bereits in meinen vorherigen Bewertungen erwähnt, unfassbar angenehm, fesselnd und easy to read. Das World-Building? Amazing! Mit jedem Band lernt man die beiden Königreiche ein wenig besser kennen und gleitet tiefer in sie ein. Ich kann nur immer wieder sagen, diese plot twists in der Story sind so gut! Ich bin immer wieder geflasht und sprachlos.

2 stars because I loved Reaver and Kieran. Hated everything else. At some point it felt like the author changed her mind and changed details and the plot several times while writing - there was no plan whatsoever. Also, the only thing Cas was thinking about was fucking Poppy. That’s all that mattered to him after he got back

I used to start reading this book twice and I always had to stop before I even reached page 100. This year I decided to give it one last chance and omg… I really did enjoy reading it. There were so many things happening but I still enjoyed all of it. I can‘t wait to start the other books but I definitely need a little break from fantasy for a while before I continue this series.

As much as I still love the books, this one had just too much ramblings for me. Poppy, still thinking of the past, not believing in things happening, self doubting. And the same goes for Casteel. I am slowly getting tired of the "unworthy", "very worthy" talks. I still read every word in the book. Just because I want to make sure I am ready for the next one.

Usually I write my reviews in a general way so I don't spoil anything but this time that's not possible for me. Firstly let me say that, just like the other books of this series, I loved The war of two queens! I love the world, I love the characters, I love (all in all) the story and I couldn't put the book down. But.: I do have a problem with not one but two tropes/developements in this book. And these are purely my personal dislikes so if you (who ever might read this :D) do like these than please, go ahead and enjoy them. Also, it's not necessarily criticism of this book in particular but simply of the tropes. The first trope I have a strong dislike for is the "The main character is so powerful that their power turns against them and turns them evil/makes them lose control" - trope (as far as I see it mostly used in books about witches or gods...). It's been done too many times and I really can't stand it anymore. And in my personal view it doesn't really serve any purpose besides making everything slightly more complicated. It doesn't add anything to the plott. Turns out in the end we don't really know if that will happen to Poppy but it might still be an issue in the following books (I don't hope so). The second trope I'm over is when the main character and the love interest get involuntarily separated, in this case by Cas' being held captive by the Blood Crown. Yes it was heart breaking when he sacrificed himself for Poppy but I'm always so annoyed by this kind of plot, especially when they stay separated as long as in this book - like it's more than half of the book until they are back together. Again, in my eyes it doesn't add much to the plot and is just there for the drama. Sometimes I feel like authors don't know what the couple is supposed to be without some kind of drama within their relationship. Again, this is more about me complaining than actually criticism of The war of two queens! I still enjoyed reading it and I do have a book hangover from it so even with me being annoyed by these little things I give it 5 stars.

-------- KLEINERE SPOILER BETREFFEND DIE VORHERIGEN BÜCHER ENTHALTEN ----------- "The War of Two Queens" war wahrscheinlich das am meisten von mir erwartete Buch dieses Jahres. Durch eine so lange Wartezeit, diverse Teaser und Theorien des Fandoms habe ich so auf diesen Erscheinungstermin hingefiebert das es sich schon fast unrealistisch angefühlt hat als er dann da war. Bis dahin hatte ich dann aber dann inzwischen schon richtig Angst es zu lesen, Angst enttäuscht zu werden. Angst liebgewonnene Charaktere vielleicht zu verlieren. Dennoch habe ich es natürlich gelesen. Und ich wurde nicht enttäuscht! TWOTQ ist definitiv anders als die drei vorherigen Bücher. Die erste Hälfte hat eine sehr langsame Pace, man muss viel bewältigen und es gibt auch nochmal viel Worldbuilding. Dennoch empfand ich dies als absolut nicht störend, man muss verarbeiten das sich Cas in TCOGB für Poppy geopfert hat und in Gefangenschaft der Blutkrone geraten ist. Durch die Einarbeitung von Casteels POV hat man quasi einen Platz in der ersten Reihe um zu erleben was mit ihm passiert und was in ihm vorgeht. Dies gestaltet das Lesen abwechslungsreich und ist definitiv nötig um verschiedene Vorgänge und seine Sichtweise dazu zu verstehen. Ich persönlich fand das man diese Zeit und die wechselnden POV's auch braucht um mit diesen Entwicklungen fertig zu werden. Eine schnellere Pace hätte ich wahrscheinlich als störend empfunden. In der zweiten Hälfte des Buches nimmt das Tempo zu und es werde einige Entdeckungen gemacht die einem fast den Kopf explodieren lassen. Meiner Meinung nach hat JLA hier nochmal eine wahnsinnige Entwicklung durchgemacht und die Art wie das Buch und diese Hälfte geschrieben wurde zieht einen richtig in seinen Bann und involviert einen emotional unglaublich stark! Dieses Buch lässt einen wirklich alle Gefühle fühlen. Man lacht, weint, trauert, schreit, hofft und liebt. Es erfüllt alle Erwartungen die man ein gutes Buch stellen kann und lässt einen manchmal mit offenem Mund zurück. Man möchte sich bewusst Zeit lassen beim lesen und alles in sich aufnehmen. Genau das fand ich wunderbar beim lesen von TWOTQ. Danach musste ich erstmal meine Gefühle suchen gehen, denn ich hatte sie alle verbaucht. Da es der vierte Band einer Reihe ist, die noch zwei weitere Bände enthalten soll fand ich auch die Entdeckungen und Enthüllungen dieses Teils völlig angemessen. Ich bin definitiv gespannt wie sich das alles noch weiterentwickeln wird und bin unglaublich gespannt auf die Folgebände und vertraue JLA und ihrem Plan für diese Reihe völlig! TWOTQ ist ein MUSS für Fans von JLA, guter Fantasy und absolut genialem Wordbuilding! Es lässt einen oft sprachlos und staunend zurück. Und genau das ist es doch was man von einem guten Buch erwartet oder? Danke JLA für dieses unglaubliche Meisterwerk! Lest es! Lest es vor allem unvoreingenommen und geht quasi blind in dieses Erlebnis, um wirklich alles verstehen und fühlen zu können. Glaubt mir, es lohnt sich!

To summarize the book so you don't have to waste your time on this: Poppy emotionally cheated on Cas and flirted with Kieran while Cas was being tortured and starved by his rapist. ________________________ If I could give books negative stars, I would because what the hell was that? Her husband, love of her life, her heart mate was starving and being tortured while she and Kieran acted like lovers. This book deserves every negative and 1 star reviews bc it was an absolute mess and ooc. Poppy is one of the biggest Mary sues and this series is exactly like her others and yet her fans would have ignored that if she hadn't ruined poppycas and didn't include the 3some. That's what happens when you listen to fanservice. It ruins your story and characters. This book was bad and the only reason why I continued was because I wanted to see isbeth die. Fortunately she did die but she took poppy, Cas and kieran's characters with her. There's no way I'm gonna put myself through the rest of this series.

I liked this book a little better than the 3rd one, but I hate when couples get separated for a long time. Also the relationship between Poppy and Kieran got weird with all the touching and then the joining. I still want to read the 2nd book in the flesh & fire series, but then I will out a hold on it. The world starts to be too confusing to make sense and the books are way too long for the whole story.

Im Allgemeinen stören mich die sich ewig dahinziehenden Spice-Szenen, die sich dann doch einfach zu sehr in Inhalt und Ablauf wiederholen. Ich habe öfter einfach weiter geblättert. Insgesamt sind diese aber deutlich weniger als in Band 2 und somit doch halbwegs okay. Die Story nimmt Fahrt auf und man versteht nun vieles, insbesondere durch das Spinn-Off, welches ich davor gelesen habe. Die Tiefe bei der Charakterentwicklung der Nebencharaktere fehlt mir auch immernoch. Insgesamt aber eine unterhaltsame Story und ich bleibe dran.

I love all the characters so much. Kieran is so *sigh*. Love the dynamic of the relationship between Poppy, Cas and Kieran. Delano, Netta, Naill, Emil..... Love this crazy, lovable bunch. Reaver I just think is funny... Story-wise I expected more... A few things just disappointed me a bit. The end was a bit confused but still great and exciting, even if a bit fast... Looking forward to the next volumes around Poppy, Cas and Kieran, but also Seras and Nyktos story. Hopefully though this time with a bit more story content, would like more moving forward. I love and enjoy the interpersonal plots a lot, be it friendship or romance.

Wo fange ich bei diesem Buch bitte wieder nur an? 😱 nach Shadow and Ember und natürlich Crown and Bones war ich sehr gespannt wie die Geschichte um Poppy weitergehen wird. J.L.A. hat mit der Blood and Ash Reihe und dem Prequel der Flesh and Fire Reihe eine einzigartige Welt voller Magie, verschiedener Wesen, Göttern, Gottheiten, Primaren, tiefen Schmerz, tiefen Gefühlen, Verlusten, Freundschaften die unter die Haut gehen und noch vielem mehr, erschaffen. Es ist eine echte Meisterleistung. Kaum eine Geschichte kommt an dieses hohe Niveau ran. Mich konnte Band IV der Blood and Ash Reihe wieder komplett in den Bann ziehen. Trotzdem konnte sie mich nicht so begeistern, wie die Teile davor. Aber ich glaube, dass ist bei so einer großen Reihe auch echt schwer. Für mich ist die Reihe trotzdem ein absolutes Meisterwerk und ich kann sie jedem Fantasy Fan nur wärmstens empfehlen. Nun freue ich mich sehr auf die weiteren Teile und bin sehr gespannt wie alles enden wird.

"I smiled broadly. I did speak the truth. Isbeth thought she could control Poppy through me, but my stunning, vicious wife had checkmated her ass, and there was no way in hell I would jeopardize that. Not even for Malik." - S. 30 Casteel I mean like WOW WOW WOW WOW. Ich habe jede Seite vergöttert und mitgelitten. Es war mal wieder ein absolutes #jahreshighlight aber was erwarte ich auch bei dieser genialen Reihe. #thewaroftwoqueens ist absolut Lesenswert und so verdammt spannend, addictiv. Witzig, blutig, voller Geheimnisse, Offenbarungen und einem ganz Berg Probleme und neuen. Es ist heiß und eine Gefühlsgewalt. Poppy ist wie immer kämpferisch, aufgeben existiert nicht, schon gar nicht in Bezug auf Casteel und ihre Familie. Die Kapitel aus Cas Sicht wären absolut genial und nicht nur eine andere Sichtweise sondern großartig auch endlich mal ihn richtig zu greifen. Kiran und Poppy vertiefen ihr Band während sie Seite an Seite mit ihrer Familie kämpfen. Gott wie habe ich diesen ungebrochenen Zusammenhalt geliebt und verdammt ich habe es inhaliert so spannend war es. Mal so am Rande: WHAT THE HELL MIT DIESEM ENDE?! WIE??? I MEAN LIKE WIE ZUM TEUFEL. WAS! WAR! DAS?! WIE KOMMT MAN AUF SOWAS GEWALTIGES? Man merkt die Liebe ist groß. "It tasted like the promise of retribution." - S. 36 Poppy

I love the From Blood and Ash series since book 1 and although The War of Two Queens might not be my favorite, I still enjoyed it thoroughly. Personally, I think JLA is slowly starting to drag out the whole plot a little too much. I think it's time for Poppy's & Cas' story to come to an end as I would love to follow the journey of other characters like Kieran (hopefully finding true love), Malik, Millicent ….. I guess we'll see how the story continues, especially regarding ASITE. Regarding the one thing that a lot of people criticize: I think it was alright. I didn't actually need it but I think the way it was written was okay. I just hope it was a one time thing.

Nach Laura Kneidl's tollem Debüt-Roman "Light & Darkness" war es für mich eigentlich so gut wie klar, dass ich auch ihr neues Buch lesen muss. Ich war am Anfang etwas skeptisch, da Fantasyromane mich in letzter Zeit nur selten packen konnten. Doch ich wurde hier absolut mitgerissen. Der Schreibstil hat mich sofort wieder gepackt und ich war drin in der Geschichte. Dazu kommen absolute tolle und liebenswürdige Protagonisten. Auch die Nebencharaktere waren so sympathisch, dass ich gerne noch ein bisschen mehr von ihnen erfahren hätte. Die Geschichte selbst war absolut spannend und ich konnte kaum aufhören zu lesen. Ein weiterer kleiner Kritikpunkt: das Ende kam mir etwas zu plötzlich. Der Showdown hätte meiner Meinung noch etwas detaillierter beschrieben werden können. Ich freue mich jetzt schon auf die beiden nächsten Teile der Reihe.