The Crown of Gilded Bones (Part 2 of 2) (Dramatized Adaptation)
Blood and Ash, Book 3
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The Crown of Gilded Bones (Part 2 of 2) (Dramatized Adaptation)
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About this listen
Bow Before Your Queen Or Bleed Before Her…
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes book three in her Blood and Ash series.
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…
Adapted from the novel and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects, and cinematic music!
Performed by Katie Boothe, Stewart Crank, Torian Brackett, Aure Nash, Todd Scofield, Lise Bruneau, Chris McLinden, Troy Allan, David Cui Cui, Robb Moreira, NJ Agwuna, Danny Gavigan, Khaya Fraites, Gabriel Michael, RJ Bayley, Arden Wannall, Zura Johnson, Andy Clemence, Michael John Casey, Bradley Foster Smith, Jessica Schly, Ken Jackson, Rita Amparita, Donald Guzzi, Deepa Samuel, Christopher Williams, Samantha Cooper, Terence Aselford, Holly Adams, Wayne LaGette, Drew Kopas, LaMont Ridgell, Jenna Sharpe, David Ault, Yasmin Tuazon, Ryan Haugen, Sheree Wichard, Duyen Washington, Christopher Davenport, Jon Vertullo, and Karen Novack.
©2021 Jennifer L. Armentrout (P)2025 Graphic Audio LLCListeners also enjoyed...
One of the biggest issues I'm finding is that it's just not very memorable. When I'm in the story, I know what's going on and how we got where we are, so it's not hard to follow. But, now that I'm finished, if you asked me to describe the events if this instalment I would really struggle, save for the concluding couple of hours which I only heard yesterday. There's a lot of talking and a lot of relationship development, which I do really like, but there's no real hook to focus your interest. It was just background noise, with no true engagement of the emotions or senses.
That being said, there were moments that made me giggle, and Cas in particular does lift the whole thing somewhat - I would probably be DNFing if it weren't for his warmth, sweetness and flirtatiousness, along with the banter he has with Poppy and Kieran. Although Poppy's continuing growth in power does seem to be sidelining him in the 'protective male' stakes, the fact that he continues to stand his ground and project that same protective behaviour, whilst subtly deferring to her... in my eyes it makes him by far and away the best character in the book.
I think the worldbuilding may be one reason I am struggling. In particular, the whole primals/gods/deities dynamic has me fairly confused. Certainly, without having a physical copy to eyeball read, following what constitutes each category is really quite hard to follow. And then when you add in the ascended, and those that have "ascended" but aren't vampires and the revenant, there's just a few too many fancy titles floating around with too-shaky foundations for me to be able to sink into the story.
Was I surprised by the various twists and "big reveal" moments? Not really. Fortunately I haven't really had this series spoiled for me so I am going in relatively blind, but it all just felt a bit predictable. Now, I fully appreciate that a big part of the reason I read romantasy books is that I like the familiar story patterns, but nevertheless they can still include some great plot twists along the way. This one though... the only real "I wasn't expecting that!" moments come in the form of character deaths. Everything else... while I wouldn't say that I could have given you a blow-by-blow account of what was to come, the reveals didn't exactly knock me out of my seat.
Poppy's character also feels somewhat stunted development-wise. Sure, she's gaining power, learning more about herself, her abilities and her place in the world, but underneath that her personality is just... stuck. There is one delicious moment at the end of the book where she shows her mettle and finally feels like she might be able to inhabit her position, but it almost feels too late. I can appreciate the huge age difference and life experience gap between her and Cas, but where other leading couples with a similar dynamic end up feeling like equals, even now we're three books in Poppy comes across as quite immature, despite everything happening to her and around her. Which bugs me no end.
I am determined to persevere with this series, but I do now get a break as the next GA isn't out yet. I know you're meant to intersperse this series with the 'Flesh and Fire' series, and I do plan to, but I'm going to take a break for now to see if my interest sparks again later down the line.
Just doesn't quite hit the spot.
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Great book and amazing casts
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Everything
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Disappointing
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