📚 Book Review 📚
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Fall of Ruin and Wrath
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
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Thank you to Jennifer L Armentrout and Bramble Romance for providing me with an eARC of this book. This is my honest review.
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In a world of uncertainties, of one thing I’m certain: JLA will always come packing the fantasy, the ✨heat✨, and the never ending twists. Deliciously captivating, Fall of Ruin and Wrath was an excellent way to kick off an exciting new fantasy romance series. 🙌🏽
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A whole new world to explore! While we do see familiar tropes and archetypes, this world is firmly its own. If the FBAA universe was your introduction to JLA like it was for me, this will be a nice deviation from the world we’re used to. In classic JLA fashion, we become privy to lore as our protagonists do and what a fucking ride that is! No spoilers, but every little detail is important 👀
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Let’s talk characters! Calista! The LOML! This is one of my favorite names of all time, so I may or may have not been drawn to her off the bat 😂 She swept me off my feet almost immediately. Sharp-tongued, quick-witted, loyal to the death, unabashed, she quickly became one of my favorite “I don’t know if I can fight you off but you bet your ass I’m gonna try” heroines. Thorne 🧎🏽‍♀️He was mysterious and forthcoming and the air of possessivenesses?? 👀 A walking red flag you can fall for 😂 We don’t even know his name for a large portion of the book and I was still smitten 🫠
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And the romance 🔥 Both an emotional slow burn and an insta-lusty treat, this book really hit the sweet spot for me. That reluctant yet overpowering attraction is everything 🤌🏽 I really enjoyed seeing them both begin to succumb to one another.
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Overall, Fall of Ruin and Wrath was a fantastic read! I was making raccoon grabby hands the entire time. Even through that cliffhanger 😭 It may even be poised to be my favorite JLA series? 👀 I can’t wait to see what else is in store for Calista and Thorne! If you like your fantasy romances with darker undertones, MMCs built like mountains, and FMCs that’ll always get back up, give Fall of Ruin and Wrath a shot.

JLA's new fantasy will immerse you in a tense story full of pleasure, magic and a world on the brink of collapse. With every book JLA writes I was gripped from the start and loved every minute of this compelling story. Drenched in romance, the plot kept me on the edge of my seat as I fell in love with Calista and her mysterious prince. Fans of high stakes romantasy with great worldbuilding, a unique magic and political system and lots and lots of juicy tension will love this book!

Calista, is a strong and relatable character. She really stood out to me amongst Jennifer's previous main characters because of the fact that she is very much not an instant badass physically, she doesn't have the same fighting skills like some of her other characters, but she she is a badass mentally, especially given the nature of her ability of intuition that borders on seeing the future at times. She listens, watches and adapts to what's happening around her. I also really liked how confident she is with her sexuality and knows how to use it. I can't wait to see where she goes next because I could see her only getting stronger and bringing this whole world to it's knees.

Throne was such a delicious morally grey character. He's a powerful, entitled royal who likes to demand what he wants. He's very mysterious and you learn more about him as the book goes on. Thorne and Calista tension was fiery from the start. Their repeated run-ins spark attraction and crazy chemistry, and their smutty banter and flirting is so freaking entertaining. They do have a slowburn romance, so it was a little frustrating but the spicy scenes defiantly made up for it! And boy was it spicy.

The world-building at the start was defiantly a lot at times and I did have to reread a few pages. There’s a lot to wrap your head around with such a new and interesting world to understand, and the politics, mythology and supernatural elements of it all are only starting to be unravelled. The hierarchy of this world is super fascinating, and when you start to piece together details you know there's more to be revealed. There are some great well-developed supporting characters who are easy to connect with, with fun dialogue and banter, but I am hoping that in the next book there will be more.

In true JLA fashion it is detailed and vividly depicted dystopian meets high fantasy world building, along with the intricately crafted magic system, is executed flawlessly. The clues and the small plot details throughout the book makes me super excited for what's to come. With a lovely big cliff-hanger on the end that was as usual fast-paced and jaw-dropping, it had me screaming. I cannot wait for the next book! JLA really knocked this out the park. It is perfect for romantasy fans!

Thank you Tor Books for the ARC!

If you have not read Jennifer L. Armentrout, then you must start after reading this review. These high fantasy books are adventurous, sexy, and just plain late nighter! I always know that when her new book is out that I will be up into the night reading it the next day! #FallofRuinandWrath #NetGalley #SexyFunRomance

I loved the characters and I loved the romance. I loved the potential of how the romance will be in the sequel, and I thought the world was SO interesting. It’s about a girl named Lis who has the power of intuition and she uses this to her advantage, as a sort of fortuneteller for a Baron, in exchange for his protection. She comes across the hero in her town when he’s on the verge of dying, and she saves his life. This happens early on in the book, and what a way it was to get me hooked onto the story.

She’s done it again. And I don’t know why I’m always surprised but SHE HAS DONE IT. AGAIN.

Fall Of Ruin And Wrath is a steamy adult fantasy by Jennifer L Armentrout is full of things that I love:
⭐️ Spicy AF
⭐️ A feisty heroine
⭐️ A mysterious stranger turned powerful hero
⭐️ Thrilling new fantasy world
⭐️ Supernatural elements
⭐️ Spicy spice 🥵🌶️
⭐️ Fated Mates (?!)

In a world of lowborns, hyhborns and hellish creatures, an uprising is brewing. A poverty-stricken land where the poor get poorer and the rich hold all the power, a young woman with the power of prophecy has allied herself with a prestigious man… until an unexpected powerful (and prophesied) visitor changes everything.

A new fantasy world means a lot of world building and character introductions (hello Calista and Thorne!) but that did not make the SPICE any less than SPICYYYYY 😉 Nobody writes sexual tension and witty banter than JLA.

There is a HUGE cliffhanger (😭) and I cannot wait to devour the next instalment of this sexy and consuming new fantasy!

Five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Please note this is definitely not YA.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Are we surprised? Another amazing JLA book! I adored this story and the characters and I can’t wait for more! 🤭

Absolutely beautifully written! I have been a longtime fan of JLA and was very impressed with this new start of a series! I was worried this would be too similar to FBAA, but it is definitely its very own work. I would very much recommend to anyone that loves their action packed, romantasy!

I am so extremely happy with this book. I could not put it down, it was physically impossible for me.
This brand new high fantasy story by the queen JLA is one you absolutely cannot miss. I was worried by how she said it was her most spicy book so far and in a way, I actually agree but in the best of ways. The spice was everything and there wasn't anything spicy that felt extra or out of place.

The main character was extremely likable to me. I want to see where her arc takes us but from what I've seen, she could easily become one of my most favorite heroines. She was vulnerable and sweet. And she was strong and I can tell she'll become a physical badass, but I really enjoyed a FMC who felt somehow delicate and not typically "strong" and still didn't feel weak. She was witty, extremely smart and very kind and caring.

The male main character was definitely morally grey. And he almost could've been problematic enough for me, but what I loved is that the issues he had in attitude were explained and something that becomes part of his development. I loved seeing him try to be better for her in the aspects she needs. I also loved his ruthlessness and protectiveness, even his jealousy/possessiveness.

Their chemistry was off the roof and their banter was probably one of my favorite parts of the story. They make such a good team and I love that they save each other multiple times, it feels very equal lol I mentioned the spice being very good, but my weakness is actually those sweet-cuddly-protective moments and boy do we get some golden ones here.

The rest of the characters were really well-built in my opinion, there wasn't really one dimensional people in the cast and I liked that even though they were quite a couple of secondary characters, it wasn't hard to follow and they were very memorable.

There wasn't really an established plot for the longest time, it was more the relationship and characters who moved the story, but since I really enjoyed it, I didn't really have a problem with that.

The pace was very good, and the last 20% ish was just insane. So much happened and my mouth kept dropping. The action was good, the twists and graphicness of the book is brutal and well-written, and I just want to have the next book asap to see where the love story takes us next. I am so so so excited for the next book, and I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Jennifer L. Armentrout tells a romance set after a great war destroyed civilization and humans have returned to medieval times. The sexuality is so overt with groping women being accepted in public and open orgies, that it edges into pornography. Calista had grown up on the streets. She can pick up information from people by touching them, and sometimes seeing the future. She is a courtesan of the Baron and a trusted advisor. Prince Thorne of Vyrtus is one of Hyhborn, a cross of emotional vampire and elf. They are immortal, created, not born, and can be killed with special blades. Their body parts are all magical, and so Calista is led to Prince Thorne by her intuition when he has been trapped by organ thieves. But politics turn things dark and this is a tale of the Fall of Ruin and Wrath (hard from Bramble). The tale will continue.

Will I automatically buy anything from JLA? Yes. Has she disappointed me yet? NOPE.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book and new series, not having heard much about it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.I did find the beginning a bit slow, but that's normally the case when I'm trying to get myself oriented to a new world. But once I got it, I did not want to put it down. Yes, it is very much an adult fantasy. FYI. Also the way the banter made me squeal hahahah.

The world building is very intriguing and I find it quite different from her other books which is great.

I really need JLA to announce when the next book will be coming out cause I'm not handling that cliffhanger well.

DNF’d at 39%

I loved the first two From Blood and Ash books, and was so excited to read the beginning of a new series by JLA.
This seemed like it was written by a totally different person. I was so disappointed by the surface level characters, the amateur dialogue, and the confusing world building. This read like a first try, not something written by a seasoned and popular author. Very disappointed overall!

I love the way JLA brings a story to life. Her characters are always fully fleshed out and interesting. This story starts with a bang and keeps raising the stakes. Loved the premise, the world building, the idea of high born and low born.

Calista is such an interesting character. Strong and flawed and filled with emotions and doubt despite her abilities.
And Thorne? Well, no one writes heroes like JLA.

I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Fans of the Blood and Ash series will rejoice at this new novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author and BookTok sensation, Jennifer L. Armentrout. Fall of Ruin and Wrath is the first in The Awakening series and follows the story of Lis, a ‘lowborn’ with powers of intuition and insight. When her path collides with a mysterious Hyhborn she finds herself playing a dangerous political game while trying to fight her attraction to him, and her unerring intuition.

The beginning of the book very quickly introduces the reader to the world’s mechanisms, which can be a bit disorientating. I found it akin to walking into a room not knowing anybody nor the language they were speaking. This made the pacing in the first half to feel a bit slow as it set the scene on the characters, the world, and their relationships. In saying that though, the world takes a lot of common elements found in the fantasy genre that a lot of readers would be familiar with, whilst giving it its own unique twist. Around halfway through, the plot did begin taking off as more action began to take place and you began to understand everything a little more.

There were a lot of predictable outcomes with a lot of tried-and-true tropes. The most notable tropes include found family, ‘who did this to you’, alphahole, class differences, and of course, fated mates.

While there were a lot of components familiar to the romantasy genre, there were a couple of elements which a lot of readers wouldn’t expect. I was delighted when one revelation in particular challenged my romantasy expectations, bringing in elements from other genres I didn’t anticipate. Admittedly, I still don’t know what genre to categorise this book now, but in a really good way.

I found Lis’ character development felt bit two-dimensional with very obvious motivations clearly stated early on and repeated throughout the whole book. If this series is like Blood and Ash though, I anticipate seeing her character grow over the rest of the series. She’s still a compelling character and very likeable, but she has a lot of potential to grow into a favourite.

As the main male character, Thorne was the only other person who was created with some substance and back story, and I can already see BookTok and Bookstagram making Thorne their next “book boyfriend”.

I will say that I would have loved to have seen more from a couple of the side characters, specifically one of Lis’ friends Naomi who was quite enjoyable but only had one or two main scenes. Ultimately it made it a little hard to care about anything that happened to them, but I really wanted to.

In true Armentrout fashion, this book does contain some adult scenes, however I wouldn’t necessarily classify it as a primarily spicy book. While some of the explicit scenes weren’t exactly necessary (when are they, I guess?), the book is mainly plot focused and the scenes made sense in context.

There were a couple of borderline cringey elements to the supernatural race, the Hyhborn, who feed off pleasure in a way similar to a succubus. As a being designed to produce pleasure to feed from, a couple of their abilities seemed like they came from the wildest ideas that a fantasy man should have that were thrown around at a hen’s party. Outside of that, the spicy scenes were well written and suitably placed throughout the book with chemistry that was palpable and well-built from the main character’s first encounter.

While the worldbuilding made the beginning seem a bit slow, Armentrout is clearly laying the groundwork for a spectacular series and in the end did a superb job tying it all together and leading the reader to realisations just before they were revealed. The ending will definitely leave you on the edge of your seat, impatiently waiting for the next instalment in this series.

i really liked this book!
it's different from the blood and ash series in a way that's refreshing but it still has some similar aspects that hook you in and make you wanna continue reading till the very end.

the world building was great, in a way that was explained enough that one could easily understand it and comprehend it.

the main characters were great, i really liked Calista. She's different from characters like Poppy or Seraphena but she's still great and strong in her own way.

honestly, at the start I did not know what to expect but something I liked is that the blurb doesn't give too much away.
we have yet to get into the thick of it (the overall true plot of the series) and i liked how fast i read the book, what was presented to me was great and i was never bored with what has happening.

for anyone who has the pleasure to start and I gotta say this:
Buckle up!

you are in for a ride

This is the absolute best book ever and I can’t even explain how much I love these characters.

The world? Incredible. The characters? Love! Thorne? HOT.

I don’t even know what to say except I need the next book IMMEDIATELY!

Review and reaction gifs can also be found on *Milky Way of Books*

Oh boy, how do I even start writing this review? This year marks my 10 years of reading Jennifer Armentrout, Obsidian being her first book which had introduced me to YA sci-fi and Daemon of course. Now 10 years later, lots of JLA men after, and here we are, being introduced to a new world with new characters and a pretty different concept.

Some things to consider: this is an ADULT romantsy (romance+fantasy) book. There is violence, death, and some scary moments, but all the above are handled masterfully so you won't get scared...a lot.

Calista, or Lis lives in one of the cities ruled by a Baron. All smaller cities defer to the bigger ones which are ruled by the Highborn with the King being the ruler of all. This world is the remains of the previous one which somehow was destroyed the way the characters as of now are aware of, from the gods.

There are some clues in the book that keyed me in and threw my brain into a spiral of conspiracy but I won't get to it now.

Lis has a gift, a heightened intuition that almost gives her visions of the future or can alert her to something happening around her. Even it causes her to avoid danger to herself and her best friend Grady. They were both orphans who found their way into working for the Baron.

What you all need to understand here is that the Highborn feed on pleasure, so it is quite common to have...activities that enhance their need to feed, and that is something that is celebrated in this society, at least to a point as Highborn can be quite terrifying.

Which brings us back to Lis. She discovers unwillingly a plot to destroy such a Highborn Prince and she saves him. What no one expects is for that Prince to have quite a certain reputation and be feared by all.

Thorne is quite the morally gray character. If you thought that Seth or Cas was morally gray, then Throne wins the prize here. His motives are not quite clear but his attraction to Lis is. And while the book slowly builds up, we get the ground set for the worldbuilding, the inner politics, and the struggle that lies beneath the surface between Highborn and Lowborn, meaning the rest of the population. Add in a possible revolt that tries to overthrow the king and we have quite the dangerous mix that could destroy everyone.

To be honest, up until 70% of the book the pace was steady but I knew that Jennifer would throw me the bomb in the plot at some point. What I did not expect was what followed after 70% which made an episode of The Walking Dead look like an amusement park visit. The fear for Lis and the other characters was real and the ending that followed was quite the one I did not anticipate.

Now after that cliffhanger, I'll have to wait another year, and this book has not even been released yet!
So if any of you gets to read it I am open for discussion!

Overall Jennifer Armentrout masterfully introduces us to a new world with characters that will be unforgettable in their own unique way! Totally recommended.

Jennifer Armentrout has done it again - this is a highly enjoyable read that keeps you turning the pages to see where the plot is going to take you.

The characters in this one are top notch, but what's not to love about Calista? An orphan with gifts, she has struggled to not only find food but a place to live. She gets taken in by Baron Archwood and is his secret courtesan. But, when the Hybhorn come through, she gets a feeling about one of them - a prince.

This book does take a little bit to get into, but with the build up you just know that there is a reason for it, and she doesn't leave you hanging. Looking forward to book 2 to see where this leads.

The first book in the Awakening series, Armentrout creates a new world full of intrigue and danger in Fall of Ruin and Wrath.

After years in orphanages and on the streets, Calista has been serving as a courtesan to the Baron 0of Archwood. Her talents of intuition make her a valuable asset to the Baron and the lands he oversees.

When she catches the interest of a traveling prince, her instincts go into hyper drive. She encountered him once before, as a child. She knows she should steer clear of him, but she is drawn to him in ways she's never experienced in the past. The one thing she knows for certain is that her simple life hidden away on the Barons lands is about to change.

Fall of Ruin and Wrath was another page turner written by the incredibly talented author. I loved the slow burn and witty banter between Calista and Thorne. This is an excellent kick off to the series - I can't wait to see the dynamic between these two continue to play out.

This book was something else!
I have to be honest, it took a little bit for me to find my groove, but once I did, I was consumed by it. The world building, plot, and romance is top notch. JLA has a knack for writing amazing stories that have the perfect amount of intrigue, witty banter, depth, and twists. And the characters are fabulous! Calista is feisty, caring and determined to keep herself and her best friend, Grady, off the streets. Her intuition has kept them living in the comfort and safety provided by Baron Archwood. However, her intuition leads her to Thorne, the mysterious highborn prince. The chemistry between them is undeniable and Calista finds herself torn between her intuition and her heart.
The end of this book is both action packed and emotional. I found myself on the edge of my seat furiously reading only to be left wanting more. I have a feeling the next installment of this series is going to be epic and I absolutely can not wait!

Review was posted on Amazon, GoodReads, and Bookbub on release day.