I want to say thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me the privilege of being able to read this book.

This was fantastic! Honestly I've read loads of fantasy themed novels, it's one of my favourite genres, this though is the best modern one I've ever read. No it's not modern in the world is similar to ours just newly written modern. Nothing was predictable, however if you read this again you would see all the ways that led to everything occuring in this book and I loved it! Yes there were many povs in this book but it works. They flow seamlessly one into another, and most books I've read have suffered from just one pov that make them fall flat. This doesn't at all, this works! It gives you a little of everything you need the most to see this amazing story from all sides! You will fall in love with every character just like I did, and you will feel all that they feel.

This author pulls you in with a story, that allows you to seamlessly follow along, feel every emotion a character feels as if you were them, and show you worlds you can picture. All without cramming everything to the beginning or always all at once down your throat, like I've read a lot lately. This book is magical and perfect and this will stay as my top favourite book this year. It was everything I I've been looking for and everything I need. This has stolen my heart and I can't wait for the rest of them! I have literally zero complaints! I am over the moon with this book, this world and these characters!

Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart again, this was amazing!!

Wyverns. Magical creatures. Dark forbidden magic. Witches. Some spice. I really enjoyed the main characters in the book because they were not the stereotypical genre characters that you see reskinned in almost every romantasy type of book. They seemed realistic in their thoughts and actions. Did not see the twists near the end and now I’ll have to wait for the sequel to this!

This book was OUTSTANDING!!! It hooked me from page one !! The characters were very likable, the plot flowed and there were surprises all through out I wasn’t expecting !! The curse and even the magic system was so intriguing! I want to be a Wyverian now !!!

The author knows how to pull you in with descriptive imagery and world building that takes you somewhere new ! The different houses made it feel reminiscent of game of thrones while holding on to a uniqueness that’s undeniable !

6 stars out of 5 if I could rate it that !

This. Was. Amazing. I think this could be a contender for a favorite fantasy of the year for me.

It was epic, it had slow burn, tension, politics, intrigue, heartbreaking sadness and magic. I couldn't help but think this would be a fantasy romance for Manon from Throne of Glass, but if Manon was dialed up by 100.

I LOVED that the main female character was strong from the beginning. I loved the relationships and dynamic of all the characters, it had banter, realistic feelings of sibling bonds, and touch her and die vibes.

It had big feminism tones too, which I adore. I finished this in about a day, I could not put it down and I NEED the second book badly. This will be a book I buy for my shelf and I will follow this author from now on. Just amazing.

Very captivating! The world, the magic and the characters - loved every part of it.
This story drags your entire being through every emotion possible: laughing, crying, screaming and, of course, the staring at the wall in the "what the hell just happened?" moments.
Fair warning, the last 20% or so of the book might break your heart...multiple times. Still, this book is so worth it ❤️

Honorable mention for Wren and Kage. The interactions between these two is something else.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and the J. F. Johns ❤️

I love the cover and the story! I really enjoyed the story line and the characters but felt like a few areas moved to quickly. Overall 4 out of 5 stars.

I was drawn in immediately with the world-building and the multiple 3rd person POV.

I felt the middle slowed down slightly, but the ending had me screaming.

I love a good romantasy with the plot being the main focus and the romance being the second, this was exactly that.

I am ready for book two!

In A kingdom of shadow and ash, We are following around 2 characters, Mal Blackburn and ash Acheron. In order to break the curse that was put on them, one of them has to kill the other. But you’ll have to read to find out where that takes us! 🤭 We get political intrigue, multiple pov and romances, magic dragon riding and so much more!

✔️ Romantasy
✔️ Arranged Marriage
✔️ Strong FMC
✔️ Wyverns & Dragons
✔️ Witches
✔️ Multiple POVs
✔️Enemies to lovers
✔️ Forbidden love

I enjoyed this read! Rating it 4⭐️ I love the dark, mysterious vibes, with a splash of sunshine. The Drakonians and wyverians couldn’t be more opposite, but they are united together through the marriage of our main characters. And through it all they learn that the other side is not as bad as the rumors had them believe But there are other threats among them!.

I did take a star away because to be honest the romance wasn’t slow burn the way I like. I thought it was very weirdly paced. The characters didn’t interact that much so it felt very rushed. Not only between Mal and Ash but also with Kai and Alina. Also scenes would change so suddenly that I got confused a few times. And I do think it could have used less description. The author liked to describe every detail! So this book could have been a good 100 pages less.

I did enjoy it though!

Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author for this ARC!

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book so requested it, and was not disappointed. I love a story with indepth world building, it really was needed with this one to help flesh out the full background and different kingdoms.

It jumps to different POV's (not just MMC and FMC) so you do have to pay attention, but it does give more insight into what is going and more dimensional. It also gives you time to bond with some of the side characters, who I hope we continue to follow in the next book.

Our FMC, Mal, I feel is influenced by Maleficent. She is strong, opinionated, but willing to do what is required to protect her family and kingdom. She is very different to her family, but I like that she isn't completely outcasted as seen in other books. Ash isn't your typical MMC either, whilst he is strong and well trained, he does have a side he afraid of most to see and has deep insecurities that effect in the simplest of tasks, which makes him relatable to all.

I cannot wait for the second book and to see how the author continues the plot, especially after that ending!

- Enemies to lovers
- Forbidden love
- Multi POV
- Magical creatures (including dragons AND wyvern, yes there is a difference)-- Slow burn romance
- Court politics/intrigue
- Prophecies
- Arranged Marriage

Wow what a book. First of all, thank you to NetGallery and J.F.Johns for sending me this ARC.

I have loved it. The story is magnificent, the lore, the magic and the characters were everything. I cannot wait for the next book and that ending 👌🏼 glorious. What a turn of events.

Perfect for fans of romantic fantasy such as ToG, Fourth Wing and The Cruel Prince.

- Magic
- Prophecies/Cursed
- Arranged Marriage
- Dragons/Wyverns

I will 100% be purchasing a physical copy of this once available 👏🏻

I enjoyed this book. I was unfortunately no in the biggest fanatasy mood so this did take me quite a while to read. I will say two of my favorite fantasy things were included in this book: dark magic and wyverns. I am a big wyvern and dragon fan so that definitely added to my excitement that I was able to read this book early. The wyverns made an appearance very early on which I LOVED. Several authors wait to introduce the magical creatures in a book as you get to know the main characters. This author timed it perfectly. Mal the main character, was a badass. She was strong in her abilities and was such a fun main female character. The ending definitely hurt my feelings, but I loved it. I can not wait to read the sequel to this book and will be adding this book to my physical collection when it comes out in May!!

The beginning of this book started a bit slow, but in books like these, it’s always worth it for the world-building. As you progress through the book, everything starts to come together, and I couldn’t put it down.

I’m not usually a fan of third-person books, but this one completely pulled me in. The characters were strong leads, and I think the author wrote them perfectly.

The ending surprised me. I thought I knew what was going to happen, but it was so well-written that it completely threw me off.

I’ll definitely be recommending this book to anyone who will listen.

Wow. That ending was insane. Highly recommend. I think anyone who loves Throne of Glass for its interconnected storylines with the ensemble of characters would love this. Not because the storylines are at all similar to ToG but I feel like the overall story will have an amazing arc the way ToG did.

This book is one of my favorites of the year. I loved all of the fantasy elements with the different species and kingdoms. It was done so well. I would’ve liked a little more relationship building between Mal and Ash so it didn’t feel so insta-lovey but still enjoyed it.

I loved the ending! I was trying to piece it together as the story went along and thought I had an idea but I was wrong. I’m also so confused how she came to be with them being locked away! Cannot wait for book 2 because I need answers as to how all these events were set into motion.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.

This book had a bit of a slow start but once it got going I could not put it down! Magic, creatures, war, kingdoms, love, revenge, and prophecies?! AMAZING GIVE ME 10. The characters were fun, flawed, vibrant, and I loved getting to have the different POVs.
If you want an amazing adventure in a fantasy world filled with magic and chaos, this is the book for you. There is so much lore to unpack and delve into. The romance is also so good and complex. I can’t wait until the next one to learn more about everyone and unravel more about Tabitha, the history of all the kingdoms, and the war with the witches.
I genuinely LOVED this book and think back to it often. Probably one of my favorites. Do yourself a favor and read this book, you won’t regret it.

I’ll admit, this book took me a long time to get read—5 weeks to be exact—and it was hard for me to get into. The world-building was simple enough for a fantasy but for some reason I was having a hard time understanding it. Honestly I think I was in a book hangover after reading Fearless and wasn’t reading to get into another book so soon.

I read chapters here and there and put the book down for a while around about 30% through the book, but over the last 4 days I binged the rest! Enemies to lovers is my favorite trope, and while I usually do not enjoy third person books, this one was so good! And it made so much sense as to why it was third person in my opinion. There were so many characters and small sub-plots occurring in this book, it was necessary that it was third person.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to see what comes next in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and J.F. Johns for allowing me to receive and ARC for this book—the cover art is BEAUTIFUL.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in advance. The cover was what got my attention at first, then I read the synopsis and I was sold. I was so happy to get the chance to read it.
Oh what a world! The world building is incredible: the many kingdoms, how different they are from each other and their traditions.
I love our main characters but the prophecy made me worried for them. The last 50 pages or so left me speechless. So much happened! Like Hagan WTF? Alina 😱😱 and that revelation about the Seer, I didn't see that coming.
Uau I definitely can't wait to read the next one.
I give this an easy 5 stars 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

Okay first I would like the thank NetGalley and the author J.F. Johns for sending me the eARC of this book!

4.25⭐️
The cover and synopsis drew me in right away. I will say I have not read any of her other books so this was my first time experiencing this world, magic system and characters and I have to say it was very easy to follow along as I got further into the book. The beginning was a bit slow at parts BUT as I got further into the book everything started to piece together and really made me obsessed with everything in the book. The 3rd person POV threw me off for a bit because there were multiple POVs and I’m usually not one to like 3rd person POV but I loved this book and how everything was written.

I loved Mal and everything about her character. She was such a strong, fierce, smart and powerful main character and I honestly cannot wait to see what she will do in the second book!

Ash was such a great MMC. I loved how it showed his vulnerability and how he embraced his life challenges. The way he and Mal’s relationship formed and their love was just so admirable.

Other characters I loved were Kai and Kage(Mal’s brothers) and Alina(Ash’s sister).
I absolutely LOVED the yearning with Kai and Alina. I almost liked them a little more at times than the main characters. I really hope we see more of them together in the second book!

If you like
•Enemies to lovers
•He falls first
•Magical creatures
•3rd person POVs(multiple)
•Dark magic
•Dragons
This is definitely for you!

I cannot wait to get my hands on the physical book when it comes out as a trophy!

This book was good to me. I really enjoyed it.

Mal, is a wyvern. She's one of the free people known for their violence and feared by all. For the peace of the eight kingdoms, she is destined to marry Ash, The fire prince.
The two are opposites in every way, from their appearance to their customs. But this marave must take place, and more than that, Mal must kill the prince to guarantee peace for the eight kingdoms.

𐙚 Arranged Marriage
𐙚 Forced promity
𐙚 Curse / Prophecy
𐙚 Slow Burn
𐙚 Multiple Pov
𐙚 Political plot

I really enjoyed this read and the way we get to know this mon of its characters. I loved discovering Mal and seeing how strong, powerful and independent she was.
And I loved even more the contrast with Ash, who remains just as strong, but who brings that "innocence" you wouldn't expect from him.
I think the blend of the two is just perfect, and I so wish I could have read more of them, more of their budding relationship.

The whole time I was reading, I was trying to guess where the story was going to take us, I was trying to guess the ending, and at no point did I suspect what was going to happen. It was just so well orchestrated.

The fact that there were several installments was great, as we discovered several characters and several stories, especially about the secondary characters who aren't so secondary anymore.

I really enjoyed reading about Kai and Aline, and loved their relationship as much as Mal and Ash's. Alina is searching and living for herself, and it was lovely to see. Alina is looking for herself and trying to live for herself, and that was lovely to see.

I can't wait to read more.

Thank you to NetGalley and J.F. Johns for an ARC of A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash.

I was hooked from the very beginning. I loved the world the author created. It was reminiscent of all of my favorite fantasy books, while also being so unique in its own way. The kingdoms and houses reminded me of Game of Thrones, which I LOVED. The magic, the mystical creatures, a badass FMC, and a slow-burn enemies-to lovers - what more could you ask for?

I was constantly engaged, and devoured this book. Every twist was perfect, and left me wanting more. I can see this book being one of the next big romantasies on BookTok. Overall, I really loved this book and cannot wait to read the rest of the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an EARC of A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash. This definitely started off a little slow but then got really good at the end. I definitely would be interested in reading the next book. I love that Mal was show as a strong lead and not someone soft. The only thing I wish the book had was the new characters name when it switched story lines. Overall fun book with lots of opportunity for side stories.