The blurb and the cover for this book had me hooked right away. I couldn’t wait to dive in. It starts off super strong with one of the most gripping prologues I’ve read in a long time, and the ending really delivered too. But I have to admit, I struggled to stay fully interested through the middle portion of the book.

It’s written in 3rd person, but there are so many different POVs that it was hard to really connect with the main characters. I kept wanting to feel more invested in them, but the constant switching made that tough.

Some parts of the story (specifically the romances) felt like they moved way too fast to feel believable. I really wish more time had been spent fleshing out those moments because they had the potential to hit a lot harder emotionally. There were also a few chapters that felt like filler, like they didn’t really move the story forward or serve a clear purpose, which made the pacing feel a bit off at times.

Another thing that pulled me out of the story was how some characters’ accents were written phonetically instead of just being described. That’s more of a personal pet peeve, but it distracted me quite a bit.

There were some really interesting twists toward the end, which I loved—I just wish some of those had come earlier to help keep the pace up in the middle.

Overall, while the book had some great moments and a strong beginning and end, the pacing and character development in the middle just didn’t quite work for me. I think readers who enjoy multiple POVs and slower moving plots with fast pasted, twisty endings might get more out of it.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has potential, but there are definitely a handful of very specific areas where it fell a bit flat for me. I think it also suffers quite badly from "Is this book good, or is it the last 100 pages".

I enjoyed the premise of the world, the 7 unique kingdoms were great, I think the writer did a good job of making the princes/princesses from each kingdom very different from one another in terms of design, however a lot of the personalities were quite samey. Everyone is very distant, dark and mysterious and eventually a lot of characters started blending together and I forgot who was who.
I also really enjoyed Alina and Kai's relationship, their progression felt very natural and I liked watching their interactions play out.

I think where the story fell flat is having way too many POVs. This is the first book in the series and is supposed to establish the world and allow us to really connect with and settle in with the MC - and their love interest due to this being a romance. However, due to the constant POV switches every chapter (and sometimes even multiple times within the same chapter) it became increasingly difficult to ever really empathise with or understand a character's motives and feelings. It felt like the vibes from Throne of Glass were trying to be replicated, with the multitude of different characters being introduced, all with their own schemes and goals, that would eventually all come to a head. But these characters weren't introduced properly, we were given 6 different POVs before even getting 50% of the way through the book, it was honestly overwhelming and really took me out of the story. I felt like I was just coasting through the chapters, rather than being invested and immersed in their stories.

Alina and Kai's relationship was a real highlight for me, however, I do not think their romance should have been such a big focus in this book. It really, heavily overshadowed Mal and Ash's relationship growth, and I found myself constantly comparing the two and honestly, it ruined any potential Mal and Ash had in my opinion, as I just didn't like their relationship progression when compared with Alina and Kai. It was supposed to be a slow burn, with miscommunication at the heart of it, but it just fell incredibly flat when compared to the yearning and believable conflict between Alina and Kai. I do think it was a mistake to include two romantic storylines in book 1 of a series.

The naming conventions got very repetitive, very fast. I totally understand that coming up with names for characters, races, cities, countries, etc, is incredibly hard in a fantasy world. But these names bordered on parody at points. I was also fully expecting every kingdom to have access to some form of magic relating to their names, but that wasn't the case bar 2(?) of the kingdoms. So beyond living in different ecosystems and their connection to different types of epic beasts, there really wasn't any unique identifier between any of the kingdom's people.

The plot really kicked up a notch by chapter 40 and things started to feel a lot more cohesive by this point and I really enjoyed the writing towards the end of the book. Sadly, up until this point though, it did feel like the author had a plethora of cool ideas and scenes she wanted to include and tried to fit everything in as best she could, even if it didn't fully make sense in certain situations, or for certain characters. There were quite a few times where character's actions came across as a bit out of place, and almost like they were intended for someone else originally, but that character was tied up elsewhere so it had to be fitted in with the immediately available characters and it just didn't work as well.

I found things were incredibly literal at times as well. On multiple occasions chapters would end on what would try to be this big reveal of information/something that I assumed would potentially be open for interpretation in future, then in the next chapter the exact thing would happen word for word. We're basically told exactly how the story is going to play out from the start, which made me turn my brain off after a little while, as I quickly realised there wasn't a need for analysing and thinking about the potential imagery of things as we were told everything and anything that is going to happen.

All that being said there is definitely major potential here. The ending was not expected and I'm glad there was a major twist in what happened by the end of it all, that does admittedly have me very interested for where book 2 is going. The writing style is beautiful and descriptive and it flows very well. The descriptions of characters and locations were lovely and vivid and I do feel like I could easily picture what any character looked like at any point in time. There's a lot of very interesting characters to work with, and by extension, a lot of potential for expanding the plot through them.

Thank you for allowing me to read the eARC in return for my honest review!

this book was great! i loved the magic system and lore. the FMC was a badass and so much fun to spend time with. i enjoyed how much fantasy elements were spliced together! this was such a fun read. thank you netgalley and the author for letting me read your book!

While I did finish this book, it definitely took me longer than I thought to read. I wanted to like this story, I read the blurb and was instantly intrigued but once I started reading I had such a difficult time keeping things straight. This book is written in 3rd person, but there are so many different POVs in this story and each chapter focused on a different person with no indicator on who the chapter was going to be from until you started reading which was so confusing for me trying to keep tabs on what is happening and who is doing what.

The world building and different houses was something that kept me going with the story and I really enjoyed learning more about the world of the Eight Kingdoms and how things became what they are.

A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash was not the book for me at this time but I know that there is someone out there that will thoroughly enjoy this story! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an ARC of this in exchange for my review.

How long do I have to wait for the next one now? 😩 I really enjoyed this book and the universe in which the story takes place. I loved how every kingdom was very different from the other, from the way poeple look, to how they eat, and talk, and fight, and more. I thought I would have a very hard time remembering who is in which kingdom, but it was surprisingly very easy.

The plot was great, although I felt like it did drag a bit. A lot of interesting twists were added towards the end and it would have been interesting to have some of those twists a bit earlier! It was getting a bit overwhelming in the last 60+pages in my opinion. I did enjoy the ride though and I will be counting the days until book 2 👀

Also, I REALLY enjoyed having multiple POVs, getting to know every character (and their love interest 👀). I have to say, I was instantly attracted to Kai. Such a playful, loyal and interesting character. And Ash ?? Loved him from the beginning. Loved the complexity of his character and his romance with Mal. Although I have to say Alina and Kai's romance might be my favorite 😩 The support, the loyalty, the growth from both characters and the chemistry 😮‍💨

Overall loved the universe, political schemes, and characters and I am very excited for A Kingdom of Sand and Ice!!

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion 🫶🏽

3.5 stars - This story started off really strong, I felt really engaged with the writing style and the world building, and couldn't put the book down for the first 70%. The 3rd person narrative I really enjoyed! Writing the fantasy world this way allowed for more characters to shine over just the usual main characters and also allows for the story to shift from place to place or character to character in a way that makes sense, it allowed for there to be side plots away from the main storyline and I really enjoyed that aspect of it!

However, the grip the book first had on me started to slowly loosen as I continued reading. There were things that started to happen inauthentically fast from the plot line to the romances which on a couple of occasions had me furrowing my brow in disbelief. I really wish that more time had been put into further developing some of those moments that could have been so impactful. There were also some parts that I felt were way too underdeveloped and have been left as stray side stories with no clear conclusions, perhaps these stories will conclude in later books? Who knows.

Something rather distracting was that some characters have accents and instead of describing what those sound like they are written the way they are to be pronounced, this bothered me throughout but that's my personal quarrel.

Overall I did enjoy the read for the most part it just ventured off a little bit for me hence the rating.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me the pleasure of reading the E-ARC!

A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash” by J.F. Johns is an extraordinary book that takes topics and themes that you could never guessed be put into this magical book. From the world to the plot, everything was meticulous and perfect. The characters were spot-on and the multiple POV’s gave us a feel into many of the characters that played a big role in the plot. The author introduced the world perfectly

Themes:

🖤 Prophecies and Curses
⚔️Badass FMC
🥀 Enemies to lovers
💀 Arranged Marriage
🐉 Dragons and Wyverns



During the Great War 8 kingdoms turned on each other. The kingdom of witches was destroyed and the remaining cursed 7 haven’t known peace since. The witches roam the wastelands, plotting their revenge.

For centuries, the rulers of the Kingdom of Darkness bore only three children. Always three. An heir, a warrior and a truthbearer. Mal Blackburn is an anomaly, the fourth born child, with purple eyes. Witches eyes.

In an attempt to restore peace to the lands, the kingdoms of fire and darkness broker a marriage between Mal and Ash, the crime prince who is known across the lands with a reputation for cruelty.

However Mal has other ideas… to kill the prince. If she succeeds, she could break the curse that many don’t believe in.

I am a demon born from darkness, a beast carved from shadows. You touch her again and I will show you what the afterlife looks like.


If you loved Bridge Kingdom I highly recommend this 🫶

A dark romantic fantasy, brimming with magical creatures, political intrigue and hidden magic. I couldn’t put it down. The characters, amazing. The FMC is a complete badass but yet somewhat vulnerable and unsure of herself. The MMC wonderfully unique. A host of secondary characters that I cannot wait to read more about (I even obsessed over them more at some parts)

The ending left me shook and desperate for book 2!

Title: A kingdom of Shadow and Ash
Author: J.F. Johns
Genre: Sci-fi and Fantasy, New Adult, Romance
Release Date: 31 of May of 2025
My Rating: 4 Stars
Thank you to Netgalley and J.F Johns for this ARC.
“A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash” by J.F. Johns is an extraordinary book that takes topics and themes that you could never guessed be put into this magical book. From the world to the plot, everything was meticulous and perfect. The characters were spot-on and the multiple POV’s gave us a feel into many of the characters that played a big role in the plot. The author introduced the world perfectly, telling us about it without overwhelming the mind. The writing was lyrical but practical, helping us imagine scenes vividly.
On the other hand though, there were a few point of views that i just didnt care for and something i wish the author did was write in whos POV the chapter was written in before it started as I was kind of confused by who we were following at the start. In addition, I wish that the author would have put more effort into showing others relationships and telling us more about Mal’s parents.
In conclusion, this book is perfect for all fans of fantasy that just want a spark of vengeance.

A worthy new addition to the romantasy genre. I enjoyed the dark and mysterious world that J.F. Johns created: lots of court intrigue and political games, magic, fantastical creatures, a 100-year curse, and an impending war looming over it all.

The initial setup of the kingdoms may feel very familiar to a seasoned fantasy reader, and it felt especially ACOTAR coded at first. I am happy to confirm though that as the story goes on, the worldbuilding develops into something more distinct and able to stand on its own successfully. Even more of this will come into play for book 2, it seems, as the action is likely to shift to new locations, which I always enjoy.

I also appreciated the slow-burn romance that didn't overshadow the plot. However, the switch to the couple felt quite abrupt, and I thought the emotional connection needed to be built up a bit more, in order to shift the relationship from lust to love.

The similar abruptness also affected the ending of the book: we've been building up to this moment the whole book, for it to then be over too quickly (and in my case - predictably). We're left with lots of questions though, so there's plenty of intrigue going forward into book 2.

Thank you to the publisher for the advance reader copy and looking forward to more from this author!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Enemies to lovers
Arranged marriage
Magic/witches
Court intrigue

Thank you for allowing me this ARC!
At no point did I see the plot twists coming!! Each page kept my attention, and the ending leaves me with so many questions! Loved the slow burn between Mal and Ash; at one point, I had no idea how they would even fall in love! Will definitely be coming back for book 2.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

Kingdom of Ash by J.F. Johns is a fiery blend of fantasy, romance, and revenge that fans of Fourth Wing, The Bridge Kingdom, and Serpent & Dove will devour.✨️

Set in a fractured world where magic is feared and kingdoms stand divided, this enemies-to-lovers tale delivers high-stakes tension, simmering romance, and a heroine you can't help but root for.

Mal Blackburn is fierce, complex, and driven by a mission that could either save or doom the realm! Her journey to assassinate the infamous Fire Prince sets off a chain of events laced with danger, secrets, and unexpected alliances.
As the land of witches, fire, and dragons comes alive on the page, J.F. Johns weaves a compelling narrative full of twists and dark intrigue.

The romance sizzles without overshadowing the plot, and while familiar tropes like secret powers and forbidden love are present, Johns gives them a fresh, immersive spin. Mal’s internal conflict and slow-burning chemistry with the prince adds depth to what could have been a straightforward revenge plot.

Kingdom of Ash stands out for its emotional tension, strong female lead, and richly built world.

While fans of the genre might see echoes of other fantasy hits, this story holds its own with engaging pacing and satisfying drama. A must-read for lovers of magical politics, sharp banter, and dangerous love.

So glad I got my hands on this ARC — I was hooked by the premise (witches, dragons, curses, political marriage…say no more!) and the stunning cover definitely helped. I started slow, but once I got back into it, I devoured it in 48 hours — perfect for my long bus trip!
I loved the world-building, the multiple POVs, and the tension between characters. Mal was a strong, fierce heroine, and Kai quickly became a favorite. I wanted more of Ash, but I’m sure we’ll get that in the sequel - I cannot wait!
The story had familiar romantasy elements, but the pacing, characters, and twists kept it engaging. The final chapters were brutal and left me wanting more.

If you like enemies to lovers, magical creatures and a slow-burn romance with emotional twists, then you’ll love this! Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC and big congrats to the author!

What a masterpiece this book is!

A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash gives everything you could want in a fantasy: witches, fae, gods, dragons, wyverns, and a host of other otherworldly creatures and beasts.

The world building and character development is really good, I loved getting to know all of the characters and discovering the world the story is set in.

Kingdom of shadow and ash follows multiple POVs that you will most likely come to like even if you don’t in the beginning!

The plot is packed with twists that will leave you feeling the need to continue reading and the book is full of mystery right up until the final pages, constantly challenging your assumptions about the characters and their history. I couldn’t put it down, and I loved every moment of the journey.

"Now they will wait to see whether we are willing to sacrifice our love to this game. I will not.." - J.F. Johns

Thank you to J.F. Johns for allowing me to read this book early

The eight kingdoms have been at odds for nearly 100 years. With a dark curse looming threatening all, who will be able to save them? This is a story filled with revenge, long-lasting feuds, romance, and a princess with cursed eyes looking to save them all... Or bring about their doom.

The plot of this story kept me wanting more, between the dragons, wyvern, witches, and romance (and some spice). Not to mention characters that you can't help but get attached to. You won't be disappointed with this one.

If there was one thing I had to choose to change it would be the pacing of some parts of the story, but that's just nitpicking at this point.

I would recommend this book to those who enjoy Fourth Wing, The Bridge Kingdom, and Serpent & Dove, with hints of A Court of Thornes and Roses

Troupes: enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn romance, court intrigue, and dark magic.

The cover and title of this dark fantasy novel is what drew me in originally. It’s set in a fantasy world with ancient curses, that last 100s of years, and enemies-to-lovers romance.

We follow Mal Blackburn, fourth born of the Kingdom of Darkness, who is sent to marry the Fire Prince, Ash. However, they don’t know that she is actually sent to kill him. The novel also follows Mal’s brothers; Kage and Kai, and Ash’s sister; Alina.

It took me a few tries to get fully into the story, but once I did, I was able to stay within the world quite well. The slow-burn romance was SLOW and then abrupt; which definitely can throw a reader off.

I don’t mind 3rd person when I pick up a book, however, my biggest struggle with this was the multiple POV’s jumping all over the place. It could be the way the ePUB is set up, but the epigraphs kept throwing me off (maybe Im just use to them being before the chapter number..)

Add this to ur TBR asap. This book gets a well-deserved 5 stars. This is one of the best romantasy books I have read to date.

Magical kingdoms, enemies-to-lovers tension, and plot twists so wild you have to take a second to find the hidden cameras. If you're into epic quests, slow-burn angst, and audibly gasping at fictional characters, this is your next favorite read. 10/10 would recommend this.

I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy this but I did. It has everything you’d expect from this type of book. It’s had high influence from many others in this genre.
That being said when it going I was on the edge of my seat and couldn’t wait to pick it up again.
I felt the pacing was a little off in times the intimacy between Mal and Ash felt rushed but was worth it afterwards. it could perhaps could have been a little shorter. You do meet a lot of characters and I had my favourites as I’m sure others will!
I loved Kai he was perfectly naughty
All very shocking and it was quite refreshing to see people killed instead of magically alive again 👀

4½

For my fantasy book lovers!

• Enemies to Lovers
• Slow Burn
• Court/Politics Settings
• Family Dynamic/ Sibling bonds
• Multiple 3rd person POVs
• ✨ Dark Magic ✨
• 🌶️ ( Rated PG )
• Cliffhanger

Here you meet Mal Blackburn, who feels left out in her world. Aggress to a marriage proposal, to the Fire Prince. Everyone is thinking, the unity will end a feud that started long ago between kingdoms. Little do they know she must drive a stake into the Princes heart, to save their kingdom.

The cover alone peaked my interest.
The plot itself I enjoyed. At times the transitions, weren't as smooth between chapters or POVs. Was it enough to steer me away from finishing the book ...obviously not.
The dynamics between the characters had me giggling and giddy. The twists towards the end, was not something I expected. It definitely left me wanting more. I'm excited to see what the future holds for this universe.

Thank you Netgalley and J.F Johns for the ARC 🫶🏾

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Alright guys- you like all the popular romantasy stuff out there right now? Well this book should be getting special editions left and right because it’s as good as if not better than lots of the other highly anticipated reads. I LOVED this book and highly recommend it!!! One of the best reads of this year so far. 5/5.