4.3 ⭐

I honestly loved this and I'm eager to read book #2 in this series!! ❤️🖤
I also think I could have given this book some decimal more in the ratings if I could have managed to read it in less time.
My thoughts were a bit scrambled because I had to give it up a couple of times and then I went through the second half of it this week, but slowly by my standards.

I lost momentum, but the book still got me excited and managed to make me fall in love with several characters.
This has a bit of a Game Of Thrones vibes mixed with the Sarah J. Maas ways and I'm totally here for it!
I especially loved the main female character, Mal, because she was both strong and tender in a curious way that made her particularly vivid for me.
Kai made me blush and giggle but Wren and Kage had me really hooked there. I'm screaming to know how things will evolve with them.
The fire siblings had me a bit in doubt and, especially Alina, I began to appreciate on the way to the end.

The world building was amazing, it paved the ground for potentially infinite stories in the story. I want to know more about all the kingdoms and the creatures — and now the Gods. 😍

The little critiques I have:
- The story was really slow in the first half of the book. And I do know that the motivation is the world building that was being made and the fact that this is book #1 in a potentially very long series, but I did feel it.
- Because of the material being served, the writing style might have been a bit more deep and rich in some parts of the book I actually found simplistic and YAish. It's like I was feeling immersed in an HBO series and suddenly it was the CW. Love both, but each has its own sentiment and in the book they were confused 😆


I also hope this review will be coherent for those who will read it, because it's been a while since I've done one! ✨

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❁ Thank you to Netgalley and J. F. Johns for the opportunity to read the ARC of this in exchange of my honest opinion — ARC provided by Independent(Indie)❁

Thanks to NetGalley and J.F. Johns for providing me with an eARC of A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash.

"Mal is not looking to conquer the cruel prince’s heart...She wants to stab it".

I was hooked from that line in the synopsis and remained engaged and enjoying the book till the very last page. Witches, dark magic, political intrigue, dragons, romance - needless to say, this book has it all. While it draws inspiration from the best parts of previously enjoyed fantasy/romantasy, the other manages to give it a fresh spin that makes it feel wholly original. The writing was great, and while the world-building and all the moving parts of the plot were extensively developed, it was always easy to follow. This is an overall great book from an author I had never read from in the past. I can highly recommend picking this one up.

Perfect for readers who love enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn romance, court intrigue, and dark magic.

The story line of this book was fun and exciting and kept me guessing right along. The use of multiple POVs also made me feel more omnipotent as a reader even though there were still quite a few twists left to discover. I anxiously wait for book 2 because the hint at what is to come is so exciting.

4,5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I’m honestly surprised this book isn’t more popular. It had so many things I enjoy in a fantasy—memorable characters, intriguing magic, dangerous creatures, and multiple kingdoms at odds. The worldbuilding and unraveling plot reminded me a bit of Sarah J. Maas’s work. While it’s not as intricate as hers, the action, politics, and well-placed secrets kept me turning the pages well into the night 🌙✨.

I especially loved Kai—one of those characters I can’t help but root for—and I’m really hoping nothing bad happens to him in the sequel 🤞.

This is a great pick for fantasy fans who enjoy political intrigue, hidden truths, and a dash of danger alongside magic and adventure. I’ll definitely be picking up the sequel.

#AKingdomOfShadowAndAsh #NetGalley

A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash by J.F. Johns ★★★★★ Dark, magical, and wildly addictive—this book reads like a storm gathering strength. Johns delivers a world thick with danger and desire, where every shadow hides a secret and the characters carry wounds that feel achingly familiar. The romance is intense, the politics are sharp, and the stakes climb with every chapter.

It's got that page-turning grip, but also moments of unexpected beauty. The heroine isn’t here to play nice, and the tension between what she wants and what she must sacrifice makes it impossible to look away. If your book club loves high fantasy with emotional depth and just the right amount of heat, this one’s a winner.

It has familiar tropes like curses, arranged marriages, and dragons, but with some fresh twists. The story is simple and easy to follow, not overly complex, and genuinely fun to read.

The pacing does slow in the middle, and I wasn’t very invested in the side characters, but the ending and twists kept me hooked. I really appreciated the MMC breaking away from the alpha male mold—he’s vulnerable, misunderstood, yet whole. The slow burn romance was a little too slow and then all-at-once for me.

I had the pleasure of reading this as an arc 😃

It had me turning pages it had me hooked straight away. It is a dark romantasy with spice.
the world and character building are amazing.

dark ✔️
magic ✔️
spice ✔️
dragons ✔️

It is told by multiple points of view throughout the book giving you more of an insight to each character.

I would suggest this book to anyone who's looking for a dark romantasy.

thank you to netgalley for the arc!

3.5 / 5 stars
***this review will contain spoilers!***


A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash follows Mal, who enters into a political marriage with a prince of a neighboring nation, not for love, but to complete her mission to kill him and finally end a curse placed on her kingdom decades ago by a vengeful witch. With this, the premise sounded great.

Moving on to the actual review:

First, the pacing had its issues. The story starts off very slow, as an avid fantasy reader this isnt exactly new but in this case i didn't feel sucked into the story as i usually do with my 4 star+ reads. The core plot didn’t really kick in until about 70% of the book. By that point, the action started coming fast -which I actually really enjoyed- but it did feel a little too late and i wish there had been more to capture my attention from the get-go.
The writing itself had plenty of potential, but there were quite a few overly long descriptions that slowed things down and that i personally feel could have been trimmed to improve the pacing.

Second, I struggled with the character development, none of the characters felt fully fleshed out and with so many perspectives and limited time spent with each one, it was hard to fully connect or really care about either of them. Hopefully there will be more focus on each character in upcoming books.

All that said, the last third was genuinely exciting and had some great twists. I just wish the build-up had been tighter and more emotionally engaging throughout. I feel like this story could be really great with a bit more depth and structural refinement, and I’d still be curious to see where the series goes next.

I unfortunately did not finish this book. I thought there was too much going on and the world building was not straight forward.

This is a heart throbbing slow burn, enemies to lovers and dark fantasy that will have you wanting for more!

I loved the world building. It was immersive but did not feel overwhelming and very well written. It does feel a bit more high fantasy than romantasy though.

Mal turned out to be one of my favorite FMC’s. She has to marry the prince from another kingdom and unalive him in and break the curse in order to save everyone else.

This is for readers who love:
- Arranged Marriage
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Proximity

Note: It is on the 🫑 spice level.

Thank you Netgalley for this copy!

I really enjoyed this first book and have a feeling the next one with be even better. Mal is a great character and the way the author wrote about her loneliness was very relatable. I really liked the lore the author created about the witches! Thank you so much and I will def read the next book

I loved it so much.

The world building was fantastic I loved how detailed the backstory was and how each kingdom is different. I also felt that the plot did drag in some areas but the more was reveled the more questions I have. The twist at the end and the heartbreak was something else that I cannot describe. I hope we get more from these characters and we learn more about what is going to happen

This was a solid 3 star read for me! It was definitely intriguing, but many of the elements have been done in a fantasy book so many times that it didn't have me fully invested. There was enough to grab my attention and keep me reading though.
The world building - There were a lot of kingdoms, and each had their own completely different details. It was a lot to take in and I don't think I fully immersed myself in any kingdoms other than those of Mal and Ash.
The main characters - I loved Mal, she was a strong, determined, and a badass FMC! She's betrothed to Ash, the Prince of the Kingdom of Fire. Ash was the opposite of what most MMCs in a fantasy book are - he was much softer, giving total cinnamon roll vibes. I'm not gonna lie, I would have loved if the book was from their POVs only. The slow burn was burning SLOWWWW! If you love tension, it was there!
Multi 3rd person POV - I did find the pacing really choppy, it didn't flow as well as I would have liked. That could have been because there are multiple 3rd person POVs so it jumped around a lot.
Overall this book had a lot of potential and a few unique things that drew me in enough to turn the pages!
Thanks to NetGalley and J.F. Johns for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and felt it was refreshing!

I really loved the different characters and their individual story arcs and how for the most part they all had redeeming qualities. The narrative switching focus was interesting but at times felt frustrating as I wanted to know what happened next.

The romance was lovely between the 2 main-main characters but I felt like I would of liked more development beyond lusty needs like what we saw in other relationships.

My only critques: the Tabitha passages didn't always feel like they added a lot and the timeline is intentionally non-linear but dates to contextualise would be helpful to understand a bit better.
Also just a note on sometimes the language felt repetitive or unnecessarily descriptive.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this! Ive already downloaded the next one ❤️

Ratings
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Setting: 🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Characters: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖

What to Expect
-Arranged Marriage
-Enemies to Lovers
-Forbidden Love
-Strong Sibling Bonds & Dynamics
-Unique Magic & Lovable Characters

“I do not mind starting another Great War for you, princess”

I had such a great time with this book! It expanded into such a great story with so many twists and turns my heart hurt. The multiple POVs were interesting and I enjoyed being able to see each of their perspectives and the politics within each Kingdom. I don’t think I’ve loved characters like this in a very long time. It had great family dynamics and the bonds between the siblings was refreshing. You truly get to see into the different courts and how each family functions and operates in different ways.

The plot centers around the different Kingdoms coming together for the arranged marriage between Mal Blackburn (Kingdom of Darkness) and Ash Acheron (Kingdom of Fire). Mal is whip smart and observant, not much gets past her. She has a hard exterior and can be pretty brutal at times, but is also very sweet and caring deep down. Ash is quiet and doesn’t speak much, he struggles with court life and the responsibilities that come with it.

The Blackburn siblings Kai, Kage, and Haven were a force to be reckoned with and I loved every moment of their story and bonds. Ash’s sister Alina is a caged princess longing for more and unyielding in the protection of her brother. I’ve got to say that Wren Wynter (Kingdom of Ice) was one of my favorites, she added the bit of fun that was needed in this sometimes heavy plot.

I CANNOT wait to see what happens next in this world! I’ve been waiting for a book like this for a long time and I loved every second of it!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. 💕

I enjoyed this read. Everything about this story felt pretty original and I found the pace to be slow starting off, but really picking up by the midway point. There is so much mystery tangled up in here that i'm honestly not sure what this original curse is all about, but I am really excited to find out.

I liked Tabitha's diary entries at the beginning of each chapter, it really provided a lot of subcontext about the world and the relationships between the kingdoms.

The worldbuilding could have been a bit more detailed, but I definitely recognized the effort to give readers enough information to follow along with the plot. I look forward to discovering more about the kingdoms and the gods as the series progresses.

Mal is a formidable FMC. Strong, stubborn, wild, loyal, clever and incredibly independant. I really enjoyed her dynamic! Ash's stutter made the story feel more human as well, despite the story being an absolute fairytale. I think Alina's journey has also only just begun and I look forward to watching her arc, since hers was the only one I found to be a little bit childish at times- and understandably so given that she is a royal child who was literally forced to sit still and look pretty for her entire life, and outside of that, devoted herself to helping her brother get through courtly social interactions since his speed impediment was a big personal struggle of his. She has never been able to just live for herself and it showed. I really felt for Alina, especially by the end of this book.

This was an excellent read and I intend to stick with the series and recommend it to friends!

⭐️⭐️.25
🌶️🌶️

Tropes:
-Marriage of convenience
-Prophecies and curses
-High stakes
-Magical beasts

First of all, huge thanks to @NetGalley and the author for providing me with this ARC.

So, it starts like this:

Every queen in the Kingdom of Shadow bears 3 children (in this economy..) one to rule, one to fight, one to think. So why is it that princess Mal Blackburn is fourth in line?

Deemed an irregularity in her own home, Mal decides to accept a marriage proposal from Ash Acheron, heir to the Kingdom of Fire. Her real mission? To stop a prophecy from being fulfilled—by killing her soon-to-be husband.

Now, you can see why I was excited to read this book; the premise sounds amazing. So imagine my disappointment when it delivered what felt like over 400 pages of nothing but a drawn-out, inconsistent, meandering, and sometimes illogical plot—basically a prologue stretched to novel length.
As I said before, a book should stand on its own and not rely on the promise of a continuation for it to make sense.

As for the characters: they sounded and acted like teenagers (I thought they were supposed to be older). Mal, at times, behaved like a little edgelord—because social expectations and etiquette are SO beneath her, apparently. On the other hand, Ash Acheron was a refreshing kind of protagonist; he has a stutter, which hinders him and serves as a relevant plot point throughout the book.

And if only we’d seen more of their interactions, maybe I’d have believed how they suddenly fell in love and were all over each other... but a good chunk of the book focused on secondary characters—some completely irrelevant, others forming an unnecessary (at least for book one) secondary couple. The characters lacked nuance, too. At one point, a character turns into evil incarnate out of nowhere, like a sloppy plot twist.

And the almost-sad thing is: I actually think this book has good bones and could be great with solid editing. The writing style is amazing—the right amount of flowery, with precise and beautiful descriptions. At one point, it reminded me of *Game of Thrones*’ eighth season: beautiful visuals, horrible script.

Finally, ignoring the fact that the title suffers from the *A Bowl of Mac and Cheese* structure, and that at one point a character says “Smells like testosterone” (holy mother of anachronisms)... you might still enjoy *A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash* for: the rich prose, unconventional MMC, shadow mommy FMC, and final plot twists.

Dark, twisty, and totally addictive.
A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash hooked me from the start with its moody, magical world and morally gray characters. The main character’s journey is full of grit, heart, and just enough angst to keep things interesting. There’s political drama, secrets, slow-burn romance, and a lot of “who can I trust?” energy—which I loved. The pacing dips a bit in the middle, but once it picks up again, it doesn’t let go. If you’re into fantasy with danger, betrayal, and a main character who refuses to stay down, this one’s for you.

I would first like to thank netgalley and the publishers for this arc.

Okay now let’s get into it.

2.5-3/5

I’m not going to lie, I had severe misgivings heading into the story as soon as I saw the map, the kingdoms, and the names of the various characters. It’s like tossing in every single possible trope into a blender and somehow ending up with the most basic, archetypal world. Case in point: Kingdom of Darkness and Kingdom Light

But then the prologue came, and it came with such an atmospheric and cinematic flair, I was hooked, line and sinker.

But despite all that promise, I feel somewhat letdown? The first 50% of the book felt like a 3-3.5 star read. The writing was refreshingly sophisticated despite the occasional clunkiness (how does one move like liquid dusk, pray tell?). The characters were fleshed out to a reasonable, if not satisfactory, degree.

The romances (note there are multiple story lines) were a decent slow burn, with a side romance being quite more compelling than the main couple. Some of the politicking was enjoyable as well, and the magical world building was decent, if not completely unique. We have a magic system that has rules and makes sense, a myriad of creatures that are properly established, characters with fantastical attributes, and we even have a mortality count akin to something from grimdark fantasy genre .

Despite these positives, it’s still impossible to miss the clunky transitions, awkward pacing, inconsistent characterizations, and shallow character interactions. But that isn’t the biggest drawback here.

Unfortunately, it seems like this author fell to an increasingly common pitfall of YA/New Adult fantasy: completely jumping the shark. Despite the above flaws, the book was still compelling until the last 25%, at which point the author lets go of the grounded reality of the world she established and heads into uncharted ,and in my opinion, completely unnecessary territory.

Imagine reading harry potter. The world has been grounded and the rules established , but then all that work just gets tossed aside into irrelevancy, and you find out Harry was the mystical son of the founder of magic, and has to take on magic itself. Silly and eye-roll inducing, and not my cup of tea.

I may be more critical than others, but it’s frustrating as there is so much promise in the author’s story, but it just seems like the execution may have missed the mark.

I enjoyed the story overall and the conflict between the 2 nations, the love stories , and the powers were intriguing. However I found myself lost in the story many times over as the perspectives/ pov would switch chapter to chapter and sometimes mid chapter and I had to figure out which character was talking/ whose chapter it was without a guide. By the time I would figure it out half the chapter would be over and the next chapter would be in another pov. Very confusing. If that was fixed the story overall would be a great ride.