Thank you to the author and NetGalley for sending me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and can be found below.

A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash by J.F. Johns
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Cursed kingdoms. A marriage meant to end in blood. But what if love is the deadliest twist of all?

This story follows Mal Blackburn and Ash Acheron—a fourth born princess born with forbidden magic and a ruthless fire prince feared across the realm. Forced into a marriage neither of them want, their union is the final thread in a curse that’s poisoned their kingdoms for centuries. But nothing is as it seems. Mal’s plan is to kill Ash and break the curse… except their enemies may not be one another after all. Between witches, wyverns, fae, dragons, and unraveling prophecies—this romantasy has it all, and grips you from the first page.

The world building? Expansive and vivid. The magic system is layered, the kingdoms feel distinct, and the lore is so well-woven I was immediately pulled in. The multiple POVs were seamless—never once confusing. I always knew whose head I was in, and every perspective added something crucial. By the end, I was blindsided in the best way—twists I should’ve seen coming flew right past me because I was too immersed to even look for them. That’s how you know a book has you.
The writing is clean, immersive, and cinematic. It gave me everything I wanted: romance, betrayal, ancient magic, cursed bloodlines—and dragons, obviously.

The beginning did lean a little heavy on setup and exposition, and while I personally liked it, some readers might feel a lull before the action really ramps up. Stick with it—it’s worth it! Also, the romance is definitely slow burn, so don’t expect immediate spice. It’s more about the tension.

This was originally a 4star for me, but the more I sat with it, the more I realized how much it checked all my boxes. Great characters. Great world. Great writing. Total 5star read. I need book two ASAP!!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely loved this ARC! A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash is the kind of romantasy that pulls you in from page one with its effortless world-building and memorable characters. The world itself was easy to follow despite its scale—eight distinct kingdoms, each with their own unique flavor (dragons, wyverns, WOLVERINES!? Yes please)—and it never felt overwhelming or confusing.

The multi-POV structure was a huge win for me. We get to spend time in the heads of several characters (at least half a dozen), but the shifts were seamless and never jarring. I always knew exactly whose perspective I was in, which kept me grounded in the story.

Mal was everything I want in a fantasy heroine: clever, strong, morally grey in all the best ways—but with a soft side that made her so easy to root for. And Ash… soft, sweet, and flawed in a way we don’t often get with male leads. His vulnerability and quiet strength made him feel refreshingly real and human without ever making him weak.

Their slow-burn romance had a great build-up, but if I’m honest, I wanted that tension to stretch just a bit longer. Once they finally communicated (verbally and... otherwise wink), it tipped into insta-lovey territory a little faster than I’d have liked.

The side characters? Absolutely addictive. I could’ve read whole chapters just on Kai and Kage. And Wren was hilarious—I hope we see even more of them in the next book.

The pacing was spot on, with writing that flowed beautifully—simple enough to be smooth and engaging without ever feeling too dense or overdone. Plus: no cringe dialogue, which is always a relief in this genre.

A super strong start to a world I can’t wait to return to. 4.5 stars!⭐️

I give this one 3.5 stars. The good is that this book does have a reasonably unique storyline. Just over 100 years ago a curse was cast and in present day they are desperate to end the curse before all kingdoms are doomed. There’s magic, some unique magic and unique world building elements mixed in with common elements like fae and witches. The negatives for me was the writing style and constant POV changes. I think there’s over 7 different POVs, some changes happening mid chapter with a page break. The writing style is overly descriptive which makes it a bit long winded and keeps it from being a fast paced read. I also struggled with some of the additional storylines/ live story with Kai and Alina. Maybe this is necessary for book 2, but it felt like extra unnecessary content. I can typically fly through a book, but this was a struggle for me to finish. I do think that the author has promise and future works may be much easier to read.

I was provided a copy of this book for free by NetGalley. The book is available now.

I really tried to get into this book but at the 25% mark, I decided to DNF. At that point I had been reading for several hours and it seemed like more should have happened. I wouldn't call this book a slow burn, it just felt slow and stodgy. So many moments were overwritten, there were times when I felt whole paragraphs could have been edited out to the benefit of the story's flow. Sometimes, something interesting would happen, like when Mal fell from her wyvern while they were traveling to the Kingdom of Fire, but then it was just over and the story moved on. There were three solid chapters just for the first of the wedding feasts. Each chapter felt disjointed, "Here is a character, see them do something. Okay, on to the next character.".

I also could not shake the feeling that some sibling wanted to be more than siblings, specifically Kai with Mal and Alina with Ash. It felt weird to read interactions with them, it just felt like they wanted to "keep in in the family".

Phrases were repeated a lot as well, often in the same chapter. "The princess with the purple eyes." was the most common, I think I noted it 3 or 4 times in one chapter.

I think this story has great potential, but it needed a more firm hand when it comes to editing.

Thank you to net galley and the author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be reading book 2. Enemies to lovers, Forced marriage and arranged royal alliance.

So Mal is wyverian, and she must marry a prince to end the strife between kingdoms. But an ancient prophecy says she must actually unalive him. But can she do it? Multiple POVs which I always love in books and twists that I did not see coming. Some of the characters fell abit flat. And it took a little for me to really like Mal, but overall loved her determination and drive through the story. The world building was atmospheric and immersive but at times it felt abit disjointed over the book as a whole

I had such high hopes for this book and am very conflicted on how I feel about it.

I loved the writing style — the descriptions, the magic, the wyverns, all of it was so beautifully written that the immersion into the world was fantastic. However, I did find that at times the description was simply TOO much and there were sections where it somewhat killed the plot a little.

I went into this book hoping for an enemies to lovers, as was alluded by the assassination plot, but I think this is where the book fell short. The two characters were enemies in title alone, and I felt that there was no hatred whatsoever between them and that the romance somewhat suffered because of it. It lacked the tension and the anticipation that is often found in this trope.

I also found that the POV change was confusing and somewhat unnecessary. I think just sticking to the points of view from the main characters would have been perfect, but instead we switch between several different characters in each chapter and I found it difficult to follow along in places and it really took me out of the story.

That being said, this was still a fun read and I definitely did enjoy it — the characters were enjoyable, the world immersive, and the writing style poetic. Overall three stars but I’d be tempted to rate it higher!

A more detailed review will be posted on my instagram @Vellichorvibess soon.

* Received as an ARC on NetGalley in return for an honest review *

I really enjoyed this book, it felt different from the standard Romantasy we have been receiving for a while now.

Mal has my heart she is so fiery and sure of herself it is everything you want in a FMC.

The whole wyverian family was extremely interesting and captivating.

I don’t want to spoilt to much of the book however I did feel as if the chapters were a little wishy washy at times, was hard to keep up with what was going on. Towards the end of the book it also felt as if it dragged a little but overall was an amazing read! Can’t wait for #2!

This book was such a surprise in the best possible way! I usually have a hard time connecting with third person narratives, but not here. I was instantly pulled in and didn’t want to stop reading.

The writing is so descriptive and immersive. It made the world feel dark, magical, and alive. You can feel the tension building from the first few pages and it just keeps going in the best way.

I LOVED the whole worldbuilding in this book. Usually, first books leave me with a million questions and I just hope the next one explains things… but not here. Here, you get the full dark and mysterious picture right from the start 😍

Mal is hands down my favorite character. She’s so grounded, honest, and just unapologetically herself. I really connected with her.

And okay yes, the dragons are obviously amazing 🐉, and the wyvern?? A magnificent beast. But my favorite ended up being… the shadows. Those eerie, beautiful animal companions stole the show for me. I loved the whole concept. They are dark, mysterious, and weirdly elegant. And now? Yeah, I absolutely need my own. Preferably one that follows me around and looks menacing 😌🖤

Can’t wait for book 2 already. I need more of this world, this magic, and these characters!

I loved this book. The writing is captivating, the author has such an amazing way with words, everything just comes alive.
The last quarter of this book had me on the edge of my seat! The twists and turns, love and betrayal, everything just had me gasping. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!
The book is multiple POV (around 10 characters) which I wasn’t sure about but it did blend together seamlessly and allowed a really good vision of every part of the story.
I am crying that I need to wait for book 2 now!!

Umm this was amazing! Romantasy is my jam and this was top tier.

A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash delivers a gorgeously imagined fantasy world brimming with magic, political intrigue, and a sprinkling of forbidden romance (my fav kind of romance).

Our FMC Mal Blackburn stands out as a formidable heroine, navigating a cursed fate with strength and complexity. I enjoyed seeing her character grow and change as we moved through the story. The enemies-to-lovers trope is executed with a slow burn that keeps the tension simmering throughout. I loved the multiple POVs and the intricate, vivid world-building really drove the story forward for me. All in all, this was a promising start to a new series that leaves me eager to see where the journey leads next.

This was an excellent start to a series. Some of my favorite tropes were included. Like any first book in a series, there has to be world-building, and I have always felt that the first 50% of a book takes longer to read than the second 50%. My biggest concern was the number of characters that we meet in the first half of the book. I had a hard time remembering who was who and from what house. I did love that, with the amount of POVs we had, we saw the start of relationships and friendships. But I was confused for most of the book until I started connecting more with the characters. I liked our FMC Mal, she is someone who was overlooked but ends up being more than what was thought of her. She was so fine making sacrifices for her family, which led her to find out some truths. Haven, Kai, and Kage were great. I loved them all. When I got to about 60% of the book, I was finally able to read the story without having to really put thought behind whose POV I was reading, and from where exactly this person was from. This story has so many fantasy aspects that I love. It was wolves, dragons, wyverns, far, etc. Some things that I would have loved more of were the main MMC and FMC's love story. There was so much going on that the banter and main love story were put to the side. I do hope to have more of their story in the second book. I also want to get to know more about Ash, I feel like we didn’t get to know him as much as Mal. He is such an interesting character because he has to overcome some of his fears and issues, but I want to see more of his training and fighting skills. I LOVED the plot twist towards the end and everything else that was discovered. It was such a great climax to the story, and I’m so excited for the second book!

4/5 🗡️🐉

A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash is a captivating fantasy with rich worldbuilding and a strong heroine. Fyia’s journey is full of magic, political intrigue, and slow-burning romance. The pacing is a bit slow at first, but the story picks up and keeps you hooked. Great for fans of epic fantasy with strong characters.

Before I start on this beautifully written romantasy, I have to say the writing style was amazing, it hooked me straight away. The book is full of wyverns and dark magic, there's politics and scheming, forbidden love and a plot that will have you clawing for more. The world the author has created is amazing, it was sad to see the book end as I travelled alongside the main characters.
The story is about Mal - destined to break the curse laid upon the kingdom but fate is never that simple as love complicates things, and then there's Ash, the Draconian prince who will change it all. And let's not forget about Kai and Alina, their story might not have been the headliner of the book, but their relationship and journey was just as important.
I can't wait for more and look forward to seeing what the author brings to life next as I am hooked.

I couldn't really get into this. The writing threw me off and the overload of information was an info-dump. I love the cover; the summary hooked me, but sadly, this just didn't play out.

Ok I loved this!!! I was hooked form the first chapter!

The characters were great and the ending was soo good

Thank you for giving me access to this ARC

4.5! This book was so so good!!
I loved the characters so much and I loved how we got to see chapters and point of views from so many of them!

The betrayals. The plot twists. This book was amazing and I am so excited for book 2! I cannot wait! I’m

Things to see/tropes:
☆ Arranged marriage
☆ Enemies to lovers
☆ Forbidden love
☆ Dragons and other mythical/magical creatures
☆ Chosen one
☆ Prophecy

General thoughts
For most of the book it felt like the story was dragging all too slowly and it made it hard for me to get really into it. I mostly stayed because of Mal who, to me, was such an interesting character with a strong mind and voice.
Though I personally find it hard to focus and read so much descriptive text and often found myself just skimming over it, the worldbuilding is truly well thought through, so immersive and varying from kingdom to kingdom. It was a real pleasure to see all the differences between different houses.
Multiple points of view really helped in setting up the characters, their relationships and world views. I thought it would be jarring at first, but the author was really good at making clear who we were with at the moment.

Relationships
The sibling relationships were such a treat! Absolutely love the different dynamics between the Acheron siblings and Blackburn siblings, seeing them interact were my favorite parts of the book.
The romantic relationships, however, I found a bit lacking. Ash and Mal’s relationship felt like it went from zero to a hundred in one blink. They went from barely talking to being inseparable in one single evening. And Kai’s reasons to pursue Alina are still a mystery to me, though they did click with me better than Ash and Mal did.
Wren and Bryn were super fun, I enjoyed them a lot as siblings as well. I hope to see more of them in the next book.
I found it a bit odd to not really see much of a relationship between the Queen and King of the Fire Kingdom. The King was barely ever there throughout the story, while the Queen was quite a prominent figure. Would’ve been nice to see them interact a bit more rather than leaving the King so far in the background.

The twists and turns
Oh my god the betrayal (you know which one I’m talking about) was something that came completely out of the left field. I was shook. The entire ending of the book had my heart racing, all the twists and turns that it took were just mesmerizing and that alone makes me want to see what happens next. Though the reveal at the end did not come as much of a surprise, I do wonder where they even go from there.

Huge thank you to Netgalley and J.F Johns for the copy!

I’m big on trying to predict the endings, finding the clues that piece it all together & I was honestly shocked by the ending. Absolutely, mouth on the floor, reeling, what just happened kind of shocked - had to stay up till midnight & finish because I couldn’t believe what was happening the entire last 9%.

Although it follows similar romantasy/fantasy aspects - it didn’t feel overly done.

I wish the POV’s would have been labeled at the beginning of the chapters because it got a little confusing on who you were reading from.

8 kingdoms, gods, dragons, wyverns, wolves, fae, witches, enemies to lovers, forced marriages, shadow mommy?.. you’ll see.

I also LOVE that the prince, the MMC was not “perfect” - beautiful, of course BUT his “flaw” was kind of refreshing.

Going into this book, I honestly did not think that I would love it as much as I did. Mal was everything I love in a Female Main character. The world building was amazing. From the first page, I was just captivated by the first page. Enemies to lovers, which was done so perfectly. I honestly can't say enough good things about this book, besides that I actually loved it. I can't wait till book 2, and hope it turns into a trilogy as well in some way.

WOW. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect going into this, but I was absolutely blown away from the first page. The story was clearly planned out well and executed perfectly. The writing itself was atmospheric and immersive, making the story that much more enjoyable. Mal is a strong, loveable, smart, and fierce FMC. The side characters are fleshed out and as enjoyable to read about as the main character(s). The world-building was top-tier, really everything about the writing was! That ending left me stunned and I honestly cannot wait to find out what happens next. A stunning start to the series, and a book fantasy and romantasy lovers alike shouldn't sleep on!