The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout the Third book in the Blood and ash series

Just Wow.

Warning Spoiler alert. If you haven’t read the first two books.

“He remained on one knee, staring up at me from between the vee of the swords he’d crossed over his chest. His damp hair, blue-black in the Atlantian sunlight, curled against the sandy-hued skin of his forehead. Red streaked those high, angular cheekbones, the proud curve of his jaw, and ran down lips that had once shattered my heart. Lips that had pieced those broken shards back together with the truth. Bright, golden eyes locked with mine, and even bowed before me, so motionless I wasn’t sure he breathed, he still reminded me of one of the wild and strikingly beautiful cave cats I’d once seen caged in Queen Ileana’s palace as a child.”

In the last book, poppy and Casteel feel in love and married, they weathered attacks, betrayals, and prejudice. And even though it was a long road to get there, poppy found peace not only in her growing powers and abilities, but in the husband, she knows will always be by her side. Even when poppy I proclaimed the rightful queen of Atlantia.

The Third book. Poppy is the rightful hair to the Atlantian throne, but she is not that keen on the idea of becoming queen. More and more she is convinced that her parentage is not what it seemed when her parents died, desperate for answers she searches the lands and find answers in the most unlikely places form the most unlikely source.

““This is Wilhelmina Colyns,” Valyn announced, and every single part of my body flashed hot and then cold. “She joined the Council after you…”

Valyn was speaking, but my heart was pounding so fast that I couldn’t be sure if he even spoke a language I understood. Oh, my gods, it was Miss Willa.”

The plot has only changed a little from the last book, saving the kingdom and becoming free. But still there are minor changes, and it occurs even throughout the book, and even though information is coming in slowly but surely, it still has a lot of blank spaces that needs to be filled out. And the confusion prices because its not always the adjacent pieces of the puzzle that are being revealed and its not until later when it all fits together that you realize the information was important. Mostly because it’s  all hearsay.

“My stomach tumbled as I stared at Kieran. “But then how can I…?” I trailed off. “None of this makes sense, Kieran. I get that I carry the blood of Nyktos in me, and even Malec’s if what Alastir said is true, but that doesn’t explain how my abilities are so strong when as far as I can remember, neither of my parents had these gifts. Neither did Ian. And, yes, I know he might not be my full-blooded brother,” I said before he could remind me of that fact. “But if I am the descendant of Malec and one of his mistresses, that had to be several generations ago. How did I end up with so much either?””

Poppy is finding new truths about her heritage, but it all still comes down to the people around her. The wolven  answer to her now and their former bonds have been broken. And getting used the new dynamic is sometimes harder than other times. Poppys life, and her Powers, change drastically, and when bits and pieces of her parentage are revealed, she takes it in strides. Poppys loyalties never waiver however, she remains true to her husband, her mother and father and her brother. Even if she no longer knows if they are blood.

““He’s right,” Casteel said softly, his gaze searching mine. “I don’t know why Alastir would’ve lied about your mother being a Handmaiden. If he was telling the truth, your mother was never a Lady in Wait, destined to Ascend. That could also mean your father wasn’t a merchant’s son.” He paused. “It could also mean that only one—or neither of them—was your parent by blood.””

Casteel rises to the occasion and is an amazingly supportive husband to Poppy, whatever happens, he is by her side wanting to protect her. Even when he is more playful in this book than the others, yes he did have a playful streak, but not like this, he seems happy and settled. Even when the teasing heightens, you can feel the love flow of the pages.  

““Yes, from Poppy’s favorite journal, written by a Miss Willa—”

“He was reading that,” I cut in, picking up a piece of cheese. “I woke up, and he was reading—”

“You know, the one I found her with on that window ledge? The scene was about a very dark sort of wicked kiss on a very inappropriate area,””

It feels like it’s getting slower paced, yes it was nice to hear that they were happy and in love, but honestly, I don’t know if I’m just eager to know what happens, but I feel like the pace definitely slowed down significantly. I do still like the book, but I’m getting just a little impatient for some real answers, I still feel like she is one of the authors that keeps the cards close to her chest.

“When Casteel had asked if I wanted to take a walk through the city, I’d hesitated. We needed to speak with his parents. Not only did we owe them that, but there was also the possibility that they held some of the answers to the questions we had. But Casteel had kissed me and said, “We have tomorrow, Poppy, and we have right now. You get to decide how you want to spend it.””

I liked it even if it had a slower pace than the others, but even though I really wanted to know what happened, I still loved the story.

4/5 stars from me.