A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire is a NA Fantasy novel by bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout.
Maybe you already read some of the books by Armentrout. Or you may have seen a lot about this series on social media.
Regardless, I will try to answer some frequently asked questions about this book in this article.
I hope you enjoy reading these, and I hope this post answers some of the questions you may have about A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire!
Jennifer L. Armentrout
Not only is Jennifer L. Armentrout a New York Times bestselling author, she also is an international bestselling author.
The list of books Jennifer L. Armentrout has written is impressive.
Some of her more well know books include the Lux series, Origin series, The Covenant series, and the Wicked series.
Besides being an accomplished author, she also is the founder of ApollyCon and The Origin Event. This last one is an annual event featuring bestselling Young Adult and New Adult authors.
She also hosts panels, conventions, and much more.
Is A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire the last book?
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire is book 2 in the series.
Book 1 is called From Blood and Ash.
And Book 3 is called The Crown of Gilded Bones. The 4th book in the series will be out in March of 2022.
The name of that book is The War of Two Queens.
The writer, Jennifer L. Armentrout, mentioned there will be 6 parts to this series.
She also anticipates writing a spin-off series as well.
What comes after a Kingdom of Flesh and Fire?
As mentioned above, The Crown of Gilded Bones is the next part of the series.
Summary
Poppy left behind the only life she has ever known. She did this all for a man she is falling in love with. But he isn’t who she thought he was. The moment she found out Hawke was Casteel, the Prince of Atlantia, everything changed.
Casteel brings Poppy to a keep where she is a prisoner of sorts. But not in the way she thinks. He tells everyone that he will marry Poppy and bring her back to Atlantia.
During the travels to Atlantia, Poppy gets to know Casteel better. But not only him. The Wolven who travel with them turn out to be great allies.
At this time, Poppy starts to uncover more secrets about herself. But she also learns about the people she used to think of as her family. She knows now that she isn’t who they claimed she is. In fact, her parents may not have even been her real parents. This revelation brings up all sorts of questions about her identity as the events of this book unfold.
What is Poppy
Poppy starts out as “The Maiden.” However, she finds out she isn’t “The Maiden,” and that ‘her’ people only made this up.
They did this because they don’t actually know what she is. They only know that she is powerful and of importance.
While we find out a little more about who and what Poppy is in A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, we don’t know the full story yet.
At the end of this book, some of it is explained, as I will tell you below.
Ending explained
[SPOILER ALERT BELOW]
In the last chapter, chapter 45, Poppy is lured into a cave. There she is attacked by Atlantians who don’t trust her.
To defend herself, she lets her powers take over. But her powers don’t manifest the way they normally do.
Her eyes change, and her skin begins to glow. When she unleashes her powers, lightning streaks overhead and her attackers scream.
Without understanding what she is doing, Poppy throws all the hate and anger back at her attackers.
This makes them rot and explode from the inside out.
Meanwhile, Casteel enters the cave with a small entourage including the king and queen of Atlantia.
The queen orders everyone to lower their swords and bend their knee for the “last descendant of the ancient ones.”
She does this because apparently, Poppy carries the blood of the King of the Gods.
This means that Poppy is a direct descendant of Nykthos. How and in what way we do not know yet. But we do know this means that she is the rightful queen of Atlantia.
This knowledge will have consequences not only for Poppy and Casteel, but also for the current king and queen. Choices have to be made. But not in this book.
Chapters
There are 45 chapters in total in this book. We start with chapter 1. There is no prologue. In the first chapter, the story starts where we left off in From Blood and Ash.
Poppy and Casteel are at the keep. There Casteel announces that he is to marry Poppy before he meets up with his parents.
In the first few chapters, they remain at the keep. The relationship between Poppy and Casteel is tense. She doesn’t know what to think of him. She doesn’t know if she can even trust him.
After that, the chapters follow the journey to Atlantia. Meanwhile, the relationship between Poppy and Casteel changes. Feelings start to blossom and Poppy finds out who and what Casteel is.
One of the chapters most frequently discussed is chapter 26.
In this chapter Casteel feeds on Poppy. This is a very intimate act in itself. However, Kieran is also in the room with them.
Kieran is there to protect Poppy. To make sure Casteel does not feed too much on Poppy, Kieran watches over them. On the other hand the feeding isn’t only about hunger, it’s also about lust. This makes it even more intimate to have Kieran with them.
Which God sleeps in the Skotos mountains
It is said that Aios lives in the Skotos mountains. She is the Goddess of love, fertility, and beauty. Her resting place might be somewhere beneath the highest peak of the mountains.
While they travel through the Skotos mountains, Poppy believes she hears Aios. While Poppy is being led through the mist in her nightmares, a voice calls out to her.
The mist turns into a figure. It is Aios who appears before Poppy, stopping her from walking off a cliff.
She tells Poppy to go home and take what is hers. At that moment, Casteel appears and grabs Poppy by the arm.
The ground starts to rumble. Casteel and Kieran tell Poppy that it sounds like a God returning to its place of sleep.
King of the Gods
Nykthos is the King of the Gods.
In A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, we only learn a small part of what there is to know about this God.
He has an affiliation with the Wolven and therefore also with the night. He can turn the sky during the day into dark. This is seen as a sign of approval from the King of the Gods. That said, this doesn’t happen very often.
Poppy and Casteel
There is so much to say about Poppy and Casteel. Neither is what we think they are at the start of the story. And throughout this book, we found out many things about them.
While Poppy still thinks of him as Hawke and her guard, there is a lot of sexual tension.
This sexual tension does not go away once she finds out who he really is. Yet, the situation between the two of them does change.
Both of them realize they have feelings for each other. Feelings that go past only physical attraction. And while they don’t act toward those feelings straight away, we do get to see a lot of spicy scenes first.
Hawke
In From Blood and Ash, we meet Hawke. He is one of the guards looking after the Maiden, Poppy.
Near the conclusion of From Blood and Ash, we find out that Hawke isn’t his real name. He is actually Casteel, the dark one, prince of Atlantia.
While this may come as a shock to Poppy, it does explain a lot of the events in this first book.
In A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, we find out more about the reason for the use of the name Hawke. But above all, we learn that Hawke isn’t a fictional name. It is actually Casteel’s second name. It’s also the name his mother uses for him.
Kieran
Kieran is Casteel’s best friend. But he is also a Wolven.
He can change from a man into a wolf. And together with his kin, they protect the royal family of Atlantia.
Most of all, he is a true friend to Casteel and has been for many years. He will protect him with his life.
Poppy and Kieran become fast friends. This is especially true once Poppy discovers more of what she can do and who she really is to Atlantia and its people. She has a special bond with the Wolven. But most of all, her bond is with Kieran.
Ian
Poppy and Ian grew up together as brother and sister. During both From Blood and Ash and a Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, Poppy realizes he may not be her real brother.
Ian is not a second son. However, Queen Ileana made sure that Ian ascended. She claims it was a favor from the Gods to her and because he is so important to Poppy.
Poppy hasn’t seen Ian much after his ascension. And she misses him very much.
She soon finds out what happens to the people after they ascend. This makes her worried about her brother’s well-being.
Love triangle
For people who aren’t familiar with From blood and Ash, it will seem like there is a love triangle.
In From Blood and Ash, Poppy’s love interest is Hawke. However, in A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, it is Casteel. That said, both are one and the same person.
Near the end of From Blood and Ash, Poppy finds out that Hawke isn’t who he says he is. He actually is the prince of the Atlantians, Casteel.
So there is no love triangle, only some confusion with names and identities.
Some people expected or even wanted a love triangle with Casteel, Poppy, and Kieran. There is no sign whatsoever that this is going to happen. Poppy has no interest in Kieran in that way, nor does he in her.
Wedding
Casteel first brings up marriage as a means to an end. He wants to negotiate with the Blood crown for the life of his brother. Poppy isn’t sure that this will work.
They both soon realize that getting married fast is the best way. Especially if they want to convince Casteel’s parents that he and Poppy love each other. Casteel promises Poppy that it will only be a marriage of convenience. And as soon as his brother is safe, she can do what she wants. She can even get a divorce if she would like that.
Poppy agrees to these conditions, but she soon starts to question them. This is because she isn’t sure about her own feelings for Casteel.
Finally, they both admit that they have true feelings for each other, and are maybe even are soulmates. Poppy then knows she wants to marry Casteel no matter what. She wants to be with him in every way and support him.
This makes for an even stronger bond and they decide to get married as soon as possible. So it is still official before they meet up with Casteel’s parents.
At the wedding, the sky turns dark for a short time. This indicates approval from Nykthos himself. And everyone is sure that this marriage is blessed by the Gods.
Who does Poppy end up with in a Kingdom of Flesh and Fire?
In this book, Poppy and Casteel get married. At the end of the book, the marriage is still strong. So (for now) Poppy ends up with Casteel.
Books like a Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
If you enjoyed A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, there are plenty of other books like this series. I will list a few you may like:
- Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas – For those who do not know these books, go read them! They are well written fantasy books. The first part still fits the YA criteria, where the next few books are more NA. If you love fantasy, fae, magic, and more of the sort it is a must read.
- A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair – These books follow the story of Hades and Persephone. It is a smart retelling of mythology with lot’s of banter and spice. It’s also perfect for readers of the Blood and Ash series.
- These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan – This is the first part in a new series about the fae with a strong female lead, some interesting male fae, and maybe even a hint of a love triangle.
- The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni – This is a true original fantasy book about magic, a prison, and rebels. The characters are wonderfully written and the story pulls you straight into it with some amazing plot twists.
Conclusion
I hope this article has answered questions you may have had about this book.
And if I didn’t answer something in this article, feel free to message me in the comments below!
