3 ⭐ Basically FBBA with a slightly different plot and characters


You want an honest review? I'll give you one.


Summary:

Seraphena Mierel is the Maiden promised by the Fates, whose future has never been her own.

Many years ago, one of Seraphena’s ancestors struck a deal in a desperate attempt to save his people from the Rot - a disease that is slowly devouring Lasania. In exchange for saving his kingdom, the first daughter born in the Mierel line shall be offered to the Primal of Death as his Consort.

While the Rot ceased for a time, the sickness returned when Seraphena was born, forcing the king and queen (Sera's parents) to come up with a plan. They believe the only way to stop the Rot is to destroy the Primal of Death himself, and Sera is the key.

All her life, Sera is not only groomed to be Death's bride, but an assassin with one goal in mind: make him fall in love, become his weakness, and end him. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot.

But the day the Primal of Death comes to collect his Consort, he rejects Sera - changing her life and the fate of her kingdom forever.



My Thoughts:


I have so many mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I love the story concept, the characters, and the world-building. However, the pacing was off, the character development was lacking, and there were soooooo many similarities to the From Blood and Ash series that I anticipated nearly everything. If I were not familiar with FBBA or JLA's writing, I would have probably given this 4-stars or more. The story wasn't bad, but it just wasn't fresh.


The writing isn't great, but it's much better than A Crown of Gilded Bones.
- There are more than a few grammar errors. Seriously, where is the editor?
- The modern dialogue/references are extremely distracting and pull the reader out of the story. Here are some examples: hot piece, lived in my head rent-free, color me surprised, kicked the bucket, pervert, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
- There are also some repetitive jokes between Sera and Ash about her 'unmentionables' or how he has 'at least one decent bone in his body'.


The plot is basically nonexistent. The story starts as a mystery when Sera witnesses some gods killing mortals without apparent cause, but we don't find out why until the very end. The rest of this story centers on Sera and her struggles with finding purpose, fulfilling her duty, and doing what's right. There's a bit of romance thrown in there, but it felt ornamental. I wish the story followed the Hades x Persephone mythology more, with Sera immediately becoming Consort to the Primal of Death and traveling to Iliseeum and the Shadowlands.


The pacing is shaped like a W. The first 100 pages were captivating, then it slows way-the-fuck down, then it gets exciting again around page 300 when Sera goes to the Shadowlands, then it's boring again until the last 100 pages when truths are revealed. I enjoyed the end the most because we finally learned wtf was going on, but the way it was presented was in the form of an info dump.

And honestly, I had to put the book down and/or force myself to keep reading. There were a lot of boring parts that didn't interest me, but I kept reading because I was hopeful things would get better. They eventually did, but the reward wasn't satisfying enough. So, I doubt I'll do a reread.


*Spoilers Ahead*


There are so many/too many similarities between ASITE and FBBA. It's almost like JLA took the blueprint of FBBA, changed the names of the characters, gave them slightly different personalities, added a twist to the story, and voila . . . you've got ASITE.

Here are the parallels:
- the main female character is a Maiden who is touch-deprived, lonely, trained in combat, snarky, and has a temper. She has powers and isn't quite mortal (but doesn't know this at first), and these powers get stronger once she goes through the Culling. She is curious and asks many questions. She also stabs her love interest in the heart. She ignores the rules and finds herself in danger, only to be saved by the male love interest.
- the main male character is presented early on under a false identity only to be revealed as the female MC's enemy/rival, even though he was always aware of her identity. He was also previously caught and tortured.
- the male and female MCs have an unexpected make-out session within the first few chapters. The female acts like she dislikes the male MC but they totally lust after each other like crazy, and by the end, they are forced/pressured into a relationship.
- the concept of forbidden love. While Poppy and Casteel from FBBA are forbidden love because of who they are, Sera and Nyktos have chosen to live without love because of their past/upbringing.


There were enough differences that it was still possible to enjoy this story, but I couldn't help but think about FBBA the entire time. It felt like I had already read this story, so I wasn't as engaged or excited about it. But, again, if I had not previously read FBBA, I may like ASITE more.



The characters were two-dimensional (but I still love them).

Sera has been groomed her entire life to disassociate, seduce, and kill to become what she needs for the kingdom. But when she is rejected as Consort, she loses her identity and purpose. Unfortunately, Sera didn't grow much in this story, but I think the revelation about her powers sets her up for character development in the next book.

Ash/Nyktos is a hot god who is powerful, secretly kind, closed off from love, and a loner. After 600+ pages, that's about all I know. Hopefully, the next book gives us more insight into his thoughts, motives, and general personality. JLA, please tell me more about Daddy Nyktos. Thank you.