Thank you Netgalley for this opportunity to read A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash. The world building and writing was very captivating. I was sucked into this amazing world and couldn't put it down. The twists and turns kept me on my toes.

A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash offered an enchanting blend of romance and fantasy, making it an engaging romantasy read. The feminist undertones woven through the narrative—brought to life by a compelling, strong-willed FMC—were truly chef's kiss. The sheltered princess archetype, infused with defiance and sharp opinions, gave this book its unique and refreshing vibe.

While the enemies-to-lovers premise is a beloved trope, it felt slightly unconvincing here. The immediate and undeniable attraction between the characters lessened the tension one would expect from such dynamics. Despite this, the story’s pacing was excellent and kept me hooked from start to finish. The world-building struck a perfect balance—immersive yet not overwhelming—making the setting vivid and accessible.

A few parts of the story were admittedly confusing, as if certain details had been glossed over or missed entirely. However, the inclusion of prophecies added layers of intrigue and kept me eagerly piecing together the mysteries throughout the tale.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

DNF @ 20%-ish

The cover and chapter art is stunning! This beautiful cover drew me in—would the story keep me? Honestly, it could have, but the execution just didn’t land for me.

There were a few things that made it hard to stay immersed. One moment a character is thigh-deep in water, and the next she’s stumbling through cobbled streets? No transition, just bam, new setting.

World-building felt pretty light overall, especially for a fantasy setup. There were so many beautiful words used to describe the House of Shadow castle… but I still don’t know what it actually looks like. What are the characters wearing? Can I have a bit more than just “a grey dress”? What does the area around the castle and city smell like? It was hard to get lost in the world or feel any atmosphere. And weirdly, some physical descriptions came through as dialogue between characters, which made me think I missed something earlier (Mal’s horns, for example).

I also don’t understand the rotting food—was that symbolic? Literal? I’m confused. Maybe it’s explained later, but it was mentioned enough times early on that I expected some clarity.

The character naming/introductions also felt inconsistent. The FMC was introduced with her full name, then other characters were introduced with just first names. Then later, we got her full name randomly again? Don’t assume we remember all the character names of each house listed at the beginning either.

The main storyline is about marrying the House of Flames prince, but that doesn’t even happen until about 17% in—around 80 pages. That’s a long setup. We got Kai and Aline’s POVs before even meeting the MMC, which was frustrating. I just wanted to skip those chapters. Also, I personally would’ve preferred the FMC or MMC POV when the FMC first arrived at the Fire Kingdom.

Writing-wise, it’s clear the author still has some editing to do. Overuse of commas, em dashes, and the word “that” made reading feel choppy.

Some sentences were so confusing to read, I did go back to read again. Sometimes, less is more. Like this one:
“Because if she—a princess with cursed eyes, a girl who should have never been—could be the one to save them all… Then maybe—just maybe—she would not be the monster she had always feared.”

That could easily be tightened to:

“Because if a princess with cursed eyes could be the one to save them all… then maybe, she would not be the monster she had always feared she was.”

There’s definitely potential here, and I might revisit this later if the author does some polishing. But as it stands, it’s just not working for me right now.

I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me. The premise seemed interesting at first, but the execution fell flat. The relationship between the two main characters, who were supposedly enemies, felt unbelievable. What bothered me the most was how the entire tension between them was built around a misunderstanding of one character’s shy personality. It was frustrating and repetitive, and it didn’t feel genuine. The whole "enemies-to-lovers" dynamic felt contrived rather than earned. Instead of real, compelling conflict, it felt like a miscommunication trope that just kept dragging on without adding any depth to the story.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for allowing me the chance to review this book.

While I enjoyed the plot and the characters of the book, I feel like I couldn’t fully understand and connect with what was happening at times. I personally believe it’s due to being in third person which is something I don’t often read.

The atmosphere and the storyline the author has created is incredible and draws you in. I will be willing to give this book another go to fully understand in third person but from a first read, it did take me a few attempts to get going as I had to keep flipping back a few pages.

Rating is 3.5

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book has a rich, intriguing world and an ambitious story, but I did find it a little hard to follow in the beginning. There’s a lot going on early on—characters, lore, and shifting dynamics—which made it a bit tough to get fully grounded.

Once I got into the flow of the story, though, I started to appreciate the depth and stakes. There's definite potential here for fans of dark fantasy and layered worldbuilding. I’m curious to see how the series develops from here.

I have to say this book was SO GOOD!!! i mean do i wish the book would have been longer so certain character dynamics and relationships and also histories could have been explored? definitely.
BUT nontheless i had a very good time reading it. the world and magic system and the gods and everything was something i have never read about before so that was amazing, i also loved how there were constantly plot twists happening and the ending? did not see that coming!
i will definitely be looking forward to reading book 2 of this series!
thank you again so much for letting me read this Arc

Mal had one goal, and it's to end the curse. She is expected to stab the cruel prince in the heart to do so. I was all for her goals to save everyone but I didn't expect to fall in love with so many characters! This book definitely peeked my interest with its cover and had its hooks in me faster than I realized. I like that there's multiple pov and every character is unique. This book kept me on my toes, it brought laughter and almost had me breaking out in a tearful moment. I definitely would like to read book 2!

Dark magic, wyverns, forbidden love, political scheming, and an explosive plot—A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash is a dark, addictive fantasy that swept me away from the very first page.

I absolutely LOVED it. Every single box was ticked—dark, addictive magic? Check. Murder, betrayal, and political games? Check. Romance, spice, danger, and DRAGONS? CHECK.

We follow Mal Blackburn, fourthborn daughter of the Kingdom of Darkness, who’s been sent to marry the Fire Prince to unite the kingdoms. But Mal’s true mission? Kill the prince, break a long-forgotten curse, and save her people from a dark, forgotten fate. But naturally, nothing goes to plan—and the stakes only get deadlier.

Mal was a strong, sharp, compelling lead. She's calculating, powerful, and unapologetically fierce—exactly the kind of main character I love. Her internal struggle between loyalty, duty, and love had me hooked, and I need to see how she evolves throughout the series.

The world itself is packed with magic and mayhem—wyverns, dragons, giant wolves, ancient curses, and warring kingdoms. As soon as the wyverns showed up in the opening chapters, I was completely hooked. This world is alive with court intrigue, rebellion, hidden magic, and dark secrets. This book balances brutality and beauty so well—there’s gore, drama, and tension, but also sharp humour, fierce loyalty, and soft moments that sneak up and wreck you. I was enraptured from start to finish.

And the ending? Absolutely brutal. I won’t spoil it, but just know that the twists and emotional gut-punches will leave you dying for the next book. A Kingdom of Sand and Ice can’t come soon enough!

I have to say, I honestly preferred Kai and Alina’s romance over the main couple. Their story had so much intensity and emotional pull. Kai, Mal’s loyal and brooding brother, helps Alina unlock a fire inside her — one that’s been buried beneath her royal status and the suffocating expectations placed on her. He doesn’t just fall for her; he sees her, challenges her, and helps her realise that she doesn’t have to be defined by duty or her family’s plans – she can choose herself. Alina’s journey of self-discovery and strength is one I can’t wait to see unfold in the next book—especially after that bombshell ending. She’ll be out for revenge, and I am so here for it.

If you love:
• Strong, badass heroines
• Enemies-to-lovers romance
• Forbidden love
• Sibling bonds and complicated family dynamics
• Magical creatures, ancient curses, and dragons
• Court politics & high-stakes betrayal
...you’re going to be obsessed.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC—this was an unforgettable ride and easily one of my top reads of the year.

Okay okay, I’ve just finished this book and I have no words…

This book follows the story of several families who each rule a kingdom and each kingdom has a fantasy element for example, our FMC Mal, is a wyvarian so she has horns and rides a wyvern, our MMC Ash is a drakarian who has horns and rides dragons etc. this world the author has created is amazing and vast, we have fae, desert folk, and wolvarians to name a few. Even though there is a lot of information to take in, I did not find it overwhelming and I thought the author did an amazing job and explaining the magic systems and the kingdoms.
Our FMC Mal is a relatable soul with some emotional damage, she has features that aren’t normal of her kind and some mysterious powers that she hides. She is sent off to the Drakarian world to marry the Fire Prince Ash, to secure an alliance between the kingdoms.
The build up to the wedding is filled with Mal being an independent stabby girl and Ash hiding his own insecurities, whilst we learn more about the brothers of Mal and about Ash’s sister.
In a classic romantasy enemies to lovers, Mal and Ash are married and end up smutting and loving each other. However…
There is a cure on the kingdoms which basically mean Mal has to kill Ash…
And… there’s evil witches returning…

This story has me in a CHOKEHOLD. I loved the slower start to the book with the subplots of Mal and Ash’s family surrounding the main characters own plot line.
The last 20% had me gasping, the author DID NOT hold back on the heart wrenching scenes let me tell you!
I loved this book, I am GAGGING for book two and this book isn’t even released yet 😭😭

Thanks to NetGalley ❤️

Thank you to the author and publishers for allowing me an ARC via NetGalley!!

This book is the *epitome* of slow burn and I LOVE it. The relationship building was amazing and my favourite trope is enemies to lovers (if you can’t tell). This also encompasses tropes of forced marriage, forced proximity, courts, and magic which are all of my favourite things!!
Each character is unique and different, and we’re given a lot of back story and context to them which I really enjoyed.
The world building was incredible too, and I loveeee a strong FMC. My favourite part of it was about 75% in when MMC is completed awed and floored by FMC (it’s hard to describe without spoiling!). Anyone who knows me knows I love a strong FMC and Mal is so completely different to other FMCs I’ve read about. She is wild, unrestrained, and completely unhinged in the best way, and her character really made me feel empowered as a woman. There was some queer representation in this too which made me squeal!
The spice level is also perfect and really well paced. The relationships felt very genuine - they weren’t perfect fairy tale romances, they were realistic and this book explored the intricacies of love and loyalty.
At times the pacing did feel off; the first 20% or so was very slow, and although I now appreciate how much it added to the story, you only feel that way when you get to the end. Then lots of things happen in the last 20% which felt a bit rushed, and sometimes the book was hard to following the various different gods and such.
But overall I really did enjoy this book and I will be eagerly awaiting the second 👀


Rating: 4/5 stars (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

A kingdom of shadow and ash review:
Firstly thank you netgalley and the author for allowing me the chance to arc read this book.
Second is what I liked and what I didn’t like about the book.

What I didn’t like:
1. The multiple POVs. I usually love multipov specifically when it’s only the two main characters and I generally don’t mind it if they throw in the random character Pov here or there for sake of mystery or even clearance but I don’t intentionally pick up books that have multiple POVs of multiple characters even minor ones. What I really didn’t like tho about these POVs is that they felt like their own stories and plots so I feel like if they had their own separate book or novella it would’ve been better for the overall flow of the book.
2. Point 2 ties in with the multiple POVs point. The synopsis of the book talks about mal being out main character however it would seem through these multiple POVs that the book has multiple main characters with equally important roles. Which just further enforces my belief that if we had separate books for the other characters it would’ve been better. For example Kai and Alina or essentially a book for each sibling for them to shine as the main character instead of having multiple of those in one book making it drag on to accommodate all the different storylines and characters.
3. This is not really something serious it just kinda ties into point one and two with the book has a very slow start and takes a while to get going almost 40-50% in for the action to start and just an overall slow to medium pacing.

What I liked:
1. I adored the FMC, she was fierce and wild yet kind and soft in her own way which I really appreciated.
2. I really liked the writing style, this lush, almost poetic style is a favorite of mine and to me personally adds more emotion and connection to the story.
3. Even though the book takes a while to get into it, it kept me hooked from the beginning to the point of pushing through the slow start. Essentially the book just gets better the closer to the end you get. I literally read this is less than one day even though it’s 500+ pages, it’s definitely worth it.
4. I loved loved the world building and making the plot big enough to involve all right kingdom in that universe raising the stakes and the tension.
5. One of most favorite things about the book was ash and mall’s relationship even though we saw so little of it, so I hope we get to see that more in the series.
6. Lastly, WHAT WAS THE ENDING? THE TWISTS? THE REVEALS?? THE EPIC SCOPE ??? GIVE ME BOOK TWO NOWWWW

4.5 ✨

Every single box ticked for me. Dark Magic. Romance. War. Political intrigue. Specks of humor. Murder. Drama. Gore. Betrayal. Friendship. This will tear your heart to bits, mend it back together slowly & painfully while revealing new secrets and truths.

From the first page, there is a plethora going on here. Tabitha's diary alongside multiple third person POVs within the same chapter at times. I never felt lost or confused. Not much filler yet it did not come across as dense in the slightest. I clung to every page. The high fantasy prose alone was intense and encapsulating especially in regards to world building.

Waves of different emotions crash over and over especially when you begin to bond with the characters. The depth of the characters you do heavily read from is clear and done extremely well. I think some of them will get their time to shine in book two. Without a doubt, I will be reading the sequel after that explosive ending.

Overall, highly recommend to dark fantasy lovers looking for a lush atmosphere, low spice, enemies to lovers read.

Thank you to J.F. Johns & Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4⭐️

I must read A Kingdom of Sand and Ice right now.
Wow. This was SO good and I’m hoping it gets the hype it deserves when it comes out. I LOVED this book so so much.
I loved how strong of an FMC Mal was and Ash was just so sweet. I wanted to give him a hug the whole time. Loved the side characters as well (specially Kai).
The writing style and world building are great. I had so much fun imagining the different Kingdoms. AND THERE’RE DRAGONS🐉 !!! That’s always a plus.
And what an ending! Jaw on the floor the whole time.

✨‘And what do you see, husband?’
‘You.’✨

4.5/5
*Spoilers*


I was pleasantly surprised by this one!
The start was a little overwhelming with all of the houses and kingdoms and lore, even when it came down to the little weird details (e.g. wyverians eating rotted food, verses the drakonians whose food is rich and sweet). It made the beginning a little difficult to keep up with, but once I was able to keep track of the different characters and their relationship to the story, it was smooth sailing.
I enjoyed all of the different POVs! I think its easy to get lost when changing POVs between more than 1 or 2 characters, but this was done well and the transitions felt very clean. I also thought most of our main characters had unique personalities that strayed a bit from conventional tropes/characterizations (in a good way!) Giving Ash a stutter and a panic/anxiety disorder in a prince role was very well done.
I thought the diary entries from Tabitha at the start of every chapter played in well with the storyline, and added suspense/mystery that lined up well with the plot.
Loved the tension between Kai and Alina. Love love love me a Cassian-type man. I also cannot wait to see Alina's character development over the course of this story. I want her to be a bad ass so badly!!!
Super ballsy move with the witches killing off a lot of the royal characters at the end and making Hagan not only evil (kind of saw it coming), but HEINOUSLY evil (did not think it would be that extreme)!! We love drama here.

I personally would've liked longer and more drawn out spicy scenes, but for the length of the book and pacing of the story it makes sense.
My one stupid and petty complaint is that I absolutely hated the name Tabitha Wysteria. I'm sorry. It's a dumb name. I almost DNF'd solely for that reason but I am quite happy I stuck it out.

Overall a 4-4.5/5! Great read and well done, I can't wait for the next one.

A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash by J.F. Johns is such a good story! I rated it 5 stars because I couldn't give it more stars. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good.

3.5 stars

Thank you very much, J.F. Johns and Netgalley, for the ARC!

After the first 60 pages, I was addicted, but honestly, I was hooked when I heard about wyverns. I could not put this book down and devoured it in 1.5 days. Johns' building of the world with the story was simple yet seamless and fantastic. You can tell Johns had a vision of this world and knew exactly how to convey it so we could see what she was seeing.

The romance was not slow-burn but delayed. What I mean is that the romance was not present because of the lack of communication until about 60% of the book, and then everything happened so fast that it almost gave me whiplash from the 180-degree turn we did. There wasn't much, if any, proper longing or angst except for the Fire Prince lusting over Mal straight after he watches her fight at the start of the book, which is why I'm not too sure about this 'slow burn' romance. I'm unsure if this is genuinely an enemies-to-lovers if the MMC was lusting over Mal and doing thoughtful gestures so early in the story, but I digress.
Edit: To make it clear, I loved the romance! The chemistry between the two, Mal and Ash, was almost tangible.

All the main characters were written well, with depth, personality, and purpose. However, I didn't like Alina and found Kage boring until the book's last third. With Kage, he was an enigma because he's so introverted, doesn't talk much, and is a bit irrelevant, so when we first got a chapter from his pov, I did not care one bit. Only when we started to learn more about him did I become intrigued by him, but I am sure we will learn more about him in the next book. My favorite characters were Kai, Mal, and Ash, but I wouldn't be surprised, given how charismatic, intriguing, and roguish they are.

There were a few things that prevented it from getting a higher rating. I did not like the multiple POVs from specific characters, such as Vera and Wren; I was so bored during their chapters because I felt I could not connect with them. Not only that, but characters like Wren played such an insignificant part in the plot that we didn't need their POVs. It would have made the plot stronger if we had kept the mystery of Vera's pov a mystery. The multiple POVs could be challenging to track because they were not named. Another thing was the pacing. The pacing was a bit of a mess sometimes; for example, the marriage was mentioned in the first chapter, and yet 180 pages (over 30%) went by, and the wedding hadn't happened yet. In fact, at that point, barely anything significant had occurred for it to be dragging on the way it was. There wasn't enough happening in this book for it to be 585 pages, making it feel like it was just dragging on. I also wish there was so much more court/political intrigue.

That being said, I would 100% recommend this to all romantic readers! Dare I say it would do numbers on Booktok?

A kingdom of shadow and ash was a greatly enjoyable read. It was interesting, with good plot twists that maintained suspense, though some if them were slightly obvious. The romance was good, albeit slightly rushed, however I really enjoyed the focus on side characters. The alternative points of views created a fully fleshed out book that had a great and well developed plot, good pacing and some highly entertaining moments, with fascinating character interactions. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and am looking forward to the next, which I will definitely buy, as there is a great scope of direction to focus upon. Would highly recommend!

Wow, I really enjoyed reading this! It was a very unique story, but it really did not go how I thought it would. It was pretty chaotic towards the end, but that just left me wanting more. At first I was a little apprehensive from the number of character POVs in the first quarter of the book, but I really started to like the story. Mal feels like an outcast in her family and wants to break a curse that could end the world, but on the other hand she starts to fall for the man she is supposed to kill to break the curse. The romance is not what I would call slow burn, it was just kind of sudden in the last half of the book. Also the cover art is so beautiful! I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I just finished “A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash,” which releases at the end of May, and I’d give it a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. I really loved the unique story and the slow-burn romance between the characters. It added a lovely depth to their journey that kept me hooked from beginning to end!

However, I have to mention that the writing style was a bit too flowery for my taste. While some might appreciate the lush prose, I found it occasionally detracted from the pacing. Despite that, the compelling plot and rich character development made it an enjoyable read overall. I definitely recommend giving it a try!