*SPOILERS* From Blood And Ash/ The Flesh And Fire Series
Have you ever finished a book, looked back, and realized just how messy the family relationships are and how chaotic some of the characters' actions seem?
It all starts with Kolis setting his eyes on Sotoria. She’s so terrified that she runs off a cliff and dies. (Still not buying that she ran just because she was scared—unless maybe he made a move on her, she rejected him, and his real form came out in a rage, which is what truly sent her running.)
Then Kolis visits Sotoria's family to break the news, and Callum—her brother—just decides to follow her into death. But instead of letting him go, Kolis holds him while he dies and then brings him back to life. And what does Callum do? He just sticks around with the obsessed god responsible for his sister’s death and endless torment.
Next, Kolis kills his own twin, Eythos, in retaliation for keeping Sotoria's soul away from him. But then he regrets it—so he traps Eythos' soul in a diamond and hangs it over the cage where he keeps the women he’s been abusing for years.
Before all that, Eythos had made a deal to get his son, Nyktos, a wife while also protecting the embers of life. But Nyktos is like, no thanks, and literally removes his own Kardia after seeing how "love" turned his uncle into a monster.
Fast-forward to Nyktos’ children—twins Malec and Ires. Malec, up until where I’m reading, decided he wanted to explore, be worshipped by mortals, build an empire, get married, cheat on his wife with countless mistresses, and then finally settle down when he finds his heartmate, Isbeth.
Then there’s Eloana, Malec's wife—In jealousy she poisons Isbeth, and she keeps it a secret, lying about what she did and about who Queen Illeana really was.
Isbeth, who dies and is denied resurrection by her own would-have-been father-in-law, loses her baby son and her heartmate. So, in revenge (thinking Eloana and Valyn killed Malec when they actually entombed him), she builds an empire. But when Malec’s twin, Ires, comes looking for him, Isbeth—with Callum’s help—cages him, forces him to be with her (even if she claims it was consensual, I’m not buying it), and has two children with her would-have-been brother-in-law.
She then tries to ascend her firstborn, Milicent, using Eloana's second son's blood, Casteel’s blood—since she also captured him in revenge against Eloana. But when Milicent dies, she turns her into a revenant, one of Kolis' creations.
And yet again, she decides to have another child with Ires.
Enter Poppy. She has to suffer the same life Sera did—being a Maiden. Then she gets kidnapped by her guard, Hawke, who she falls in love with… only to find out he’s actually the Dark One, the Prince of Atlantia—who she believes killed her parents.
And then there’s Casteel, who also falls in love with her but initially planned to exchange her for his brother, Malik.
Speaking of Malik—he’s Eloana’s firstborn (who she probably named after her first husband, Malec, whom she entombed). Malik has been a prisoner for almost a hundred years under Isbeth after trying to rescue Casteel. But plot twist: he’s not exactly an unwilling prisoner because he turns out to be the heartmate of Isbeth’s first daughter, Milicent. Except… he was supposed to be betrothed to Poppy and ascend her into godhood to fulfill some prophecy about the end of the realms, which is also the reason why he tried to have her murdered (when she was a child) by the Craven, also side effects of Kolis' actions.
But surprise! Poppy and Casteel are heartmates, so they get married and the union is blessed by Nyktos. And guess what? Poppy isn’t just Isbeth and Ires’ daughter—she’s also the first and only Primal of Life and Death, granddaughter of Nyktos and Seraphena Miriel, and the reincarnation of Sotoria—who (as far as I’ve read and suspect) is also an ancestor of Seraphena and the reason all of this happened in the first place.
And to top it all off? Kolis is still alive—and he needs a sacrifice to fully awaken.
So Isbeth decides to kill her heartmate, Malec, because even though she still loves him—and despite all the monstrous things she has done—she truly loves her daughters and refuses to sacrifice them. But in the end, she is killed by her would-have-been mother-in-law, Sera, the Primal of Life, when Sera (sort of) possesses Poppy, whose soul had (in a way) been inside Sera hundreds of years ago.
Casteel turns into a cave cat—and he is (possibly) a descendant of Attes, the Primal of War, who swore to help Sotoria and may have even had feelings for her. Which makes me wonder… what will happen when they meet again? (I haven't finish TFAF series so i don't know if he makes it out alive or not, i hope he does.)
Anyways, why do I feel like Poppy is going to wake up and have no memory of anything? They just mentioned that some people who ascend don't remember their past when they wake up from Stasis—Sera woke up remembering, but I have a feeling they might take a different route with Poppy. What if she doesn’t remember her current lifetime at all, but instead recalls only her past ones? We might end up seeing just Sotoria in the next book.
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