One thing I can put into words right now is that this story had 2 tropes that are in my 3 most hated tropes. 2 out of 3 were in this book, and I still LOVED it. I would’ve DNFd nearly every other book that had either of those 2 things in it. I say this because there is a “group” of us that share a simmering hatred for these things, and it’s an extreme for us. If you are in this group and have started it, you know exactly what I’m talking about because you prob came here to see if this carries on, lol. We are the people who will instantly DNF over these things and yell at the screen/ book.
If you are one of those people….hang in there and reep the benefits of the fury and frustration you will feel from time to time while reading it. It’s honestly the first book I’ve EVER read in which these tropes actually contributed to the story. They didn’t just happen because something had to. These things are always just thrown in to cause conflict and to help the relationship progress and make a h seem needy. Somehow, JLA managed to have Sera do something that every other h in the bookverse has seemed needy or pathetic for, and Sera actually seems stronger for it. I’ve just never seen anyone successfully pull this off.
The whole “it makes them strong to let themselves be vulnerable or put themselves out there” never ever has this traits/behavior ever seemed like anything other than neediness or patheticness to me personally while reading a book and here it did. It contributed to how I ultimately felt about her strength by the end of the book even though while listening, I kind of wanted to shake her for it. Like girl STOP trying.
Thank you for books 2 and 3 of the flesh and fire series, but it’s missing the 1st book, A Shadow in the Ember.