Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms, #2) (2024)

What the heck just happened? I feel like I was cheated out of half a book. The storyline is still super interesting. However, I had to push through the fact that around 50% of this is Aria and Knox going on about their intense lust for each other. The first three chapters alone were repetitive metaphors and similes of how intensely Aria wants to repeat bang Knox. Like I get she’s in heat, and the book has strong enemy-to-lovers vibes, but I really like the underlying plot and character development and time felt wasted.

Knox is still a dick but he’s just beginning to evolve. Actually, somehow he got both meaner and more empathetic. Probably because all his issues are being prodded.

Aria is still arrogant and crazy enough to be enjoyable. Like I really shouldn’t enjoy reading about her dancing around covered in blood singlehandedly laying siege, but I do. That’s just Aria being Aria. Knox makes her stupid though so I’m in agreement with her creature. Who we didn’t hear enough from.

I honestly trust no one in this story, everyone is too focused on theirselves. Which puts me on Team Blow It All Up.

I need more unfiltered Lore too, he’s the right amount of creepy and good humoured.

But honestly after the release was pushed from Spring to Fall I’m upset that so much of this book got dedicated to repetitive prose about Aria and Knox lusting. I feel cheated because Hutchins is a great storyteller but it felt like she fell asleep at the wheel, drifted, shot red bull and vodka, wrote some amazing scenes, and then drifted again. I don’t know why the repetition wasn’t corrected when making revisions. I know she’s been writing like crazy but I would have waited a bit longer if it meant the sequel would be as good as the first.

My inner Canadian is making me want to apologize for honest critique because I still intend to follow the series. So don’t get me wrong the book is still great it just wasn’t as cleanly made as the first which threw me off. Here’s hoping the Winter release of the third isn’t pushed to Summer unless absolutely necessary.

3.75 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 81% B+/A-

After reading several books by this author it appears that her style includes monologuing for 2 to 3 pages, and repeating the same lines over and over and over again. MY goodness!!! The story concept is a good one, but the execution could definitely use some work.

Hutchins took a while longer to publish this book, so I was thinking, hey, she's taken time to edit it and proof it correctly, yay!
Oh. I was wrong. I don't know what the delay was, but it wasn't spent on editing and proofreading. Not much at least. I don't know what kind of goombas she uses to proof and edit her books, but they need to read a grammar book and take an editing course.

The first 34 pages consist of Aria going on about how perfect Knox's penis is, and about how he makes her vag clench. Literally. She wanders around the 9 Realms, being moist. Then something else happens with the evil witches, and she's back to clenching and being moist. There's a lot of "build up", I suppose you'd call it, of when she and Knox finally get together, but when they do, she gets naked and slithers all over him and declares that her pussy is out of bounds. And being the MeToo kinda guy Knox is, he honors that. Yeah.

Hutchins misses some great opportunities to create a female-run society where nobody is ever called a whore, because women should NEVER call each other whore, but she misses the mark, and this is just so much alpha chest beating. Aria is often as abusive as Knox is. And I don't care how much chemistry you have with someone, if they choke you out and it's not fun times, I think it's time to call the relationship a bust and move on. (As an aside, if you're a man and you call yourself an alpha badass, chances are, you aren't.)

About that editing thing- this book should have been at least 75 pages shorter due to oft-repeated themes and situations. There is literally a paragraph written two ways, obviously meant for one of the two to be deleted and never was. There is no sense that the plot is moving forward at all, there's barely a lateral move. It just stagnates with Aria and Knox rubbing on each other. And they're not even sexy about it. And the run-on sentences, oy. Here's an example:

"I've enjoyed the taste of you, and the wonder lighting those beautifully expressive eyes when you screamed my name, dripping your arousal down my chin as you tried to escape my tongue while your body unraveled in an orgasm." pg 107.

First of all, gross. Second of all, that's at least two sentences.

In a review for a different Hutchins book, I mentioned that it would be a good idea if she were going to write battle scenes if she read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. It appears she read enough of it to quote it a couple of times, so good on her for taking suggestion and doing a little research into something that could potentially give her writing more depth. Unfortunately, it's limited to a couple of quotes. Then again, not a lot of battle takes place in Ashes, so there's that.

What Hutchins really needs is a writing class. They would break her out of all these bad habits she's gotten into with her writing, and maybe give her some grammar points. The word 'yet' is used 109 times in a 396 page book. She uses it as filler, as a conjunction, as a connector, as just something to say when she has nothing else to say. Compare that to Jim Butcher's Battle Ground, which has 401 pages, only used the word 'yet' 28 times. You see the problem? 'Flesh' is used 89 times, which is down from her all time high of something like 150 times in 350 pages, but it's still too much. Then with the clenching. Someone 'clenched' something, be it teeth or vag, 60 times. ''Lips" was used 263 times. Oh my WORD. Find a THESAURUS and learn to use it! There is also the problem of mis-used words. Like corporal as opposed to corporeal, hazardly for haphazardly, things like that. I don't know if she just doesn't quite know what the words mean, if they're typos, or what. It happens often enough to be a problem. (Before someone freaks out that I know word counts, it's a function of my Nook app on my ipad. It's nifty that way.)

It did not escape my notice that there's an evil witch character named Asil (which is a palindrome for Lisa) who is an annoying know-it-all and apparently insufferable in every way. She meets a grim demise, which I won't elaborate on in case you're actually going to read this mess. But you know what? There's a reason some people are know-it-alls. They have age, experience, education, and they continue to educate themselves throughout their lives. People who don't educate themselves are lazy. You don't have to go to college to educate yourself. Pick up a book. Read it. Learn something. But you won't learn much of anything from this steaming pile but a couple of nifty Sun Tzu quotes.

I suppose Hutchins has the last laugh, because I actually paid money for this. I think this one is my last. The early promise she showed in her writing just seems gone. I suspect a lot of that has to do with her community of minions. She asks their opinions, and then writes accordingly, so her own work is more of a bad fan fic of herself.

I put off reading this for several days, and I haven't read any reviews, so I don't know what anyone else thinks. If it's her fan club, I'm sure it's all glowing reviews, because they're just so enamored of what she's done in the past they'll accept any crap she throws against the wall now. I started off loving her work, but it's come down to this, and has become unreadable. Enter at your own peril.

4 hot-tension filled stars

Updated with safety info. There’s owd/omd… I didn’t realize how much ugh. The owd pisses me off (I appreciate all the omd since Knox is an ass most of the time 🤷🏻‍♀️).

Initial review:
Book 2 starts off from where book one left off. Aria’s in a completely different world that she’s never been to and has to go through the motions of getting adjusted. Knox’s hunting her down constantly while she’s trying to clean up all of the bad things witches have been doing for hundred of years. This means that sometimes she has to kill witches that are similar to her. But, they can’t continue to do the bad things that they have been doing, killing innocent people all in the name of their dark paths and agendas. I will say, I love the hunt and tension between Aria and Knox. He has marked her and is able to find her pretty quickly. Unfortunately, this exhausts her because she’s constantly having to run from one place to the next. But I love that she always has a plan and is ready to go through a portal to a different area😈. In the meantime, she’s protecting her family and they’re all trying to do the same thing as her; they need to clean up all the bad things that have been happening that they were not aware of.

This book is long; but it didn’t feel long because of everything that was happening. We meet new people (tons of new people) and then we see Aria connecting with her family, even Dimitri. Because Aria’s running from Knox, her inner beast’s missing out on the physical connection with him. In fact, she goes through heat and is away from Knox, which makes it unbearable for her. Nothing’s alleviating the pain and ache she feels because she’s not with him. He uses this to his advantage, of course, but she’s really good about not giving in. I actually really liked Brander (even in book 1), Lore and ESPECIALLY Greer🥰. They defend her and even make Knox jealous/see reason when he’s being unreasonable. I hope that they get their own book lol.

We start to get hints of what she might be but then we don’t get the full answer. We meet others that are like her and we meet other people that want to mate with her. But Knox won’t let that happen, because she is his😈💅. I do like that she isn’t giving into him, isn’t caving to the physical demands her body wants from him, which all adds to the sexual tension🔥 and the raw🥵, visceral heat between them😅. I’m all for that lol. The tension is painful, i the most delicious way 🥵😈 and I love that Knox is able to rattle and… um… soothe 😅 her aches 😉.

SPOILERS AHEAD ISH

Things that annoyed me during my reread:
The OW scenes 😒. Sure. He doesn’t smexx any of them, but whyyyy include them?! Ugh. Whyyy?!? One gets naked and close to him (my insides are churning as I write this) and he kisses her neck after she tattoos him🤢🤬. One was just flirting with Knox and another gets naked to fight Aria 🙄. She couldn’t just keep her dress on? Like really? The only reason why I didn’t lower the stars more is because there was more intense OM scenes. Now these I didn’t mind AT ALL 😈💅. Knox deserves them after being an a$$.

The way Knox was wishy washy. PICK A LANE lol. Man, I understood why Aria constantly pushed him away and “passed”. He hates her but can’t help wanting her. I appreciated when his soft side came out. But then he became a total d!ck. I hated when he slapped her 🤬 I totally got emotional AGAIN reading that scene, especially because of how Aria was feeling. And Greer 🥺❤️. Gawd. I love him. That’s when I fell in love with him 🥰.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the other perspective we got (Soraya). In fact, the first time it appeared, I was confused!

The other thing was the grammar mistakes. I feel like I noticed it more in this book versus in book 1.

Overall, I still enjoyed the book for the most part, but I think this is now the third time I reread this book, and I’m definitely more sensitive to ow stuff compared to before 😂.

⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no cheating/sharing
-violence/bloodshed/gore
-praise kink/edging/blood play/spanking/breath play
-side character recalls getting r@p€d
-h remembers her smexxual a$$ault from book 1
-H slaps h after she’s involved in fights and was beat up by a guard- he doesn’t realize she’s hurt 🙄and regrets it after 😒
-OW: OW1- kisses H’s back before tattooing him, then she gets naked and H grabs her hair and kisses her neck on purpose while h watches 🤬. OW2 flirts with h and touches his armor. H whispers in OW2’s ear. OW3 is fighting h (not related to H) and OW3 takes off her dress. All the men notice (including H). Such a stupid scene (she had no need to take her dress off- such a gratuitous action)
-OM- OM1 spends lots of time with h beginning of the book- isn’t afraid to how… um… happy he is to msee her while naked. OM1 also helps naked h get on altar and protects her. He wants her. OM2 appears, kisses h’s neck and mouth sensually while H is watching. He also grabs her breasts in front of H (the whole scene is sensual 😬). OM3 touches h and wants her. H sees this.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3rd reread)

''I was the chaos, and he was the storm''

Safety Warnings:
- No cheating
- OW Drama
- OM Drama
- Dub con
- S*xual assault/attempted r*pe
- Mention of r*pe
- Gruesome violence/d*ath
- Trauma
- Abuse
- Voyeurism
- Cliffhanger

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

Book 2 of this epic dark fantasy takes us to the Nine Realms. Aria has escaped Knox and he is just right behind her to catch her when she messes up.

Aria is still dealing with the aftermath of book 1 - where we find out her twin sister was planning to sell her and have her be raped and killed in the hands of the King of the Unwanted Beasts. She is still also dealing with the trauma she feels from being assaulted and not remembering everything that happened to her during her kidnapping.

She is plotting things that we see unfold before our eyes. Aria is keeping her promise to ''clean house''. She sees how much Knox kept from her in terms of what is truly going on in the Nine Realms and what the dark witches have subjected the world to. She is shocked to see the destruction left behind it all and we get some scenes where we see towns being used as sacrifices and the gruesome violence it takes to get it to happen.

Knox and Aria are playing a cat and mouse game, she runs, he chases. She surprises him but he surprises her even more. For almost 50% of this book these two are not together for more than a few scenes, they see each other but it's always just out of arms reach.

There is an epic scene where Aria infiltrates this stronghold and uses an army of the dead to do her bidding in order to destroy the dark witches and free the area from their grasps. It's really cool and I loved what she was wearing when she did all that.

You cannot ever say that Aria is weak or stupid. She might be naive but that is all connected to her age and lack of Nine Realms true knowledge. She is only unable to control herself for long when it comes to Knox.

Despite all their issues and all the things, they go through, he never wishes her harm, but he continuously feels guilty whenever he allows her to get close. He uses that as a way to push her around and destroy the peace they find even for a minute.

The scene where Aria is in camp and sees one of his witches hit another and stops her - which leads to a soldier beating Aria to a pulp was unbearable. Not the violence but how Knox reacted and treated her in that moment, it was horrifying to watch. She was his enemy for a minute, and he felt nothing.... It’s hard to read those moments because if you have read the 4th book then you'll see how he regrets every action he took against her.

He truly does live with his ghosts; they will never leave him. He is haunted and forever stuck. My heart always breaks for Aria whenever she is subjected to his anger and becomes his outlet to let it out. It’s not her fault what happened, and I seriously get tired of how he says ''her bloodline is at fault so it’s yours too''. Logic is flawed but sure we will go with it.

Even his brothers and Killian/Greer admit that he needs to stop treating her like shit. He needs to step back and stop because he will lose her to the darkness if she is pushed relentlessly by him.

Though there are moments within his own mind that he admits he treats her horribly and he has let her believe she means nothing when in reality she means so much more, but he cannot allow himself to show it or admit it out loud because it would be like spitting on his wife/mates and sons faces. He even repeatedly admits that nobody has ever made him feel anything like this, and we knew that back in book 1 but he keeps bringing it up and you just wonder if his wife was really his mate? because nothing is adding up - you'll find out more in the next 2 books.

There are more hints as to what Aria could be and my money was always on Phoenix and Knox being a Dragon. We meet a few people who have the same look as Aria and powers, they are mysterious and nothing is really known about them, though we find out that the guy Aden wants Aria and wants her for breeding which Aria uses to her advantage to piss off Knox whenever she can.

I'll say that this book was not my favorite in the series but nevertheless I still give it 5 stars because it gave us a lot of background and events that are super important.

Some quotes I loved:

''Would Knox care if I died? Would he mourn me?''

''I am someone’s dream, and you're my nightmare Knox''

''I craved that asshole like a drug and needed him more than the air that fed the cells to my blood''

''You're not nothing Aria''

''You won't ever escape, Aria. Ever. I will cherish and protect you, even from your own foolishness''

OW drama:
A scene where he is getting tattooed and knows that Aria is watching the whole ordeal and kisses the tattooist neck to get Aria to react, but nothing happens, he has not touched or wanted anyone else since they got together. He just enjoys getting a rise out of her because he needed her to come out of hiding. I hate it though – it’s so annoying that he does it. Though it not a consistent thing he uses against her. Less and less as time goes on.

OM drama:
Aria mentions sleeping with other men since Knox is not worthy, she also briefly kisses Dimitri but again nothing ever happens with anyone, and it’s just talk and a momentary decision. Also, Aden is mentioned as her next lover to annoy Knox.

”You’re not pretty,” he stated, causing my eyes to narrow on him. “You’re fucking gorgeous. I won’t allow them to alter that beautiful soul or mind of yours, not even a little.”

Amelia has seriously created my addiction. These books are raw, brutal, amazing, and I can’t get enough!

I loved seeing Aria being the boss witch we all knew she was! I do think she needs to not be so trusting of her surroundings since I definitely don’t trust Aurora. Seeing Aria and Knox’s push and pull, cat and mouse, love hate relationship will have your emotions all over the place and loving every minute of it.

Every time Knox referred to Aria as “my girl” or “my woman” I squealed a little inside. My man (and yes I mean MINE) is growing and accepting those feelings!!

Every time I read scenes with Lore, Brander and Greer I fall more and more in love with them. They are the type of funny a**holes I’d love to be around haha

I flew through this book and I’m happy Ruins of Chaos will be out soon because I don’t think I could wait months to see what happens after that ending.

5/5 ✰’s

Bad words! Bad review.

Why? Why. Why... Just, why? Let’s ignore ALL the obvious red flags about—bleh—Knox and wonder... What piece of common sense has to be rattling around in his empty peanut of a brain for the man to get unabashedly upset and possessive when he finds out that somebody has beat up “his woman”.... when seconds ago he was the one literally whacking her across the face?....

Excuse me?
No,
Excuuuuuseeee meeeee?????!!!

“I pulled back”, “She deliberately upset me(WITH WORDS!)” and “I didn’t know she was already hurt” are not only one of the worst excuses I have ever heard from an abuser, they are THE most pathetic ones because Knox doesn’t even tell them to HER, he says it to his dum-dum buddies when they have an “Abuse her emotionally, that’s fine, but hitting is too much bro” sesh, and a moment later discuss how loud Aria moans in bed and how each and every one would love to tap a piece of that.......

I am disappointed in all the people that left a positive review. Sincerely, disgusted by you guys.

I’ve been waiting for this... man... to redeem himself, ignoring the poker branding (wtf!), the imprisonment, the slave comments, the pathetic way Aria spread her legs every time he reminded her of her worthlessness because she’s just so horny and only HE can help, and all the annoying sexual comments that come from EVERY. SINGLE. character in these books. I get that it’s smut, but it’s ridiculous! Your sisters repeatedly yelling out to a field full of men that you haven’t popped that cherry? It’s like the author pointed a giant red arrow that led straight to Aria’s genitalia every other paragraph or so. It was gross and violating.
I cringed hard every time she was sobbing from physical or emotional pain (inflicted by him 99% of the time) and he patronizingly patted her on the head like a whining dog and fucked her afterwards. Because her inner monster is just oh so hornyyyy and she just couldn’t refuuuuuse. Yuck.

Until this point I’ve held on to the fleeting, pathetic, hope that Aria might wake up one day and just drop Knox’s ass until he redeemed himself, but oh god, how wrong was I. These books where like witnessing a repeating car crash with hope that at least some of the passengers will stay alive, but then watching each and every one of them burn, one after another. Over and over and over again. Like Knox’s dead kid—ha! I am not even remotely sorry about that one—the ultimate excuse Knox (or more accurately, the author) uses to kill thousands upon thousands of innocent witches, including those same kids. I guess to him it doesn’t matter if it wasn’t born from his seed.
Isn’t that the man of your dreams?

Hey! Quit swooning before he takes advantage of you!
What?
You have no recollection of your monster persona being horny and “seducing” the strongest—choke—alpha king across all the worlds when he could’ve easily restrained himself? That’s completely not his fault for using your body while you went afk, you know?

In these books, Knox did not give two craps about Aria, but she was supposed to give a thousand about him. The sad part is that she did and he repeatedly used that to satisfy his needs. Knox was the one who called ALL the shots from the beginning, it never balanced out. Even after, I repeat, HITTING her, it didn’t grace his greatness to think about the choices he was making! But what am I talking about? It’s page 775 of book TWO and he STILL actively calls and considers her a stupid slave that doesn’t know any better, even inside his mind. So this isn’t some kind of ploy to hurt her when he actually feels otherwise, he literally thinks she’s worth nothing.
Ladies, we can honestly do so much better than this.

Fin.

Sorry could've been better

For the first three quarter's of the book you have Aria running, Knox chasing her, he saying naughty sexual things, Aria destroying brings with a lot of blood. Than we repeat this running and chasing over and over for 70% of the book. Ugh very REPETITIVE! I had to keep putting the book down because it just got annoying. I found myself skimming and rolling my eyes wondering why the book wasn't shorter and less repetitive.

I miss the way this Author wrote the Fae Chronicles, what happened? I hope the 3rd book is better. Only people I actually liked was Lore and Esme.

This book is not out yet but I’m itching for it. I swear Amelia Hutchins books are crack! Check out Flames of Chaos and you’ll be like me! Do it!!

Edited:

1st read: January 2022
2nd read: July 2023 (audiobook)

10/10 for the audiobook — duet narration FTW!

First time I read this I gave it 4.5 stars and rounded up to 5, but listening to this, I remembered how annoying some parts were. I’m all for the whole enemies to lovers thing, but the constant “I love you/I hate you” got old fast! Like… make up your damn minds! I also forgot how much of a dick Knox was! I mean I still love him, but he definitely needed to grovel more! Every time he was a dick, Aria would vow not to forgive him and would go on and on about how she would never be with him, then she would do just that at the drop of a hat. I wanted her to make him beg! There wasn’t enough begging!

This is still one of my favourite series though! I can’t wait until the next instalment.

Coming soon ..... Book 2 of this brutal war that may destroy a culture. Or, will there be a new reign??? Come follow the story of Knox & Aria, in Flames of Chaos, it’s guaranteed to rip your soul apart with sweet excruciating ecstasy in the art of love and war❤️❤️❤️

“You’re not dying, Aria. I won’t allow that to happen. You are mine."

Ashes of Chaos is the second book in the Legacy of the Nine Realms. Now that Aria has discovered the truth about Knox, she will stop at nothing to protect her family and to keep him from catching her. Knox is torn as he cannot explain the attraction he has for Aria, and yet, he knows that she is not good for him. As enemies, they can never be happy together. Aria refuses to stop fighting and uses every breath in her body to wage war on Knox and his men.

“Oh, you sweet summer child. I am a fucking army.”

"You’re lust, and I’m carnage. You’re a beauty, but that hides that vicarious bitch that’s itching for you to release her.”

For more reviews/reveals/giveaways visit:

unfortunately, not quite an improvement from the first book. if anything, this is even more slow, even more uneventful.

the angst of sexual tension can only carry characters so far and it doesnt quite make up for the lack of everything else. i would have thought there would be more to show for nearly 500 pages of story, but hardly anything happens.

that being said, i never felt like i wanted to put the book down. i was still entertained, but i just wanted more.

↠ 3 stars

Definitely Chaos...

I get it...lots and lots of lusty thoughts. Ashes of Chaos was all about the lusty thoughts and was a fairly humorous journey watching Aria try to be one step ahead of Knox. She knows that if she succumbs to the lust she feels, he will take control of her and use her for her powers. Knox wants to hate Aria but is drawn to her. There were plenty of times I just wanted them to cave in to their lust, but, there were plenty of times I wanted Aria to keep that douchewaffle away.

Aaah...the magic of an Amelia Hutchins paranormal romance.

I decided a little while back that the only way to truly enjoy an Amelia Hutchins story is to not read it. I now have to patiently wait for all of her stories to come out in the audio format to avoid her badly edited stories. I'm sure they have improved significantly but I'm not sure it's worth risking it. Besides that, I actually enjoy the narrators' performances.

I am a sucker for her growly heroes and headstrong heroines.

I lose myself in worlds far away from what I know.

I enjoy watching the cat and mouse games being played out, knowing that when he catches her, it's going to be HOT!

I will be going on with the Legacy of the Nine Realms series...as soon as it comes out on audio.

This book was better, the worldbuilding, the story. Even tho there were some repetitive scenes and descriptions, it was easy to get past them and enjoy the actual story.
We find more about the Nine Realms, the characters.
We see character development and we see THEIR relationship evolving to something more ... deep
I loved it!

Now I'm gonna start reading the 3rd book because I need to know what happens!

"I would take the heads of those who had harmed my friends and enemies.
I was Aria Hecate, and I wasn’t dying like some weak-minded witch."
Still a badass bitch, my Aria.

It says "coming spring 2020". Hasn't spring come and gone already?
I want to read this book so much!

Update:
Man…this series is so addictive. 
It’s so chaotic, fucking graphic, ruthlessly unapologetic, dark, sexy, hot and intense.
Ashes of Chaos is Lust and Carnage..and I can’t seem to get my eyes off it.

This book is intended for readers 18+ and contains mature sexual themes, as well as trigger warnings for sexual abuse.

I am so conflicted with what to rate this book because while it had a lot of things I typically wouldn't like, I couldn't stop reading and was throughly entertained?

This second book in the series takes us into the Nine Realms, where Aria is wrecking havoc. There is a cat and mouse chase between her and Knox. One of the things that kept me on my toes is that we don't always know where the love interest, Knox's, head is at. One second it seems like he is being caring of Aria, and then he falls right back on his old ways. It can definitely be frustrating at times, but other times fuels the constant sexy tension between the two. I am kept hooked by seeing where the relationship between the two will go.

Also, the smut is 🔥

Ooooh this next book is going to be hectic as!!! Im way too excited to see all the chaos my girl Aria is going to create. I always have a book boyfriend but this is the first time iv ever had a book girlfriend 😳

So I throughly enjoyed this book more than the last one. However damn that cliff hanger !!!💔 I am impatiently waiting for the 3rd book to release sometime within the week. I will be locking myself in my room for two days to devour once it happens 😂😂🙌🏼

Repetitive dialogue, no plot development and when finally picked up a little, a cliffhanger. = I’m done with this series.

2,5 stars rounded up. Clearly this author has a gift for building interesting worlds and for now it becomes her only redeeming quality. Other than that there’s much of repetitive rambling, the dialogues between H and h look more or less the same, I had impression of reading the same lines again and again. The writing seems chaotic and messy (when the scene starts in the middle of the story to reveal further the genius plan of the heroine - that works pretty well once; when the same technique is used repeatedly it gets old).
I’m again disappointed with Ms. Hutchins because her stories have potential and her idea of building characters is interesting. If it continues this way, possibly the next (and hopefully the last) part of this series will be my last book of hers.
Edit 26.01.2021: Rating downgraded to two stars after having read the third part.

Seriously hate this series. TOO FUCKING LONG - NO FUCKING - REPETITIVE - AND TOO MANY DAMN CHARACTERS.

So essentially - Aria is on the run from Knox - and the entire book is him chasing her around. Sex?? there's not any. What you will get to enjoy is the endless amount of times that she points out his "oceanic eyes".

I think Ms. Dess hates me and that's why she's making me read these. IDK. Maybe I'm the only one?? Anyway she hasn't written a review yet - but Sonia gives a really good POV for someone who enjoys the book.

Sonia's review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I've read everything currently available from this author and eagerly look forward to the continuation/conclusion of various series. I'm familiar with the moral/ethical imbalance that presents itself in her work and can generally work with/accept it in the greater context of a given plot but this - is untenable. This isn't scales set at 60% vs 40% or 70% vs 30% and then balancing themselves as we go along. This is almost painful to read, it's so one-sidedly miserable.

The - let's go with Protagonist, since the 'Hero' appellation would be wildly misapplied at this point; says to the Heroine: "I don't trust you". Below is a summary of their respective words/actions PRIOR to him making that statement (includes general spoilers):

"I Don't Trust You"

Things he has done/said prior to that:
- Been her first kiss/sexual partner
- Thrown her out like trash after same
- Tricked her into being her first sexual partner
- Lured her and her family to a realm with the intent of killing them all
- Spied on her
- Lied about the properties of a magic tattoo he insisted upon giving her
- Stole her memories of a magic-induced sexual encounter
- Allowed multiple women/former sex partners to attack/insult her (physically and verbally)
- Locked her in a room
- Locked her in a cage
- Told her repeatedly that he did not want her/only wanted her for sex
- Accused her of not caring about the death of two infants
- Killed/allowed the capture and abuse of multiple women/children
- Belittled her understanding of his hard choices/his painful past
- Ignored/disregarded her own SUPER upsetting past
- Lashing out at her whenever he 'forgot himself' and was momentarily kind/not actively shitty to her
- Allowing his soldiers to repeatedly insult/belittle her with crude and upsetting comments
- Ignoring circumstances he put into place that allowed her to be physically assaulted
- Hitting her in the face 'because she just made him so darn mad'
- Doing nothing kind/generous with her that was not a correction of his own mistakes/misjudgment
- Continually blaming her for how much he desired her
- Taking credit for the Heroine's traumatic killing of her own twin
- Had her placed in magic-nulling/physically damaging handcuffs for weeks
- Doing the above after she saved his life and that of his friends
- Dismissing her valid take on the corruption of his people
- Blaming her (25 years old) for events that took place 500 years previously
- Ignoring/misleading her multiple times when she needed information
- Forcing her to unknowingly participate in sexual exhibitionism on multiple occasions
- Pointlessly disbelieving her multiple times when it was apparent she could only be telling the truth and/or accurately recounting a situation or conversation
- Making her doubt herself
- Keeping huge truths/life-altering secrets about her, from her
- Stalking her for three months and forcing her to a state of physical/mental exhaustion

Things she had done/said prior to that:
- Honestly answering questions he asked
- Giving him her virginity
- Asking if there's anything she can do to help with his past pain/issues
- Assume responsibility for her family/bloodline's hideous past choices/actions
- Diligently working to correct same in a world totally unknown to her and despite never once having made those same choices
- Saving his life more than once
- Following his directions/orders when they were logical
- Saving his friends and soldiers lives more than once
- Rescuing innocent women and children
- Asking him to let her go so she can find true, non-toxic love
- Defending herself without ever deliberately provoking him, his men, his soldiers, his lords, his witches, etc.
- Offering sane/logical/helpful advice
- Believing she deserves something better than being his reviled side-piece and telling him so
- Informing him that bad things will keep happening if he insists on having her present within an army of his people; who all despise her
- Sticking up for herself, her family and those innocent of the crimes he accuses them of
- Being generally cheeky and incisive but not cruel
- Adapting to a whole new understanding of herself
- Being generally kind and fair whenever possible and showing it in her actions/choices

So there you have it - that's the 'romance' you are signing up for with this series. (I've read the third book and things do NOT improve). Proceed with caution - even if you are familiar with the author's previous work. I genuinely hope future material moves in a vastly different direction.

The dead wife/mate trope is without a doubt the absolute worst to ever exist. There is nothing I despise more honestly. Just when you start enjoying the characters' relationship it always comes back to slap you in the face like a wet kipper. Oh hell no. Knox can like choke on a dick or something for all I care. Seriously why do these authors enjoy writing the male love interest in the most atrocious ways??? He's like "yeah I will never love you or see you as an equal but also you are not allowed to find happiness and love with someone else"??? Why, oh yeah because sHe iS OnLy hIs, oh fuck off already, you intolerable cavemen.

Minority opinion here...

I’m struggling to connect this series back to the same author that wrote the Fae Chronicles. I like for stories to SHOW me what the characters are feeling, experiencing, etc, not TELL me. It makes it really difficult to get immersed & relate. There was also a lot of petulance & immaturity that seemed out of place, especially with a character like Knox that’s over a 1,000 years old. Overall it just feels like this book was rushed, personally I’d be happy to wait much longer for a book release if it equated to Fae Chronicles quality. This is coming from a long time fan and one-click buyer.

DEAR LORD I WANT TO CRY IN ANGER

I DONT KNOW WHERE’S MY HEART ANYMORE
MY SOUL LEFT MY BODY

AND KNOX IS PISSING ME OF SO MUCH, ONE MOMENT HE IS A DICK TO ARIA, THEN HE GETS ALL PROTECTIVE AND CARING AND THEN GOES BACK TO BEING A DICK AGAIN. THIS MAN IS SO FRUSTRATING. HE SAYS HE CANT FULLY HAVE HER BUT DOESNT LET ANYONE HAVE HER EITHER SOMEONE OLD MY TEA CUZ IM ABOUT TO SMASH HIS FUCKING FACE NEXT TO THE ROCKS OF THAT CAVE.

ARIA IS RIPPING MY HEART. SHE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE HEROINES NOW AND SHE IS SO BADASS AND STRONG. SO IMAGINE MY PAIN WATCHING HER CRY AND FIGHT FOR HER OWN LIFE WHILE THINKING EVERYONE WANTS TO USE HER AS A WEAPON IS THIS DAMN WAR. ALL GODS MAY SENT ME THE STRAIGHT TO NOT JUMP INTO THIS BOOK AND KILL HER ENEMIES AS WELL AS KNOX HEAD AND MAGIC DICK.

The end? THIS CLIFFHANGER WAS A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE THAN THE FIRST BOOK, I SWEAR IF THAT IDIOT THINKS ARIA WAS THE ONE BEHIND WHAT HAPPENED I WILL CUT HIS THROAT LIKE A BEEF AND EAT IT.

I SHOULD HAVE NEVER NEVER PICKED UP THIS SERIES WITHOUT BEING COMPLETE. PLS DONT FOLLOW MY MISTAKE. NOW EXCUSE ME IM HEADING FOR THE THIRD BOOK AND THINK ABOUT WHAT IM GONNA DO WITH MY LIFE WHILE WAITING FOR THE 4TH.

I need need need this book in my life..... iv read flames of chaos three times back to back hoping by the time iv read it this will be out!!!! The anticipation is killing me Amelia Hutchins always delivers her books are amazing!!!!

This damn book had kept me up till 3am. No respect for the fact that I need to work. So, here I am in the aftermath on my 4th coffee and plotting my way to book 3. I now need to figure out how to include work in my day. Any ideas? On the flip Knox and Aria are totally worth no sleep just so you know.

I found myself in the Nine Realms fighting battles and taking over Keeps with Aria and the dead army. Yes, you read that right. An army of corpse.

Amelia Hutchins what did you write? I have not been this obsessed in a longtime.

I’m racing across Realms one moment bare feet, then jumping through a portal to an unknown location the next with my lover on my back, then fighting tooth and nail against every creature alive and dead for my next breath in order to get to my next destination, then leading a dead army through battle the next and and and..

Do I really still have to convince you??? Go visit the Nine Realms you'll see

Love Cece xx

Rating- 5 amazing
Heat- This is so hard to rate. Let’s go with 4 for lots of explicit talk and moments but not the usual 5 of other Hutchins’ books.
Tropes- heroine doesn’t know what she is, enemies to lovers, guy doesn’t want to love girl

Every time I start an Amelia Hutchins’ book, I know it’s going to end with me saying

Ashes of Chaos was no exception.

When we left Aria and Knox, she had just escaped him and vowed to clean up her house of witches while rattling him. Holy Crap, did she ever!
Aria went to war against both the witches and Knox. There are moments when it’s impossible to keep the smile of your face as she shows them who they are really dealing with. The dark witches have come to realize that Aria is a power to be reckoned with, while Knox is beginning to see how important Aria is to him. He absolutely refuses to picture a world where she doesn’t belong to him, but he continues to fight any feelings other than lust and possession.

I was so fucked. I wanted her unlike anything I had ever wanted before. She was my enemy. And none of that mattered when she got close to me and washed it all away with those pretty blue eyes that dared me to fight her.

Aria is written beautifully. She has an inner core of strength that seeks to protect the vulnerable but she has no mercy for the people she deems guilty. Their determination to be judge, jury, and executioner is something Aria and Knox have in common. However, Aria is working with far fewer prejudices. She looks at actions over bloodlines.

Now, I will succumb to anxiously awaiting book 3.

Wow. That cliffhanger has me tumbling down to my demise because I don’t know if I have the strength to endure the time it will take for the release of Ruins of Chaos. Like oh my god. Can we just applaud Amelia Hutchins for a second. From her carefully crafted world building to her kickass characters to the plot itself... I mean, hands down one of my most anticipated reads. A couple weeks went by where I would go into goodreads almost daily to check for any updates on its release. Man oh man.

One thing I can’t wait to see in the third installment is Knox’s ultimate realization that Aria is not some malicious power-hungry witch that is planning his downfall. I cannot wait. That will be the cherry on top of a splendid read. Ah, I can’t. Knox has to chill. He really needs to use that pigheaded brain of his before it’s too late...although some would say it is too late. I don’t know. Now, I don’t want Knox to die or anything but I would love for Aria to bring him to his knees with her rattle. Imagining the look on Knox’s face would be hilarious. Absolutely comical.

Also, Knox has got to stop demeaning Aria whenever he feels vulnerable. I understand that this revenge on witches has been the motivating force behind everything he’s done since his wife and son were killed, but that’s not right. It’s genocide and I’m not here for it. And the fact that the children aren’t even safe from his cruelty is just, well, it’s awful. I feel like the only thing that has the chance of changing his course is Aria, but I don’t know if that’ll be through love or death (probably love though). But I guess we’ll see.