A Light in the Flame by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The truth about Sera’s plan is out, shattering the fragile trust forged between her and Nyktos. Surrounded by those distrustful of her, all Sera has is her duty. She will do anything to end Kolis, the false King of Gods, and his tyrannical rule of Iliseeum, thus stopping the threat he poses to the mortal realm.

Nyktos has a plan, though, and as they work together, the last thing they need is the undeniable, scorching passion that continues to ignite between them. Sera cannot afford to fall for the tortured Primal, not when a life no longer bound to a destiny she never wanted is more attainable than ever. But memories of their shared pleasure and unrivaled desire are a siren’s call impossible to resist.

And as Sera begins to realize that she wants to be more than a Consort in name only, the danger surrounding them intensifies. The attacks on the Shadowlands are increasing, and when Kolis summons them to Court, a whole new risk becomes apparent. The Primal power of Life is growing inside her, pushing her closer to the end of her Culling. And without Nyktos’s love—an emotion he’s incapable of feeling—she won’t survive her Ascension. That is if she even makes it to her Ascension and Kolis doesn’t get to her first. Because time is running out. For both her and the realms.

Honestly, A Light in the Flame ascended me to primalhood. SO GOOD. It is hard to write a review because all I want to do is gush about how much I love this book. I will attempt to be coherent in this review, but you have been warned.

While some readers may criticize A Light in the Flame for being slow and too much in Sera/Ash’s heads, I personally loved it all the more because of that. Their story is devastatingly beautiful, and wrecked me more than I care to admit. If you have a tendency for empathy, get prepared now because I felt every single emotion from Sera throughout this book. I left longing, heartbreak, I felt devastation, shame, joy, love, lust, happiness… just wow. My heart was in constant ache for her and Nyktos, never getting on the same page and always just out of reach. The insecurity she feels throughout the book is so sad was presented stunningly, as is her anxiety. I have never felt more seen in a book than I have in A Light in the Flame and the Flesh and Fire series as a whole. Not many books go into detail on these kinds of emotions and thoughts for as long as this one did, and I loved it.

The chemistry between Sera and Nyktos/Ash was insane and left me heated after every interaction. Their spice is simply perfection, and SO GOOD.

Moving into the world building and characters, Jennifer Armentrout blessed us with plenty and for that I am so happy. We learn a lot more history, we meet a lot more primals and gods, we get to know some wonderful and some horrible gods. There are feuds and battles, we visit multiple lands within Iliseeum, and watch Sera and Nyktos/Ash do lots of things. I have come to love Nektas, Jadis, Reaver, Aios, Belle, Rhain, Ector, and Scion so much.

The dynamic of Sera’s secret being out and the Shadowlands group disliking her was a very interesting and captivating angle. I really enjoyed watching her win them back over with everything she did.

We meet the Arae, learn about a prophecy, realize some terrible things, and see what people are truly made of.

I am not sure how to put everything I am thinking about this book into words. It left me emotionally exhausted in the best of ways, with one hell of a cliffhanger and a lot of heartbreak but also hope. I feel slightly betrayed by the book ending this way, but love it nonetheless.

Overall, A Light in the Flame by Jennifer Armentrout is a fantastic read, and I LOVED this second book in the Fire and Flesh series.

I really enjoyed reading this installment of the Flesh and Fire novels. I cannot wait until the next book in the series is out! You might want to throw the book against the wall in some places, but you really have to stick with reading it to the end, regardless. Everything will make more sense than it did in A Shadow In The Ember. In the end I wanted to cry that it was over. I think this is the last book series I will read after each installment comes out. I can't handle waiting. It's so hard because JLA's books are SO excellent! Love them all!

I hate cliffhangers! I'm frustrated with the descriptions in this book. Where the characters are and their position in the space they reside is never clear and that greatly stunts my ability to see the scene in my head. Like her legs are where? And they are accomplishing this how? No clue. I still hate the miscommunication. I love all of the draken though, and Bele and Rhain. I still prefer Poppy to Sera, but I'll still continue the prequel series.