Customer Reviews

Ashes to Ashes (Blood Ties, Book 3)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm not going to recap the storyline since the above reviewers have taken care of that. However, I am going to say that this book is the best one yet. This story is full of twists and turns that had me catching my breath in surprise.

Carrie and Nathan's already complex relationship deepens and intensifies. Max and Bella's interaction takes some unexpected and delightful turns and the Soul Eater is back and creepier than ever. Ms. Armintrout has the ability to not only humanize the "monsters" but to reveal the monsters within humanity. Do NOT miss this book!

Carrie and Nathan's have been far from any sort of happily ever after scenario. In the short months that they've known each other, he has re-sired her as a vampire, they have been put under the scrutiny of the Voluntary Vampire Extinction Movement for various crimes, people they care about have died, not all of them have stayed dead, bounty hunters have pursued them, they've betrayed each other, and all that pales in comparison to what is on the horizon. The Soul-Eater is still out there forming his evil plans, but now, he is working both with and against the Oracle, an ancient being whose lust for revenge is millenia old. For the sake of the world and for each other, Carrie and Nathan have to stop them, and that means putting aside old grudges and jealousy. Therefore, Cyrus is needed, and he, too much set aside hatred. However, before Carrie can gain his help, things change again and she is forced to do something that will make both men she loves hate her. The story is just beginning then. From there on out, the complexity and emotional action only get more intense.

***** This series is one that only gets better. Readers should be prepared to be taken on a journey that will make them weep, yet want the story to never end despite or because of that. The ending is heart-shattering, yet I am already looking forward to the next story. *****

Amanda Killgore

Quite a bit of Ashes to Ashes is about second chances. The characters from the previous books return here and if you are new to the series you will really want to start at the beginning with The Turning (Blood Ties, Book 1) and Possession (Blood Ties, Book 2) because a lot of time was spent in those books developing the characters and their convoluted relationships. If you start here you will get that fact that Carrie, Nathan, Cyrus, Max and Bella are all damaged in some way, but it is more of a superficial understanding than you'd have if you'd watched the events unfold.

All are needy and in search of love, but not all of them are truly ready for it. The triangle with Carrie, Nathan and Cyrus continues, in fact the author even indulges in a menage dream sequence. But the dynamics between them shift as events take the three of them through changes. Reasons holding back not just those three, but Max and Bella too, from giving their love disappear. Events occur between Cyrus and Carrie that allow Cyrus/Carrie and Nathan/Carrie to approach each other from common ground. Max and Bella especially find a new beginning, as they undertake what looks like a fatal journey, when they acknowledge love inspite of their fear of rejection or loss. All these changes make for second chances for those that can survive.

Ashes to Ashes carries forward the plot and the relationships from the previous books, but offers only a little in resolution. It turns out that there will be a fourth book in the series, All Soul's Night, out in June of next year. There's some setup for that here, as a character from the past reappears. One enemy is vanquished and another remains to be defeated next time. I couldn't find the page to quote it exactly but in this book, Bella says that every one has scars, and it is how one goes about trying to heal that matters. It will be interesting to see how the Bella, Max, Nathan and Carrie move toward healing in the next book.

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Carrie's life, or rather, her un-life, is finally getting on track and things are looking very good for her and Nathan after all the turmoil. But of course, Carrie was never meant for a simple life. Word reaches them that the headquarters of the Voluntary Vampire Extinction Movement has been destroyed and the Oracle, the most dangerous of all vampires except maybe for the Soul Eater, is on the loose. Then, when it seems things couldn't get any worse, all clues point to the Oracle teaming up with the Soul eater, whose own plans involve becoming a god above human, vampires, werewolves, and all else.

Then there is Carrie's being torn between her two men, her two sires, Nathan and Cyrus. Cyrus may be human now, but if possible, Carrie is drawn to him even more because of his humanity. And we can't forget Max and Bella, two assassins, one vampire and one werewolf who have found what all believed impossible - love between the species.

And this is just the beginning...

If you've read my reviews of either of the preceding novels in the Blood Ties series, then you know I've been waffling on my opinion of it. So far, I've though the books were decent, but nothing special to make them stand out from anything else I've read lately. Probably the largest contributor to me not loving the series is Carrie herself. I've never really liked her from the first book and over time I find myself liking her less and less since she never seems to mature. I get so tired of her "do I love Nathan or Cyrus" whines that I want her to just pick one already and deal with it.

As with the previous book in the series, Ashes to Ashes takes a really long time to get going. It starts off with a bang and I was excited to see the action begin right away. Unfortunately, that didn't last. There was a lot of aimless wandering initially, while we waited for the players to figure out what they wanted to do about the Oracle and the Soul Eater. They never really get going until halfway through the book, maybe even more, when we finally find out what the Oracle wants.

I do love Max and Bella though and their love story got me interested far more than Carrie and Nathan's. I like the new Cyrus though, now that he's discovered love (see Possession) and has gained a conscience to go along with his humanity. If not for the conflict between Max and Bella and their growing love and Cyrus still getting used to his humanity again, I would have put this book down long before the conclusion. The Oracle is horribly evil, as is the Soul Eater, so you know when these two get together, our characters are in for a hell of a time. I would have liked to see them play a larger role in the story. We see them here and there throughout, they don't really fully enter the story until close to the end.

If I've learned nothing else about the Blood Ties series, and the latest installment, Ashes to Ashes, I have discovered this series is one you either love or hate. There aren't a whole lot of people in the middle of the spectrum. I've admittedly been on the fence since book one, but most people have very strong opinions over the series. I cannot honestly say whether or not I'll be reading book 4 until it gets closer to the release date and I find out a little more about what it will be about. Right this moment though? I'm leaning towards cutting the ties with this series.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, January 2008. All rights reserved.

I was so excited to finally be able to read this book. I enjoyed the first two books very much but I'm sad to say that I am disliking Carrie more and more. I don't understand how she could supposedly be so in love with Nathan but then the next minute she loves Cyrus more. Or does she? This happens over and over. She waffles between the two of them and, since I'm a big Nathan fan, I found her behavior and attitude toward him very frustrating. While Nathan definitely has flaws of his own, I don't think Carrie deserves him now. In the first book you could excuse her actions because of the blood tie with Cyrus. And I can somewhat understand her feelings for Cyrus in the second book when he was human. But come on! Pick your man and stay loyal for pete's sake. It's almost like she'd be settling for Nathan and that's not fair to him. At this point I don't really care what happens to Carrie. I would rather read more about Nathan and Ziggy, and Max and Bella. Gotta love Max! I'll be reading the fourth book to follow this story to its conclusion, but I fear I won't like it as much because of Carrie. Bummer.

I'm glad I stuck with it and read this third book. It was great! Carrie, Nathan, Max and Bella must find the Oracle. The Oracle is working with Nathan's sire, the Soul Eater. She was in the second book, a very old vampire who was kept in a giant tank. Now she has escaped. They must find out where she has gone and in the process they find out she is working with the Soul Eater. Cyrus is back and I must say I enjoyed his character more in this book. A wonderful turn of events ties him to Carrie once again. Now, she is torn between Cyrus and Nathan. Just when you think things are going to work out between Carrie and Nathan, bam, big shocker, she waffles between the two. While I wish she would make up her mind, the story was definitley worth reading. It had a wonderful surprise and I will look forward to the next book.

Great read! I liked the first book, the second book was even better.
BUT DAMN! the third book was amazing i normally dont go for first person books but the first book sucks you in and you just have to keep on reading to see what happens, the secondary characters are GREAT to. Max and bella rock!! You cant help but like carrie and Nolan though and hell even cyrus is a good character!

Just to let the readers of my reviews know that I do not give out information about the book. Why write a spoiler? I only tell what I like and why I did not like the book. I do not go into details.

Carrie's infatuation with Cyrus and being in love Nathan had me wondering would she ever make up her mind. The book had a good twist, once a fledgling now Cyrus' sir, made it a good book. I like suspense, not really knowing whom or what you want in a book, but this did go back and forth so much that I got tired of reading it.

I am a big Nathan fan, even though he does not want to let go of his dead wife, still is my favorite character.

I will read her next book. I want to see Nathan and Carrie together.

The plot of the story was fairly predictable.
The ending was a little disappointing, if Jennifer wanted to give us some closure, I didn't get it. (read: I didn't like it.)
4 stars because only about the last third of the book was disappointing.

*spoiler alert - I'll try not to say anything too revealing*

All the books in the series has their pros and cons.
-'The Turning' was a well balanced story. I could see it adapted into a movie.
-'Possession' was the weakest in my opinion. Only thing that got me through it was Cyrus.

-'Ashes to Ashes' falls in between the first two in terms of general storyline. Good story up until when Max and Bella were 'freed' by the Oracle. (How a well trained assassin not see through the ploy eludes me, I was screaming at him to stay put.) Then everything fell apart after that.


This time around, many things do get explained...finally. So brownie points for that.
Cyrus/Carrie/Nathan banter was entertaining to read.
Also, I fell in love with Max through Bella.
I will say that this is worth the read. Maybe you have different p.o.v and won't be annoyed by what did to me.

After not caring much for "The Turning", I thought "Possession" was incredibly good. Imagine then my regret to find that "Ashes to Ashes" wasn't anywhere near as good, in fact it actually dimenished some of the great character building Armintrout created with "Possession". Bella, the tough werewolf assassin becomes whiny and clingy. Max (my fave character) keeps most of his charm, but still falters when it comes to his relationship with Bella. Speaking of which, this relationship went from high attraction and flirtation with biting humor, to "I can't live without you" junk in the blinking of an eye. I wish some more care would have been taken in making this kind of relationship change. Even under the stress these characters face, they should have been able to retain some of the humor and wit that made them so great in the "Possession". Carrie became more annoying than ever in "Ashes to Ashes". She literally bounces back and forth from Nathan to Cyrus about ten times before the action even really starts going. I can happily say that Cyrus's character (although facing transformation) still stayed true to the changes established in the second book. Kudos to this volume for twists and turns and for not being afraid to take risks with the characters. There are some definite suprises in store, as well as some turns I personally am not sure if I will like. This book is not dull, but it still feels like the story danced around issues instead of delving straight into them. I think, honestly, that this series could have been made into a condensed but tight trilogy and instead was filled with enough filler to make up four books. I also don't think Armintrout really knew what would happen either and kind of is making stuff up along the way here. This doesn't always mean for negative production, because the series is entertaining and I don't think I will be quick to forget it. But the series has certainly suffered from inconsistancy, both in plot lines and character development. That said, unless the final chapter is an immense disappointment, I believe Jennifer Armintrout will only get better as a storyteller, and I would recommend her as an author to keep an eye on.