81 pages • 2 hours read
From Blood and Ash
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Book Club Questions
General Impressions
Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of death.
Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.
1. Was From Blood and Ash satisfying as a romance story? Have you read other works of romantic fantasy—e.g., Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing or Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses? How does this one compare?
2. From Blood and Ash is in large part the story of Penellaphe’s journey to understand herself and craft a meaningful identity. Were you satisfied with her growth and the discoveries she made about herself during the story, or did you feel that important questions about Penellaphe’s identity were left unanswered?
3. Have you read any of the sequels or prequels Jennifer L. Armentrout has published in the Blood and Ash series? (A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, The Crown of Gilded Bones, etc.) Alternatively, have you read any of the books in her Flesh and Fire series, such as A Shadow in the Ember? What similar themes do you see among her works? What are the most significant differences?
Personal Reflection and Connection
Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.
1. Penellaphe’s core characteristic is her empathy. Do you view this as her strength or her weakness? Can it be both a strength and a weakness in real life?
2. What do you think of the way Penellaphe and Prince Casteel (Hawke) treat one another? Does their behavior violate your own ideals of what a romantic relationship should be? Why or why not?
3. Which of Prince Casteel’s qualities seem in tension with the qualities the same man possessed as Hawke? Have you ever encountered someone whose personality seemed to change depending on the situation they were in? Do you think that everyone is this way, at least to some extent?
4. When Vikter dies, he begs Penellaphe’s forgiveness for not defending her more publicly. If you were Penellaphe, would you have offered forgiveness, or do you view his actions as unforgivable?
5. For both Penellaphe and Prince Casteel (Hawke), violence is a legitimate solution to some problems. Do you agree? If not, why not? If you agree, under what circumstances do you believe violence can be a solution?
6. Penellaphe is expected to sacrifice her personal ambitions on behalf of her society. Do you think there is ever a good case for asking an individual to make such a sacrifice? What are some examples of real-life people who have made such sacrifices?
Societal and Cultural Context
Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.
1. How would you describe the power structure of the society in From Blood and Ash? Which modern real-world societies are structured most like and unlike this society?
2. In Penellaphe’s society, religion is used as a part of the hierarchy of control. What parallels do you see in the real world, either historical or contemporary? Do you think the novel’s critique is aimed at religion itself or merely its misuse?
Literary Analysis
Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.
1. How does employing Penellaphe as the book’s first-person narrator impact the reader’s experience? What might change about the reader’s engagement with and understanding of the story’s themes if Armentrout had chosen to use a third-person narrator instead?
2. In what ways are the Craven like and unlike the zombies often found in horror stories? Do these two types of “monsters” serve a similar plot function? Do they support similar thematic ideas? Can you identify any significant differences?
3. In literature, vampires often symbolize parasitic behavior, standing in for people who “drain” others of important resources without contributing anything themselves. What evidence argues for or against this being the way the idea of the “vampry” is used in this novel?
4. What do the two sides of Penellaphe’s face represent about her nature? What are the various reasons she wears masks to obscure her face? What would it mean to her society for Penellaphe to fully reveal her face—both the features her society finds beautiful and the scars that represent her history?
Creative Engagement
Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.
1. If Penellaphe were to create a series of visual social media posts about discovering her own identity, what images do you think she would choose? What would these images communicate about her journey?
2. Part of Penellaphe’s growth in this story is learning to evaluate the morality of her society more objectively. If she were living in today’s real world, what causes do you imagine she would fight for? Why?
3. The Blood and Ash series is focused on telling Penellaphe’s story. Which other character from the first book do you find most deserving of their own sequel? What would you have happen to this character in your imagined sequel?
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By Jennifer L. Armentrout
