Kingdom of Claw

The Ashen Series, Book 2

By: Demi Winters

Narrated by: Islay Jacobs

Silla Nordvig survived the Road of Bones.

In the aftermath of her journey, her dreams of a simple life have been shattered. Beaten, betrayed, and reeling from the revelation of her true name, she flees Kopa with Reynir Galtung, the ruthless leader of the Bloodaxe Crew. Silla soon discovers Rey has been keeping secrets of his own, and they're forced into hiding together.

Stuck in a shield-home with the murderous man she thought she knew, Silla forms a new plan: master the magic flowing through her veins to save her sister. But before she can do that, Silla must face her most formidable opponent yet—her inner demons.

Saga Volsik has nothing to lose.

They've murdered her family, stolen her throne, and now, they expect her to marry their son. When she discovers her foster mother has been keeping the biggest secret of all, everything changes.

Saga's goal: dismantle Queen Signe's plans piece by piece. The only problem? The handsome Zagadkian dignitary who knows far too many of her secrets.

Meanwhile, dark threads continue to weave themselves through Íseldur as magic long thought dead begins to wake. In this follow-up to The Road of Bones, both women will need to find the strength to step into their destiny and stop chaos from sweeping across the land.

Return to the Kingdom of Íseldur, where enemies become lovers, and dark secrets hide around each corner. This installment digs deeper into Íseldur's forbidden magic and the simmering attraction growing between two unlikely couples.

©2024 Demi Winters (P)2024 Podium Audio

Just as good as the first

I love the first book so much and I was so afraid this one would disappoint, but it did not! It was great and Im so down for more, Im just sad I have to wait.

When I tell you this book altered my brain chemistry…

It has been a VERY long time since I have completely fallen in love with a group of characters the way I have with The Ashen characters. I don’t know how I’ll possibly wait for the next book. Top 3 series for me (so far)!

New favorite

This series is amazing. I love the new characters. I can not wait for the next book and to see where the series goes, and to hear about the rest of the blood axe crew again. Top 3 series easily.

Storyline!!

So rare that the second book was better than the first. Both are fantastic, but this one… so good!

Book 2 is even better than book 1!!

I’m not sure how Demi Winters did it, but I enjoyed Kingdom of Claw even more than The Road of Bones!

I will keep my review vague so the story can unfold for you and there aren’t any spoilers!

Silla survived The Road of Bones and is on the run with a member of The Battle Axe crew, hiding in a safe house. She’s working to understand her background better and come to an acceptance of the information she learned about herself on The Road of Bones.

“I know who you are… I know why the queen is hunting you.”

There’s an added POV in book 2 from a different part of the Kingdom giving us an opportunity to learn more about the world and politics and the other POV is uncovering information pertinent to the story. With the additional POV, it expands our group of side characters, which is one of my favorite things about the series. Found family is one of my favorite tropes and this found family is well developed and treasured!

Silla, our FMC is a fighter and her growth in the series continues to surprise me!

The series is heavier on Fantasy with Romance on the side and the slow-burn finally starts to burn in Kingdom of Claw and I am here for it!!

“The last thought Silla had before falling into slumber was that even after eighteen winters, she still very much wanted to hold this man’s hand.”

I didn’t want the story to end and although it’s been days since I finished, I’m still thinking about the story!

The glossary at the end is helpful as well as the Zagadkian translations.

Romance content: 3 open-door scenes. (Closed-door modifications: Ch.49, 52, & 67)

Thrilling

Never knew where the story would turn! Making my book club now read! Can’t wait for book 3

Need more Saga / Rurik!

I have some mixed feelings about this book! Overall I liked the story and oh man all that action packed into the last 10-15% of the book was pure gold. Legit can’t wait to read the next book, especially since Saga’s role in the storyline gets bigger (and that plot twist with Rurik?!). However, do I think this book needed to be almost 750 pages? I’m not so sure. I think this could have had some of the fluff taken out and it would have almost added to the story. There were some points where it kind of dragged. Like why was Jonas scattered through the WHOLE book, just to get the end that he did? That felt a bit anticlimactic.

This story ends on a major cliffhanger and man that last 50-70 pages really grabs you. I forgot entirely about all my displeasures about certain characters and could not put my kindle down! For that I raised this to 4 stars because I think it set up the next book PERFECTLY. Please please pleaseeee give me more Saga / Rurik and let Silla / Eisa be less whiny.

The audio helped TREMENDOUSLY to get through some of the slower portions so that I could enjoy the story overall! It's a lengthy one, but I am definitely going to listen to book three when it is available.

Could not put down!

Loved this book from beginning to end! The first book was soooo sloooow for the first half, but not this one. Can’t wait for the next book.

So Good!!

So good!! I didn't want it to end, even better than the 1st! I'm invested and the cliffhanger on this has me tormented with the exception of knowing I'll have a good excuse to reread these. 😁

Better than the first!

I enjoyed reading the first book of the Ashen series and honestly did not expect the second to be this good! The world building was good, the plot was intricate and interesting and I loved the complexity of the characters and how their lives are inter-woven. There was enough tension, mystery, plot twists and romance to keep me captivated so much so that I can't wait to see how the story develops in book 3.