⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 | 🌶️🌶️

An immaculate second installment in a romantasy series I’m now completely obsessed with. The slow burn? Perfect. The plot twists? Wild. The last third of the book!!? Unhinged (in the best way).

Saga was such a win for the anxiety girlies, and Rey might just be creeping up my top 10 book boyfriends list. Bonus points for a dual POV between sisters that was actually balanced—no skipping chapters here!

Demi Winters delivers one of the most thoughtful portrayals of healing from trauma and addiction I’ve ever read in fantasy. Deep, emotional, and beautifully done.

Trust the journey, and brace yourself for that cliffhanger. Book 3 can’t come fast enough.

Wow! From start to finish this book was incredible. I am frothing at the mouth for more!The character development, the world building. I felt like I was watching a movie. I was fully immersed.

I can't tell you how many times I have reread this. Figured it's finally time to leave a review. I loved the first installment, Road of Bones. I didn't know how this could possibly compare. Second books tend to fall off or be filler. Ummmm, no. I've heard many argue that it is better than the first. I mean... I have a special place in my heart for the first, but boy, did this just come in swinging. There are so many points of view. So many characters' stories interwoven into the main plot. The history, the lies, the half truths, the discoveries, the trials. My oh my. It's like Game of Thrones in that you can reread it multiple times and continue to catch new things. I thought I loved the book, but then I reread using audio as well, so frigging good! It didn't even play on the cliffhanger trope to get you to wish for 3. It doesn't need a cliffhanger. It's so good you want to know more about EVERY character. Where are they now? One horse trope, one bed, slow burn, the romance isn't the plot, found family, freedom, addiction, betrayal, loyalty, danger, scary creatures, magic! Female characters who are not the ideal bad asses. They start out weak and things don't just magically get fixed. They have loss and struggles, as previously mentioned....addiction, but also anxiety, panic disorder, PTSD, depression, warranted trust issues, and sheltered refusal... but through book 2 there is so much growth and bad assery. This is set to be a 5 book masterpiece of epic proportions. I can't wait to see what the other books bring. Demi is an insta buy insta support author. She is super talented and writes so beautifully realistic in her fantasy realms. Well done!

Kingdom of claws
(The Ashen Series Book Two)
Demi Winter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️,5
🌶️🌶️

Tl/dr : an amazing second book in a romantasy series I will absolutely be continuing!

What I liked :
Saga and the anxiety-girlies representation
Rey, in my ever-evolving top 10 book boyfriend list
The IMMACULATE slow burn
The writing and the impeccably paced plot
The last 150 pages are EVERYTHING

What I didn’t like :
It’s been ages since I hated a character as much as I hate Jonas.
Rurick gives me the ick.

I really can’t wait for the next book!

I honestly don't know how I'm supposed to read another book. Ever.

I love how much this book built onto the first part of the story and how much the characters grew. This was a fantastic read for me and I'm absolutely itching for book three.

Thank you again to Demi, Delacorte and Netgalley for this ARC. i attest that I am leaving my review honestly and voluntarily.

The Kingdom of the Claw completely blew me away. I already loved book one, but this sequel took everything to the next level. The tension was absolutely delicious—from the slow-burn romance to the high-stakes plot, I was hooked from the first page. Watching the characters grow, confront their pasts, and truly find one another was so satisfying. The emotional depth, the chemistry, the worldbuilding—chef’s kiss. I devoured it and immediately told all my friends they had to read it too. This is Viking romantasy at its finest.

4.25

I loved every pov! AND the magic system >>>
Silla and Rey's growth and romance had me swooning, especially with all the tension! I highly suggest the audio—it was so good and fun! Also...THAT ENDING!?! I’ll definitely be picking up book 3, especially since there was so much build-up and world-building within this one!

I did find the first half a little slow, but I think I was teetering on the edge of a reading slump—I'm so glad I pushed through!

I really enjoyed reading the second book. I loved the new storyline of Saga and really appreciated the back-and-forth POVs. I can’t wait to read the next one and see the world expand. Just like the first book,I liked that I could never guess where the plot was going necessarily.

It was really good, I loved the writing, the character’s personality and the dynamics. The plot was also captivating, though I initially assumed it was a duology. But well I was wrong. A lively read.

Imagine the best fantasy world you’ve ever gotten lost in. The story that made you forget you were reading. The cliffhanger than has you counting the days until the next book.

This one is even better.

Demi Winters’ The Ashen series is a Roman Empire Read.

Kingdom of Claw is the second book in the series and comes out in a gorgeous new hardcover on February 4, 2025. Until then, it’s available as an ebook - along with Book 1: The Road of Bones.

As with The Road of Bones, Kingdom of Claw kept me guessing until the very last page. I still am. In hindsight, the twists make sense and the groundwork was there - but what an experience to read this for the first time as I didn’t see ANY of it coming (well, maybe one thing ❤️). *The woman was too stunned to speak*

I don’t even want to share too many tropes here as you should go in as blind as you can.

But I will tell you this is one of the most beautiful stories of healing - both from trauma and addiction - I’ve ever read. Winters tackled these difficult subjects with so much care, she took her time with this aspect and made it impossible not to feel empathy.

Kingdom of Claw introduces a new main character, Silla’s sister, Saga. I adored the way Kingdom of Claw was written as a dual POV between the sisters - I’m not sure I’ve seen that before. And, I’ll be honest, usually when there’s a dual POV, I have a favorite and can’t wait for the story to turn back to that character. That’s not the case here - the characters, the settings, and the respective dramatic elements were both incredibly paced and never once did I wish to turn back to another character. Plotting perfection.

Another easy 5⭐️ from me for Winters. Beware of a cliffhanger here, I’m not sure how I’ll survive the wait for Book 3 but I’m sure glad to be along for the ride.

I really struggled through the first half, it was very slow with little happening. After that it really picked up and redeemed itself some. The world building was much expanded upon, the magic system explained more, and new elements introduced. I preferred the romance in this one over the first book. The characters had some great development; overcoming grief, coming to terms with who they are. My biggest issue was the writing- it seemed every other chapter ended with, "And then..." And once I noticed it I couldn't move past it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️

An excellent follow up to an excellent debut. SO fun, romantic, exciting and mysterious. I liked this book even more than the first one so I guess I have to give it 6 stars.

Ms. Winters, please hear me begging from the Midwest to release book 3 as soon as possible. Thank you!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author Demi Winters for this eARC.

"𝐒𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧, 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝙝𝙞𝙢.""

I will absolutely say, this book somehow bested the first book by far! I will gladly say, I am utterly obsessed with Saga’s storyline. The romance, the emotions, the slow burn, the story, the character development, everything was just SO good! Also, I absolutely loved the recap of book 1!

""𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝," 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧, "𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐭.""

This one started off quite strong for me, between the world building and the additional POV’s, I was thoroughly enjoying it. I felt such a pull towards Saga and her storyline, whereas I actually fell off a bit with Sillas despite the growth from the first book. I really adored the contrast between both of our FMC’s along with the similarities. I also really enjoyed getting to know Rey much more in this book, and of course, Rurik was a fantastic addition. Not to mention, the romance? GUSH! I will say, despite feeling fast paced, it also felt like there were some slow points for me that had me dragging a bit. Overall, I did enjoy this one, and I am looking forward to seeing where this series goes.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

Definitely recommend reading if you enjoy the following:
✨ Vikings x Fantasy
✨ Mental health rep
✨ Forced proximity
✨ Multi-POV
✨ SLOW burn

I was so excited to be back in this world!

I loved the introduction to new characters and experiencing the continuation of the journey.

I can't wait for the next book!

Really love this story & characters! While I do wish the pace was a bit faster, I love how thoroughly the world and characters are built and how much the reader can feel the characters’ experiences. Really enjoying this series & I cannot wait for more Saga! Some events I also feel didn’t seem to fit into the story super well/felt like they came out of nowhere, but overall I really loved the plot & especially the characters!

Thank you so much Penguin Random House for the ARC!

I loved gaining Saga’s POV in this continuation of the Ashen series, and yet another slow burn romance to follow! There were times where this was slow but I was going through a major book slumps while reading so take that with a grain of salt.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Ashen Series so far and really enjoyed the developments we got to see!

First, the burn was SLOWWW in all the best ways. Watching Silla and Rey trying to resist their growing feelings, Rey doing everything he can to soften his dark/broody exterior to be who Silla needs, and Sill breaking through Rey's walls to finally take care of HIM. UGH beautiful love story.

Second, we get the Saga POV in this book and the fun little romance plot between her and Kas, which is another slow burn on top of a slow burn leaving you in slow burn heaven.

I am such a sucker for a sister plot line so that fact that the entire plot for this book is really driven by these sisters doing everything they can to protect each other and find each other really pulls at my heart strings.

The only reason I only gave it 4 stars is because the pacing at times was a bit slow and I felt like the plot twist at the end was a bit anti-climactic. Still excited to read book 3!!

So many thoughts go through my head!! This was so good!! There was a time or two when ai was struggling but overall it is really good!! There are shifters!! What is going on with the prince!! Poor Saga! I love the multiple POV in this book going from the sisters to the me. In the book. There are times where you are shaking the book going come on!! That was such a cliffhanger!! I don’t even fully understand what happened to Saga in the end! And there is no book 3 anytime soon? I need it today!!! The story was good, it goes up and down and keeps you hanging on! The development in the characters, I am still struggling why Saga can’t go outside. But she has grown strong enough to handle rebelling against the evil king and queen? I honestly hope this is a trilogy, because I can’t handle this waiting for a book 4.

A five-star rating for this masterpiece. This series, while substantial in length, showcases intricate worldbuilding, beautiful prose, and unique storytelling that keeps readers engaged throughout. The narrative maintains high stakes and tension, making it an unforgettable reading experience. The character development, particularly for Rey, Silla, Saga, and Kass, is exceptional, though Jonas remains an antagonistic force that I absolutely loved to hate. The story elicits a range of emotional responses - from anxiety to elation - and creates a deep connection between readers and these fictional characters. I eagerly await the announcement of the third book's release date!

Some favorite quotes:

- If you wish to rest, I will shield you from harm. If you want to fight, I will draw my sword beside you. If you want a hundred chickens, I will build you a hen-fortress.
- “Enough, Rey,” said Jonas. “My quarrel is not with you.” “That’s where you’re wrong, Jonas,” growled Rey. “If your quarrel is with her, then it is my fight. Heed my warning as I’ll say it only once: You touch her and I’ll open your throat with my axe.” “She’s got you wrapped around her finger, Rey. That’s what she does. She tricks you. She’s a liar.” “I know she’s a liar. She’s my liar, though.”
- “A hungry wolf is bound to wage a hard battle. And we . . . are starving.”

Obsessed with this series. There are not many Viking romantasy stories out there and if you’re looking for a good one, this is it.

This is book two in the series and I ate it up. I couldn’t put it down. It picks up right after book one. The story is captivating, the world building is spot on and the characters are wonderful. 100% worth the read.

I need more people talking about this series.