Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

How can anyone give a 5 STAR rating and review to a book that takes that moment where it's time to "flip the table over" and up-end the characters world and insert a heaping pile of distrust (where the author own "storyline setup" suggests this couldn't be the case)...??? This writing "plot-ploy" was done to exhaustion in the book *A Kingdom of Flesh & Fire* with Poppy & Casteel, but I forgave it in them because a lot had happened between them and Poppy's world had been seriously jacked-up... so I road out that melodrama! Yet it sure a heck did not leave me hoping that I could read more books with new characters that have an ounce of that same nonsensical distrust. BUT HERE WE GO!!! I will think twice before buying future books by this author because she is lazy when building complex characters with stability in their rationalizing. Which is sad because this book does have it's charms and I feel the author does a lot of subtle "Hat-Tipping" to the book A Kingdom of Dreams which surely inspired her to write From Blood and Ash in the first place (and do a terrific job at worldbuilding and expanding a 'similar basic premise' into it's own JUGGERNAUT kingdom!) I feel like Jennifer Armentrout responded with the same feeling that I had (wanting more from the characters in that book) and made the From Blood & Ash Series to show 'how it should be done' (by allowing the readers to keep on living inside a multitude of books featuring the same great characters...) and I am totally on board with that! I will even read spinoffs!!! But don't write characters that have the emotional intelligence of a 12 year olds (unless the median-age of your readership is 12) I took away 2 STARS for being forced to endure the "Distrust as a plot point trope" because it has officially become cliché or trope-like - which is shameful to do to readers who want to enjoy well-written books! I took away 1 STAR for the ungodly amount of "Info-dump" dialog and expository. The book is mostly a large worldbuilding info-dump delivered in an interesting manner - THAT would have caused me to give a 4 STAR review... (so if you are cool with the Poppy/Casteel characters-arch where they were "pretending" but "not pretending" exhaustively... this book is for you!) BUT **SPOILERS AHEAD** ...I expect an author to do better/try harder in granting characters functioning communication skills, including the ability to think critically! Especially if the characters have been around for several decades, are presented as PRIMALS or GODLIKE BEINGS (who can supposedly sense emotions). In this book "Sera" had fallen for "Ash" and had feelings for him before she knew who he actually was... So later in the story it is absolutely absurd that (when he basically has hurt feelings over learning that she was trained to be an assassin) the plot tension is hanging on him feeling "distrust" and "betrayal" and resorts to accusing her of having somehow tricked him by faking her emotions. I for one was thinking "WTF? She didn't know who he was and believed he was ASH when they started hanging out... So why wouldn't her feelings be real?" There is an older term in in literature called "torturing the connections" and that seems to be what happens to some really good storyline epiphanies that this author employees. Don't insult your readers by creating emotional discords that must be resolved in addition to a great story arch. It's like building a modern-day mansion that relies on an outhouse.