The Crown of Gilded Bones is the third installment of the From Blood and Ash Series. This book picks up exactly where A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire left off — and it has arguably the most iconic cliffhanger ending of the entire series. During this book, Poppy and Casteel’s relationship becomes even stronger (if that’s possible). Poppy continues to explore her hidden powers and mysterious origin while facing enemies she never expected.
A couple of housekeeping items before we begin: with this post, we cover the From Blood and Ash Series Book 1-3 summary. This stretch of the universe is the only three installments that does not touch the information we learn in the prequel series Flesh and Fire. After reading this book, I strongly recommend checking out A Shadow in the Ember, the first book of the prequel series. You can find my full guide for reading Jennifer L. Armentrout’s From Blood and Ash and Flesh and Fire series here.
The Crown of Gilded Bones might just be my favorite installment of the series, so if you haven’t read it yet, you should absolutely check it out.
The Crown of Gilded Bones
Description
Summary
The Wolven Break Their Bonds and Descenters Attack Nyktos’s Temple
The story picks up at the same scene we left Poppy in Nyktos’s temple. As you’ll recall, her arriving at Nyktos’s temple caused Eloana’s crown to burn and shine bright, with the gilded bones revealing Poppy’s lineage to Nyktos.
Casteel attempts to step toward Poppy but is blocked. The bonds between the Wolven and the Atlantians are broken, and the Wolven have all shifted and congregate around Poppy to protect her. Delano howls to call all Wolven to protect their Queen. Alastir says he can feel Poppy’s Primal Notam. The Wolven do not let Casteel approach as they sense their Queen, Poppy, is in danger.
Poppy orders the Wolven to not hurt Casteel, and they obey. The temple is emptied aside from their trusted allies. Kieran switches back to his human form and tells Casteel he was fully about to attack him. He also reveals that all the Wolven will attack them to protect Poppy. They realize Beckett went missing and that he led Poppy to the ambush in Nyktos’s temple.
Alastir is about to be taken into custody. Valyn, Eloana’s husband, reveals that although Eloana bowed before Poppy, until there’s a coronation, they remain in charge.
However, the situation does not deescalate as arrows fly. Jasper jumps in front of Poppy, taking the arrow for her, and begins turning gray. Kieran jumps in front of Poppy, and so does Casteel. They all get hit by arrows while protecting her.
They collapse to the ground, causing Poppy to use her powers and begin destroying the temple. Descenters flood the temple.
Poppy sees a vision of a woman with moonlight-colored hair, Flesh And Fire Spoilers Seraphina who guides her to use her power. Alastir tells Poppy she is the real threat, and Poppy — distracted, gets hit on the back of the head and loses consciousness.
Alastir’s Betrayal, Jansen’s Deception, the Prophecy Revealed, and Poppy’s Injury
Poppy wakes up in a cell made out of the bones of deities (Flesh and Fire spoilers these are bones of Ancients ) which seem to drain her powers. Commander Jansen steps out of the shadows to tell her the bones are intended to contain deities who have become too powerful. He tells Poppy everyone is fine and recovering. He also reveals himself as a Changeling, and that he killed Beckett and took his form to lure Poppy to the temple so they could capture her.
The next time she wakes up, it is Alastir by her cell. Alastir tells her of an old Brotherhood, loyal to Atlantia. This group tries to protect Atlantia from deities who tend to have violent tendencies. The Brotherhood has made a deal with the Ascended and is intending to hand Poppy over. He thinks Casteel will forgive him because he will believe the Ascended captured Poppy.
He finally tells Poppy of her history: Nyktos had a son, Malec, and Malec is Poppy’s father. Alastir has been looking for Poppy for years, and he found her parents the night they died. Her parents confessed to Alastir who Poppy was, and it was Alastir who let the Dark One kill her family. He believed Poppy had died that night.
The Brotherhood believes in a prophecy (as of the ending of Born of Blood and Ash we finally know the full prophecy and I have so many thoughts ) and that they must prevent it. Poppy cannot be killed outright, since it would trigger the Wolven to turn on the Atlantians.
Poppy realizes that although Alastir pretends to be acting for the good of Atlantia, he is really seeking power and trying to regain the influence he lost after Poppy married Casteel.
After eating the food she was provided, Poppy realizes it is drugged. She wakes up while being transported to meet the Ascended for the exchange. Delano, Naill, Jasper, Kieran, Casteel, and King Valyn ambush the exchange to rescue Poppy. Casteel is about to kill Commander Jansen, but Poppy intervenes on his behalf. However, she is distracted by this, and a Descenter shoots a bolt through Poppy’s chest.
Casteel Ascends Poppy
As Poppy bleeds out, a storm breaks out. The earth ruptures and a blood tree grows, its roots wrapping around Poppy and Casteel. Against his father’s protests, Casteel decides to ascend Poppy with Kieran on board.
Poppy stays unconscious for an extended period of time. Kieran promises Casteel he will take care of both of them. Poppy wakes up and realizes the Primal Notam between her and Kieran is still intact. She is also much faster and stronger. Poppy, starving, is about to feed on Kieran when Casteel intervenes, offering her to feed from him instead. They realize that although ascended, Poppy is not an Ascended.
Poppy’s feeding from Casteel quickly turns sexual, with Kieran present to supervise. After she has fed, Poppy finally tells Casteel she loves him.
Poppy runs outside to test if the sun will hurt her, but it does not. She struggles with denial about being a deity, feeling self-conscious about breaking the bonds of the Wolven and Atlantians. She tells them about Alastir’s claims regarding the deities, and Casteel and Kieran explain that the deities became violent and cold because they did not sleep for thousands of years.
Casteel has left Alastir alive for Poppy, while his father escorts him back to Atlantia to prevent him from killing Casteel for ascending Poppy. They ride back through the Skotos Mountains, realizing Aios’s golden trees have now turned into blood trees.
Poppy ponders whether she is a “monster” again, until Delano speaks to her mind. He reassures her she is not a monster, but instead she is their Meyaah Liessa, their Queen.
As they travel through the mountains, the mists break for Poppy.
They arrive at the Cliffs of Ione and find King Valyn, who is surprised that Poppy is not an Ascended. He and his wife suspect what Poppy might have turned into, but he refuses to discuss it further without her present.
Everyone who attacked Poppy is executed, and Alastir is devoured by the Wolven after being stabbed by Poppy.
As they make their way toward Atlantia, they are joined by hundreds of Atlantians who cry and kneel at the sight of Poppy, pounding the ground and slamming their chests while yelling Meyaah Liessa.
The Wolven all shift at the sight of Poppy, saluting her.
Poppy Learns to Communicate with the Wolven and Faces the Unseen
They arrive at the Atlantian palace. Casteel goes to speak with his father while Kieran guards Poppy. Poppy realizes she can communicate with the Wolven mentally, and she and Kieran test whether they can speak mind to mind, which they discover they can.
There is commotion outside and fighting breaks out. Poppy and Kieran join the fight to find Descenters and creatures with no faces attacking the palace. They fight off the group. King Valyn reveals that those were not Descenters but the Unseen, a group they thought had disbanded centuries ago.
The faceless creatures are revealed to be Gyrms, which are basically zombies raised from the immortal land of Iliseeum. Iliseeum can be reached by mortals via the Mountains of Nyktos, but the mist will kill anyone who is not a god.
The way to the Mountains of Nyktos is unclear, but the Elder Council knows the path. Miss Willa Collins is revealed to be one of the elders. Jasper informs them that they can reach Iliseeum via tunnels underneath the mountains.
Casteel and Poppy discuss whether she should take the crown, as she has the right to. Casteel tells her he will support whatever she decides to do.
A man arrives at the palace with his severely injured daughter. She dies, but Poppy brings her back to life. The little girl tells her that someone said, “you always had the power in you,” which Poppy remembers hearing before but cannot place.
They wander through the city, visiting a museum where a large cave cat is displayed. Poppy claims she saw one in the palace back in Carsodonia, but Kieran and Casteel tell her they are long extinct.
Later, they attend a beach wedding where the Wolven are physically intimate with one another. Casteel realizes that Poppy is interested in Kieran and Lyra.
Poppy and Casteel Take the Throne and Plan to Wake Nyktos
Poppy and Casteel meet with the King and Queen, who reveal that Poppy must be Malec’s child. Poppy confesses that she and Casteel are still planning to free Malik, Casteel’s brother, and find Poppy’s brother Ian. Eloana tells Poppy that King Valyn and the Elders are preparing for war, and the only way to avoid it is if Poppy accepts the throne.
Kieran’s sister Vonetta informs them that a convoy of Ascended is arriving, led by Poppy’s brother Ian. Vonetta confirms that Ian is Ascended. Poppy and Casteel go to meet with him. Poppy plans to give Ian relief if he truly is Ascended, knowing her brother would never want this if he were mortal.
They meet with Ian. Ian informs them that Queen Ileana wants to meet with Poppy and Casteel. As they hug goodbye, Ian secretly tells Poppy that he knows the truth and she needs to wake Nyktos.
Poppy decides to take the crown, then travel to Iliseeum to wake Nyktos.
The group is ambushed again, and worried for her companions, Poppy summons her power to kill the Unseen and the Gyrms, then burns their bodies with her eather.
They arrive back at the palace and inform Casteel’s parents that they are going to take the throne. The Elders’ Council shares their concerns, but when they present the King’s crown, it is cracked and the bone burns away, revealing the gilded bones.
Miss Willa and Poppy finally meet again, and Miss Willa reveals that she is a seer and she intentionally sent Poppy to Casteel that first night at the Red Pearl.
Poppy and Casteel are crowned King and Queen. They ask Kieran to be their advisor.
Journey to Iliseeum
Emil, Delano, Vonetta, Casteel, Poppy, and Kieran travel through the tunnels. When they arrive at Iliseeum, skeletons rise from the ground and attack them. Poppy uses her eather to fend them off, and they make it to the Chambers of Nyktos. Poppy touches a stone statue of a draken, which cracks and awakens the creature. The draken sniffs Poppy, then directs her to Nyktos’s Chambers.
They find Nyktos standing in front of his temple. He threatens to kill them all, which Poppy objects to. Nyktos threatens to kill Casteel, to which Poppy responds with sass, seeming to amuse Nyktos. He invites her to speak in his chambers, but alone.
Nyktos tells Poppy she is his grandchild and that he is a Primal. Poppy asks Nyktos for his guards to fight against the Revenants. Nyktos tells her she already has the power in her.
Ileana’s True Identity and Casteel’s Capture
They leave Atlantia to plan the attack against Queen Ileana at Oak Ambler. They enter the castle through an underground passage and find a cave cat in a cage made from the same bones Poppy was once held with.
They are ambushed by a Handmaiden. The Handmaiden threatens to kill Delano, but Ian enters the room and escorts the group to the Queen unharmed.
Ian leads them to a room where Ileana and Tawny wait. Tawny is not Ascended. Queen Ileana is joined by Malik, who does not look like a captive but appears impeccably dressed and unharmed.
Queen Ileana reveals she is, in fact, Poppy’s mother and that she had hoped to marry Malik and Poppy. However, after Poppy’s adoptive mother, Coralena, another Handmaiden, discovered the plan, she tried to run away with Poppy.
Ileana is revealed to be Isbeth, the mortal woman Malec, Poppy’s father, left Eloana for and his heartmate. Eloana poisoned Isbeth, and Malec tried to ascend her. However, because Malec was a god and not a deity, he could not ascend her. So Isbeth became something else entirely. Isbeth proves herself not to be Ascended by standing in the sun. After realizing Malec was long gone, Isbeth married King Jalara to take revenge for Malec and her son who died.
Isbeth reveals that Revenants cannot be killed, demonstrating by killing the handmaiden revealing her as a Revenant and letting them watch it come back to life. Isbeth demands that Poppy give Atlantia over to her. Poppy refuses. Isbeth kills Ian and Lyra.
Poppy attempts to fight Isbeth; however, Isbeth fights back with her power, harming Poppy. Casteel surrenders himself to stop her from hurting Poppy further and is taken as prisoner.
Poppy Summons the Draken and Begins Hunting Isbeth
Poppy wakes up outside Oak Ambler and realizes Casteel gave himself up in exchange for her life. Isbeth has stabbed Tawny with a Shadowblade, but has given her to Poppy’s care as a sign of good faith.
Poppy gathers her power and begins crumbling the walls of Oak Ambler. The Handmaiden/Revenant tells her that Isbeth has already left, and she is about to demolish a city full of civilians. Poppy stops.
On their way back to Atlantia, Poppy realizes she is more than a deity. She consolidates her power back in the palace by demonstrating her abilities and confronts Casteel’s parents about never telling them the truth about Ileana’s true identities.
Poppy and Kieran travel back to Iliseeum as Poppy finally understands what Nyktos meant when he said she had the power in her. Nyktos has gone back to sleep, but they find Nektas, the draken she awakened earlier, now in his mortal form.
Nektas asks her if she finally realizes she could always summon them. Poppy asks for the help of the Draken. Nektas agrees, but on one condition: Poppy must help them find Ires, Malec’s twin and her true father. Ires has gone into the mortal realm with a draken of his own, Jadis, Nektas’s daughter, and has been missing ever since.
Poppy realizes the cave cat they had seen under the tunnels was indeed Ires, her father. She agrees, and the Draken follow her into the mortal realm.
Poppy, having demanded the Blood Crown send their king or queen to meet her, confronts King Jalara. Jalara insults her, but Poppy is unphased. Instead, she beheads him on the spot, while Reaver, one of the Draken who joined her, attacks the Revenant.
Poppy tells the Revenant to return to Isbeth with King Jalara’s head as the message. She vows to burn every Revenant that stands between her and Isbeth, every Ascended who crosses her, and makes it clear her entire continued existence depends on Casteel’s well-being.
Time to bow before the queen or bleed for her!
There you have it. That is the entire summary of A Crown of Gilded Bones. I know a lot of people complain about the lengthy monologues and some of the repetitive themes in this series, but I truly LOVE A Crown of Gilded Bones. What’s there not to love? Poppy is a complete badass who truly comes into her own. We get so much Kieran in this book and the next, who is my favorite character of the series. My babies Nyktos and Nektas finally join the current timeline.
As a lore nerd, I LOVE crossover events, and you absolutely should go and read this entire book (or the whole series) if you’re into strong women and amazing lore connections that span thousands of years apart.
Normally here, we would move on to A Shadow in the Ember, but for continuity purposes, I’ll tackle my recap of The War of Two Queens next before wrapping up the From Blood and Ash series and jumping into the Flesh and Fire series.
Do you have a favorite book from this amazing universe? Let me know in the comments! And sign up for our newsletter to be notified when I post about the next books!
Disclaimer: The images in this post are AI-generated artwork created for illustrative, entertainment, and commentary purposes. They are inspired by the world of From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout but are not official, licensed, or endorsed in any way. All characters and settings remain the property of their original creators and copyright holders. This content reflects our personal interpretations and is shared as part of our independent coverage.
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