So normally the books that are more about character and relationship development rather than action and plot tend to end up being my favourite of a series when I look back, even if they aren't in the moment when I'm actually reading them. So I'm really hoping this proves to be the case with A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire. It's not bad, but the audio version feels REALLY slow going. And this is only part one!

Thank goodness for the voice actor for Castiel. He effectively carried this for me. His narration really paints a picture of the character that I can see in my mind's eye; something I can't say for any other character (except maybe Kieran). His quips, cheeky grins and general disposition bring a lightness to the tale that I wasn't expecting to carry through from book one, and I do find myself wanting to know more about him and his history. 

Conversely, I found myself liking Poppy less and less as the story progressed. I completely understand her reticence to trust Cas after all that's occurred to date, but throughout I felt that there was very little logic to her actions, and her complete hard-headedness drove me to despair. In particular, her mental gymnastics about her feelings for Cas drove me up the wall. And while I get that it's an ongoing joke about her wanting to continually stab Cas, it stops being funny when it feels like she'd actually do it to hurt him despite her admitting she cares about him. 

There are a few places throughout the narrative where descriptions and phrases are repeated almost verbatim in a very short period, which gave elements of the book a bit of an 'amaterish' feel. Now, I'm by no means an expert, but it just left me with that 'slightly rushed fanfic' vibe. Likewise, some of the characterisation, particularly of new characters like Alistair, left me feeling confused about their positions. I usually really enjoy it when a new ambiguous character is introduced, trying to work out whether they're going toncome through for the heroes or be their downfall, but in this case it felt to me like the author had maybe changed her mind about his character part way through writing? So as a result I'm sat there feeling like I can't truly trust Alistair, but lacking the good type of anxiety and worry about his motivations. 

Overall I just felt that this was a lot of going round in circles until the last hour or two, and I suspect I may get more enjoyment out of eyeball reading this one. The quality of the Graphic Audio is great, as always, but I'm not sure that it's the best way to be introduced into this world. Perhaps if/when I have read the books physically, I'll come back and enjoy it far more.