Reviews tagging 'Death'

Ashes by Iona Wayland

5 reviews

bree_h_reads's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It took me FOREVER to finish this book, but that was more due to my sporadic reading than any fault of the book. Overall Ashes was extremely enjoyable and tackled a lot of really interesting and dark themes.

I felt like Angela was a really interesting, compelling character with complex struggles. Every character felt so realistic and alive, it was easy to get attached to them and want to learn more. The realness of the characters also helped raised the tension when they were in danger (which was often.)

The descriptions were clear and painted both beautiful and haunting pictures of the things within the story. It set such a clear tone for scenes and helped build tension effectively. The descriptions really helped the books atmosphere and followed Angela’s arc very well.

Every twist felt well built too as well. I especially liked the out of order flow of information. It helped tell the story while explaining more about the characters, overall a really great choice.

My only issue was the romance in the book feeling a bit rushed, but that wasn’t a huge hindrance on enjoyment.

Great book, I definitely recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Minor: Homophobia, Medical content, Abandonment, and Suicide

nixkelley's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Addiction, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, and Suicide

storyphile's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Body horror, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, Drug use, and Drug abuse

wanderonwards's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Ashes is a dark, emotional journey dealing with trauma and grief set against the backdrop of a magical and fantastical forest with horror elements. It’s compulsively readable: the story immediately grabbed my attention and I ended up finishing it in one day. Even though this story handles heavy subjects, it does so in an informed and compassionate way. Parts of the story were on the edge of too graphic for my tastes, but overall this is a stunning debut and I look forward to watching this author’s career progress.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Blood and Homophobia

maisierosereads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

I won an eARC of Ashes from the author in a giveaway - thank you Iona! All views here are my own. 

Content warnings: drug use, addiction, overdose, suicide, assault, rape (including a graphic flashback), graphic violence,  homophobia, consensual sexual situations, grief, attempted murder

I sat down today thinking that I would start to read Ashes, not realising that I would also finish reading it today. Once I started reading I had to continue, capitvated by the writing and desperate to see where Angela's journey through grief and trauma would end.

Ashes is beautiful and horrific all at once. The author's perspective as a trauma-informed mental health professional showed in how compassionately she depicted such difficult experiences and ways in which the trauma from such experiences can present. The realities of serious traumas are mixed with dark fantasy in a way which enhances rather than detracts from these issues.

The flaws of all characters are very much on show through this story, but many of these flaws are addressed and the character development is handled really well. I would say that the cast of characters is diverse. 

The worldbuilding is also excellent, as is the way the writer mixes the main character's present timeline with flashbacks and memories to gradually build the reader's understanding of what has happened. 

I won't risk spoiling this story for anybody by going into detail but I felt satisfied with the ending and I'm very glad I read this book!

Recommended for:
Fans of dark fantasy & horror
Fans of the movie Annihilation
People who like their horror to be written from a  trauma-informed perspective
Fans of magical realism
People who like diversity across a book's cast of characters
People looking for latinx characters written by latinx authors

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicide, Chronic illness, Vomit, Violence, Blood, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Homophobia and Body horror