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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Before I started reading I was very excited for this book, but basically the first half of the book was so underwhelming. Then one event happened which got me invested a little bit and the rest was not... terrible.
Which is a really shitty way to describe a book, but I can't use more positive words.
Laura Sebastian created a YA book that was darker than your average YA novel. With torture and politics and manipulation it wasn't the usual romance light read, not to say it didn't have romance which kind of ruined the more serious approach.
The love triangle with the enemy prince and rebel best friend was of course there and annoying me. It didn't help that the friend didn't even have that much appearance and it was nearly all filled with her sudden feelings for him. Also, the Prince? I did not like him one bit. He was supposed to be this warrior, heir to the throne strategist, but instead he was dumb and whiny and no idea what all the ladies saw in him.
Now the other characters. One of the more interesting ones who I wanted to know more about was killed nearly immediately, the ones that didn't get on my nerves weren't there all that much and Thora/Theo/Theodosia... Well. She was resistant and had a mind for politics and how the people worked while also having magic, but not using it at all. But she also repeated herself constantly and felt guilty all the time while being whiny that she was so weak but she didn't want to be weak anymore, followed by being weak.
Cress, on the other hand, had a great character development and though I kind of figured out her story in the first scene where she wasn't the girl from the beginning of the book anymore making the reveals in the last twenty pages not as shocking, she is basically the only part of this universe that I'm actually interested in to see how it develops.
Conclusion: It wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but honestly, I really don't know if I will ever pick up the sequel.
Which is a really shitty way to describe a book, but I can't use more positive words.
Laura Sebastian created a YA book that was darker than your average YA novel. With torture and politics and manipulation it wasn't the usual romance light read, not to say it didn't have romance which kind of ruined the more serious approach.
The love triangle with the enemy prince and rebel best friend was of course there and annoying me. It didn't help that the friend didn't even have that much appearance and it was nearly all filled with her sudden feelings for him. Also, the Prince? I did not like him one bit. He was supposed to be this warrior, heir to the throne strategist, but instead he was dumb and whiny and no idea what all the ladies saw in him.
Now the other characters. One of the more interesting ones who I wanted to know more about was killed nearly immediately, the ones that didn't get on my nerves weren't there all that much and Thora/Theo/Theodosia... Well. She was resistant and had a mind for politics and how the people worked while also having magic, but not using it at all. But she also repeated herself constantly and felt guilty all the time while being whiny that she was so weak but she didn't want to be weak anymore, followed by being weak.
Cress, on the other hand, had a great character development and though I kind of figured out her story in the first scene where she wasn't the girl from the beginning of the book anymore making the reveals in the last twenty pages not as shocking, she is basically the only part of this universe that I'm actually interested in to see how it develops.
Conclusion: It wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but honestly, I really don't know if I will ever pick up the sequel.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Yes, this is a familiar trope that's been done to death. I don't care, it was fun! Well, maybe fun isn't the best word but it was engaging and I liked the characters and I will read a million of these types of books and not be ashamed! Thora/Theo has the potential to become a badass, so on to the next book in the series!
Thora, the Ash Princess, has a storied past. After her mother, the Queen, and her people were defeated by the Kalovaxians, she became a sort of prisoner under the new Kaiser's thumb. Finally, at 16, a plan is set in motion for Theodosia, the rightful Queen, to emerge and break free.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked Theo's strength, and her constant wavering was relatable. I actually didn't mind the YA fantasy tropes within the story; everything worked. I also liked Soren, which caused me to have mixed feelings with everything that was happening-- in a good way. The insta love with Blaise was a little annoying, but I was overall okay with it. I would recommend this to anybody who likes fantasy!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked Theo's strength, and her constant wavering was relatable. I actually didn't mind the YA fantasy tropes within the story; everything worked. I also liked Soren, which caused me to have mixed feelings with everything that was happening-- in a good way. The insta love with Blaise was a little annoying, but I was overall okay with it. I would recommend this to anybody who likes fantasy!
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
I liked Ash Princess! Not as much as I thought, but I'm still curious about what's going to happen next.
It reminded me a lot of The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkosk. I think it's fact that Theodosia's country was invaded by the Kaiser, and how he conquers countries and then abandons them years later when they can no longer give him what he wants. He burns them (whether it's literal or figurative, I have no idea) but it is a concept that makes no sense, because eventually, won't all of the countries run out of resources? And if they're literally burned to the ground, eventually he'll run out of countries and resources, right?
Maybe I'm thinking too much about this though. This is the sort of book that thinking about these things don't seem to be a good idea, because then things don't make a lot of sense. At any rate, there are some things I really liked.
Like, the idea that the gems are sacred, and that only certain people can use them. I did like that queens weren't, because it would be too much power. I feel like we got a really good sense of Theo's world, and what it's like to live under the Kaiser's rule. While we did get glimpses of what her world was like before he invaded, I still wish we had more of it. It was balanced pretty well, and I wonder if maybe more about her life before would have taken away from how things are now. At the same time, though, it might have added to it. And I did like that the concept of berserkers was tied to the magic in the mines. It definitely got my interest, and while I'm hoping we get more of the experiments that were done, I don't know if we will. I'm just hoping everything will come together.
I did like Theo, and while I think the Theyn and Kaiser were morons for not killing her, I can at least understand why he didn't do it. As for the Kaiser, it was clear she was the example. It kind of reminded of Mare from the Red Queen. I think this book is a great read if you like the Red Queen and The Winner's Curse. And oddly enough, I was reminded of Everless as well, though I couldn't begin to tell you why I was reminded of it. There does seem to be a similar feel to both books, so it could be worth checking out.
I mean, if you read a lot of YA fantasy, this book might be really predictable. I read enough YA fantasy that I thought certain things were predictable. But I was still interested enough to see what would happen, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading the sequel, so I haven't read so much YA fantasy that I was bored. I guess it's really up to you.
There is a love triangle, which wasn't surprising- I mean, I feel like it's pretty standard for virtually every YA fantasy and dystopia to have one. We have Blaise, the boy Theo has love she was little, and Soren, who's father took everything away from her. While we see it throughout the book, I felt like everything else we see in the book is much more important. She's torn between two boys, and while it didn't take over everything else, it was also not just hovering in the background.
I also liked the friendships we see in the book, and I hope we see more of them. I particularly want to see more of Theo's relationship with Artemsia, and I think their relationship is going to get a lot more interesting in the books to come. At least, that's what I'm hoping for. And it should be interesting to see how things turn out with Cress too. There's a lot I'm looking forward to seeing in this series.
My Rating: 4 stars. I didn't love Ash Princess, but I still really enjoyed it, and I'm really looking forward to the next book.
It reminded me a lot of The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkosk. I think it's fact that Theodosia's country was invaded by the Kaiser, and how he conquers countries and then abandons them years later when they can no longer give him what he wants. He burns them (whether it's literal or figurative, I have no idea) but it is a concept that makes no sense, because eventually, won't all of the countries run out of resources? And if they're literally burned to the ground, eventually he'll run out of countries and resources, right?
Maybe I'm thinking too much about this though. This is the sort of book that thinking about these things don't seem to be a good idea, because then things don't make a lot of sense. At any rate, there are some things I really liked.
Like, the idea that the gems are sacred, and that only certain people can use them. I did like that queens weren't, because it would be too much power. I feel like we got a really good sense of Theo's world, and what it's like to live under the Kaiser's rule. While we did get glimpses of what her world was like before he invaded, I still wish we had more of it. It was balanced pretty well, and I wonder if maybe more about her life before would have taken away from how things are now. At the same time, though, it might have added to it. And I did like that the concept of berserkers was tied to the magic in the mines. It definitely got my interest, and while I'm hoping we get more of the experiments that were done, I don't know if we will. I'm just hoping everything will come together.
I did like Theo, and while I think the Theyn and Kaiser were morons for not killing her, I can at least understand why he didn't do it. As for the Kaiser, it was clear she was the example. It kind of reminded of Mare from the Red Queen. I think this book is a great read if you like the Red Queen and The Winner's Curse. And oddly enough, I was reminded of Everless as well, though I couldn't begin to tell you why I was reminded of it. There does seem to be a similar feel to both books, so it could be worth checking out.
I mean, if you read a lot of YA fantasy, this book might be really predictable. I read enough YA fantasy that I thought certain things were predictable. But I was still interested enough to see what would happen, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading the sequel, so I haven't read so much YA fantasy that I was bored. I guess it's really up to you.
There is a love triangle, which wasn't surprising- I mean, I feel like it's pretty standard for virtually every YA fantasy and dystopia to have one. We have Blaise, the boy Theo has love she was little, and Soren, who's father took everything away from her. While we see it throughout the book, I felt like everything else we see in the book is much more important. She's torn between two boys, and while it didn't take over everything else, it was also not just hovering in the background.
I also liked the friendships we see in the book, and I hope we see more of them. I particularly want to see more of Theo's relationship with Artemsia, and I think their relationship is going to get a lot more interesting in the books to come. At least, that's what I'm hoping for. And it should be interesting to see how things turn out with Cress too. There's a lot I'm looking forward to seeing in this series.
My Rating: 4 stars. I didn't love Ash Princess, but I still really enjoyed it, and I'm really looking forward to the next book.
This book was okay. There was nothing in the plot, setting, or mood that set it apart. Its the classic story of a princess who's lands get conquered and she leads a rebellion to get her people free. A bit of a difference for this one was our crown princess was being held hostage by the king who conquered her for 10 years. There is a bit of a potential love triangle going on between her, her childhood best friend, and the Prinz of the kingdom who conquered her
You’ve read this book before. King conquers country. King is cruel. Heir to country vows to avenge. Heir falls in love with prince. Will she choose the prince or her country? Blah blah blah. This book very much resembled not only many other YA fantasy books, but bears many similarities to the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas which was published 4-5 years prior to this book— except, dare I say, not as well written.
That being said, it is a page turner, and the last 25% of the book is especially good.
That being said, it is a page turner, and the last 25% of the book is especially good.