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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Final Review!!!
Housekeeping
1. MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. PLEASE TREAD LIGHTLY IF YOU HAVE NOT READ/FINISHED ASH PRINCESS
2. I might have to include triggering topics for this book in order to write a good review. The most prominent triggers may include: pedophilia, murder, slavery, whipping, and conquest.
3. My feelings on this book are around a week old at the time of writing this review and were not very strong in the first place, so chances are this will not be a very emotion-filled review aside from a few bits.
Rest of Review
Ash Princess
(noun) My easiest goodbye
No thank you, is what I should have said
The Bad, the Good, and the Quotes - Part One: The Bad
This book...*rubs temples*. I didn't hate it, and I gave it four stars - that has to count for something, right? But...there were some serious issues I had that made me want to like just stop reading many times. It's honestly a miracle I didn't rate it lower.
My first issue was with the main character - which never bodes well, especially when a book is written in first person. Theodosia (Theo) was constantly contradicting herself and I spent half the book wishing I could get out of her head and read the book from literally anyone else's pov. What drove me craziest was that she doesn't seem to comprehend that you can feel bad about doing something awful even when it helps you and your people. You can feel bad for Dagmaer and Crescentia and what you did to them. You can feel guilty about it and still understand that you did what you had to. The two aren't mutually exclusive, Theo. It drove me crazy and I wanted to pull my hair out because of it.
Next: ARTEMISIA. ISTG even at the end I HATED her so fucking much and urghhhhh just like can you Die please? I hate that her existence impacted my reading experience so much but it really did. and honestly I hated her for that too. shes just such a fucking brat like wth are you even doing like why are you here if ur gonna act like this???
I hate fake nice people. Crescentia is one of them. Can we kill her too? Let's kill her too. Great.
LOVE TRIANGLE UGHHHHHHHHHH NO ONE LIKES CHILDHOOD BEST FRIENDS TO LOVERS I WAS ROOTING FOR SOREN AND YOU RUINED IT THATS FUCKED UP MS SEBASTIAN THATS FUCKED UP!!!
Also why did Theo keep having to bring up her mom??? like every other page it felt so repetitive. I also didn't like the beginning.
Ok now that I've calmed down we can move on.
PS: pedophilia makes me want to barf and I get that its a problem but its too real for me to read in a fantasy book so can we maybe not Ms Sebastian?
The Bad, the Good, and the Quotes - Part Two: The Good
._. .................................................................................
jk JK there was some good. Ok the more I think about it the more I feel like this book is like two stars ngl. The only good thing was that Theo knows how to play the game and I love a good female MC who knows how to play the game.
The Bad, the Good, and the Quotes - Part Three: The Quotes
barely about to bother with quotes so lets just do the one on the last page lmao bc honestly I don't care anymore.
found on page: 433
Thanks for listening to me rant about this book that I am now realizing I honestly kind of hated. Next review will be Loveboat, Taipei, which I KNOW FOR A FACT that I loved and my rating on that book will not be changing any time soon.
As of June 10th4 Stars. Review to come.
Housekeeping
1. MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. PLEASE TREAD LIGHTLY IF YOU HAVE NOT READ/FINISHED ASH PRINCESS
2. I might have to include triggering topics for this book in order to write a good review. The most prominent triggers may include: pedophilia, murder, slavery, whipping, and conquest.
3. My feelings on this book are around a week old at the time of writing this review and were not very strong in the first place, so chances are this will not be a very emotion-filled review aside from a few bits.
Rest of Review
Ash Princess
(noun) My easiest goodbye
No thank you, is what I should have said
The Bad, the Good, and the Quotes - Part One: The Bad
This book...*rubs temples*. I didn't hate it, and I gave it four stars - that has to count for something, right? But...there were some serious issues I had that made me want to like just stop reading many times. It's honestly a miracle I didn't rate it lower.
My first issue was with the main character - which never bodes well, especially when a book is written in first person. Theodosia (Theo) was constantly contradicting herself and I spent half the book wishing I could get out of her head and read the book from literally anyone else's pov. What drove me craziest was that she doesn't seem to comprehend that you can feel bad about doing something awful even when it helps you and your people. You can feel bad for Dagmaer and Crescentia and what you did to them. You can feel guilty about it and still understand that you did what you had to. The two aren't mutually exclusive, Theo. It drove me crazy and I wanted to pull my hair out because of it.
Next: ARTEMISIA. ISTG even at the end I HATED her so fucking much and urghhhhh just like can you Die please? I hate that her existence impacted my reading experience so much but it really did. and honestly I hated her for that too. shes just such a fucking brat like wth are you even doing like why are you here if ur gonna act like this???
I hate fake nice people. Crescentia is one of them. Can we kill her too? Let's kill her too. Great.
LOVE TRIANGLE UGHHHHHHHHHH NO ONE LIKES CHILDHOOD BEST FRIENDS TO LOVERS I WAS ROOTING FOR SOREN AND YOU RUINED IT THATS FUCKED UP MS SEBASTIAN THATS FUCKED UP!!!
Also why did Theo keep having to bring up her mom??? like every other page it felt so repetitive. I also didn't like the beginning.
Ok now that I've calmed down we can move on.
PS: pedophilia makes me want to barf and I get that its a problem but its too real for me to read in a fantasy book so can we maybe not Ms Sebastian?
The Bad, the Good, and the Quotes - Part Two: The Good
._. .................................................................................
jk JK there was some good. Ok the more I think about it the more I feel like this book is like two stars ngl. The only good thing was that Theo knows how to play the game and I love a good female MC who knows how to play the game.
The Bad, the Good, and the Quotes - Part Three: The Quotes
barely about to bother with quotes so lets just do the one on the last page lmao bc honestly I don't care anymore.
found on page: 433
But she was right, in a way. I was a princess made of ashes; there is nothing left of me to burn.
Now it's time for a queen to rise.
Thanks for listening to me rant about this book that I am now realizing I honestly kind of hated. Next review will be Loveboat, Taipei, which I KNOW FOR A FACT that I loved and my rating on that book will not be changing any time soon.
As of June 10th4 Stars. Review to come.
Hmm. Were *clap* do *clap* I *clap* begin?
Okay so this is more like a 3.5 ish but also has spoilers so be warned.
SOoooo the blurb on the back had me expecting more "...a smart, feminist twist on a traditional tale of a fallen heroine..." Call me basic for bringing up Sarah J Maas (though I love her and wont be ashamed) BUT Celaena in the first two books of Throne of Glass is what I was expecting, not this.
Now don't get me wrong... I liked many aspects of this, as cliche as some were. I like fantasies for a reason and sometimes that comes with similar plot points. ALSO I love the set up of the entire series and the elemental magic, as something I haven't read about before. However, who is Theo for most of this book.
Okay so now is where I get a little heated with the feminist comment. I'm all for kick ass girls being on their own or having a partner and still being kick ass; HOWEVER, she literally depended on the feelings of a boy who has helped keep her people enslaved for the last few years of when he could man his own ship. The amount of side commentary stating something on the lines of "I shouldn't want to feel the pleasure in his touch as much as I do" like please gag me. While everyone can see from my previous reviews of everything I'm like always all for the cheesiness like give it all to me, I love new adult for fucks sake lololol. But having the expectation of this being such a strong female lead, I was a little disappointed hence the 3 stars.
On the brighter side of things, while she's still showing feelings towards Soren at the end of this book, at least she has the good sense to somewhat put her country and 20,000 people left, before him. And I love the side characters, Blaise, Art, and Heron were mostly the things saving this for me. (also I'm not completely sold on the ending, but I'm still excited to read the next book, because I feel that this could be saved for me)
Overall, not my favorite, but I really wanted it to succeed and it did please me in some ways. *shrugs*
(Summer Reading Challenge Book 2)
Okay so this is more like a 3.5 ish but also has spoilers so be warned.
SOoooo the blurb on the back had me expecting more "...a smart, feminist twist on a traditional tale of a fallen heroine..." Call me basic for bringing up Sarah J Maas (though I love her and wont be ashamed) BUT Celaena in the first two books of Throne of Glass is what I was expecting, not this.
Now don't get me wrong... I liked many aspects of this, as cliche as some were. I like fantasies for a reason and sometimes that comes with similar plot points. ALSO I love the set up of the entire series and the elemental magic, as something I haven't read about before. However, who is Theo for most of this book.
Okay so now is where I get a little heated with the feminist comment. I'm all for kick ass girls being on their own or having a partner and still being kick ass; HOWEVER, she literally depended on the feelings of a boy who has helped keep her people enslaved for the last few years of when he could man his own ship. The amount of side commentary stating something on the lines of "I shouldn't want to feel the pleasure in his touch as much as I do" like please gag me. While everyone can see from my previous reviews of everything I'm like always all for the cheesiness like give it all to me, I love new adult for fucks sake lololol. But having the expectation of this being such a strong female lead, I was a little disappointed hence the 3 stars.
On the brighter side of things, while she's still showing feelings towards Soren at the end of this book, at least she has the good sense to somewhat put her country and 20,000 people left, before him. And I love the side characters, Blaise, Art, and Heron were mostly the things saving this for me. (also I'm not completely sold on the ending, but I'm still excited to read the next book, because I feel that this could be saved for me)
Overall, not my favorite, but I really wanted it to succeed and it did please me in some ways. *shrugs*
(Summer Reading Challenge Book 2)
“We are not defined by the things we do in order to survive. We do not apologize for them,” she says quietly, eyes never leaving mine. “Maybe they have broken you, but you are a sharper weapon because of it. And it is time to strike.”
This book has two of my favorite things in it: politics and magic.
First and foremost this is book is all politics and Theo trying to survive in the court of the man who had her mother killed and took over her kingdom. The Kaiser invaded her world and completely upturned it. But Theo has survived for 10 long years and is slowly biding her time waiting to strike back. I loved reading Theo's inner dialogue and she pieced together plans and schemes to free herself and those she cares about. I also loved how she had to weigh her position in the court with helping her people.
This book is dark and gory. Theo has to endure the worst at the hands of the Kaiser. Whether it is verbal abuse and name calling or beatings to punish her after something her people have done. Or being forced to watch as her people are tortured and killed. There is a lot of violence and bloodshed in this book. Theo's people have become slaves in this new world and she is merely a slave dressed up at court.
The magic in this book is minimal only slightly explored in this first book, but I really want to learn more about the gems and controlling the elements with them. This book is definitely an introduction to the story. It sets up the rebellion and Theo's stake for the throne but it leaves so much more to be answered.
I cannot wait for Lady Smoke and see where Theo's story takes her next. I really hope we get to learn more about the magic system and more importantly there is more politics and manipulating
This book has two of my favorite things in it: politics and magic.
First and foremost this is book is all politics and Theo trying to survive in the court of the man who had her mother killed and took over her kingdom. The Kaiser invaded her world and completely upturned it. But Theo has survived for 10 long years and is slowly biding her time waiting to strike back. I loved reading Theo's inner dialogue and she pieced together plans and schemes to free herself and those she cares about. I also loved how she had to weigh her position in the court with helping her people.
This book is dark and gory. Theo has to endure the worst at the hands of the Kaiser. Whether it is verbal abuse and name calling or beatings to punish her after something her people have done. Or being forced to watch as her people are tortured and killed. There is a lot of violence and bloodshed in this book. Theo's people have become slaves in this new world and she is merely a slave dressed up at court.
The magic in this book is minimal only slightly explored in this first book, but I really want to learn more about the gems and controlling the elements with them. This book is definitely an introduction to the story. It sets up the rebellion and Theo's stake for the throne but it leaves so much more to be answered.
I cannot wait for Lady Smoke and see where Theo's story takes her next. I really hope we get to learn more about the magic system and more importantly there is more politics and manipulating
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was one of the best books I've read in 2018. Definitely top 5. This was an incredible debut and first book in a new YA Fantasy trilogy. Reading the synopsis, you'd think this was just your generic YA fantasy. Rightful young Queen trying to take back her kingdom, falls for enemy, etc. I wanted to read it based on that I read most YA fanstasy novels, but my expectations weren't massviely high. I was wrong. It went completely above bar.
The writing and plot was really impressive. There was definite characterisation from the beginning throughout the novel. Theo was a brilliant main character, starting out as the timid, meek Ash Princess downtrodden by the Kaiser and the other Kalovaxians, but growing in confidence to become the amazing, strong Queen that her people need. I never felt bored reading each page,
The side characters were really well developed. Artemis and Heron were great friends to Theo, and I loved the scene where they sang to her. The "bad guys" i.e the Kalovaxians, were interesting people The Kaiserin was so intriguing and I absolutely loved every scene she was in. The Kaiser was despicable as a villain, but the way he was written was skin-crawlingly well done.
The romance... Ah the romance. Maybe this was what swung it for me to love so much? I'm not sure. There is a definite love triangle... Blaise, the serious, brooding Guardian from Theo's past, who she is drawn to by their shared history and goal. And then we have Soren... Prinz Soren, the son of the Kaiser, and his commander of troops. And the main aim for the rebels 'revenge/rebellion plot'. Theo is to seduce Soren to gain information to help the rebels
Spoiler
and eventually try to kill him :'(The ending saw more twists, and really set us up for a dramatic book 2. No release date except 2019. I can't believe we have to wait potentially a year or more! I need it now! I absolutely love the title Lady Smoke and I think this is going to definitely remain one of my new favourite series.
Anyone who isn't sure if this is worth reading or not, I really recommend it.
There was nothing truly new or original about this book -girl has to take back her kingdom, love triangle, etc- but it still managed to keep my interest, and I will read the next one.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Approved by Netgalley and physical ARC received from My Kinda Book in exchange for an honest review.
I really didn't mean to leave this book as late as I did, especially as it sounded so much like my cup of tea. I love fairy tales, and I especially love to hear them retold. Laura Sebastian's new series is a dark, twisted tale loosely based upon Cinderella. But Thora, our POV heroine, is so much more than a damsel in distress and looking for her Prince Charming.
So let me first of all say all of the things that I loved - which is a lengthy list! The characters were so complex and a lot of fun to read. I liked Thora/Theodosia, she was strong and refreshing to read, and I liked the delicate balance that Sebastian created between emotional and vulnerable, and bitter and cruel. The years of the Kaiser's influence has taken its toll, as have the memories of her mother before Astrea was conquered and the conflict she feels is written very well. I liked the other characters too - Soren and Cress were equally as complex and provided some great twists in the story. The plot was well executed, I felt hooked from beginning to end, and I'm already super excited to read the next book in the series!
I didn't quite make this a full five stars for a couple of reasons. While I liked the MC a lot, I do feel that the love triangle dynamic here was a little forced. Blaise and Theodosia had little to no chemistry and I didn't connect with them at all. Soren and Thora felt more natural, but were also a little bit quick - I'm not a huge fan of insta-love and I would say that this was on the cusp. I also felt that a couple of characters fell too heavily into an archetypal role - the Kaiser was just evil for the sake of being evil. But there was too much potential here for me to ignore, and when a book gives you that YES PLEASE MORE feeling, you can't ignore it.
I really didn't mean to leave this book as late as I did, especially as it sounded so much like my cup of tea. I love fairy tales, and I especially love to hear them retold. Laura Sebastian's new series is a dark, twisted tale loosely based upon Cinderella. But Thora, our POV heroine, is so much more than a damsel in distress and looking for her Prince Charming.
So let me first of all say all of the things that I loved - which is a lengthy list! The characters were so complex and a lot of fun to read. I liked Thora/Theodosia, she was strong and refreshing to read, and I liked the delicate balance that Sebastian created between emotional and vulnerable, and bitter and cruel. The years of the Kaiser's influence has taken its toll, as have the memories of her mother before Astrea was conquered and the conflict she feels is written very well. I liked the other characters too - Soren and Cress were equally as complex and provided some great twists in the story. The plot was well executed, I felt hooked from beginning to end, and I'm already super excited to read the next book in the series!
I didn't quite make this a full five stars for a couple of reasons. While I liked the MC a lot, I do feel that the love triangle dynamic here was a little forced. Blaise and Theodosia had little to no chemistry and I didn't connect with them at all. Soren and Thora felt more natural, but were also a little bit quick - I'm not a huge fan of insta-love and I would say that this was on the cusp. I also felt that a couple of characters fell too heavily into an archetypal role - the Kaiser was just evil for the sake of being evil. But there was too much potential here for me to ignore, and when a book gives you that YES PLEASE MORE feeling, you can't ignore it.
Mmmmmm it was good but I don’t really liked any character in particular so the story felt a little bit flat.
I enjoyed this book and the world that Laura Sebastian created.
I found the book somewhat slow moving, and very long. I felt like some good editing could’ve cut out some unnecessary scenes and a lot of repetitive comments. There was a lot of over-emphasized regret, and constant reminders of what had happened earlier in the book.
Aside from those relatively minor defects. I did enjoy the book and I look forward to reading the sequel.
I found the book somewhat slow moving, and very long. I felt like some good editing could’ve cut out some unnecessary scenes and a lot of repetitive comments. There was a lot of over-emphasized regret, and constant reminders of what had happened earlier in the book.
Aside from those relatively minor defects. I did enjoy the book and I look forward to reading the sequel.