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ari_reading_'s review
3.0
A Curse of Ash and Embers was an engaging and hooking read. The aesthetic was amazing, particularly since it was witchy forest vibes. Aleida was a really enjoyable character.
➸ Trigger warnings for: verbal, emotional, and physical abuse, domestic violence, misogyny, dissociation, suicide, blood depiction, physical injuries, death of a father, death of a child mentioned, death of a friend recounted, physical assault, murder mentioned, kidnapping mentioned, strangulation and poisoning.
➸ Trigger warnings for: verbal, emotional, and physical abuse, domestic violence, misogyny, dissociation, suicide, blood depiction, physical injuries, death of a father, death of a child mentioned, death of a friend recounted, physical assault, murder mentioned, kidnapping mentioned, strangulation and poisoning.
indigoleaves's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book as a quick and fun read. The pacing is more on the slow side, but the character interactions help make it go a bit quicker. There was quite a bit of a let down with the lack of world building, however I feel the books after this one will involve more of the world. Overall, I loved the plot and characters, and am looking forward to reading more in the series. I definitely recommend!
25thavenuewest's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! The slow world building, and lush scenery really pulled me in. I had to know Elodie's story. Her determination and spirit throughout the whole book really made her relatable.
squishies's review
4.0
I remember being immediately engrossed in Spurrier's world building and the characters she's created.
The story was engaging and was a bit of a slow burn to its final, white-knuckle conclusion, but so worth the journey.
The story was engaging and was a bit of a slow burn to its final, white-knuckle conclusion, but so worth the journey.
printingbetweenthepages's review
4.0
A Curse of Ash and Embers is the first fantasy novel in The Blackbone Witches series by Jo Spurrier. In A Curse of Ash and Embers we are introduced to Elodie. A young woman who is hired on as a servant at Black Oak Cottage. Elodie soon realizes she is working for a witch, named Aleida. Aleida is surprised by her arrival, but takes Elodie in, knowing she could use her help.
Aleida is recovering from a battle with an infamous dark witch named Gyssha Blackbone. She may have won the battle, but the war is far from over. Suffering from the effects of a curse enacted by Gyssha, Aleida relies on Elodie for assistance. Soon Elodie realizes that her new job involves much more than she originally thought. Aleida must deal with the remnants of Gyssha's curse and legacy, none of which are easy feats. Aleida enlists Elodie's help, confronting monsters that roam the nearby woods, vanquishing a demon tree from her orchard, and providing assistance in spell-casting.
When Aleida and Elodie are thrust into battle, Elodie must decide if she will embrace what Aleida has taught her or return to her home and family. Will Elodie risk her life to aid Aleida, the witch?
This is such a wonderfully witchy novel! Spurrier does an excellent job of world and story building in this book. Once the world and story building is in place the magic, suspense, trials, and tribulations are thrilling! The story is a little slow to start, which I attribute to providing the reader with knowledge of the world surrounding Elodie and the story that leads us to to the current state of Aleida's character. This knowledge is imperative as the storyline unfolds and I appreciated the slow start for this reason.
The author's detailed writing style allows the reader to visualize events, characters, and monsters in a phenomenal way. This is not a predictable witchy read, it is truly unique. The twists and turns are perfectly placed, engaging, and action-packed.
I would recommend this book to those who enjoy fantasy novels centered around witches or magic. This book is action-packed and makes for an engaging read. There are some graphic descriptions of death and dying, so those who are sensitive to these subjects may wish to refrain from reading. There are no instances of profanity or graphic adult content. I believe that mature young adults would enjoy this book as well as adults of all ages.
Aleida is recovering from a battle with an infamous dark witch named Gyssha Blackbone. She may have won the battle, but the war is far from over. Suffering from the effects of a curse enacted by Gyssha, Aleida relies on Elodie for assistance. Soon Elodie realizes that her new job involves much more than she originally thought. Aleida must deal with the remnants of Gyssha's curse and legacy, none of which are easy feats. Aleida enlists Elodie's help, confronting monsters that roam the nearby woods, vanquishing a demon tree from her orchard, and providing assistance in spell-casting.
When Aleida and Elodie are thrust into battle, Elodie must decide if she will embrace what Aleida has taught her or return to her home and family. Will Elodie risk her life to aid Aleida, the witch?
This is such a wonderfully witchy novel! Spurrier does an excellent job of world and story building in this book. Once the world and story building is in place the magic, suspense, trials, and tribulations are thrilling! The story is a little slow to start, which I attribute to providing the reader with knowledge of the world surrounding Elodie and the story that leads us to to the current state of Aleida's character. This knowledge is imperative as the storyline unfolds and I appreciated the slow start for this reason.
The author's detailed writing style allows the reader to visualize events, characters, and monsters in a phenomenal way. This is not a predictable witchy read, it is truly unique. The twists and turns are perfectly placed, engaging, and action-packed.
I would recommend this book to those who enjoy fantasy novels centered around witches or magic. This book is action-packed and makes for an engaging read. There are some graphic descriptions of death and dying, so those who are sensitive to these subjects may wish to refrain from reading. There are no instances of profanity or graphic adult content. I believe that mature young adults would enjoy this book as well as adults of all ages.
esotericelixir's review
5.0
"We are the eye of the storm. We are the darkness behind the stars. We are the glare of the sun, and nothing touches us unless we let it."
Wow. I don't even know where to start with this book. I was captivated from the very beginning and was hanging onto every word.
Jo has perfectly created a world full of magic whilst still being based in reality. The terror of magic, but also the freedom and wonder it can bring.
A Curse of Ash and Embers tells the tale of our illiterate, but street smart, Elodie who gets employed by a mysterious letter through which she gets to leave her unhappy and emotionally abusive household. Elodie then travels to Black Oak Cottage to meet this mysterious employer, who turns out to be just as mystified at her appearance as they most certainly didn't send that letter.
Aleida, the mistress (and witch) of Black Oak Cottage, is reluctant to accept any help from Elodie and tries to send her off with some cash to fund her way. Elodie refuses as she will never return back home and she has nowhere else to go. This ultimately works out well for both Aleida and Elodie as they form a familial bond with both of them looking out for each other.
Elodie learns just how strong she is and what actual support, family and belonging feels like.
A great start to what is sure to be a brilliant YA (13+) Fantasy series. I am looking forward to the next book in the series due to be released in 2019.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for providing an e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.
Wow. I don't even know where to start with this book. I was captivated from the very beginning and was hanging onto every word.
Jo has perfectly created a world full of magic whilst still being based in reality. The terror of magic, but also the freedom and wonder it can bring.
A Curse of Ash and Embers tells the tale of our illiterate, but street smart, Elodie who gets employed by a mysterious letter through which she gets to leave her unhappy and emotionally abusive household. Elodie then travels to Black Oak Cottage to meet this mysterious employer, who turns out to be just as mystified at her appearance as they most certainly didn't send that letter.
Aleida, the mistress (and witch) of Black Oak Cottage, is reluctant to accept any help from Elodie and tries to send her off with some cash to fund her way. Elodie refuses as she will never return back home and she has nowhere else to go. This ultimately works out well for both Aleida and Elodie as they form a familial bond with both of them looking out for each other.
Elodie learns just how strong she is and what actual support, family and belonging feels like.
A great start to what is sure to be a brilliant YA (13+) Fantasy series. I am looking forward to the next book in the series due to be released in 2019.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for providing an e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.
nerdypotsie's review
1.0
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Warning: This review is going to be somewhat of a rant.
Also, there is a small trigger warning for suicide for this book. The suicide doesn’t play a large role in the story, but it is in there.
You know when you read a book and either it was because of the synopsis or cover, but you feel like you were click baited? Yeah, that’s what happened with this book. The cover of this book is gorgeous and the synopsis caught my attention, but in reality, this book felt like a waste of time for me. There was nothing even slightly interesting until the last 20% of the book, but by the time that I got to that part, I was so annoyed with the book as a whole that it didn’t make the story better for me.
The pacing is the number one issue I had for this book. It was so slow and uninteresting that I had troubles feeling motivated to read this book. This is part of the reason why it took me over four months to finish this book. A lot of the book was filled with useless tasks and chores that Elodie was doing for the witch. The epic adventures and fights that I expect in a fantasy book were missing until the very end of the book. The plot was also a thrown together mess and I think that’s part of why the interesting parts were shoved to the end of the book. I feel like in most books there is a major conflict with mini conflicts leading up to the major conflict. However, this book felt like there was just small and mostly unimportant scenes shoved into the book until the major conflict was finally addressed. And the “major conflict?” It switched toward the end of the book to be a different conflict and what I thought was going to be the major conflict ended up being a really confusing scene.
The characters were also extremely lack luster and I had a hard time caring for them. I expected more out of the main characters, but instead I got a girl who for some reason decides to stay at a crappy home to help a witch and a “powerful” witch who needs help with the simple tasks of taking care of herself.
The plot twist was also extremely predictable. I normally can’t guess plots twists, but I guessed the major plot twist really early on in this book.
The disability comparisons also irked me. There was only three comparisons, but they felt wrong. Things like shivering or shaking don’t need to be compared to palsies. Maybe this is a common saying in some parts of the world and maybe palsies has some other definition than what the medical one is, but comparing any action to palsies just didn’t sit right with me.
The final issues I had with this book was the exclamations of oh lord and lady. I hope I never hear that exclamation again because with the amount of times that it was used in this book, I got completely sick of it.
I’m sure that the author is a great person and my review makes no commentary on the author, but as a whole, this book was one of the most disappointing reads I’ve had this year. You can honestly skip this one. It’s not worth reading.
Warning: This review is going to be somewhat of a rant.
Also, there is a small trigger warning for suicide for this book. The suicide doesn’t play a large role in the story, but it is in there.
You know when you read a book and either it was because of the synopsis or cover, but you feel like you were click baited? Yeah, that’s what happened with this book. The cover of this book is gorgeous and the synopsis caught my attention, but in reality, this book felt like a waste of time for me. There was nothing even slightly interesting until the last 20% of the book, but by the time that I got to that part, I was so annoyed with the book as a whole that it didn’t make the story better for me.
The pacing is the number one issue I had for this book. It was so slow and uninteresting that I had troubles feeling motivated to read this book. This is part of the reason why it took me over four months to finish this book. A lot of the book was filled with useless tasks and chores that Elodie was doing for the witch. The epic adventures and fights that I expect in a fantasy book were missing until the very end of the book. The plot was also a thrown together mess and I think that’s part of why the interesting parts were shoved to the end of the book. I feel like in most books there is a major conflict with mini conflicts leading up to the major conflict. However, this book felt like there was just small and mostly unimportant scenes shoved into the book until the major conflict was finally addressed. And the “major conflict?” It switched toward the end of the book to be a different conflict and what I thought was going to be the major conflict ended up being a really confusing scene.
The characters were also extremely lack luster and I had a hard time caring for them. I expected more out of the main characters, but instead I got a girl who for some reason decides to stay at a crappy home to help a witch and a “powerful” witch who needs help with the simple tasks of taking care of herself.
The plot twist was also extremely predictable. I normally can’t guess plots twists, but I guessed the major plot twist really early on in this book.
The disability comparisons also irked me. There was only three comparisons, but they felt wrong. Things like shivering or shaking don’t need to be compared to palsies. Maybe this is a common saying in some parts of the world and maybe palsies has some other definition than what the medical one is, but comparing any action to palsies just didn’t sit right with me.
The final issues I had with this book was the exclamations of oh lord and lady. I hope I never hear that exclamation again because with the amount of times that it was used in this book, I got completely sick of it.
I’m sure that the author is a great person and my review makes no commentary on the author, but as a whole, this book was one of the most disappointing reads I’ve had this year. You can honestly skip this one. It’s not worth reading.
monsterreads's review
2.0
Elodie is a young woman his is mistreated and used by her family. A mysterious letter shows up offering her a job at Black Oak Cottage. She is forced to take it and as she makes the trip there, she learns that she will be a witches servant. The old witch of the cottage is dead, but her young apprentice has taken her place. Elodie must decide whether the risks of working for a witch are worth it to stay, or if she should flee while she can.
This book is not what I had expected, but it wasn't bad. I really enjoyed the descriptive story telling and the story itself. It is original, fast paced, and intriguing.
However, it was a bit boring and unstructured. Characters were often added to the story, then not talked about again. Things kind of just happened that did not make much sense. I was also severely lacking the magic aspect that I hoped for in a witch novel. I want to know more about the world and the characters, but I don't know if this one pulled me in enoigh to pick up the second book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel.
This book is not what I had expected, but it wasn't bad. I really enjoyed the descriptive story telling and the story itself. It is original, fast paced, and intriguing.
However, it was a bit boring and unstructured. Characters were often added to the story, then not talked about again. Things kind of just happened that did not make much sense. I was also severely lacking the magic aspect that I hoped for in a witch novel. I want to know more about the world and the characters, but I don't know if this one pulled me in enoigh to pick up the second book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel.