200 reviews for:

Ashes of Gold

J. Elle

3.83 AVERAGE

blackcatreads's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Stats
Writing - 10/10
Plot - 8/10
Character - 10/10
World-building - 10/10

Writing and Characters were just as beautiful as book 1, if not more so. I loved Rue's character development of embracing her culture and growing as a person, then taking what she has learned to not only make a difference in Ghizan but also in her community in East Row. She also is clear in her beliefs that it wasn't right for her land and culture to be stolen, but Rue wants to work to build a better future for everyone on the island, not just her own people.

The world-building was much more developed in this book as compared to book 1 because most of this one was set in Ghizan and we got more of the history and culture of the island.

The plot was a bit downgraded for me as compared to book 1 because it was a bit erratic. I am still not sure of the time frame between the end of book 1 and the beginning of book 2, but then it was like every plot point was a dead end and every side character was a traitor-turned-not traitor. While I feel that strategy worked for Rue's overall character progression, it felt a little confusing as a reader.

Overall, I loved this book. It was a beautiful story with amazing characters that can easily be enjoyed by both teens and adults while giving an engaging platform about the racial issues in our world.

 

emmreadsbooks's review

4.0

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Whoooooooa, was this a RIDE. I felt as though we left the last book in a pretty nice place, and this one just blew the roof off. Everything was going wrong for Rue and she finds her home turning into a war zone. I could never figure who to trust and there were some TWISTY TWISTS that I didn't see coming. It got chaotic in a good way, though there could've been one less subplot without taking away much from the book. Get ready for Ghizon y'all, because damn.

*Thank you to Denene Millner and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

sophiamckinleyy's review

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

scrummyb's review

2.0

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DNF at 12%. Maybe I'll come back to this? I don't know. Its just not grabbing me at all and the love story feels forced.

elfygirl45's review

3.5

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

longlostreader's review

3.5

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

njlbo1's review

3.5

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

nolasgem's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

kaycee_k's review

4.0

adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

disabledbookdragon's review

2.75

adventurous emotional tense medium-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