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A review by spellbookspines
A Curse in Ash by Julie Zantopoulos
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A Curse in Ash is a character centered book. There is a plot, but most of the book is spent on building character relationships. For a character-centered story like this, the characters need to be very compelling and well written...and that is the case here.
The FMC Ash is bestie material. She's badass and confident, but so genuinely thoughtful and kind and that's shown in every scene she's in. I loved reading this book mostly because I was hanging out with her. She is the Main Character in a way that felt natural because of course her friends would go to her, she's a good person as well as a powerful witch.
The MMC Riordan was less compelling, but he was more relatable. He has an anxiety disorder and deals with BS in a sarcastic "this might as well happen!" response that matches my internal monologue. He made me laugh out loud.
And the other love interest.... Do you hate alphaholes? Do you like alpha heros for the sexy part of it? Either way, this is the LI for you because Brynach is the alpha without the bullshit. He's also genuinely a chill nerd once you get to know him. He's not my type, but we could sit in comfortable silence and talk about weird documentaries we've watched at 3am.
If this review is weirdly familiar it's because the characters were so well written I felt like I got to know them. If you start this and don't like the characters then that would be a different reading experience.
The contemporary fantasy take on the faerie courts and witchcraft was very fun and well thought out. And there's familiars!! Sassy animal friends! I think we'll get more magic and fae in the future books and I'm looking forward to it.
Here's the cons and why it's not a 5 star:
I did not like the Meet Cute or the bonding moment between Ash and Riordan. It felt awkwardly written and uncomfortable, and when it comes to soulmate type magic in books I don't care if it's cheesy or too dramatic as long as it's memorable and exciting. And I was cringing the whole scene.
I'm confused about the intention because I have yet to read book two. Either we were using this book to build characters and we will transition to a more plot-driven fantasy, or we will stay character-driven and the ending relationship stuff was rushed for no reason. Either way it felt really unnaturally rushed that the three were a close-knit unit. We had one scene of them all bonding together, then a magic plot divice to show how the prickly character really felt, thenboom they were a power throuple. We spent so much time building the main POV characters relationship I would have loved if we saved them bonding with Brynach for the future book. It made the back part of the book feel corny when I had previously felt so close to the characters.
A lot of the relationship moments in this felt unearned while the scenes where they could earn it in felt boring. Like the "dates" were not where they bonded and I felt like I could skim read them.
Not a con but neutral because I am a indifferent asexual: this is a very sexy book. The sex scenes were well written (I do know when it's bad and this was not that) and consent and safety conversations were had so it gets a thumbs up.
No one is doing it like indie fantasy authors. Do you have a gripe about trad pub about the type of books published? And indie author probably has the book to heal your heart. This book healed a crack in my heart and made me look forward to book 2 to see what else my new friends get up to.
The FMC Ash is bestie material. She's badass and confident, but so genuinely thoughtful and kind and that's shown in every scene she's in. I loved reading this book mostly because I was hanging out with her. She is the Main Character in a way that felt natural because of course her friends would go to her, she's a good person as well as a powerful witch.
The MMC Riordan was less compelling, but he was more relatable. He has an anxiety disorder and deals with BS in a sarcastic "this might as well happen!" response that matches my internal monologue. He made me laugh out loud.
And the other love interest.... Do you hate alphaholes? Do you like alpha heros for the sexy part of it? Either way, this is the LI for you because Brynach is the alpha without the bullshit. He's also genuinely a chill nerd once you get to know him. He's not my type, but we could sit in comfortable silence and talk about weird documentaries we've watched at 3am.
If this review is weirdly familiar it's because the characters were so well written I felt like I got to know them. If you start this and don't like the characters then that would be a different reading experience.
The contemporary fantasy take on the faerie courts and witchcraft was very fun and well thought out. And there's familiars!! Sassy animal friends! I think we'll get more magic and fae in the future books and I'm looking forward to it.
Here's the cons and why it's not a 5 star:
I did not like the Meet Cute or the bonding moment between Ash and Riordan. It felt awkwardly written and uncomfortable, and when it comes to soulmate type magic in books I don't care if it's cheesy or too dramatic as long as it's memorable and exciting. And I was cringing the whole scene.
I'm confused about the intention because I have yet to read book two. Either we were using this book to build characters and we will transition to a more plot-driven fantasy, or we will stay character-driven and the ending relationship stuff was rushed for no reason. Either way it felt really unnaturally rushed that the three were a close-knit unit. We had one scene of them all bonding together, then a magic plot divice to show how the prickly character really felt, then
A lot of the relationship moments in this felt unearned while the scenes where they could earn it in felt boring. Like the "dates" were not where they bonded and I felt like I could skim read them.
Not a con but neutral because I am a indifferent asexual: this is a very sexy book. The sex scenes were well written (I do know when it's bad and this was not that) and consent and safety conversations were had so it gets a thumbs up.
No one is doing it like indie fantasy authors. Do you have a gripe about trad pub about the type of books published? And indie author probably has the book to heal your heart. This book healed a crack in my heart and made me look forward to book 2 to see what else my new friends get up to.