A review by princesspandoraslibrary
Ashlords by Scott Reintgen

4.0

Ashlords is like The Hunger Games and Hidalgo had a baby, plus add alchemy and horses that are phoenix's and are reborn in fire every day. Riders can use different alchemical components to modify the traits and abilities each reborn horse has. Every year, the Ashlords, who rule over the land of Furia, host a gruelling and deadly phoenix (horse) long distance cross-country race. The race winners are usually Ashlords, but this time a rebel and a lower-class citizen have found their way into the contestant pool. The race is filled with betrayal and danger, and the result of the race just may well start a war.

I enjoyed how fresh and unique the world building and magic system in this book are. It's a light, fun read (for adults like myself). My only dislike was with the writing itself, which switches both POVs and tenses. I personally don't mind the POV switch, but switching tenses was not my favorite.