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A review by tooruluvr
Heir of Ashes by Jina S. Bazzar
3.0
➳Full review now posted.
(This review can also be found on my blog!)
(Note: Thanks to the author, Jina, for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and are not influenced by this factor.)
[3/5]
Heir of Ashes is a book with an interesting magic system – one that, in my opinion, is well-developed. I always appreciate fantasy books with proper world-building, and Heir of Ashes is definitely one of them.
Roxanne is a well-thought-out character, too. I love her independence, her fierce fighting technique, and her ability to stand up for herself and for others. For everything that she goes through in the book, it’s clear she’d rather just give in and lose her mind already, but she keeps it together, and I admire that kind of courage.
One of the best things about this book are the action scenes. We’re thrown into one right from the get-go, and while every reader might not agree with me, I often like that if it’s done right. It grabs my attention immediately, and in this novel, showed me just how dangerous Roxanne’s life is. If you think things can’t get worse from there, then trust me, they do. Poor girl.
I think Roxanne is the only character I actually really like—her, and Kincaid, even if he only makes small appearances. But Logan? I can’t get myself to even like him. Not at all, and here’s why:
At one point in the book, Roxanne and Logan get into a fight. Throughout the fight, Roxanne compares Logan to a predator, and his anger scares her. She’s wary of him, is prepared to strike him down if he oversteps his boundaries, and tells him to stay away from her.
“My talons were at the ready, in case he decided to get more physical.”
And then Logan actually kisses her during the fight. And I’m not talking about the ‘I’m-sorry-I-was-wrong’ kiss either. I’m talking about the aggressive, forceful kind of kiss, one that Roxanne really doesn’t want, and yet he still does it even though she’s clearly against it. Just look at these quotes:
“Before I could react, his lips crushed mine with bruising force.”
“Terror choked me, keeping my struggles feeble. I tried to knee him but he blocked expertly.”
“—and my eyes were huge with terror – a response predators pounced upon.”
And then he expresses that he’s been meant ‘to protect her’ and that he won’t hurt her, and won’t touch her if she doesn’t want him to, even though he did just that.
I will say that one good thing about this situation is that Roxanne calls him out on it. I was so happy when I saw that because for once, for once, the female protagonist in a fantasy novel calls out the male protagonist about his violent ways of showing “affection.”
The bad part?
They become a couple after that.
I mean, what?? How?? Why??
I found the romance to be completely sudden and abrupt, with barely any build-up—and the scenario I just described only angered me further. It feels as though Logan keeps forcing it to happen until Roxanne gives in. Comparing a male to a ‘predator’ or a ‘wolf’ or some other ferocious animal is not ‘romantic’. It’s disgusting. This is one trope that is especially found in fantasy that I really hope stops soon. It’s not okay, and young girls reading books like these should know that consent is a must and that it’s a basic human right.
Another male in this story who, in my opinion, is quite problematic is Rafael. Whenever Roxanne wears anything revealing, he gives her weird looks. I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean, but I didn’t appreciate it.
Other than that, this book is fairly intriguing – there’s more than what meets the eye in this world that Roxanne has to live in, and as you read on you discover that you can’t really trust anybody. I think that makes the book more surprising and thrilling, having us trying to guess who’s friend and who’s foe. Roxanne is a character you want to root for, and every time she kills someone badass-style, I imagine some heavy metal music playing in the background. She’s just that cool.
So, I’d say if you’re a fantasy-lover, you can give this one a go, but please be aware of the problematic themes in it. This book isn’t perfect, but it’s got potential – I’m hoping Logan at least recognises his mistakes in the sequel, and Rafael stops giving Roxanne those judgemental looks of his.
(This review can also be found on my blog!)
(Note: Thanks to the author, Jina, for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and are not influenced by this factor.)
“Time was so precious, and it just kept ticking away.”
[3/5]
Heir of Ashes is a book with an interesting magic system – one that, in my opinion, is well-developed. I always appreciate fantasy books with proper world-building, and Heir of Ashes is definitely one of them.
Roxanne is a well-thought-out character, too. I love her independence, her fierce fighting technique, and her ability to stand up for herself and for others. For everything that she goes through in the book, it’s clear she’d rather just give in and lose her mind already, but she keeps it together, and I admire that kind of courage.
One of the best things about this book are the action scenes. We’re thrown into one right from the get-go, and while every reader might not agree with me, I often like that if it’s done right. It grabs my attention immediately, and in this novel, showed me just how dangerous Roxanne’s life is. If you think things can’t get worse from there, then trust me, they do. Poor girl.
I think Roxanne is the only character I actually really like—her, and Kincaid, even if he only makes small appearances. But Logan? I can’t get myself to even like him. Not at all, and here’s why:
At one point in the book, Roxanne and Logan get into a fight. Throughout the fight, Roxanne compares Logan to a predator, and his anger scares her. She’s wary of him, is prepared to strike him down if he oversteps his boundaries, and tells him to stay away from her.
“My talons were at the ready, in case he decided to get more physical.”
And then Logan actually kisses her during the fight. And I’m not talking about the ‘I’m-sorry-I-was-wrong’ kiss either. I’m talking about the aggressive, forceful kind of kiss, one that Roxanne really doesn’t want, and yet he still does it even though she’s clearly against it. Just look at these quotes:
“Before I could react, his lips crushed mine with bruising force.”
“Terror choked me, keeping my struggles feeble. I tried to knee him but he blocked expertly.”
“—and my eyes were huge with terror – a response predators pounced upon.”
And then he expresses that he’s been meant ‘to protect her’ and that he won’t hurt her, and won’t touch her if she doesn’t want him to, even though he did just that.
I will say that one good thing about this situation is that Roxanne calls him out on it. I was so happy when I saw that because for once, for once, the female protagonist in a fantasy novel calls out the male protagonist about his violent ways of showing “affection.”
The bad part?
They become a couple after that.
I mean, what?? How?? Why??
I found the romance to be completely sudden and abrupt, with barely any build-up—and the scenario I just described only angered me further. It feels as though Logan keeps forcing it to happen until Roxanne gives in. Comparing a male to a ‘predator’ or a ‘wolf’ or some other ferocious animal is not ‘romantic’. It’s disgusting. This is one trope that is especially found in fantasy that I really hope stops soon. It’s not okay, and young girls reading books like these should know that consent is a must and that it’s a basic human right.
Another male in this story who, in my opinion, is quite problematic is Rafael. Whenever Roxanne wears anything revealing, he gives her weird looks. I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean, but I didn’t appreciate it.
Other than that, this book is fairly intriguing – there’s more than what meets the eye in this world that Roxanne has to live in, and as you read on you discover that you can’t really trust anybody. I think that makes the book more surprising and thrilling, having us trying to guess who’s friend and who’s foe. Roxanne is a character you want to root for, and every time she kills someone badass-style, I imagine some heavy metal music playing in the background. She’s just that cool.
So, I’d say if you’re a fantasy-lover, you can give this one a go, but please be aware of the problematic themes in it. This book isn’t perfect, but it’s got potential – I’m hoping Logan at least recognises his mistakes in the sequel, and Rafael stops giving Roxanne those judgemental looks of his.