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A review by valereads
Ash by Malinda Lo
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I really like this book in theory. The concept is so cool; a lesbian retelling of Cinderella featuring traditional fae, what’s not to love? Unfortunately the execution wasn’t everything I wanted it to be.
For one the pacing is this novel is really poor. The book is divided into two parts. The first section of the book follows Ash through her childhood before she has any relationship with her love interest, Kaisa. This section gives us lots of worldbuilding and really develops the characters and I enjoyed it a lot. However the second section is where the book fails in my opinion. We spend so much time with Ash, Sidhean, and Ash’s step-family in the first part but the second part feels rushed and as a result the characters and their relationships aren’t built up as much as they could be so the ending of the book doesn’t feel earned.
I did enjoy how Lo spent time developing and giving depth to some of the side characters, particularly the step-sisters, Ana and Clara. However the main characters and their relationships aren’t nearly developed as I’d like. In contrast to her step-sisters, Ash felt shallow and lacked personality. I found myself comparing her to other “blank slate” type characters showing up in YA around the time this was released such as Bella Swan from the Twilight Saga. I also felt Kaisa was particularly underdeveloped. She’s meant to be Ash’s endgame love interest but she had barely any personality and I can remember perhaps one fact about her. In the case of Kaisa this is linked to the pacing issues as I think she is introduced to late in the story to really build her as a character.
Overall this book ended up being a bit of a disappointment. I didn’t dislike it but it had some significant issues which meant it didn’t live up to the fascinating concept.
Content Warnings: abuse, parental death, violence towards animals
For one the pacing is this novel is really poor. The book is divided into two parts. The first section of the book follows Ash through her childhood before she has any relationship with her love interest, Kaisa. This section gives us lots of worldbuilding and really develops the characters and I enjoyed it a lot. However the second section is where the book fails in my opinion. We spend so much time with Ash, Sidhean, and Ash’s step-family in the first part but the second part feels rushed and as a result the characters and their relationships aren’t built up as much as they could be so the ending of the book doesn’t feel earned.
I did enjoy how Lo spent time developing and giving depth to some of the side characters, particularly the step-sisters, Ana and Clara. However the main characters and their relationships aren’t nearly developed as I’d like. In contrast to her step-sisters, Ash felt shallow and lacked personality. I found myself comparing her to other “blank slate” type characters showing up in YA around the time this was released such as Bella Swan from the Twilight Saga. I also felt Kaisa was particularly underdeveloped. She’s meant to be Ash’s endgame love interest but she had barely any personality and I can remember perhaps one fact about her. In the case of Kaisa this is linked to the pacing issues as I think she is introduced to late in the story to really build her as a character.
Overall this book ended up being a bit of a disappointment. I didn’t dislike it but it had some significant issues which meant it didn’t live up to the fascinating concept.
Content Warnings: abuse, parental death, violence towards animals
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Terminal illness