Synopsis:

Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Fire Queen, was murdered before her eyes. On that day, the Kaiser took Theodosia’s family, her land, and her name. Theo was crowned Ash Princess–a title of shame to bear in her new life as a prisoner.

For ten years Theo has been a captive in her own palace. She’s endured the relentless abuse and ridicule of the Kaiser and his court. She is powerless, surviving in her new world only by burying the girl she was deep inside.

Then, one night, the Kaiser forces her to do the unthinkable. With blood on her hands and all hope of reclaiming her throne lost, she realizes that surviving is no longer enough. But she does have a weapon: her mind is sharper than any sword. And power isn’t always won on the battlefield.

For ten years, the Ash Princess has seen her land pillaged and her people enslaved. That all ends here

Review:

So I read Ash Princess on a buddy read, which was it was great cause it actually pushed me to read it instead of sitting there beaming at its pretty cover. And though at the start of the book I may have been opting to clean the house and whinge about the book but that soon faded as a great little story revealed itself.

I have to admit it took me a while to get past the love triangle in the book. Is it normal for every single character to have a love triangle? Is it abnormal not to have a love triangle? Am I abnormal since there is no love triangle in my life???? Well besides Tom Hardy but I think that verges into stalker territory more than a love triangle situation…. ANYWAY before I start drooling instead of reviewing, let’s continue…

Alright, this was a major negative for me and I don’t know why no one else is talking about but I was not buying Theo’s random skill of remembering all these people? Let me explain, instead of running into someone that she already knows from her past and having that instant recognition. Instead it was like oh and there is this new character, oh his charming and oh he was my best friend from my past. Ummm if someone was your best friend from your past before the invasion you would still remember them! I remember a punk ass kid that pulled my hair in kinder when I saw him in the wild isle of a supermarket, so how does it take a full page for her to remember characters???

Okay, I’m done ranting, I promise because the rest of the book was amazing and I loved it! It had a dark fantasy element to it which I think needs to happen more often. Theo is basically kept as a trophy for the King, where any slight rebellious act her people carryout is automatically her fault and she has to be whipped as punishment. You go from the physical pain of Theo to the more mental one, where the King dresses her up like a doll, lathers her in makeup and forces her to wear a crown of ash when he parades her around his court. See dark and brilliant!I don’t understand why all fantasy books have to be so light hearted, I need dark elements in my fantasy reads, it makes my black soul happy!

Politics? What is that? Not that I follow anything political based in real life but I love reading about it and often enough books that are based around royalty or courts won’t touch base or venture into politics. I’ll give a standing ovation to those YA fantasy authors that involve politics in their books, I always find it adds more depth.

The world building… wow! Usually I find myself lost and confused when it comes to world building and will constantly refer back to the map with a look of utter confusion on my face. Just me? The creation of the world was smooth, vivid, fantastic and easy to follow which is a major tick in my book!

I liked all the characters but Theo greater than the rest. The start of Ash Princess you find Theo small, insignificant and timid with only courage for her own survival keeping her alive, however by the end of the story she is a powerhouse to be reckoned with and I loved. Learning to use her knowledge to her advantage and also sacrificing herself for those she wants to save. Nothing makes me more of a happy chappy when characters evolve!

There was a little bit of magic throughout the book but I wanted more. I felt there was a great deal of explaining about the magic more than showing us the magic. Not that this is bad at all, I am hoping the magic element gets expanded in book 2, because well…. Their concept of magic is amazing!

Over all this book took me by surprise and I loved every second of it! Can we please have book 2 now? I am having withdrawals!

Rating: 4/5

Publisher: Macmillan

ISBN: 9781524767068