Ash Princess

Spoilers!!!!
So much explaining on why the princess “feels” the way she does regaining to EVERYTHING!!!
The plot was decent enough. I barely became emotionally attached to any characters what so ever. I think the ending should have occurred in the middle of the book and there should have been more about those actions and then ended setting up for book 2 with Theo freeing the mines and Cres becoming queen and then killing the Kaiser. So much better.

This is a borrow/library read in my opionion. Maybe a beach read as well after you’ve got nothing left.

Superb read! Well written, with a great plot and characters. I was engrossed from start to finish. This book has action, suspense, intrigue, and tension. Theo is the rightful Queen of Astrea and she is willing to do anything to take it back. Theo is gritty, clever, determined, ready to do whatever to help her friends and her people. There are several twists and turns, and the ending is amazing. Blaise, Soren, Cress, Artemesia, Heron I fell in love with all of them. I cannot wait for the second book in the series! I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.

Lady Thora is trapped in her own castle by the Kaiser fearing everyone. Anytime her people rebel or something happens that displeases the Kaizer she is whipped. The Kaiser captures the leader of the rebels and makes Thora kill him. A familiar face from her past comes and reminds her that she is Queen Theodosia and that her people need her. Together, she and her three "shadows" come up with a plan to get revenge and give her back her freedom. This is a story about defying the odds and fighting back. The courage to do the things that need to be done for the greater good.

I purchased Ash Princess because it was part of my book club pick and I was a little on the fence about it. The moment I opened it and began reading, I was hooked. I finished the book in 2 days because it was the story was so compelling and the main character, Theo (or Thora) is so likable. Be warned that the book is dark with themes such as slavery, abuse (physical), torture, humiliation, murder, sexual assault (touching), racism, and war. If you like evil antagonists then this book is for you. The kaiser (antagonist) does not have any redeemable qualities and is pure evil from the very beginning. There is romance weaved into the story and I am excited to see how it will play out.

About a girl named Theo who's queen mother was murdered in front of her and had their land taken by the Kalovaxians. Her people the Astreans are forced to become slaves with Theo serving as a reminder of their victory. After being a slave awhile she and three other fellow slaves decide to take revenge. They devise a plot/revolt. Somewhat common theme/plot but has some extras in it that add to the story like a love triangle. Very bleak grim vibe to this book. Has a mix of interesting characters, dark but interesting. I'd recommend it if you like dark fantasy novels.

I had heard about Ash Princess on Twitter and ordered it from my library. Wow. I practically inhaled this story, it was very hard to put down. The characters are fantastic, and even though it's fantasy, the plot and characters are so well grounded that I was able to fully invest and believe in their world.

I'm a picky reader and won't finish a book if the writing and plot aren't top notch--this book is an impressive blend of excellent writing, compelling plot, appealing characters, and a fantastic setting. I can hardly wait for the sequel!

Captivating! Excellent character and plot development. The villain is horrible - his back story is masterfully developed. The situation is complicated in all the best ways - competing goals and loyalties. There are a lot of YA books with a similar set up out there - a displaced royal trying to find her place. This really stands out from the crowd. There are some terrific twists at the end that set up a torturous wait for book two.

I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this fantasy. Thora (aka Princess Theodosia, aka Theo) is very poorly treated by the king who had her mother murdered so he can take over her kingdom. Theo grows up a lot in this story- she starts out as a scared and scarred subjugated girl, but ends up a very strong person to reckon with. Cress and Sorin were surprising characters. I can't help it, I fell in love with Sorin. He looks so much like his father but is completely different. The ending was a bit of a shocker. Will definitely add Lady Smoke (book 2) to my TBR pile!

While I’m getting really burnt out on YA high fantasy novels, I decided to give this one a go. I can honestly say that was one of the only books I’ve read in a while that I really truly enjoyed. 
Ash Princess is about Theodosia, an Astrean princess who lives as a prisoner under the Kalovaxian Kaiser, who invaded Theo’s home country a decade prior. Theo, now called Thora and also dubbed the “Ash Princess,” is ridiculed by the Kalovaxians and punished for the Astreans’ missteps. She has only a single friend, Cress, the daughter of the man who killed Theo’s mother, the queen. After she is forced to kill one of her own people, she decides that enough is enough. With the help of a few rebellious Astreans, tired of their own oppression, Theo devises a plan to destroy the Kaiser by murdering his son, Prinz Soren. However, things get complicated when she learns that Prinz isn’t all bad. In fact, he might even be good. Now, Theo must play a delicate game in order to save the people she loves, and, more importantly, free her people from enslavement.
Ash Princess was certainly a surprise. On the surface, it seems like a typical YA fantasy book. Judging solely by the plot, it is a typical YA fantasy book. However, the emotional depth and the realism really set this book apart from the others.
Theo was an interesting protagonist. The fact that she knew her enemies so intimately, and sometimes didn’t really even consider them enemies, was different and often made her a morally ambiguous character. But don’t let that make you think that she lacked a backbone. No, she was angry and ruthless, following a stringent plan to destroy the Kalovaxians. Of course, every once in a while, her emotions got in the way a bit, especially pertaining to Cress and Soren, but not for long. When her emotions did get the best of her, there were real and lasting consequences.
The relationships she had with Cress and Soren actually play a large part in one of the main themes of this book. Ash Princess hinted at the pitfalls of tribalism and the dangers that broadly stereotyping present. Cress didn’t seem all bad, Prinz Soren didn’t seem all bad, and Theo and her allies didn’t seem all good.
This book didn’t shy away from some pretty explicit gore, which I thought was refreshing and helped enhance the realism of the world. It also really helped shape how I felt about the Kalovaxians. Because I got it. I got why Theo and all the other Astreans hated the Kalovaxians so much. There are a lot of other fantasy books where I don’t understand to the degree that I do here why the characters hate someone so much. But here, I hated The Kaiser right along with the Astreans and I even hated the Kalovaxians, even though I refuse to believe that anyone is inherently evil. Like Theo, I tried to resist generalizing the Kalovaxians as all bad. But they didn’t make it easy. I can’t say too much more without spilling some major plot points, but I will say that this is an important concept, and one that I suspect Lauren Sebastian will be expanding upon in the future.
This isn’t to say that this book didn’t have a few problems. I think it definitely did. There’s a blooming love triangle between Theo, Soren, and Blaise, an old friend of hers, and I thought that her relationship with Blaise could have used some more development. They just didn’t spend enough time together for me to be as emotionally invested in their relationship as I was in her relationship with Soren. I mentioned earlier that Theo sometimes let her emotions get the better of her. I wish there were more of these moments, or that these moments lasted longer. I wished that she had allowed herself to completely lose herself in her emotions, just so that the fallout of her giving into her emotions would be even more impactful than they are now.
Her relationship with Cress was actually one of my favorite aspects of this book. When I first read the name Cress, I thought to myself, “Bad move. Marissa Meyer has a monopoly on that name.” By the end, I was like, “Marissa Meyer who?” (Side note: I love Marissa Meyer’s books. I mean no offense to her.) This is, again, one of those things that I can’t elaborate on without spoilers, but I can say that the moments between Theo and Cress were some of the most impactful. Some of the most joyous and most devastating moments occurred between these two and I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book.
Overall, this was an entertaining, fast-paced read and a fantastic take on one of the most popular genres in YA right now. It’s on the NYT Bestsellers list for a reason and I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

I'm usually not a fan of high court fantasy, but I ended up really enjoying this book. Whereas most of those books spend the majority of the time worrying about what guys think of the princesses-to-be, with descriptions of etiquette that go on at great length, and with a generally passive protagonist. Creating a princess whose kingdom had been colonized was a brilliant touch to the trope. While the book does play to the trope by having Theo (or Thora or Theodosia or Ash Princess---she has a lot of names) held as a trophy against her will, the key difference is that Theo is actively working against it with acts of treason and vigilantism. 

While Ash Princess generally did a great job staying within the bounds of reason and believability---the parts of the book oriented toward romance lost me as a reader. Not only do characters fall in love far too easily, but the romantic themes of: ‘I can't like him but I do, part of me wanted to move away, but part of me wanted to come closer, etc.,’ are seen in every romantic sequence. Ultimately, the romance plays along the sad old tropes of ‘lead female being romantically indecisive’ and ‘princess stuck in a castle’.

Finally, I do think the plot was really well done. The book abides by its own laws in terms of power struggle. The imperialist Kalovaxian powers can’t be dismantled by any simple measures; it has retained its power this long for a reason. Sebastian does a nice job giving her colonialist characters nuance—such as Cress, the Theyn, Soren—who are in support of violence, but do so as either a means of self-protection or because they weren't raised to think differently. Overall, I'm really excited to read the second, although I hope the romance fits into the original tensions and hyper-realism that I found in the rest of Ash Princess.

So this started off a little shaky, but it quickly gained its strength. I greatly enjoyed the background of this world and the politics of the court.

The characters were a tad bit too cliché (angry girl, love interest from childhood, and a loyal sidekick), but they grew on me. By the end of the book, I was very invested in their individual stories, even the bad guys. Cress in particular of the side characters was very interesting. I think it will be extremely interesting to see how she and Theo come together again after the ending they had.

I heard mixed things about this book before I picked it up, but I am SO glad I decided to try it out! This book goes into some dark areas that most other YA books don't which I thought was very cool!

Pros:
Likable characters
Keeps you on your toes
Plot twists!

Cons:
It gets a touch slow at parts but it picks up fast again. Just gotta get through the slower parts.

Overall, I was very impressed with this! I already cant wait for the next one!

Awesome cover. It's a little like some others I've seen but I still love this whole crown aesthetic that seems to be running through fantasy YAs lately. And the plot sounds eerily similar to several other fantasy YAs on the shelf these days, too. However, the writing really makes it stand out and draws the reader into the story. There is a love triangle (I feel like this is a trope that's just not going anywhere, especially in YA F) but even that didn't distract from my reading pleasure.

Wow! What a book! I don't think I've loved a female MC this much since Hermione! There are romantic subplots, and I did get invested in them, but more than anything I was cheering for Theodosia to take her kingdom back. The prose is elegant and purposeful, leaving little trails of foreshadowing expertly throughout the story. I absolutely cannot wait for the second book in this series!

Lady Thora has suffered 10 years of torment and abuse at the hands of the Kaiser, after his people, the Kalovaxians, had defeated her people. A tiny spark of rebellion lies within her.....but what will it take to fan the flames of a revolution? Good choice for fans of the Red Queen and the Cruel Prince. This book had action and a bit of a love story. I'm waiting for book #2 now.

Reading this book is like going through the depths of hell and back, as you follow Thora, the Ash Princess becoming Theodosia, the Queen. This is the first in a trilogy that follows Thora/Theodosia as she is held as a prisoner in the open of the castle that used to belong to her mother, the Fire Queen, queen of the Astreans, who were overtaken by the Kalovaxians, led by the Kaiser, who is cruel and makes it his job to kill off her people if he thinks there might be an uprising. I found the book engaging and enjoyed it quite a bit. There is a lot of violence for young adults, but, probably no more than other similar books that they have read. I am looking forward to the next installment.

I loved this book. It is intricate and brutal and gorgeous. Filled with complex characters who were constantly surprising me.

Cinderella is probably my favorite fairytale and this was one of the most elaborate reimaginings I have ever read.

I highly recommend this book, especially for fans of Sarah J Maas.
Cannot wait for the next one.

This book is perfect for anyone wanting a twist on the damsel in distress. Theo, while perhaps looking like a damsel is distress, is the very opposite as she manipulates those from the inside. I thought that her character was very relatable but still unique. I found the relationships in the novel to be fascinating, and I've never once read a book with such a startling first chapter. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

*I received an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review*
Wow. I really loved this book. The decent world building, wonderful main character, character development, and excellent writing kept me hooked until the very end! If this book isn't already on your "to be read" list, I recommend you add it!

I enjoyed this book very much ... I listened to it while making a long car trip and it was a wonderful. My only disappointment was when I realized it had been released this year and that there was not a sequel yet. I will certainly be watching for another installment of this well written journey.

Ash Princess is the first in a trilogy featuring Theo, a young girl whose kingdom was overthrown when she was much younger. She's had a bit of a rough go of it since then. Her mother was killed in front of her and she was taken prisoner by the ones who took over her kingdom. Any time someone from her culture does something to upset the new folks in charge, she receives the punishments via physical means. She has very few friends and is essentially kept around as a means for entertainment for the new court. Eventually, she develops feelings for the prince from the opposing faction. Very sad and depressing, but there are glimmers of hope. This theme is pretty common to most young adult books where a kingdom is overthrown and rulers from the old regime are kept prisoner. There is a smattering of fantasy involved through gemstones that allow folks to wield magic through the elemental means of fire, earth, air, and water. As a reader, I had a hard time understanding Theo and her intentions. It wasn't clear to me if she really truly cared that her kingdom was taken over and that there were people still around that cared enough to plot to try to win the kingdom back. She seemed very young and naive at times. Not much new here for me in comparison to other books in the young adult fantasy genre.

I really wanted to read a fantasy book and after I've seen this book being recommended on bookbreak on YouTube I thought I would give it a go! And I must say I was not disappointed at all!!!

Great world, even greater set up! Very interesting magical elements!! So many intrigues, believable characters who are being built up slowly, making you totally understand their personalities, the way they felt and why they did what they did!!
Great story, lots of action, many twists until the last minute!
Definitely 5*, can't wait for the second book to come out!! :))

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ash Princess tells the story of Theodosia, the princess of a country who was invaded and enslaved. She has been the pawn of the king, abused and tortured and led to live a life of complacency, a perfect little image of a captive princess. However, after executing her father and a Guardian of her culture, Theo decides that she can no longer lie in wait. With the help from a few other rebels, Theo forms a plan. When the prince returns--Prinz Soren with a cool slash through the "o"--Theo attempts to seduce him in order to fight for her freedom and the freedom of her people.

While ambitious, the writing of Ash Princess does not live up to its plot. It certainly has a ton of really great potential and some wonderful moments, it’s lacking overall in actual content and the writing is, uh, rough.

I also had a number of issues with the representation of these oppressed people. It's always hard when a white author tries to describe appropriation and constantly refers to people's skin as "dark" and "tawny". I'm exhausted of books with brown people who suffer at the hand of the white people, especially when it's a white author describing their plight.

There were a lot of really wonderful things about this book, too. The last 30% or so had me guessing, and it was riveting enough that I didn't want to put it down. If you can look past some of the shoddy writing and sludge through a lot of suffering, the book holds a surprising amount of good, too. I wasn't a huge fan of Theo, and I found her to be lacking in a lot of places, but she also has an incredible amount of potential to grow into a better character if the author allows her to.

I will give it a 3 out of the kindness since it is the author's first book but Ash Princess is essentially a game of "YA novel trope" bingo. I was able to read it all the way through but I don't think I will care to read the next book in 2019.

I couldn't put this book down. Yes, it does follow some common YA tropes, but I felt that it tells the story fresh and exciting way. I felt some strong anti-colonialism vibes while reading this. Overall, it was a great read!

I don’t understand the bad reviews on this by page 50 I was intrigued. By page 100 I could not put this thing down. I read every night not sleeping even though I have a five month old daughter that wakes up at 7 in the morning. I did not mind the lost sleep. I loved this book, my heart would just swell with the characters, I can’t wait for the next one

Ash Princess was one of my top anticipated books this year and IT. DID. NOT. DISAPPOINT.

If you loved Throne of Glass, Red Queen, An Ember in The Ashes, or Falling Kingdoms then please read Ash Princess. And if you haven't read any of them then read Ash Princess first and then go read the others. :)

I really really liked this one! I am not normally one for court politics, sneakiness, betrayal, etc. But this was done so well. It was definitely a heavy read, and may have triggers for some readers. This is a book set in war time. Keep that in mind.

I really thought that I would love this book. I had this thought that because it looks incredibly amazing, and because the summary was good, that I would love this story like crazy. That was not the case. Not at all. And I'm left feeling more than disappointed after finishing this book. I'm angry too, because I did not like it one bit.

I'm giving this book one star. Which is my first one this year. And it is very much deserving, sadly. I'm also going to start by giving a fair warning, this review will be very negative. And honest. And full of spoilers. I will not say anything about the author, as I don't know her. I'm sure she is a lovely person. But her book was not.

And I very much need to share all of my feelings about this book. Because, oh my gosh, how I hated Ash Princess. I hated it more than I have hated anything in such a long time. And while I have so many thoughts about this book, I'm not sure how I'm going to write them all down. Shall try my best. And shall try my very best to not share that much either. But it will be hard. As I really truly hated this book. And writing reviews for books I hate is the most fun, haha. I cannot help it. It's so easy sometimes, to share reasons of hate. But I shall also mention that I do not hate the author at all. She is not her book. And in this case, her book was unfortunately all kinds of horrible. But do know that others may love this book a lot. I was not one of those. Reading it was painful.

And not in a good way. I had heard that this book was dark and amazing and that the girl was awesome. None of those things were true. I knew from the very first pages of the book that I would not like this. The writing was weird, and there was way too much boring info dumped into those pages. There was no need for that in the first chapter. Not at all. It was too much, and not done well either. Sadly, the writing did not approve. I hated it from beginning to end. Ahh. Felt like I was reading someone's bad diary. Was so bad.

This book tells the story of sixteen year old Theodosia. When she was six years old, her home was taken over by someone else. Her mother, the queen, was killed in front of her. Thora has been a prisoner in her old home for the past ten years. And this could have been such a good story. But it was not. Everything about this book completely sucked and gosh, I do not know how I shall manage to write down all of my feelings about it. Because I have so many of them. And I want to share all of it. Hope I can manage that.

We learn some things about Thora in this book. She has been whipped a lot by the orders of the kaiser, the man who now rules her home. That is just about the only abuse she has had for the past ten years. She has her own rooms, she's fed all the time, and she has a best friend too, Cress. But then one day a rebel is brought before her, someone who turns out to be her own father. And she is forced to kill him. I felt nothing for this. Nothing at all. But it supposedly changed everything for Thora. Huge eye roll. Sigh.

Because the biggest issue that I had with this one was Thora. And her memories. She was six years old when everything happened. Yet the way she remembers things, you would think she was sixty. No one, I repeat, no one has that many memories from when they were six years and younger. Yet she remembers every single detail, years back. What a bunch of crap. I'm still so angry about it. That is not good writing. That is simply all kinds of annoying. And unreal. And I did not like reading about it one bit. It was so bad.

This book is about Thora suddenly realizing that she is not Thora, but Theodosia. That she is done being a prisoner. And yeah. That did not seem real at all, to be honest. She had no issues being a prisoner. Yet now she's suddenly planning all kinds of ways to rebel and things like that. Because, same day she killed the man, whom she remember every thing about from she was six, hahaha, a boy shows up as a servant. It's the one friend she had when she was little. Oh joy. Can you believe it. He's there to save her. Hahaha.

At the same time, the prinz came back home, the son of the kaiser. And he is suddenly all kinds of into her. He has been away for five years. She is the prized prisoner of his father. But sure, he cannot help but fall for her the moment he sees her. Hahaha. All of this book was so cliche. And not in a good way. I am not going to mention all of the plot. Just that it is about Thora trying to leave the palace, and it is taking a couple of months, and half the book at least being incredibly slow and boring. I barely survived reading it.

And she is always going on and on about how well she knows the boy from her past, whom is there to rescue her. How she can hear the doubt in the way he breathes, after having seen him for a couple of hours. Hahaha. Oh, how this book killed me with bad. And of course, there is a love triangle. Because of course this childhood boy is madly in love with this girl. And she couldn't help but fall in love with him. She even thinks that. What. They share a couple of kisses. It was so awkward. They do not know each other.

The other love interest was the prinz. Whom Thora is planning on seducing and then killing, so that she may escape. But oh, she spends a few hours with him, and now she's in love with him too. And they kiss a lot. And he is madly in love with her. And hahaha. This book was so not good. She is always going on about how he is the enemy, how he has killed so many, and ugh. This place was a place of war. Killing is what happens. She hates him, then she loves him, and hates him again. And it was incredibly annoying.

And Thora was not a good person at all. She plans to kill her only friend, Cress. Because this girl spoke something to her, and now she is all like, she was never my friend, and uuugh. So cliche. And childish. And I cannot get over how bad this book was. It was not dark. One whipping scene. Badly written. Not sad, not heartbreaking, I felt nothing. It was just bad. The whole book is about how Thora is thinking of her people, how she has to save them, have to be their queen. Yeah. No. This girl completely sucked.

And now I have written way more about this book than I was going to. But I could not stop myself. And I do not even want to stop now. But I will. Just thinking about this book makes me angry. I'm hoping so so much that I will forget about it shortly. But I doubt it. Bad books never leave. Ugh. There was so much bad about Ash Princess. I shared a lot of it. But that wasn't even all. I do not know how anyone could like this book. I am sorry to say so, but gosh, how I hated this one. It was not a good book. Not at all. Not for me.

I suppose I should feel bad about writing this very negative review. But I do not. I believe in being honest about your feelings about books. And I was being very honest. This book sucked. And I am so upset that I read it, haha. But I had to finish it, once I started, because of the gorgeous print ARC I had of it, from a trade. But I will never be reading this book again. And I do not recommend that anyone else does either. I suppose that a lot of people will love it. But you should not. I am sorry. But not that sorry. It was not good.

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This review was first posted on my blog, Carina's Books.