Ash Princess

by Laura Sebastian 

Princess. Prisoner. Orphan. Rebel.

Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Fire Queen, was murdered. On that day, the Kaiser took Theodosia's 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.

"Tense and imaginative. Ash Princess is a smart, feminist twist on a traditional tale of a fallen heroine, with plenty of court intrigue, love, and lies to sweeten the deal. Good luck putting this one down." Virginia Boecker, author of the Witch Hunter series.

Ash Princess was absolutely amazing! Fast paced, gripping and definitely a page turner. Another fantastic YA Fantasy novel, that somewhat reminds me of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir.

Theo/Thora/Theodosia is a prisoner in her own home. The rightful Queen of Astrea.

When her home was attacked ten years prior, the Kaiser overtook her home, kept her imprisoned, killed her Mother, massacred and slaved her people. 

She was happy enough to just survive...after all she is alive, despite the lashings and the ridicule...until she was forced to kill her only living parent, before she got to really know him as a Father. Then the rebel was born, and the rebellion awakened.

I was a princess made of ashes; there is nothing left of me to burn. Now it's time for a queen to rise

Ash Princess was well written. It was striking! I was turning the pages while I held my breath...waiting! Very suspenseful and I truly enjoyed the characters. It was a nail-biting kind of novel and I really enjoyed Laura's writing.

It was so wonderful reading about the characters. Theodosia, called Theo by her friends and Thora by her enemies seemed weak and insignificant in the beginning, to be honest I didn't like her all that much at the start. I felt like she was just weak and lacked any back bone, but as the story progresses, she blossomed into a wonderful Queen! Ready to do everything it takes to save her people. I suppose that's how Sebastian wrote it, so we can see how she conquered herself and her beliefs to become someone quite fierce! 

A guardian must dedicate themselves to their god above all else, but being queen means dedicating yourself to your country above else. You cannot do both. You can love the Gods, you can love me, you can love whomever you wish to love in this world, but Astrea will always come first. Everyone and everything else gets only the leftover scraps. That was Houzzah's gift to our family, but also his curse."

There is a somewhat weak love triangle between Theo, Soren (the enemy's son) and Blaise, her childhood friend. Strangely enough, despite being the Kaiser's son, I prefer Soren to Blaise, and I think Theo does too (but I could be wrong). 

Soren wasn't a strong character, he still allowed his Father to dictate some of his actions, despite rebelling (behind closed doors) but he has so much potential! I feel sorry for him, as he's just trying to navigate this dangerous world, he has morals and tries to abide by it when he can, but I hope to see him become a stronger character, and one worthy of sitting side by side with the up and coming Queen of Astrea. I really enjoyed their time together, their interaction was sweet without the instant-love element. 

The small distance between Soren and me no longer feels cramped with things unsaid. Now, it's full of unspoken promises.

The only slight problem I had with the book in the beginning, was failing to understand why a power hungry King would allow a rightful heir to live, but through the book we are shown several reasons why he kept Thora all this time.

There are some strong themes explored in this book; racism, pedophilia and brutality, but it's not strong enough that it was hard to read, it was somewhat light.

Ash Princess is definitely a strong beginning to this trilogy. It was action packed, the ending was satisfactory. It allowed me to breathe in ease, but it left enough of a cliffhanger that I'm impatiently waiting for the next books in this series. 

This book was provided to me by Pan Macmillan Australia in exchange for an honest review. 

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As She Fades

by Abbi Glines

On the night of her high school graduation, Vale McKinley and her boyfriend Crawford are in a terrible car accident that leaves Crawford in a coma. They were supposed to spend the summer planning for college, for a bright future full of possibility. Together. Instead, Vale spends long days in the hospital, hoping Crawford will awaken.

Slate Allen, a college friend of Vale's brother, has been visiting his dying uncle at the same hospital. When he and Vale meet, she can't deny the flutter of an illicit attraction. She tries to ignore her feelings, but she's not immune to Slate's charm. Slowly, they form a cautious friendship.

Then, Crawford wakes up... with no memory of Vale or their relationship. Heartbroken, Vale opts to leave for college and move on with her life. Except now, she's in Slate's territory, and their story is about to take a very strange turn.

This is my introduction novel to Abbi Glines' work, despite having one or two on my TBR pile, and I quite enjoyed this book. If anything, I felt like it finished too quickly, not in the sense that it wasn't concluded well, but I just wish I got more time with the characters, especially towards the last quarter of the book. The last part felt somewhat rushed, but it was still rounded off nicely at the end.

As She Fades is a beautiful story that rings quite true, life is precious, and despite all the plans we make, one millisecond is all it takes for everything to change. This is what happened to Vale and Crawford's best laid out plans, when they are involved in a car accident that lands one of them in a coma. 

The book starts off as one point-of-view, Vale's, but mid-way through the book, after a surprising twist, Glines then changes to alternating chapters between Vale and Slate. This is the first book that I have read that changes POV mid-way through the book, but Abbi transitioned this well and I enjoyed and welcomed Slate's POV. 

Abbi's characters are very realistic, and I enjoyed seeing Vale's growth. Vale starts seeing that her "perfect" relationship wasn't so perfect after all, and that she has somehow lost herself whilst being with Crawford, allowing Crawford to take the reign for the most part. 

Seeing as this novel is for Young Adults, I really appreciate that this is something noted in this book. I know for myself, when I was still a teen, that I had lost myself whether through boyfriends or even friends, pretending to like things I did not etc just to be "cool". So I really liked how this subject was touched on, subtly and not in your face where a teen reading this book would think it was a "lecture" or "moral of the story" which as we all know, teens do not take to those well. 

Slate, despite him being a slut for the most part, I still liked him from the beginning; he was kind, caring, charismatic and charming. Glines wrote this very well as his charm just oozed through the pages. Slate was my favourite character as he was quite multi-faceted.

I also enjoyed several secondary characters, but most especially Slate's dying Uncle. He was funny, rude, crass but honest, hopeful and knowledgeable. 

As She Fades is a nice, simple and sweet book that will make you cry and smile. My favourite aspect was the reality of the story and the characters, the plot twist didn't go astray either. I felt like the twist really had me paying more attention...I also had the urge to start from the beginning to see if I can pinpoint the "hints" before it happened. Suffice to say Abbi Glines is a good writer that creates characters that grow within your heart, and the plot is somewhat unique for a YA Contemporary Romance. 

About the Author

Abbi Glines

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Abbi Glines is a #1 New York Times USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling Author of the Rosemary Beach, Sea Breeze, Vincent Boys, Field Party, and Existence series.

Read the Sample Chapter of As She Fades by Abbi Glines

This book was provided to me by Pan Macmillan Australia in exchange for an honest review. 

Burning Midnight

by Will McIntosh

Buy It Now

How much would you pay for superpowers? Fast-paced action adventure with a world-changing twist...

For fans of The Maze Runner and The 5th Wave, this debut YA novel from Hugo Award-winner Will McIntosh pits four teens against an evil billionaire in the race of a lifetime.

Sully is a sphere dealer at a flea market. It doesn't pay much - Alex Holliday's stores have muscled out most of the independent sellers - but it helps him and his mum make the rent. No one knows where the brilliant-coloured spheres came from. One day they were just there, hidden all over the earth like huge gemstones. Burn a pair and they make you a little better: an inch taller, skilled at maths, better-looking. The rarer the sphere, the greater the improvement - and the more expensive the sphere.

When Sully meets Hunter, a girl with a natural talent for finding spheres, the two start searching together. What they find will change more than just their lives... Because the entire world fights over spheres, but no one knows why they're here or what their powers are... until now.

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Zeroes

by Scott Westerfeld + Margo Lanagan + Deborah Biancotti 

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