Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Ash Princes by Laura Sebastian
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 441
Published on: April 24, 2018
Find it at Amazon (4 1/2 Stars)

Plot Overview:

Theodosia (aka Fire Queen, Theo, Thora, Ash Princess) is the main character who lost her mother in an invasion of her homeland, Astrea, when she was six.  Instead of killing her as well, the Kasier (leader of the invasion) decides to keep her around as punishment.  For ten years, Theodosia is treated like a pet and forces to endure some pretty harsh abuse by Kaiser for any negative thing her people do.    

 

She finally finds the Queen inside when the Kaiser forces her into an impossible situation that ends up changing the course of everyone's lives.  

 

My thoughts:

I was lucky enough to get my hands on the autographed book, Ash Princess, from Laura Sebastian.  Going into this book, I had never heard of the author or anything about the book but the cover looked amazing and I thought I would give it a try.  I finally had the chance to read this YA novel and was able to finish it in one morning. 

 

It is an easy read with a storyline that flows at a nice pace, although it does have some slow moments.  It kind of reminds me of Throne of Glass with some of the same themes (Broken Queens, people jailed in mines, abuse from the Kings, Prince being a softy, multiple different names and magic).

 

I found the love triangle a little forced and missing the buildup.  I did like the prince out of all the characters right up to the moment the author made him do something horrible without really having a good reason.  I had no interested in seeing anything but him dying off after that.

 

There is also a twisted friendship built between Theo and the daughter of the man that killed her mother.  I really didn't see the point of this unless the author is hoping to use this twist later in another book. 

 

I'm also assuming that this book is about magic but there really wasn't any used.  Something to do with the people of Astrea drawing power from the different stones mined.  I must have missed what all that had to do with anything and if these people had magic, why are they not using it? 

 

As with the trend nowadays, this book also ends in a cliffhanger so there is more questions then answers.  I really miss books that has a complete story from start to end.  The second book, Lady Smoke, is scheduled to be release on February 5, 2019. 

 

I give Ash Princess 3 stars but I do plan to give this serious another try and will be looking forward to the next book.