ARC Review: Ash Princess (Ash Princess Trilogy #1) by Laura Sebastian
10:00
Series: Ash Princess Trilogy #1
Author: Laura Sebastian
Published June 14th 2018 by Macmillan Children's Books
Goodreads Synopsis
The queen you were meant to be
The land you were meant to save
The throne you were meant to claim
Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Fire Queen, was murdered before her eyes. Ten years later, Theo has learned to survive under the relentless abuse of the Kaiser and his court as the ridiculed Ash Princess.
When the Kaiser forces her to execute her last hope of rescue, Theo can't ignore her feelings and memories any longer. She vows revenge, throwing herself into a plot to seduce and murder the Kaiser's warrior son with the help of a group of magically gifted and volatile rebels. But Theo doesn't expect to develop feelings for the Prinz.
Forced to make impossible choices and unable to trust even those who are on her side, Theo will have to decide how far she's willing to go to save her people and how much of herself she's willing to sacrifice to become Queen.
From author Laura Sebastian comes Ash Princess, a nail-biting YA fantasy debut full of daring and vengeance.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.
From the first moment I learnt about this debut, I knew it was something I needed to read, and requested it from Macmillan straight away - so thanks, Macmillan, for my copy. As soon as my copy arrived, I immediately put it in my work bag, hoping I would get a free period where I could read, and dove right in.
In Ash Princess, our main character, Theodosia, has lived her life since the invasion of her homeland by the Kalovaxian Kaiser and execution of her mother, the Fire Queen. As a young girl, she was spared by the evil Kaiser, but made to be a figurehead of the failure of her people, and punished for any uprising they may attempt. Newly renamed Thora, and nicknamed the Ash Princess, Theo has suffered greatly by the hands of the Kalovaxians, but, in a way, she’s lucky. She’s valuable to the Kaiser, whereas the rest of her people have been enslaved, and are tortured, raped, murdered, you name it, on a daily basis. As Theo’s life in the palace is becoming more and more dangerous, she finds herself surrounded by others who want to rid the Astreans of the Kalovaxians, and begins to formulate a plan to seduce the Crown Prinz, Søren, and bring down the Kaiser’s rule, from the inside.
First of all, I really enjoyed Theo’s characterisation. Because of how she has been treated since she was 7, she’s obviously not a strong person from the get go. She doesn’t understand how anything could change, and does anything to try and limit the punishments she receives on a regular basis. As the time has gone on, more and more of the elite of Guardians, who protect the Spirit Gems, have been killed by the Kaiser’s forces, and it seems there is no one left strong enough to save them all. Slowly but surely, through the intervention of Art, Blaise, and Heron, who were once close to Theo and have masqueraded themselves as her permanent bodyguards, Theo begins to find the fight within her, and creates a plan to destroy the rule and power of the Kaiser, and kill all those who’ve hurt her, and her people - Theo is ready to become the Fire Queen, no longer an Ash Princess.
One of the secondary characters who I disliked, but also loved reading about, was Cresentia, or Cress. She was the daughter of the Kaiser’s main general, who, coincidentally, also killed Theo’s mother. Cress is also the only friend Theo is allowed, and though she appears kind, and sympathetic towards Theo’s plight, underneath she believes Theo is the only Astrean who deserves any leniency, and anyone who gets in her way on her path towards the Crown, will be punished. Theo initially believes Cress is harmless, but as her plan to seduce Prinz Søren becomes apparent, and Cress is jealous and angry that Theo is daring to ruin her chances with him, she snaps. The way that Laura wrote Cress was fantastic, as I never really saw Cress as a villain in the beginning but her chance from a kind, harmless character, to someone to be vary of, was done so well, that although it was a shock, it wasn’t forced.
For some people, this book may be a bit too strong, as it doesn’t shy away from the danger, the abuse, the sheer terror that some characters are facing day after day. The Kaiser was a seriously evil character, and I found myself dreading his appearances on the page, especially once his attention towards Theo turned to a more physical, sexual nature. I'm glad that Theo found her role inside her prison, and the way the book ended is making me desperate to read book 2.
On the topic of romance, there was a bit of a love triangle that happened over the course of the book, but it never really bothered me too much. Yes, I have a preference on who had better chemistry with Theo, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.
If you're a fan of YA fantasy, then this debut is definitely one you should be reading - trust me, you won't be disappointed.
Dates Read:
March 12-16, 2018
Rating
5 Stars
March 12-16, 2018
Rating
5 Stars
0 comments