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. (Goodreads)
The end of the book was much better than the beginning. I thought at first the book started out slow, and I was slightly annoyed with Thora/Theo as a character. Things began to get more interesting when she finally gets the courage to rebel.
I did enjoy most of the characters but I didn’t really connect with them. I often times felt like Theo was much too trusting. I would have liked a lot more background for Theo and Blaze because that whole thing fell very flat to me.
The characters I liked the most, Cress and Soren, were probably ones that I wasn’t supposed to like at all.
The story felt a little slow at times, but I think overall the pace was good. I did think one thing the book did very well was world building. The magic was very well explained and I like how both science and religion we used in this book.
Overall this was an entertaining YA fantasy.
Overall Rating: 4
I really like your writing style, great information, thank you for posting :
D.
Thank you! It’s really just stream of consciousness lol.