{Blog Tour} Ash Princess (Ash Princess Trilogy #1) by Laura Sebastian

Posted by Donna
Release Date: June 14th, 2018
Finished Date: June 10th, 2018

Publishers: Macmillan Children's Books 
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Source: For Review
Format: Paperwork 

Pages: 448
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo 

 

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.

The Review: I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Ash Princess because it sounded like something I would enjoy and I am so pleased that I exceeded my expectations because it was simply amazing. 

Ash Princess is about Theo, a teenage girl who has lost her kingdom, mother and people to a tyrant king who invaded Astera ten years ago. In the ten years of Astera being ruled by the The Kaiser, Theo has endured pain and brutal punishments but no matter what Theo knows she has to remain strong. She cannot show weakness and must pretend to be loyal to the Kaiser no matter what. But it’s now Theo’s time to help her people regain all that has been taken from them even if that means betraying those closest to her. 

What a promising start to a new fantasy trilogy! As I said before Ash Princess definitely exceeded my expectations because I was hoping it would be great but it was better than great. I was thrown into Theo’s world from page one and couldn’t put it down, admittedly it is a little bit of a slow started but that did not stop me from enjoying this book as much as I did. I loved discovering the facts about each kingdom with their customs and I definitely cannot wait to find out more. 

Theo is such a good character that you can’t help but connect with her immediately. For a character that has so many bad things done to her from bullying and beatings she remains completely strong willed and determined and I really admire that about her. I could understand why she would become docile under the Kaiser care because she had no other choice, it was down to her survival but what I loved was that when help comes for her, she is 100% committed to help her people. This is her time for revenge for all the things she has lost and I was so glad she had loyal people helping her. 

Now most people will want to know if there is a love triangle and yes there is. We have Soren and Blaise but for me I think I’m wholeheartedly team Soren. I do really like Blaise but I much prefer Soren because I think the things that Theo and Soren could do together would make their world that much better. 

In all, I really enjoyed Ash Princess and I am already eagerly awaiting for Lady Smoke to release.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Books for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Laura Sebastian on ‘unlikeable’ heroines

The word unlikable has become ubiquitous in talking about heroines, used to describe everyone from Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games to Lada Dragwlya in And I Darken to Princess Katherine in Three Dark Crowns. You see it pop up in reviews and discussions, and it’s usually meant as a good thing, a way of saying “this character is not easy to digest, they have flaws, they’re sometimes difficult to root for, just as any real person would be.” But I’ve long been bothered that it’s only ever used to describe female characters. Male characters with the same traits are termed “well-rounded” or “fully fleshed out.”
Maybe it’s because for so long, heroines weren’t complex or layered or flawed—they were merely pretty, hollow, wholly likable cutouts who existed only in relation to the hero. They didn’t have to make difficult choices or reckon with consequences—those journeys were saved for their male counterparts. They simply had to support the male protagonist along the way or be there waiting for him at the end. There was no opportunity for them to be unlikable because there simply wasn’t enough of them on the page to dislike.
But we aren’t talking about disliking them, are we? After all, most people like Inej and Nina from Six of Crows and Mare Barrow from Red Queen—but not everyone does. Just as no person can be universally liked, it stands to reason that no well-developed character should be, either. And that is what we’re talking about when we call a female character unlikable. We’re saying that they’re real, that they’re relatable.
These girls tend to be ambitious and desperate and bitter and reckless and stubborn, and they have the audacity to want things and the grit to take them. They make mistakes, they trust the wrong people, and sometimes they outright fail, but they wouldn’t be nearly as compelling—or human—if they didn’t.
There’s nothing inherently unlikable about so-called unlikable female characters, and we should stop pretending that there is.

AUTHOR BIO

I write YA books and I'm also entrusted with taking care of other people's children. I write books about girls who are strong in all different ways, usually with a healthy dollop of magic and a few dragons.

I live in NYC with my extraordinarily fluffy dog, Neville.

You can find out more at http://www.laurasebastianwrites.com