Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

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Title: Ash Princess
Author: Laura Sebastian
Series: Ash Princess Trilogy #1
Published by: Listening Library
Release Date: April 24, 2018
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Source: Libby, cloudLibrary
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2021 Monthly Key Word Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ IndieBound ✩ iTunes ✩ Libro.FM
My rating:

Blurb:

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.

My Review:

3.5 stars — I think in the end I *wanted* to like this one more than I actually did.  It was longer.  The pace was slow at times.  I didn’t always like Theo.  And I just didn’t get as captured emotionally.  Basically I can think of other books that share elements of the plot that just affected me way more.

Saskia Maarleveld was delightful as always as the narrator.  I love her accent and hearing how she pronounces everything.  As such, I have no idea how most things are spelled, so forgive my terrible attempts to sound it out.

I thought the world was interesting.  I didn’t always get the magic and how it was used, b/c Theo wasn’t allowed to use it herself, and the Kalavaxians couldn’t.  I kind of wish I could have learned more about that, but perhaps that will come in the next books.  The Kaiser was ridiculously brutal, along with the people in his employ.  I could picture most of Astrea and the mines fairly well…though I’m not sure I was that enraptured by what it was before, and obviously not after.

Theo was…tricky.  She starts off very broken, and it was hard to hear about how her life had been.  It was different too, b/c she had some privileges, but it was almost like that game where someone makes a wish and the next person ruins it…that was her life…seemingly not too bad, but in reality not great.  Just in a subtler way than the Astrean slaves.  I’m not sure I quite get who she is though…I didn’t connect with her that well.  I think I was bothered by the bloodthirsty revenge at times, and how she would swing back and forth.  I’m not saying it wasn’t realistic or appropriate, but it left my brain spinning at times.  Take her friendship with Cress — she went back and forth so many times on that one, I never invested in it…and I’m not sure if I was supposed to or not.  It’s like, I get that Cress made her life less bad, but I’m not sure I truly *felt* why she was so torn about what to do there.  I think it would have had a stronger emotional impact if they had been closer, and we’d seen more redeeming qualities in Cress.

I enjoyed her developing relationships with Heron, Artemesia and Blaise.  We got to learn more through her conversations with them than at any other time.  And they all taught her different things, and helped her grow in her own way.  I even enjoyed the conversations she had with Erik.

I will admit the love triangle is pretty meh for me.  Blaise is okay, but I’m not all on board that train.  I’m more on board the Søren train, and that’s probably why I’m also unhappy with Theo.  I thought he was a more complex character than any of the others.

In the end, I grew frustrated with how Theo was burning bridges and making things worse for herself.  It’s not that I don’t get it, but I don’t like it.  She’s harsher than I want I think.

I’m curious where the story’s going to go, and if the audiobooks weren’t 13+ hours long each, then I might push through.  But I don’t care *that* much.  I think I just need to read spoiler reviews and move on.  I know, terrible.  Meanwhile I want to go back and reread the books/series that some elements of this story reminded me of…