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bookdragonenby's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed reading this book. The conclusion was a little rushed for my taste.15 pages left and there hadn't been a solution suggested. The detail of stories and world building were gorgeous and well thought out. But the relationship felt really lacking. I didn't know who I was meant to be rooting for. Over a solid read, but nothing too out there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Grief
Minor: War
lady_valhella's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Grief, and Death of parent
levitatingnumeral's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Ash is very much a “neither - nor”, on-the fence.
The story itself is bland. It doesn’t succeed in exploring the characters and their relationships nor does it have interesting events going on.
The world-building is lacking: sure, it’s set in a nondescript past, but it fails to portray anything in depth. For example: we know Gwen wants to marry and that is portrayed according to the historical stereotype, but are we going to ignore that women back then probably had personalities, motives, dreams? It’s like every single event or character is a mere caricature or stereotype.
The storytelling heavily relies on telling, rather than showing. Which I dislike, but I could’ve maybe defended with a “well, it’s a retelling of a fairytale, so of course it resorts to telling the facts, as is customary”. Except the book attempts to introduce a more literary twist, using descriptions and a more flowery language (at times). So the book is too long and detailed to be a classic fairytale and too focused on telling to be a well-written novel.
Finally, the author tried to give a feeling of “it’s in the past” through the use of both language (specific words/sentence structures) and figures of speech. However, this is used inconsistently and much too lightly, entirely preventing immersion.
I truly don’t understand the reason for this book to exist. The story is unremarkable, the characters are flat, the writing is underwhelming.
The story itself is bland. It doesn’t succeed in exploring the characters and their relationships nor does it have interesting events going on.
The world-building is lacking: sure, it’s set in a nondescript past, but it fails to portray anything in depth. For example: we know Gwen wants to marry and that is portrayed according to the historical stereotype, but are we going to ignore that women back then probably had personalities, motives, dreams? It’s like every single event or character is a mere caricature or stereotype.
The storytelling heavily relies on telling, rather than showing. Which I dislike, but I could’ve maybe defended with a “well, it’s a retelling of a fairytale, so of course it resorts to telling the facts, as is customary”. Except the book attempts to introduce a more literary twist, using descriptions and a more flowery language (at times). So the book is too long and detailed to be a classic fairytale and too focused on telling to be a well-written novel.
Finally, the author tried to give a feeling of “it’s in the past” through the use of both language (specific words/sentence structures) and figures of speech. However, this is used inconsistently and much too lightly, entirely preventing immersion.
I truly don’t understand the reason for this book to exist. The story is unremarkable, the characters are flat, the writing is underwhelming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death of parent and Classism
brebee's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This was a reread for me. I remeber reading ash in sixth grade and loving it. I wanted to see if it stands up to the test if time and I'd say it does. This book if a wonderfully dark fairytale world.
Content Warnings
Minor: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
iuvmoonie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
bluberrybooks's review
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I liked the storywriting of this book. It was beautiful written and I liked the sorry. I just think it fell flat to me but it wasn't a bad read I enjoyed it. It was solid!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
btorsi's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
such an odd book. it's pretty much sapphic YA royalty, so i knew it was a crime i hadn't read it yet. the writing is like that of a fable; there is such an odd amount of distance from the reader to the protagonist, but it still felt overflowing with heart. it was such a fast and enjoyable read. i didn't expect to love it as much as I did.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Confinement and Death of parent
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I have owned this book for so long and never read it. I don't know what was stopping me, but I decided this month was the time! I really enjoyed this Cinderella retelling! I loved the different elements of fairy that were brought into it and Sapphic Cinderella? Yes, yes please. Even though this was a retelling, it wasn't predictable. I loved the ending and how everything turned out. I loved what Ash learned from her mother and I adore the Huntress!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
shybookstagramer's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I really wanted to like this story. I liked the idea of it but I don’t think the execution worked for me. I found it very slow and kind of dull for my liking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Confinement
animal death is a stag being hunted and killedpawprintedpages's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse