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.
The Review
Ash Princess is a dark book about a captive princess trying to reclaim her kingdom that was conquered by a twisted tyrant. I want to talk about how graphic the book is before anything else, because that's the part that stood out the most for me. I liked how dark it was, and how vivid the abuse is imagined because that's just the kind of person I am. I kind of hate ambiguity when it comes to violence, because it makes the emotion that much more raw. I really appreciated how clear it was, to the point where I actually grit my teeth and exclaimed out loud. If the YA genre can embrace sex, I think everyone should climb aboard the gore train too. But fair trigger warning, there is quite a lot of heavy abuse, some of it sexual in nature, but that aspect isn't detailed to the same extent.
Now, I did not particularly like any of the characters. I just couldn't really relate. For all Theo's talk of vengeance and retribution she never really acts on her own, giving control instead to the people around her, even a child at one point. I understand that this was a huge mind-screw for her, the past ten years she's been a captive, but still in a better place than the rest of her people and I can't imagine it would be easy to go from keeping your head down to rebellion overnight. That said, she IS suffering, she IS abused and treated as a trophy of the Kaiser's conquest. I just expected her to strike. I did like her more at the ending, when her game is laid out for all to see, but the rest of the time was just...not anything I haven't seen before. I hated the romance. Again, you've read it all before. I found it laughable that she is a prisoner on a very short leash but is able to go on a romantic moonlit boat ride with Soren. And speaking of Soren, more like Snorin'. He's as weak as Theo when it comes to grasping control of a situation and watches his father creeping on this poor girl, watches her being whipped time and again but doesn't actually stand up for her. I would have LOVED for more tension there, with him playing more of a hero and Theo manipulating him more. As for Blaise, he's kind of okay, I guess. Nothing really new or interesting there. He's also content to sit back and let everyone else do the work. I would have loved for more outbursts from him as well. I kind of liked Crescentia. Don't ask me why, but I think that girl has the potential for a HUGE character arc. I just hope she isn't made to be all of a sudden completely evil because I don't think that would fit with who she is. She did a lot for Theo and I have a bad feeling she might be ruined in the sequel, but we'll see.
The politics are...not really politics. It's basically all just half-assed plans that will probably fail so why not give it a shot? The stakes are quite high but I found myself not really caring. I mean, she herself had no interest in fighting back and was content to abandon her people until it was basically too late. I can't relate to someone who would watch children suffering and not even have the balls to look them in the eyes. I don't see any strength in her, I think at this point everyone is doomed.
I'm rating this one 2.5 stars because there were some entertaining bits but I was honestly just sighing to be finished with it. There is no new ground broken, nothing to really set it apart. Believe me when I say that you've read this book before, only probably with better characters.
