It has taken me too long to review this release and there is a reason for it. I kept having a hard time picking it up and reading it. Each time I tried, the material reminded me of other YA Fantasy novels I previously read. YA Fantasies are beginning to become like Dystopian and Vampire mainstream novels before them. What is considered "fresh" and "new" one minute and popular, authors are told to repeat tropes to satisfy readers. This novel is heavily influenced by this.

Theodosia had promise, had. She could have used her bitterness and rage to her advantage, but sold out and "fell" for the Prinz. Her personality wavered greatly. It was almost like the fire within her was sucked out almost halfway through the novel.

I have read fantasy that are cookie cutters while others were genuinely unique to itself and stood out amongst the masses. This one, sadly, is not one of them to me.

Ash Princess is a tale of Princess Theodosia, a young woman whose kingdom, Astrea, was conquered and her mother murdered, before her eyes when she was a young girl. She now lives as a hostage and prisoner in the very palace she grew up in, now ruled by the brutal Kaiser and his people, the invading Kalovaxians. She is kept on a short tether, questioned by the Kaiser regularly and tortured by the Kaiser’s right hand man, her mother’s killer, the Thain, when any Astrean rebellion is discovered or even suspected. Her only friend, ironically is the Thain’s daughter, a kind and devoted friend, but a Kalovaxian. When an Astrean legendary rebel is captured and brought to the palace to be executed, the tragic event lights a spark in Theodosia. She discovers her childhood friend Blaise has secreted himself into the palace and the arrival of the Kaiser’s son, Prince Soren and his great interest in Theodosia presents her with a chance at escape and the possibility of beginning a rebellion to overthrow the Kaiser and reclaim her kingdom.
Ash Princess is made of solid world building and characters to care about as well as a villain to genuinely hate! It also presents a conflicting love triangle that tugs the readers emotions back and forth regularly, leaving readers struggling with choosing who Theodosia should be with.
I enjoyed reading Ash Princess and I’m looking forward to the continuation of this series. Thanks to the publishers for furnishing me with a copy to review! Can’t wait for the sequel.

I enjoyed it- and really got into in closer to the end..... it just was VERY slow in the beginning. I almost quit several times, but I felt it had good potential to get better (and it did!). I was very shocked by who Dragonsbane was- I can't wait to read more along that story line in the next book!

This wasn't horrible but the similarities to Ruined by Amy Tintera. The plots and characters were almost identical.
The romance played a big part in this book and it was so bland I ended up skimming those scenes.

I probably won't continue this series since it added nothing new to so many YA fantasies I've read before.

I loved this book. I thought the twists and turns were exciting and kept the pace fast and flowing. Normally I dont' care for love triangles, but this is the first time in a long time I ate it up! The political intrigue and backstabbing was also really well done. I loved the main character. She had the perfect amount of spunk without being grating. Overall, I couldn't talk up this book more to the middle schoolers I work with and all of our copies have been checked out for months straight!

*RECEIVED FROM NETGALLEY

This book was a lot like And I Darken but shorter. I loved the whole elemental aspect of it and I cannot wait to read the second book within this trilogy (according to Goodreads). I hope that the 2nd book lives up to the second one. I did go on and off with the audiobook (thank god my library had it) and there was music during some of the chapters and I was caught off guard by this at first and then it made sense (especially during the lullaby chapter). Overall, I did like this novel. I felt like if I were to actually sit down and read it, I would have given it a higher rating, but I still think 4/5 stars is good.

One of the main reasons I picked this book up is the cover, because I'm such a fan of beautiful covers. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a copy. This review will be full of spoilers, so if you don't want to know major plot points I'd suggest not reading any further! I also want to give out a trigger warning for this book, Theo suffers a lot of abuse from her captors. Torture, suicide and sexual assault are all dealt with in this book.

I didn't have high expectations going into Ash Princess, but then I rarely do going into books. So it was unfortunate that this book still managed to disappoint me. Mostly I found that it had a lot of plot issues. My biggest issue being why was Theo even alive? I never could find a reason as to why she was kept alive by the Kaiser. It also never made sense to me why Soren liked Theo, or why he stood up for her and fell for her throughout the story. There's literally no reason for him to care. It also never made sense why Theo would have a crush on him, even if it was just for a short period of time. After all she went through at the hand of Soren's father it seemed ridiculous that she would even entertain thoughts of liking his son.

I also found that the plot was predictable. I could see what was going to happen between Theo and her ''friend" Cress from a mile away. It was also obvious that Theo would never get up the guts to kill Soren. It was very disappointing to be right. 

I never could get behind any of the characters. Theo was about as interesting as a lump of dirt, her character lacked any sort of spark whatsoever. Like I've already mentioned I don't think Soren's character made a lick of sense. And the other part of the love triangle, Blaise needed to be explained a lot more. I think of all the character he was the most interesting because you think he's just a dumb kid and then there is a twist having to do with 

Ash Princess had a lot of potential. It as a fairly unique world, I really liked the magic system with the gems. I also liked the how the book dealt with the idea of a people group enslaving another group, it deals with racial issues such as colonizing within a fantasy world and that was great. This book could have been really relevant to today's political climate, it could have said a lot of really great things about racial issues. Unfortunately it just got caught up in a stupid love triangle and was a boring book overall. 

I gave Ash Princess 2 stars on Goodreads.

I really enjoyed this book! I started reading it not knowing too much about it honestly, it was an Amazon impulse by but I very quickly got all of my preconceived notions about what it would be VERY quickly and I was really surprised by just how much character and plot growth happened throughout.

This book is perfect for fans of The Winners Curse, The Belles, and Children of Blood and Bone. It gave me serious vibes of all three of those books so if you're familiar with them, you know what a rare treat that is!

I highly recommend it and can't wait for the next book in the series to come out.

Much too repetitive in places....especially her internal thoughts. This fantasy is very similar to everything out there right now. I won't be recommending it to teens.

3.5 stars

I'm so torn on how to rate this book, because it had the potential to be really great. But it fell short for me. It lacked the character/relationship development that really sucks you in.

It was technically well-written, and the story was engaging enough... The problem I had was that I didn't connect with any of the main characters. We are constantly told what the characters are feeling, instead of getting to see the relationships develop through their interactions and experiences. There is a love triangle and I didn't find myself invested in any of the 3 characters involved. The love triangle was totally unnecessary (as love triangles usually are), and I wish the author had focused on developing one relationship, instead of giving us 2 slapped-together relationships with no substance. I have zero investment in either relationship. Why does Soren care for Thora? Guilt? That's honestly the only reason I can think of at this point. Why does Blaise care for Theo? Because of a childhood crush? I really don't understand it, because Thora/Theo was rather boring in her interactions with both characters, and the guys were equally as boring in their interactions with her. Very one-note, the two of them. My favorite character was actually Erik, who is BARELY even in the book. I thought he was more interesting in his few pages than either Soren or Blaise were in the entire book.
And as for Theo, I was expecting her to be more bad-ass than she turned out to be... I found her to be really wishy-washy. I am hoping she is cooler in the next book.

The story itself (with the rebellion and gems and Guardians and powers) is interesting and I'm curious to see where the author takes it. There is potential for this to get better, and I'll probably read the next book... but I won't be eagerly anticipating it. Hopefully I enjoy it more than the 1st.

Ash Princess had all the makings of a fantasy novel I’d love: a heroine fighting against a world that’s been cruel to her, a motley crew trying to make things right, espionage, magic and romance. But it all felt so.. standard. I can’t say anything in the plot shocked me, which I don’t necessarily need to like a book, but I was unable to fully connect to the characters either. I certainly felt for Theo’s plight. She was only six years old when her mother and Queen of Flame and Fury was killed right in front of her. She was taken in as a ward by the enemy only to be subjected to constant abuse and ridicule as the “Ash Princess”. She decides just to bear it until an event makes her realize she needs to do something. She conveniently finds rebels to align herself with and their plan is have Theo seduce the Kaiser’s warrior son and prince to her side. Unsurprisingly, turns out he’s actually a good man which only confuses her further. It’s an internal struggle as she decides between how she feels and the queen she believes she needs to be in order to save her people. And while I was curious enough to see it through to the end, I don’t feel invested to continue with the series.

Do I recommend? While it wasn’t for me, I can see why other people would enjoy it! But if you read a ton of fantasy like I do, you may feel the same way I did.

That. Was. Awesome.

Ash Princess was exactly the book I was looking for when I picked it up. It's been so long since I've read a YA fantasy with princes and princesses, swords, court intrique, and things of that nature. It's a favorite subgenre of mine and it felt like coming home every time I picked it up again. The blurb promises vengeance and complicated relationships and boy does it deliver. I just love when a book says it's going to be something and it just IS. If you're looking for a high stakes magical adventure, look no further.

First thing's first, I took an immediate liking to Theo. She has many faces - Lady Thora, the Ash Princess who cows to the Kalovaxia conquerers; Queen Theodosia, her mother's daughter and the hope of her people; and simply Theo, the girl underneath both of those outer layers, with hopes and wishes and feelings all her own. I think it's incredibly difficult to write a character who slips into this different personas, but Sebastian did so masterfully. The inner turmoil Theo puts herself through just to survive a single day in the Kaiser's court is palpable, and she struggles each time she has to use a different identity. But she does it, because she's strong and she's angry and if she wants to succeed, she doesn't have a choice. That's another thing I really love about Theo: she makes the hard decisions. It takes her an understandably long time to get to that conclusion, but she will do what she needs to do. I've heard her be called a Slytherin and honestly I've never heard anything truer in my life. She is cunning, she is resourceful, and she is ambitious.

I also really, really enjoyed Crescentia, or Cress, Theo's closest "friend." Of course, Theo can't actually trust a Kalovaxian, especially the daughter of a the man who murdered Theo's mother. But Cress has been the only one to show her kindness in the decade that Theo has been prisoner. I thought Cress was one of the more interesting characters because while the others had very clear motivations and goals, Cress kept her plans close. She comes off as a vapid, spoiled brat, but it soon becomes clear that she's much more than that. She is another Slytherin through-and-through. There are THINGS that happen to Cress late in the book that make me so, soooo excited to see what she gets up to in the sequel. Plus, I loved how the author played this trope of two friends in a rivalry over a boy. It could be looked at as an easy trope to pit two girls against one another, but nothing is as simple as it seems with Cress or with Theo.

I also thought this world was incredibly interesting. The Kalovaxians are almost a nomadic people, except instead of just staying on the move, the take hold of other countries, wipe out their people and their resources, and then move onto the next unsuspecting country. There's no true Kalovaxia anymore, which I found intriguing. There's not even a Kalovaxian throne; the kaiser uses Theo's throne throughout the book, living in the Asrtean palace, using Astrean food, clothing, etc. I haven't seen a group of truly monstrous people like this, and I can't deny that I found them frightening. Theo obviously did not get out of the palace often, but she saw enough people to hear whispers of other foreign lands, both free and under the Kaiser's tyranny, that I know there's a vast and rich world out there that I can't wait to explore further.

Astrea was the first nation the Kalovaxian's have conquered to have any magic. And I loved the magic system. There are gems, which act as sort of conduits for elemental magic. But only those blessed by the gods, who have completed years of worship and devotion in the gem mines, may use the magic. If you are not blessed, and spend too much time in the mines, you will go mad. If you use the magic without being blessed, you are committing the ultimate blasphemy and will not be received in the afterlife. This made things hard on Theo who has an obvious calling to multiple different elements. Using this magic would obviously make it much easier for her to accomplish her goals, but doing so puts her immortal soul at risk.

Thematically, there is so much explored in Ash Princess. There is a clear, racial divide among the Astreans and the Kalovaxians - and, from what I gather, every nation the Kalovaxian's have conquered. This opens up discussions of racism, slavery, and cultural appropriation. I thought the author did a wonderful job of clearly explaining those theories through actual actions the characters do, through different scenes in the book, instead of just dumping into the readers' laps. Of course, blanket trigger warnings abound for the corporal punishment, the slavery, and the capture of people of color.

I just thought Ash Princess was great. Maybe it could have gone deeper and darker in some places, and it does rely on tropes (but in a fun way, not in a lazy way.) But I was gripped from the very first page. Laura Sebastian has a gift for putting you on the edge of your seat; I felt real anxiety reading this because I loved the characters and knew how horrible and cruel the villain could be. In a moment it could all come crashing down with the most dire of consequences. Looking for a fun, exciting YA fantasy with deeper themes that apply to our real world? Read Ash Princess; you will not be disappointed.

It is a debut novel, and for that, is well-written, and impressive. The story and the characters just never clicked with me.

I have read similar stories. Princess has lost her thrown due to invaders and kept as a prisoner (well-kept slave who still gets punished and humiliated by the new ruler). She discovers a rebellion is underway with her people leading it and plots with them to take back her throne and escape.

There is kind of a love triangle. She tries to get the prince to fall for her as part of their plan. Her best friend is a pampered noble who, in my view, treats her horribly. Yet the Theo insists she is a good friend. Backstabs and betrayal abound.

There was a lot talking in this. So. Much. I wanted more plot and action. Things did happen, but small bits in-between dialogue and more dialogue.

I love young adult fantasy, but this didn't work for me.

The first few chapters of this book will blow your mind! I don't think there's been a book where such a dark scene takes place so early on in the book and because of that I just wanted to keep reading. 

Theo is caught between a rock and a hard place many times throughout this book and at times she questions who her allies really are. She is forced to live in her palace run by the cruelest of king's, the man who dethroned her family, and left her an orphan. He parades her around and uses her as a public deterrent on many occasions, even when it is not justified. I thought Laura did a great job at showing just how resilient Theo is given her circumstances. She created a cunning young woman who will do anything, even if it's betraying those she's closest to, in order to save her kingdom.  

There is a love triangle in this book and for me it is difficult to pick who I like better! She is torn between someone from her past and someone from her present. Both surprise her in many ways by the actions they take to protect her. I'd be curious to see who ships who more from other reader's who have read this book already! 

This book is definitely more about character development and setting up events that I believe will really take off in the next book(s). There is no shortage of intensity throughout this book, including two major reveals that take place, so don't worry about it not keeping your attention. I have a feeling we will get to see a lot more action and I'm curious to see how some of the other characters will develop over time!

Books like Ash Princess are the reason why I am obsessed with YA Fantasy. It was dark, twisted and had me flipping the pages for more nonstop. The only reason I gave this book a 3.5 rating is because it was predictable, the writing was very well done but I could already tell what was going to happen. The book Ash Princess involves Theodosia who should be queen but is now a prisoner with the insulted nickname Ash princess after her mother was killed in front of her. Her life now is as a prisoner who's trying to stay alive and trying to get back to the throne. I would definitely recommend this book.

Some books just have the perfect spark, a combination of plotting, writing, and characters and story that all work perfectly. From the moment you crack open Ash Princess to when you close the cover, you will struggle to put this book down. The story is a bit predictable in places, but it honestly doesn't matter because the book is so darned exciting and entertaining that you still want to see how it's going to turn out.

Summary

This book follows the story of Theo, who has been a prisoner since her mother was killed by the Kaiser years ago. She serves as his plaything, obeying his orders to do horrible, horrible deeds in order to stay alive. She was the daughter of a queen, reduced to the title of Ash Princess, to shame her and cause her much pain as she thinks about her imprisonment in her own castle. But, a select few believe that Theo is the rightful queen of the kingdom and that is all Theo needs in order to be able to claim what was once her destiny.

Likes

I have to say that the standout for this book isn't the story itself, it is Theo. She is a fantastic main character with so much grit and strength that it's inspiring. I can't imagine being in her place and having to act as civil as the way she did and play a part in order to claim what is hers. I thought that she was similar to Mare from Red Queen: and I hope everyone knows that Red Queen is one of my favorite series so that is saying a lot. I saw the similar fire in her eye and how she carried herself once she knew that she actually had a chance to rule. The friendship with Cressentia was something that I also liked because I felt like there was actually relationship building in it. You saw the struggles and you saw how Theo had to struggle between her court life and the life of being a rebel. There is also a romance in this book but I will talk a little more about that later. Overall, I enjoyed how the book was written and I enjoyed reading it, which broke my string of disliking books that I was reading lately. I also really love the cover and I think it's a gorgeous way to illustrate how even when broken, you can overcome anything.

Dislikes

Due to my rating, my dislikes are a little less than usual. I really enjoyed this book and I will certainly be reading the next one! The romance is the only thing that I didn't really care for: it seemed like it was similar to many of those forbidden romances in YA novels but nonetheless it had its place. I will also say that there is a bit of violence in this book that should be warned about with both physical and psychological, that might be tough for some readers. The author addresses this on the book's Goodreads page if anyone wishes to read further in case of trigger warnings! All in all, this book didn't have much that I disliked and the main character really carried the story through for me.

Recommendation

I would recommend this book to fans of Red Queen and strong, likable female characters that just won't give up no matter what they are faced with.

I really enjoyed this! I love fantasy stories about politics and manipulation. I really liked Theodosia and I'm excited to see her continue to grow throughout the series. I particularly enjoyed how her relationship with her friend developed because it was so complicated. I have a few mixed feelings about the love triangle, but mostly I thought it was really well done. I think fans of The Winner's Curse will like this series for sure.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this book

Thora/Theo

Upon learning that the Ash Princess was going to be another "Underdog Heroine Out to Save Her Impoverished And Abused People," I was, quite honestly, bored. Soooo many of those already out there. So we really need another? Certainly NOT! However, this particular heroine just doesn't come off like the others. Perhaps it is her unique status as the "Ash Princess" or maybe her surroundings or back story, or maybe the writing was just so good that I can overlook any tropes that might appear. Whatever it is, Theo just isn't like other YA book heroines. She does some things that I don't really agree with, but she does them for the right reasons and that has to count for something right? Right.

Blaise

My boy, Blaise. Where do I begin? He is the stuff Book Boyfriends are made of. He held back a the right times and made himself vulnerable at the right times. And you just know there is some crazy power that he keeps at bay, but I have no doubt if Theo needed him, all bets would be off. I enjoyed this character.

Soren

The third corner of our triangle. Honestly, I pity him more than anyone else in the story, which is saying quite a bit, because there are a number of people in this story that deserve pity. He's just ordered around or tricked or used by just about everyone. He feels guilty for what he does but by the time he stands up to his father, it's too late on every side, so e threw himself into the line of fire for nothing. Pressure from everyone. No one to trust. Sadly, no one who truly cares for him...and acknowledges it. Just plain sad.

Elpis

Okay, let's take a moment to discuss the real hero of this book. The biggest play in the story and arguably the most risky, and it was a thirteen year old girl. If there were more girls like Elpis in this story, there would be a pretty formidable army of teenage girls-- and really, who wants to fight an army of teenage girls.

The Kaiser

You know, normally I just want the good guys to win. This time, I wanted the bad guys to lose. Like lose big. I wanted him ripped apart. But waiting for it- actually I think that'll make it even better. And I really want Soren to be the one who does it. I know that Theo wants it, but Soren just seems more satisfying to me.

Cress

She's kind of that spoiled best friend that you can't help liking even though their entitlement is obnoxious. Even so, until the end, I really did like her. And in the end, I still understood her. One of the great things about these characters, for the most part, even when you don't like what they're doing, you can understand why they're doing it.

Plot

There were really no big surprises with the plot as far as the MC's goals and where she wanted to end up. Even not knowing how it ended, I wasn't like, "Wow, where did that come from?" Tension continued to build through the story, however, and there was never a part that was lackluster, though that also meant that no parts really shined for me, which is fine, because that just means the whole story was pretty solid. There really wasn't anything spectacularly new. A tyrant took over a smaller country and made them slaves while his own people obeyed him out of fear. The execution of the writing made it special however, which we will get to in minute.

Setting

Solid A+ for World Building. I'm not sure of the time period, however, the place was very well-written and never did I feel I wasn't actually there. I can imagine the dungeons and the Was as the Prinze and Theo sailed under the stars. The mines, though we never actually visit them, so dark and dank that anyone would go crazy down there. The throne room, commanding and intimidating and cold.

Writing

I were to describe the writing in this book with one word, it would be: lush. There was no choppiness. Nothing was rushed or slow. The pace, as mentioned, was steady and engaging. Characters were fleshed out and we saw angles of everyone mentioned. Even the Kaiser had a backstory. Where I expected action scenes to be hurried, they were fully described without being drawn out.

Recommended to: fantasy fans, romance fans, Maggie Steifvater and Sarah J. Maas fans
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32505753-ash-princess?ac=1&from_search=true
Booklikes: http://readmewriteme.booklikes.com/post/1703241/ash-princess-4-1-2-stars

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I loved this. While Ash Princess was not the most original Young Adult Fantasy book, I don't really care because it was so good. I was constantly reading this over the last couple days because it is one of those books that grabs you until the end. It is definitely character driven with lots of dark elements. Theodosia is not a perfect character, which was more interesting because it was harder to predict her actions. The only thing I could have done without was the love triangle but I get why it is in there. Otherwise, I can't wait for book 2!