Initial Reaction: Yay!

I saw this book all over Instagram and my initial thought was that I needed this book just for the crown. I had no idea what it was about but I knew I had to have it! And that is how I went into this book. I didn't bother reading the summary on the back and now I believe that is the best thing I could've done

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian is about a young girl who has been living for the past ten years in the castle that was once her home, but is now her cage. She is the daughter of the murdered Queen of Astrea; now she lives her life as the Ash Princess. Spending her days being tormented by the new ruler who is a tyrant known as the Kaiser. She is punished for the rebellious actions of her people and it seems that is how she will spend the rest of her days until someone from her past makes their way to her. It is this figure who ignites the fire within her and pushes her to reclaim the throne.

This book reminded me of my love for fantasy I didn't realize how much I missed the genre until I read Ash Princess.

What was it that I missed? The exotic worlds that are created and the magic within them.

In the story of Ash Princess the country of Astrea has magic and is the only country that does in this world (as far as we know). They have the ability to manipulate fire, earth, air, and water; through the use of spirit gems. However not everyone can possess this ability you have to be blessed by the gods after you've made your way through the cave of that specific gem. I thought this sort of magic was really cool especially since some of these abilities had healing capabilities, such as: water and air. It also made me feel nostalgic for Avatar: The Last Airbender! 😍

Along with the world itself the characters were awesome!

Theodosia our Princess, who is also referred to as Theo and Thora . I found her journey of self discovery really powerful as she worked toward being better than her mother, the Kaiser and of what was expected of her. This was evident in the decisions she made throughout the story. She is the embodiment of the author's message: “May You Always Do The Right Thing Even When It's Hard.” As she works towards escaping and getting her country back she considers everything. She does not want kill just for the sake of killing. These choices surprised me because in my opinion it is different from most stories with a similar premise, but here the protagonists looks beyond the fact that she is dealing with an enemy, she remembers that they are people too.

Theo is also a character with a lot of endurance making her an admirable character as she endures the torture the Kaiser subjects her. He abuses her physically by punishing her with a whip in front of a crowd as well as in front of her people in order to teach “a lesson” to the Atreans. The Kaiser also acts inappropriately as he touches her suggestively as well as leers at her, while all she can do is play the part of Thora: the obediant princess that the Kaiser let live. Her ability to survive as well as still have the spiriti to take action is why I found her admirable.

Of course our hero needs a great gang of rebels to help her fight back! Blase, Heron, and Artemisia; who provide the sass and the encouragement needed by Theodosia. The sass queen is Artemisia who is not afraid to speak her mind and Heron is the sweetheart of the gang. But Theodosia’s real sweetheart is Blaise, he is very protective over her for more reasons than he will let on. Blaise and Theodosia grew up together in the castle before the Kalovaxians invaded Astrea ad it is evident that they had some sweet moments growing up. This of course becomes a problem when Theodosia begins to have feelings for Prinz Soren.

Before you scoff at this notable trope of a love triangle this is more complex than it sounds.

-Major Spoilers Ahead!-

Theo explains to her gang of rebels as they plot to seduce the Prinz, how she has never had a real kiss before. This is due to the obvious reason of being captured at the age of 6. This leads to her old friend Blaise to give her her first kiss which was awkward and what felt like to Theo as forced. Theo believed that maybe there was something there between her and Blaise but she can’t understand the mix signals that Blaise ends up sending her. Soon after this kiss she kisses Prinz Soren who kisses her with passion. Ultimately I believe that the two men are used to help develop Theo as a character. With Soren she got to pretend what it would be like if she were in a simpler world where she didn't have to worry about a whole country but instead she could fall in love and live happily ever after. Blaise on the other hand is the romance born from friendship, but they live in the reality where they have to work together to win back their country. The romance and emotions that Theo experiences is what eventually leads to her coming to understand that she need to be responsible and take action.

Ultimately I could go further into detail on why I loved this book, but it all came down to Sebastian’s writing; especially her world building and those scenes of intensity that almost brought me to tears. Which is why Ash Princess receives a 5 on The Princess Scale.