People need to stop sleeping on this series. It’s so good! Political intrigue, interesting magic system, flawed characters you want to root for. I think I may prefer this second installment to the first, which isn’t a common thing with second books.
Theo is a great protagonist. She is strong-willed and intelligent, using her wits to navigate the murky political landscape. She is surrounded by a bunch of people (mostly men) who are trying to use her for their own gain and she is not having any of it.
There is a scene I particularly like where a ruler is explaining to her that she is going to have to prove her purity (virginity) before she can be married off to anyone. She states that in her culture there is no importance placed on chastity and that if she is to adhere to such an affront to her privacy then she expects the man she might consent to marry also undergo an exam to test his purity.
There is one WTF moment with Theo that I wish had been handled differently, because her actions felt out of character for her and like they were done simply to move the plot along, but I felt like it could’ve been done in a more believable way.
I love the found family aspect of this book as well, and how people who wouldn’t normally have anything in common are compelled to work together toward a common purpose.
This second book expands on the world introduced in Ash Princess in a big way. I like that we see cultures that are completely different from both the Kalavaxian and Astrean cultures. Some are led by women, some men. Some are inherited while others are elected. There is even a kingdom that is ruled by religious oligarchy. Each of these countries were culturally unique and I really appreciated that.
I also appreciated the fact that this book had several characters who identified as something other than straight, and that it wasn’t treated as a shocking thing.
I would tell anyone who thinks this will just be a copycat of numerous other ‘kingdom fantasy’ series to give the first book a try. I found myself flying through this book and cannot wait for the conclusion.
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Popular Highlights in this book
Still, there is something to be said for someone seeing your darkest parts and accepting you anyway.Highlighted by 424 Kindle readers- “As women, we must have our weapons in this world, whether they’re our minds or our fists or our wiles or our tears.”Highlighted by 313 Kindle readers
- “Hope is contagious,” she says. “When you have enough, it spreads naturally.”Highlighted by 219 Kindle readers
From the Publisher
From Lady Smoke:
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| ASH PRINCESS | EMBER QUEEN | CASTLES IN THEIR BONES | |
| Customer Reviews |
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| Price | $7.68 | $14.75 | $11.29 |
| Read all of Laura Sebastian's books! | Book One: An epic fantasy about a stolen throne and a girl who must fight to take it back for her people. | Book Three: The conclusion to the Ash Princess trilogy, in which Theo must liberate her people and face a terrifying enemy! | Book One of a new fantasy trilogy following three princesses and their destinies: seduction, conquest, and the crown. |
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Reviews with images
Quite expensive to be damaged
This book is originally priced at $20 and I paid $27 for the book to have a piece missing from the cover and have a small food spill on the plastic covering. The only reason I was even willing to spend $27 was because I expected a new book and it was one of the limited options on Amazon. I will keep it because I would like to finish this series but I would have expected better for the book to be more expensive than original priced. The shipping was okay it took a bit over a week to get it but it was packaged really well in two different plastic coverings. Just please note that you may be spending more for a “good” quality book
Top reviews from other countries
Ilona
Expected more
Reviewed in Belgium on October 24, 2023
Ilona
Reviewed in Belgium on October 24, 2023
At the end we got a lot of action but even there I missed some more '' passion '' from the MC. While everything happened I didn't feel that much of it. I just missed something.
The book was okay just not a 100% obsessed with it.
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