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22 Feb 2010

Book Review: Ash - Malinda Lo








 "Is this why you sought me out? To tell me a-" He paused, his lip curling, and continued, "A fairy tale?" Pg86






With her parents both gone, Ash finds herself a servant in the house of her ruthless stepmother and there seems no hope of finding happiness again.
But Ash is unaware of her mother's legacy, and that it will lead her to a magical place. A place where love, identity and belonging are all waiting...

Everyone knows the story of Cinderella, it's a staple part of our childhood and with this debut novel, it is not simply a re-telling of a classic. It is so much more than that.
Consumed with grief for her parents, Ash finds solace in the book of fairy tales her mother used to read to her, and dreams of one day falling in to the arms of a handsome faerie forevermore. So when she meets the dark and dangerous Sidhean, all her wishes seems to have come true.
 But when she befriends the King's Huntress, who teaches her the ways of the forest and other survival skills, she feels her heart beginning to change and discovers she is chasing fairy tales less and less...

 I truly loved this re-telling. The lore, The Wood, the fact that Prince Charming doesn't come to Ash's rescue. And thank the Gods, it was nice to have a little deviation from the (dare I say) 'Twilight-type' romances that have been cropping up in YA novels more and more these days.
All in all, this is a beautifully written novel - one that I will definitely re-read in the years to come, as I would any other fairy-tale.

Published by HodderChildren's Books - March 2010

3 comments:

sebbysnorlax said...

I've always been a fan of fairy tales, magic, gnomes and all sorts of literature that falls under that category (Except for Twilight which I hate with a passion). Nonetheless, I'm quite curious about this novel. Another one to add to my "book-retail-therapy" list of the year ~! :)

Jon M said...

Sounds great. I like reimaginings!

Unknown said...

What an amazing story this was, I would read this one again. What a nice twist from the "normal" cinderella story. I found I was lost in the fairy tale.