Ash Princess by Laura Sabastian: A Book Review
Genre: Fantasy
Sebastian starts a thrilling story in her work Ash Princess. Caught between saving her people and saving herself, young sixteen year old, Theo finds she is now two people: Lady Thora, Princess of Ashes; and Queen Theodesia of Astrea. The only question for her now is what she is willing to do with the knowledge. Stationed at the threshold of adulthood, Theo realizes that her greatest shame may also be her greatest strength. She may be Lady Thora, but she is also Theodesia, queen of the conquered kingdom of Astrea. Using Lady Thora as a pawn in a game of strategy against her captors, Theo realizes that it is not about saving her people or saving herself – its about saving Astrea, through any means possible.
Theo’s story was something that I got caught up in myself and I have to say that Sebastian did a beautiful job in describing the different aspects of conquers and those conquered. Often times we have stories that the conquers are always the bad guys – but Sebastian showed that it usually is just a lot of gray area. While those ruling (*cough* the Kaiser *cough*) may be evil, everyone else is just trying to survive – and the conquers are simply conquers because they have no idea how to be anything else.
Honestly, I loved the hypocrisy of it all. Perhaps it is because I am one of the world’s biggest cynics – but I love stories that show the undercurrent of how morally gray humanity truly is. Black and white may make things easy, but I’ve always imagined morality as a stain on someone’s soul: make a morally impermissible choice and the stain gets bigger – darker; make a morally permissible choice and the stain grows smaller – less dark. To me, the only completely moral person, one with no stain, would only do morally obligatory duties – something that is not only unbelievably hard, but also entirely unrealistic.
Philosophy aside, Ash Princess is an extraordinary story with a protagonist who has to not only find themselves, but shape themselves into what they are needed to do – all the while staying true to themselves. It’s a hard order to fulfill, but one young adults – young people – constantly find themselves in. Kudos to Sebastian for giving them a story showing that they are not alone.
Who would most enjoy the work and who should stay clear (if necessary):
Those who enjoyed Avatar: The Last Airbender (the show, not the movie) would really enjoy this I feel. People who like stories about the four elements would enjoy this as well – especially if they wish they could harness an element’s powers – or think they have done so before. W.I.T.C.H. is a little old for some people to remember, but that also would be a good show that works with the elements.
I don’t see any necessary reason for anyone to stay clear of this book. Overall, it is pretty docile when talking about death and the act of murdering thousands of people.
Other books like the one reviewed:
A Queen in Hiding by Sarah Kozloff
The Rise of Riverstone by Mandy Schimelpfenig
Mother of Pearl by Blanka H. Madow (out 8/23/22)
| Plot: | 10 / 10 |
| Characters: | 9 / 10 |
| Writing: | 10 / 10 |
| Editor: | 10 / 10 |
| Total | 39 / 40 |
Title: Ash Princess
Author: Laura Sabastian
Edition: Paperback First Edition
Published: 2018
Publisher: Ember (Penguin Random House)
ISBN: 9781524767099
If you want to get it: Amazon; Barnes&Noble
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