Ash by Malinda Lo

September looms with a stunning amount of great releases! We are consuming large stacks of ARCs, and there are just so many titles to write about that we are frenetically at our keyboards.

Watch the posts! --VL

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Ash

By Malinda Lo

What if Cinderella hadn't needed a handsome prince? What if the Fairy Godmother had been the old sort of fairy, whose motives and intentions are decidedly less than kind?Ash takes the classic fairy-tale and turns it smartly on its head.

Aisling (called Ash), an orphan left in the care of her not-entirely-wicked step-mother, dabbles dangerously in the land of Fairy, trying to escape her daily drudgery and make contact with her deceased mother. But when real-life intrudes in the form of Kaisa, the King's Huntress, Ash finds she must decide between her promises to Fairy and the person she loves truly in the human world.

Ash is a wonderfully empowered heroine. She may not always make the best decisions, but she is adept at accepting the consequences and pressing ever onwards towards her goals. She is clever and resourceful, and it was a pleasure to read about a heroine who can rescue herself.

Reviewed by Sarah L