Review: Ash by Malinda Lo

Ash by Malinda Lo


Details: Paperback, 272 pages
Published: October 5th 2010 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: I bought it.
Buy it: The Book Depository

Summary: Cinderella retold

In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash's capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Entrancing, empowering, and romantic, Ash is about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.

Review: I wanted this book so much and when I finally got it I was beyond excited. I'm not sure why, but for some reason it ended up sitting on my shelf for over a year before I finally got around to reading it.

All I can say is that I am so glad I bought this book and have now read it because it is amazing.

I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately, but as soon as I started reading Ash I was hooked. I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. I just had to know how it was going to end.

Malinda Lo's writing is beautiful. Sort of magical. It's hard to explain. I felt like a little kid while reading Ash. I don't think any other book I've read has made me feel like that, except for maybe Harry Potter.

I absolutely love all of the characters, especially Ash and Kaisa. Just everything about this book is perfect. I will definitely be buying Huntress, Adaptation, and anything else Lo writes. She is now one of my favourite authors.

If you haven't read Ash yet, what are you waiting for? It's a must read!

My Rating:

Review: Ironside by Holly Black

Ironside (The Modern Faerie Tales #3) by Holly Black

Details: Paperback, 336 pages
Published: August 6th 2007 by Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
Source: I bought it
Buy It: The Book Depository

Summary: In the realm of Faerie, the time has come for Roiben's coronation. Uneasy in the midst of the malevolent Unseelie Court, pixie Kaye is sure of only one thing -- her love for Roiben. But when Kaye, drunk on faerie wine, declares herself to Roiben, he sends her on a seemingly impossible quest. Now Kaye can't see or speak to Roiben unless she can find the one thing she knows doesn't exist: a faerie who can tell a lie.

Miserable and convinced she belongs nowhere, Kaye decides to tell her mother the truth -- that she is a changeling left in place of the human daughter stolen long ago. Her mother's shock and horror sends Kaye back to the world of Faerie to find her human counterpart and return her to Ironside. But once back in the faerie courts, Kaye finds herself a pawn in the games of Silarial, queen of the Seelie Court. Silarial wants Roiben's throne, and she will use Kaye, and any means necessary, to get it. In this game of wits and weapons, can a pixie outplay a queen?

Holly Black spins a seductive tale at once achingly real and chillingly enchanted, set in a dangerous world where pleasure mingles with pain and nothing is exactly as it appears.

My Review: Ironside is the third and final book in the Modern Faerie Tales trilogy and it was a pretty good end. Valiant is still my favorite of the three, however I really did like this book.

Ironside was hard to put down. It didn't pull me in as much as Valiant, or even Tithe, but I still wanted to keep reading to find out how it all would end. I have to admit though that I was just a tiny bit disappointed in the ending. It just didn't feel finished.

Holly Black is a fabulous writer. She creates a gripping story filled with friendship and danger. So of course I would definitely recommend this trilogy to everyone. All three books are fast, fun and well written.

My Rating:

Review: Valiant by Holly Black

Valiant (The Modern Faerie Tales #2) by Holly Black

Details: Paperback, 336 pages
Published: September 5th 2005 by SIMON & SCHUSTER CHI
Source: I bought it
Buy It: The Book Depository

Summary: When seventeen-year-old Valerie runs away to New York City, she's trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system.

But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. And when one talks Val into tracking down the lair of a mysterious creature with whom they are all involved, Val finds herself torn between her newfound affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

My Review: Val comes home to a very big surprise, and not the good kind. Deciding to get away from it all she runs off to New York City. While there she meets some kids her age and they start hanging out. This leads her into some new and interesting situations.

Valiant is such a fast, fun, intense and compelling read. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. I don't have one single complaint with this book other then I wish it was longer.

Holly Black is a fantastic writer. You get pulled right into the story and feel like you are right there with the characters, experiencing it all with them.

I will definitely be reading this one again.

My Rating: