Ratings17
Average rating3.9
Nature is out of balance in the human world. The sun hasn't shone in years, and crops are failing. Worse yet, strange and hostile creatures have begun to appear. The people's survival hangs in the balance. To solve the crisis, the oracle stones are cast, and Kaede and Taisin, two seventeen-year-old girls, are picked to go on a dangerous and unheard-of journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen. Taisin is a sage, thrumming with magic, and Kaede is of the earth, without a speck of the otherworldly. And yet the two girls' destinies are drawn together during the mission. As members of their party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs only one huntress to save it, and what it takes could tear Kaede and Taisin apart forever. The exciting adventure prequel to Malinda Lo's highly acclaimed novel Ash is overflowing with lush Chinese influences and details inspired by the I Ching, and is filled with action and romance.
Featured Series
2 primary books4 released booksAsh is a 4-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2009 with contributions by Malinda Lo and Mandy Hager.
Reviews with the most likes.
I thought the book started out strong but I was very disappointed as it got closer to the end. It was a fun read with some interesting twists and turns and just the right amount of pacing but then it took a sharp turn; It felt like there were too many plotlines that they tried to create and wrap up in too few pages.
I also wish they had explored the depth of the relationships between certain characters because for some of them, it felt like I was being forced to feel something that wasn't there and I had to make up their shared history in my own mind for it to connect.
I read this very mediocre book for the promise of lesbians but they don't even end up together because Taisin decides being a priest is more important to her. I don't get too broken up about bittersweet endings but this was the only thing the book had going for it and it just threw it out the window. Not to mention during the story Taisin was given every reason to change her mind about being a sage as she discovered they've been lying to her all along. But that plot thread isn't developed further and later completely ignored.