Princes of Ash

Update: 11/11/2023
I'm honestly at a loss for words. I'll come back to give more coherent thoughts after I've digested this a bit more.
(And maybe re-read it. I already feel the burning urge to start again from page 1.)

There's just so many things that Samgel did absolutely masterfully in this trilogy. Like how the actual hell do all of the pieces always fall into place with them? Like every little detail is important, and ties back in somehow.

Right now though, the biggest thing I can't stop thinking about is that: the reason I probably love the Princes books the most so far is that they are (under all the debauchery and unhinged-ness) so relatable?

It's almost like a dramatization/bastardization of the “coming of age” deal that happens in your early-mid twenties. You start to realize how much of your identity has been shaped by your family/parents, you start to see the shadow side of this and maybe feel anger and bitterness. You try to disengage from the familial hierarchy which keeps some people weak, dependent, or unable to change. You try to ensure that you never become what you have watched your parents become, and you try to escape so that you can ultimately heal.

I feel this most strongly with Lex as he's trying to balance all of his responsibilities. Trying to uncover what he wants from what he's always been told he should want. What he knows to be true about himself, versus what hes always been told is true about him.

My only disappointment was that I didn't get more time with Lex. But Logically this made a ton of sense to me. First of all plotwise, it makes sense that he would be battling his Scratch addiction. Overall "balance" wise within the trilogy he really stood out as a favorite in the first book and so it made sense to give him some downtime. This book really made me come to love Pace. I love how obsessed he is with Verity, and how it seems like he's slowly starting to learn that being there with her in the flesh, is much better than watching her through a screen. I went into Princes of Chaos expecting to have Pace be my favorite, because this totally obsessed and unhinged Pace is who I was expecting to get in book 1. The character development was totally worth the wait though. My hope is that the third book can really bring Wicker around for me cause honestly I'm not really sold on him yet haha. Like I wouldn't choose to boot him from the Princes, but I'm not exactly seeing him as vital to the operation yet either...

Like honestly I don't care if they're explicit, if there isn't some literature professor 50 years down the line making people read these books and analyze them for a semester paper I'm going to hop out of my granny wheelchair and beat someone with my cane.




Pre Release Crying 11/9/2023
Bro this is ridiculous