Review: Ash by Malinda Lo

Ash by Malinda Lo
Release Date: Sept 1st, 2009
Details: 264 pages, paperback
Series: No
Source: Author (Thank you Malinda Lo & Little Brown!)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Summary (goodreads):
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. 

o0.| My Thoughts |.0o

Ash is a retelling of Cinderella. All of the basic Cinderella elements are there; the death of her parents, the wicked step mother, the bratty step sisters, the stroke of midnight and the ball.

The difference in this re-telling is that the girl's name isn't Cinderella, it's Aisling. There is no fairy godmother but there are fairies. And they do grant wishes, but with a price. And I have to admit, I grew fond of one of her step sisters, Clara. I wish there were more scenes with the two of them together. The journey that Ash takes in this story is interesting and it held my attention well. There were so many twists that sometimes I felt like I wasn't reading a re-telling of Cinderella anymore, but an entirely different story all together. I admired Ash for her bravery, for never backing down when it came to her wicked step mother and for going after what her heart desires. No matter which way it took her.

I must warn you, this isn't your typical love story. I know a lot of people complain because it didn't turn out to what they thought it would be. But if you keep an open mind and just follow Ash's journey along with her, I think you'll enjoy it just as much as I did!

o0.| Favorite Line |.0o

Clara gave her a strange look and said, "You may be our servant now, but you are the daughter of a gentleman, and you must know that you are far prettier than Ana."