The book Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian was published on April 24th of 2018. It is Sebastian’s debut book. Ash Princess is a book about love, betrayal, strength and weakness. It was a book unlike anything I’ve ever read.

Ash Princess is told from Theodosia’s perspective. Theodosia (Theo) is the princess of a kingdom that was conquered many years earlier. After seeing her mother killed in front of her and being abused by the Kaiser – leader of the Kalovaxians – and murderer, Theo was a broken woman. Her tipping point was met after Theo was forced to kill her father. Enraged and heartbroken, Theodosia enlists the help of a group of misfit rebels led by an old friend. But she must tread carefully because one mistake could lead to the death and unfortunate end of her country.

As one of the teenagers who spends a lot of time reading, I wasn’t expecting anything new in this book. I expected half-put-together characters and a forced love plot from a bright upstart author. I was happily surprised by the characters. The main character was wonderfully crafted with a definite goal in mind. Her personality remained consistent throughout the book and grew. The romances in the book were not forced and advanced the plot without forcing the story into a romance. The antagonist was a character that readers could genuinely hate. His evil was not pointless and mad but calculated and cruel which made him seem even worse.

The plot was sublime. The characters moved the plot along at a quick pace which made the reader want to continue to the end. Moments where nothing was going on were rare and in most cases, nonexistent. From beginning to end nothing was forced or pushed into being eventful. With the extremely relatable characters, the plot was enjoyable to read by attempting to solve the character’s problems. The problems of the story developed and changed over the course of the book which created various layers of conflict. By the end of the book, most of the problems were solved but enough was left open to exciting the reader for the following book.

Overall, this book was amazing. With an entrancing setting and vivid characters, the book created an atmosphere of wonder. The conflict was sincere and was written unforced. The book moved along quickly and created a world that readers will enjoy being a part of. I enjoyed this book immensely and give it a 4.5/5 rating.