Book Review: Ash by Malinda Lo

 

I just finished reading Malinda Lo’s debut novel, Ash.  I loved every word.  I just wanted to get that out there; I feel no need to follow my typical review format with this book (which I don’t have to point out is ironic, since I tend to have no format).  It is amazing. 

I wrote the preceding paragraph mere seconds after I finished reading Ash.  It’s been a full day since I finished the book. I still fully stand behind my initial conclusions, and will justify them in the following paragraphs. 

Ash is a beautifully written variation of the fairy tale, “Cinderella.” Lo imagines the tale in a world that is similar, but so very much different than Disney’s version of the tale.  The world she builds in Ash, is almost haunting.  It absolutely breaks your heart when Ash, the main character, tragically loses both of her parents mere months a part, and Ash is left to the designs of her cruel stepmother. 

The fairy aspect of the tale is haunting and heartbreaking as well.  Nearly everyone in the country has forgotten or lost their ties to the fairy world, and only a few people follow the old traditions.  Ash has ties to the fairy, and she becomes enchanted by the secret people everyone has forgotten.  As she falls in love with the fairies, she also finds that she is falling in love with someone else as well.  However, its not Prince Charming.  He does make his appearance, but Ash doesn’t play by the rules… even the rules of fairy tales. 

Ash is a strong main character.  She’s admirable. She has to be strong in order to overcome everything that seems to go wrong, and then to achieve the life that she dreams.  Ash is a coming-of-age story.  While it is based on a traditional fairy tale, and contains many of the aspects of the original tale, the result is something new entirely.  The way that ash and cinders are the same, only different, is the same way that Lo’s fairy tale compares to the original.

I think I mentioned that I loved Ash, I hope you’ll find it enchanting as well.