Independent Reading Project: Book Review

The Grimm Brothers’ tale of Cinderella has been retold countless of times, many of the

modern takes of Cinderella have all had their tweaks and add-ons from the original story. “Ash”

by Malinda Lo takes a different route than the usual re-telling of Cinderella. Instead of falling in

love with the prince of the kingdom, Cinderella falls in love in with the King’s huntress. Set in

an unnamed kingdom the young adult, fantasy, romance novel follows main protagonist, quiet

and reserved Aisling, often referred to as Ash. After losing her parents she moves into the Quinn

house with her horrid step-mother, Lady Isobel, and her two step-sisters, Ana and Clara.

Attempting to escape the torment of the Quinns, Ash seeks refuge in the forest near the Quinn

house where she often meets with the enchanting Sidhean, a fairy who has become fond of her. It

is also in this forest that Ash meets the love interest of her story, the strong-willed and bold

King’s huntress, Kaisa. Ash encounters many troubles from her step-mother's torment, and the

web of strings that keep her tied to Sidhean, yet closer and further away from Kaisa.

The novel is categorized as a young adult, fantasy, romance, fairy tale. Although it succeeds in

most of these genres, it falls flat with its romance aspect. To be frank, the romance in this novel

is extremely subtle and could be depicted as a strong friendship between two girls, had it not

been for the mention of the novel being a lesbian re-telling of Cinderella. However, nearing the

end more signs of romance can be seen yet predominantly it fails to be a good romance.

Though the novel lacks actual romance the author’s diction succeeds. Throughout the read it was

relatively easy to be immersed into the story and world that the author had created with their

words. The authors word choice and description to the events occurring are splendid, they were

compiled of complex language yet it was easy to understand. The vocabulary used fit with the

tone and setting of the story and made the read genuinely enjoyable.
The cast of characters varies, the story introduces various characters though only a few are

impactful to the story and plot. The main characters revolving around the main conflict are Ash,

Kaisa, and Sidhean. However, Lady Isobel plays a major role in Ash’s life and her daughter

Clara becomes a compelling character as the story progresses. Ash is quiet and reserved. After

losing her parents and having to face the torment of her new family, her haven of tranquility

becomes the book anthology of fairy tales her father gifted her before his passing. Ash often

reads her tales throughout the novel in the forest. Ash first encountered the enchanting fairy

Sidhean in the forest after being trapped and circled by a pack of fairies attempting to take her.

Sidhean slowly opened himself up to Ash as the story progressed, yet Ash could not lay her eyes

of the King’s huntress who she had also met in the forest. Ash met the huntress while reading in

the forest one day, after their first encounter the huntress would frequently pay visits to Ash and

from there their friendship would slowly progress into something more.

Though the characters appear interesting upon first sight they have no real depth. The main

protagonist Ash does not have much to be seen beyond the quiet and reserved girl she is. Though

it was enjoyable to see her encounters with Kaisa, as she became an awkward mess around her

but it does not make up for her lack of personality. Kaisa on the other hand was a charming

character, she was very skilled as a huntress but she can mostly be described as just “cool.” The

enchanting Sidhean was more alluring, and a mystery surrounded him. Sidhean mentioned Ash’s

mother quite a few times, though did not give much detail as to how or why he knew her. This

made him intriguing and peaked curiosity to who he was. He later reveals that he was cursed by

Ash’s mother to fall in love with a human, which happened to be Ash, and he believes that

loving is a horrid feeling. Although a lot of his character is mostly unknown what is known is

quite intriguing and makes him a decently interesting character. However, the most compelling

character in the novel is Clara Quinn, although she depicts one of the evil step-sisters from
Cinderella her character is more than a one-way door. Throughout the beginning of the story, she

can be seen as another evil prop in background yet it is the subtle things about her that are the

most intriguing. She is hinted to have been internally struggling under the pressure of her mother

and sister in search of a husband. She also is shown to have soft side for Ash, and personally the

end marked her as the best character of this story. She understands her situation as a woman in

the era that the story takes place as well as her position with her family and Ash, yet rather than

having her be another evil one-sided character she has depth and inner conflicted that although

not explored much it still makes her character stand out from the others. Her final embrace with

Ash at the end of the story showed how she had grown although, her actual development

throughout was subtle, it was smooth and pleasant to witness. So, although this novel has a

charming huntress and enchanting fairy prince, the character I fell in love with the most ended up

an “evil” step-sister.

The conflicts of this novel are not that interesting, to be frank. It follows similar routes to the

Cinderella tale. Instead of a fairy godmother there is the dark fairy Sidhean and the prince of the

kingdom is irrelevant to the story. The conflicts involved Sidhean and Ash. Sidhean’s curse from

Ash’s mother has caused him to fall in love with Ash, and Ash’s love for Kaisa has caused her to

make reckless promises and wishes. Ash’s troubles outside of the Quinn house stem from the

contract she made with Sidhean. He grants her magic to go the ball and spend time with Kaisa

and in return she become his’. Ash of course loves Kaisa so she left with having to deal with the

aftermath of her wishes and figuring out a way to be free some Sidhean before it is too late.

Overall, not that interesting but was not entirely bad.

This novel was a decent read, overall, three stars out of five (close to three point five because of

Clara). The characters are not that compelling with except for one or two and the plot is to put

simply, basic. In terms of romance this novel would not be recommended but, this is a good re-
telling of fairy tale. The diction used in this novel is fascinating and compelling. This novel was

a fun read but the after taste not so much. I would only recommend this if someone was bored

and not particularly looking for anything interesting, a fairy tale lover, or a young teenager

looking for subtle romance.