Synopsis:
Eighteen-year-old princess, Valeria Breault, is sure of three things. She was exiled from Empyrean because her father didn’t want the hassle of raising her. Her perfect realm would be better off without a mortal-raised smart-ass with a foul mouth and penchant for trouble. Neither of those things matter when a horde of demons crashes prom.
Forced to fight for her life, Valeria narrowly escapes being captured by the Realm of the Forsaken, only to be dragged back to Empyrean before she is meant to return. Instead of the beautiful utopia from her bedtime stories, Val finds herself thrown into a hellish nightmare where the poor are dying, the rich are thriving, and her claim to the throne is in jeopardy. But not if Valeria can help it.
The overwhelming desire to belong and a craving for power has her making choices that make it harder and harder to guard her heart against the man who’s bound to protect her, the god she’s vowed to hate, and the darkness that’s growing inside her. Only time will tell if the secrets she unravels and the alliances she makes will lead to the throne or the pyre.
A Realm of Ash and Shadow has the drama, spice and stabby energy of From Blood and Ash, the sexiness and thrills of Kingdom of the Feared, and the magnetic world-building of Sarah J. Maas making it a truly addictive romantasy that will utterly captivate you until the very last page.
Review:
Whew, this one was...kinda wild. In a good way, I think.
It's another entry in the New Adult Romantasy genre juggernaut that's so popular at the moment. It features Fae, Demons, a broken kingdom, betrayals, secrets, romance, a dash of spice and a somewhat insane amount of plot twists.
As I was reading A Realm of Ash and Shadow I occasionally felt like it was all a bit much. The author literally threw everything but the kitchen sink into this book's storyline and it did feel a bit messy at times. But as more time goes by since I read it, I actually think I'm appreciating it more in retrospect and I'm definitely still thinking about it and looking forward to any future books to see what the author does next with everything she has begun here.
I also had a few issues with main character Valeria's actions and reactions here and there - she's a tad impulsive - and some of the dialogue made me cringe once or twice, but I can't deny I had fun reading this book nonetheless!
This story may start out feeling very reminiscent of so many other similar Fantasy Romance books you've probably already read, but it quickly deviates and becomes something more unique. I didn't want to rehash any of the plot in my review, but I'll just say that any time you think you know what's going on in A Realm of Ash and Shadow, you don't.
If you're looking for a fun read within this genre we all can't get enough of and have some good neck exercises to help you with the inevitable whiplash you'll experience from the crazy plot, I'd say definitely give this one a go.
4 stars ★★★★
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