Ash

By Malinda Lo

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Fans of fairy tale retellings will have much to cheer about in this excellent twist on Cinderella. Ash (Aisling) is devastated when her mother dies, and takes refuge in the fairy tales and stories she used to tell, and even wonders if some of them could be true. Do fairies really exist? Then her father remarries, bringing two stepsisters into the mix, and true to the Cinderella story, soon Ash is a servant in what was her home. But when she goes into the Wood for solace, she meets Sidhean, an actual fairy. He is beautiful in an unearthly sense, and Ash is drawn strongly to him. Her life is so miserable that she wishes he would take her away with him to his land. But although Sidhean also seems to desire Ash, he tells her the time is not ripe. Ash returns to her miserable life, but one day she meets the King's Huntress who commands the Royal Hunt. Kaisa is kind to Ash, treating her not as servant but as an equal, and the two strike up a friendship as Kaisa teaches Ash how to ride. When Kaisa asks Ash to participate in the first hunt of the season, Ash wants to accept but how can she escape her stepmother? She goes to Sidhean for help, but he warns that if he does help her, Ash will have to pay by going off with him forever. Ash is willing to pay the price...or is she? Is she ready to give up this world for one so different and unknown, even if Sidhean is with her? What about her feelings for Kaisa? And can one every escape a fairy bargain? Readers will be drawn into Ash's world and will eagerly turn the pages until the very last one. Fabulous storytelling of a familiar fairy tale with a dark side.