Ash

If you take your traditional Cinderella tale and you add superb writing ability and a handful of faeries, you have the recipe for a fabulous book. That is exactly what Malinda Lo has done.

Ash's mother passed away, and the young girl often found herself at her mother's graveside. In the twilight hours and sometime at night, she would experience weird events that she chalked up to dreams. These experiences play a part in the later story.

Her dad remarries and brings home a stepmother and two stepsisters for Ash. The story follows a traditional route from here. After her father dies, Ash is "employed" in the stepmother's home and she longs to escape...so she does, into the nearby woods.

Ash finds herself involved in the faerie world, something she doesn't at all mind. An escape from her dreary and frustrating existence is more than okay with this poor, sad girl. Until she meets the Prince's Huntress. The traditional thread of Cinderella showing up at the ball and wowing the Prince exists, but her heart isn't in it. Instead, she longs to be with the huntress. And when the faerie world and the real world collide, Ash must struggle to make the right choice.

This story is so beautiful and so well done. It is enthralling, even though you know the traditional tale. Lo's writing is amazing. This is one that I will purchase for my home collection - it is that good!

Click here to watch the Ash video, sponsored by the author.