Review - From the Ashes by Shelby K. Morrison

Title: From the Ashes (Legend of the Liberator #1)

Author: Shelby K. Morrison

Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis:

For eighteen years Aia Wynnald has lived a lie. Raised as a highborn in the Kingdom of Tharien, she’s filled her days with tutors and archery lessons. But simmering beneath her polite surface is a dangerous gift, one which she must keep a secret. Aia is a Bender. And in Tharien, Benders are feared and hunted.

When her unruly power breaks free with dire repercussions, Aia’s lifelong goal of independence shatters. As she scrambles to piece her life back together while evading capture, she disturbs a vengeful force intent on destroying the kingdom.

Now, with the help of an unlikely ally, Aia will decide the fate of Tharien. To rescue those she cares about will require accepting what she is. But can she risk becoming the monster she’s dreaded to save the very citizens baying for her blood?

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

My thoughts:

From the Ashes is the kind of book that is a pleasure to pick up after real-life issues have forced you to take a long brake from reading. What a novel! I barely finished the first book and I’m thirsty for the sequel. 

A frantic witch hunt is what I would say happened throughout the 285 pages of the book. Of course ‘witches’ are called benders here, who possess a not-always-sleeping power – a power that helps them bend the world. They do magic, if you like, but what a difference it makes if they get a different name! Benders are a new, exciting kind of magicians. 

My absolute favourite things in this piece of YA literature were the plot twists. There were a lot of them and, even though there were some I could see coming, a few of them took me by surprise and I couldn’t help but gape at my e-reader for long moments – oh my gosh, they were very effective!

The world building was also pretty nicely done. The conflict between the benders and the breakers that goes back long, long years made a perfect basic concept on which the writer built Aia’s story skilfully. From the Ashes isn’t about the main character only though; Aia’s personal life intertwines with Tharien’s (hi)story – and with the lives of its people.

I've grown to love the members of a particular bender group, I really hope we’ll see more of them in the sequel. I adored Cole as well and I was happy the love story between him and Aia – I sense there is one – wasn’t forced that much in the first book. There were a million other things to concentrate on, so I didn’t miss it at all. For now it was enough to know that Cole cares about Aia and I can’t wait to see how their relationship progresses later in the upcoming book(s).

From the Ashes dealt with some serious issues (attempted rape, mutilating) that gave a darker aspect to the story. I haven’t read many YA books that dared to be a bit more gruesome, a bit more shocking than what we are used to in the genre and I’m grateful for the author for taking this step, because – strange as it may sound – it added to the quality of the book. 

Since I started with mentioning what I liked best about From the Ashes, let me finish with the thing I liked the least: the range of places where the story took place was very limited. Characters in fantasy novels usually travel a lot and here there wasn’t a lot of moving involved (in this sense). However, having read the whole book it looks very likely that the characters will start ‘walking down the road’, so I just have to wait and see.

Overall it was a very enjoyable ride for me and I’ll surely be back for the next dose, because I can’t wait to know what happens later.

 

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