Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Although there's a steep upward curve trying to get into the story, I really enjoyed this one!
It had my favourite things: messed up family relationships, a Gothic-inspired atmosphere, and a touch of dystopia. I loved the way unease is built in the wrongness of the story's setting.
The prologue is a touch misleading because it sets up the story to be about a dysfunctional family on a farm. I kept expecting the uncle to return, but this isn't that story. It's about the supernatural instead, the Twisted Things invading the mundane and how Hallie deals with it.
The story was well told, with enough subversion of the tropes through well-rounded and conflicted characters.
It had my favourite things: messed up family relationships, a Gothic-inspired atmosphere, and a touch of dystopia. I loved the way unease is built in the wrongness of the story's setting.
The prologue is a touch misleading because it sets up the story to be about a dysfunctional family on a farm. I kept expecting the uncle to return, but this isn't that story. It's about the supernatural instead, the Twisted Things invading the mundane and how Hallie deals with it.
The story was well told, with enough subversion of the tropes through well-rounded and conflicted characters.
This one has a creepy dystopian plot, but the world-building is too sketchy and too little explained, it's just weird and doesn't make sense. It felt like that was only a frame anyway for the story she wanted to tell, which is about two women who have grown up with an abusive father in isolation from other people and how they heal/change. The book had elements that worked well--but overall it's just too weird.
I couldn't get a clear vision of the world, like for the whole book I couldn't really decide whether it was set in the future after the world had gone to ashes or if it was set in the past. Finally, I got that it was dystopian, but by that point I had already made the world up in my mind as being from the past. There were also just some details missing in terms of world building, especially with the Twisted Things.
The best thing about this book was the character development and the internal dialogue/struggles of the main character. She really felt like a real person. I also liked that she was a tough female protagonist that didn't have to be like killing people and completely ruthless to feel her strength.
The best thing about this book was the character development and the internal dialogue/struggles of the main character. She really felt like a real person. I also liked that she was a tough female protagonist that didn't have to be like killing people and completely ruthless to feel her strength.
It could almost be a dystopia except for the touches of dark magic throughout.
A war with the Dark God has taken a huge toll on the land and it's people, including 16 year old Hallie and her older sister Marthe. Together the two girls try to keep their farm going even though Marthe is in advanced stages of pregnancy and her husband has not returned from battle. Strange birds and messages written with rocks keep appearing on their land.
A well-written debut novel.
A war with the Dark God has taken a huge toll on the land and it's people, including 16 year old Hallie and her older sister Marthe. Together the two girls try to keep their farm going even though Marthe is in advanced stages of pregnancy and her husband has not returned from battle. Strange birds and messages written with rocks keep appearing on their land.
A well-written debut novel.
Leah Bobet’s An Inheritance of Ashes is a strong and often bitter draught indeed. Set in a world that is both post-apocalyptic, and recovering from a very recent brutal war with thr Dark God and the Twisted, poisoned creatures that followed it, the taint of loss and precarity leaves marks on every situation and relationship.
The centre of the story is life on Roadstead Farm, where two sisters struggle to eke out an existence, their childhood amity, borne out of a bond to protect each other from the anger of their widowed father, frayed by the tensions of survival. Marthe, the older sister, is pregnant; her husband Thom went away to the war and has not returned, and there is no word as to whether he is alive, or dead. Hallie, the narrator, is just 16, and has seen her family fragment around her, and her friend Tyler, one of the few who returned from the war, wounded, turn distant and bitter.
Into this place of quiet desperation comes another veteran of the war. Calling himself Heron, he has offered to serve as hired hand at Roadstead Farm in return for room and board over the winter. He bears with him in secret a dark relic, the weapon used to bring down the Dark God. John Balsam, the man who wielded the weapon, has been missing since the last battle, but the blade has come to Heron - how, he does not want to say - and he’s taking it home to Balsam’s family. But that road is long, and he will not get there before the winter falls and a man travelling alone is likely to freeze, or starve.
But not long after Heron’s arrival there are sightings on Roadstead farm, and elsewhere in the lake lands surrounding it, of the surviving misbegotten creatures, the Twisted Things. As winter draws near, more of the Twisted Things appear. Stranger still, someone, or something, is leaving messages written in stones on the riverside, begging for help. Fearing that Marthe will drive her away, as their father drove out his brother, Hallie is drawn into a web of secrets that only serves to further separate her from the grieving, angry Marthe.
Even what could be one bright thing in Hallie’s life, a slow growing attachment to her childhood friend Tyler, is burdened with secrets, sorrows, and the trauma of war and wounds, emotional and physical, that may never be whole.
But... when things are at their worst, and it seems that not just Roadstead Farm, but every homestead in the lake land, and the community of Windstown at its heart, are about to be overthrown by the same darkness that came before, love and truth find a way to break down the barriers of pride, and anger, and fear, and against all odds, prevail.
The centre of the story is life on Roadstead Farm, where two sisters struggle to eke out an existence, their childhood amity, borne out of a bond to protect each other from the anger of their widowed father, frayed by the tensions of survival. Marthe, the older sister, is pregnant; her husband Thom went away to the war and has not returned, and there is no word as to whether he is alive, or dead. Hallie, the narrator, is just 16, and has seen her family fragment around her, and her friend Tyler, one of the few who returned from the war, wounded, turn distant and bitter.
Into this place of quiet desperation comes another veteran of the war. Calling himself Heron, he has offered to serve as hired hand at Roadstead Farm in return for room and board over the winter. He bears with him in secret a dark relic, the weapon used to bring down the Dark God. John Balsam, the man who wielded the weapon, has been missing since the last battle, but the blade has come to Heron - how, he does not want to say - and he’s taking it home to Balsam’s family. But that road is long, and he will not get there before the winter falls and a man travelling alone is likely to freeze, or starve.
But not long after Heron’s arrival there are sightings on Roadstead farm, and elsewhere in the lake lands surrounding it, of the surviving misbegotten creatures, the Twisted Things. As winter draws near, more of the Twisted Things appear. Stranger still, someone, or something, is leaving messages written in stones on the riverside, begging for help. Fearing that Marthe will drive her away, as their father drove out his brother, Hallie is drawn into a web of secrets that only serves to further separate her from the grieving, angry Marthe.
Even what could be one bright thing in Hallie’s life, a slow growing attachment to her childhood friend Tyler, is burdened with secrets, sorrows, and the trauma of war and wounds, emotional and physical, that may never be whole.
But... when things are at their worst, and it seems that not just Roadstead Farm, but every homestead in the lake land, and the community of Windstown at its heart, are about to be overthrown by the same darkness that came before, love and truth find a way to break down the barriers of pride, and anger, and fear, and against all odds, prevail.
Beautiful, rich writing combined with an inventive, unusual plot/concept. I think my only real issue with this book lay in there being a little too much going on, and entwined in the concepts. In some ways it may have worked a lot better as an adult novel; there are a lot of heavy themes, and a lot of subtleties. Not that teens can't grasp that, but the depth and complexity *felt* more like adult writing.
It was also just kind of easy to put down. Really interesting and enjoyable while I read it, but not much by way of captivation or urgency.
It was also just kind of easy to put down. Really interesting and enjoyable while I read it, but not much by way of captivation or urgency.
4.5/5
An Inheritance of Ashes is like a future post-apocalyptic Wild West story. It follows Halfrida Hoffman, half owner of Roadstead Farm. She works the farm with her sister who is pregnant and her husband never returned from the war. See the world is tormented by creatures known as Wicked Things. No one knows where they came from and if one touches you horrible things happen like your skin burning off.
While the War is supposedly over, these creatures are definitely from the Wicked God and they don’t belong in our world. This was a hauntingly beautiful story of several worlds colliding. It gave me vibes similar to those in THE WICKER KING and I just about died because I love that book.
I was drawn into the Hoffman's lives by how they were haunted by their late father's abuse and their uncle's abandonment. The ghosts of their family seem to torment Hallie and her sister. The sisters unconditionally love each other, but since the war took Thom there's been a strain that neither knows how to fix. I loved how complex their relationship was. It was so frustrating to see the unintentional hurts they inflicted on each other.
The Hoffmans are close friends with their neighbors the Blakelys. The Blakelys lost their father to the war but Tyler, James and Callum came back changed. James and Callum were so adorable, I loved that there was a gay relationship. Plus these two were adorable and I was so glad to see a regular adult presence. Hallie's friendship with Tyler and Nat was goals. While there was some drama between Nat and Hallie that felt somewhat unresolved by the end, I still enjoyed their relationship and unending support for each other.
This was definitely more of a slow-burning book, but it was so worth it! I loved slowly being drawn into the world of the Wicked God and his Wicked Things. The ending was amazing and I actually had tears in my eyes because parts of it were so heart warming. I can't recommend this book enough.
An Inheritance of Ashes is like a future post-apocalyptic Wild West story. It follows Halfrida Hoffman, half owner of Roadstead Farm. She works the farm with her sister who is pregnant and her husband never returned from the war. See the world is tormented by creatures known as Wicked Things. No one knows where they came from and if one touches you horrible things happen like your skin burning off.
While the War is supposedly over, these creatures are definitely from the Wicked God and they don’t belong in our world. This was a hauntingly beautiful story of several worlds colliding. It gave me vibes similar to those in THE WICKER KING and I just about died because I love that book.
I was drawn into the Hoffman's lives by how they were haunted by their late father's abuse and their uncle's abandonment. The ghosts of their family seem to torment Hallie and her sister. The sisters unconditionally love each other, but since the war took Thom there's been a strain that neither knows how to fix. I loved how complex their relationship was. It was so frustrating to see the unintentional hurts they inflicted on each other.
The Hoffmans are close friends with their neighbors the Blakelys. The Blakelys lost their father to the war but Tyler, James and Callum came back changed. James and Callum were so adorable, I loved that there was a gay relationship. Plus these two were adorable and I was so glad to see a regular adult presence. Hallie's friendship with Tyler and Nat was goals. While there was some drama between Nat and Hallie that felt somewhat unresolved by the end, I still enjoyed their relationship and unending support for each other.
This was definitely more of a slow-burning book, but it was so worth it! I loved slowly being drawn into the world of the Wicked God and his Wicked Things. The ending was amazing and I actually had tears in my eyes because parts of it were so heart warming. I can't recommend this book enough.
**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**
An Inheritance of Ashes is a standalone young adult fantasy. The book takes place after a war has ended. A war between humans, the Wicked God and Twisted Things. That right there should tell you one thing about this book. It is going to be creepy. And honestly the chilling atmosphere that Leah Bobet created was my favorite aspect of An Inheritance of Ashes. Fans of atmospheric reads, will love that about this book. I am not going to lie, the first time that I read the summary, and started the book for that matter, for An Inheritance of Ashes, I thought it was a sequel. It is describing a war that just took place, and I thought I missed the first book that had the war in it. So if you are like me, that is not the case. An Inheritance of Ashes is the first book.
Hallie and Marthe are sister's, and they are the main characters of this book. They are taking place of the family farm in the aftermath of this war. I don't want to spoil too much about the book, so I am only going to say that the "drama" or the strife that they face comes from threat of the Twisted Things. An Inheritance of Ashes is an intense read! It is a war time setting and everyone is still reeling from their loss. There is a slight romance, but on the whole the book is more somber in tone. It does leave way for some really cool fantasy elements. I loved learning about the the wicked god and the twisted things. They creeped me out man!
As far as characters go, I really liked Tyler and I liked Hallie. I would have liked to have seem more on the romantic front between the two of them, but what romance was there was really sweet. I love a good friends turned more plot. Hallie and Marthe get along like only sisters can...meaning that they sometimes didn't get along at all. An Inheritance of Ashes was a different kind of young adult fantasy altogether, and I really enjoyed that Leah Bobet took the plot to such a unique place. I love reading books that make me stop and think, and give me something different than I was used to. If you like creepy, atmospheric reads that develop and build slowly, with really interesting fantasy elements, An Inheritance of Ashes is the book for you!
This review was originally posted on Book Briefs
An Inheritance of Ashes is a standalone young adult fantasy. The book takes place after a war has ended. A war between humans, the Wicked God and Twisted Things. That right there should tell you one thing about this book. It is going to be creepy. And honestly the chilling atmosphere that Leah Bobet created was my favorite aspect of An Inheritance of Ashes. Fans of atmospheric reads, will love that about this book. I am not going to lie, the first time that I read the summary, and started the book for that matter, for An Inheritance of Ashes, I thought it was a sequel. It is describing a war that just took place, and I thought I missed the first book that had the war in it. So if you are like me, that is not the case. An Inheritance of Ashes is the first book.
Hallie and Marthe are sister's, and they are the main characters of this book. They are taking place of the family farm in the aftermath of this war. I don't want to spoil too much about the book, so I am only going to say that the "drama" or the strife that they face comes from threat of the Twisted Things. An Inheritance of Ashes is an intense read! It is a war time setting and everyone is still reeling from their loss. There is a slight romance, but on the whole the book is more somber in tone. It does leave way for some really cool fantasy elements. I loved learning about the the wicked god and the twisted things. They creeped me out man!
As far as characters go, I really liked Tyler and I liked Hallie. I would have liked to have seem more on the romantic front between the two of them, but what romance was there was really sweet. I love a good friends turned more plot. Hallie and Marthe get along like only sisters can...meaning that they sometimes didn't get along at all. An Inheritance of Ashes was a different kind of young adult fantasy altogether, and I really enjoyed that Leah Bobet took the plot to such a unique place. I love reading books that make me stop and think, and give me something different than I was used to. If you like creepy, atmospheric reads that develop and build slowly, with really interesting fantasy elements, An Inheritance of Ashes is the book for you!
This review was originally posted on Book Briefs
I love this book. I love how different it was. How I didn't want to put it down! I just need the sequel now. I want to know what is going to happen next please!