JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Fire Queen, was murdered before her eyes. On that day, the Kaiser took Theodosia’s family, her land, and her name. Theo was crowned Ash Princess–a title of shame to bear in her new life as a prisoner.

For ten years Theo has been a captive in her own palace. She’s endured the relentless abuse and ridicule of the Kaiser and his court. She is powerless, surviving in her new world only by burying the girl she was deep inside.

Then, one night, the Kaiser forces her to do the unthinkable. With blood on her hands and all hope of reclaiming her throne lost, she realizes that surviving is no longer enough. But she does have a weapon: her mind is sharper than any sword. And power isn’t always won on the battlefield.

For ten years, the Ash Princess has seen her land pillaged and her people enslaved. That all ends here.

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian is the first novel in a new YA fantasy series. It explores power, family and grief amidst the backdrop of a crumbling tyranny.

The crux of the plot is a young princess who vows revenge on the cruel man who stole her throne. She seduces the prince to aid her mission.

The plot is not unique or original, but it is readable and enjoyable. There are SO many YA fantasy series in the market at the moment, and if I’m being honest, I don’t think this one feels too different from the others. It is well-written and the characters are interesting, but I wasn’t blown away by the book. And I was unimpressed with the stereotypical tropes used in the book — love triangle being the most obvious one.

“This time, I let myself remember how my mother would sometimes let me wear her crown, how it was so big it would fall down around my neck. But while my mother’s crown was wrought from black gold and set with rubies, the one the Kaiser sends me is folded from ashes, and as soon as it is in place, it begins to crumble, streaking my hair, skin, and dress.”

Ash Princess is ripe with tension, suspense and drama. None of the characters can be trusted, and yet you find yourself invested in all of their storylines. The novel is punchy and pacy, and this launches a series that I am interested in continuing. It may not be original, but it is engaging enough to keep me entertained.

I would’ve preferred this novel if Theo had more control over her safety and her future. She needs her friends to help break her out, and it’s their determination that spurs her newfound confidence. And later in the novel, it is her allies that help her out of confinement.

Theo needs other people. She needs other people to save her.

“I’ve been dreaming of freedom every day since the siege, waiting and waiting and waiting for just this moment, when someone would take me as far away from this place as possible.”

I wanted this book to be about a young girl who takes charge and forges a new path for herself. Instead, it’s about a girl with friends and allies who help her forge a new path. She’s determined, yes, but she’s not cold or ruthless. I wouldn’t call her frightening or scary. Once she starts enacting her vengeance, she seems to be incredibly lucky. Almost too lucky.

“Through the wall, I can almost feel Blaise’s thoughts running the same path as mine. Throughout the past decade, the idea of the After has been all that’s kept me going, and i don’t have to ask Blaise to know that a part of him years for it as well. I’ve imagined my mother there, waiting for me.”

This series will appeal to those of you who love YA fantasy. It follows the usual tropes from the genre, but it is really well-written with strong prose and realistic dialogue. Despite it’s 400+ page count, you’ll find yourself tearing through those pages rather quickly.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ash Princess
Laura Sebastian
May 2018
Pan Macmillan Publishers

The Shape of Water by Guillermo Del Toro and Daniel Kraus

It is 1962, and Elisa Esposito—mute her whole life, orphaned as a child—is struggling with her humdrum existence as a janitor working the graveyard shift at Baltimore’s Occam Aerospace Research Center. Were it not for Zelda, a protective coworker, and Giles, her loving neighbor, she doesn’t know how she’d make it through the day.

Then, one fateful night, she sees something she was never meant to see, the Center’s most sensitive asset ever: an amphibious man, captured in the Amazon, to be studied for Cold War advancements. The creature is terrifying but also magnificent, capable of language and of understanding emotions…and Elisa can’t keep away. Using sign language, the two learn to communicate. Soon, affection turns into love, and the creature becomes Elisa’s sole reason to live.

But outside forces are pressing in. Richard Strickland, the obsessed soldier who tracked the asset through the Amazon, wants nothing more than to dissect it before the Russians get a chance to steal it. Elisa has no choice but to risk everything to save her beloved. With the help of Zelda and Giles, Elisa hatches a plan to break out the creature. But Strickland is on to them. And the Russians are, indeed, coming.

The Shape of Water weaves fantasy, fable and mystery. It was put together by two artists — award-winning director Guillermo del Toro and author Daniel Kraus. Scattered throughout the novel are black and white sketch illustrations by visual artist James Jean. These illustrations help give the reader a sense of vision, and they allow us to imagine this story on the big screen.

I was intrigued to read this novel after the movie won Best Picture at the Oscars. It has such an odd plot and quite a quirky romance that I was definitely keen to see what all the fuss was about.

This novel may appeal to all age groups, but it is written like an adult novel, with complex vocabulary and a dry third-person narration. The pacing is quite slow but the characters are full of depth. Given Elisa’s mutism, there isn’t much dialogue to the book. The Shape of Water is mostly prose and description.

“Man should be better than monsters.”
“Ah, but who are the monsters?”

The Shape of Water also highlights the gender inequality of the 1960s. The two main female characters are cleaners, with low-paying jobs and very little respect. The ‘important’ workers involved in the project are all men, and some of them are very dismissive towards Elisa and Zelda. The novel also explores the relationship between Strickland and his wife Lainie. She stays at home with the children, not working or having the chance to make many friends. He’s away for work, sometimes months at a time, and there is very little communication between the two.

There is a definite imbalance in each relationship. Strickland is rarely home and when he is, he doesn’t treat his wife with much respect. He’s dismissive and doesn’t understand how demanding their children are. Over the course of the novel, Lainie finds her own purpose and starts to imagine a life without Strickland.

Additionally, Zelda’s husband Brewster is useless and unappreciative of his wife. He’s demanding and he belittles her and Elisa often thinks about how Zelda would be better off without him in her life.

“Working women don’t get to scurry home and bury their faces in pillows when they’ve been yelled at. You settle your trembling hands by wrapping them around your tools and returning to work.”

The pacing is a little inconsistent. The book takes a long time to kick off — with a lot of backstory and build up — and then the final third of the book moves so quickly that I actually had to go back and reread a few chapters because I was sure that I had missed something integral.

I haven’t seen the movie, but this novel feels void of character emotion. This is supposed to be a grand love story between Elisa and the sea creature, and yet, their romance seems to blossom very quickly but behind the scenes so the reader doesn’t really witness it. And then there’s this grand plan to save the creature from his fate, and I found it quite predictable. Truthfully, I didn’t find myself hugely invested in their romance.

“Zelda kneels to pick up the punch card. Yolanda’s going wild behind her. But all Zelda hears is Brewster carrying on about how she shouldn’t trust anyone. He doesn’t know Elisa, though, does he? Of course he doesn’t. Despite their long years of friendship, Elisa’s never been to Zelda’s home, not once.”

This novel will appeal to people who, like me, want to read the book before they see the movie. It’s not my favourite novel, nor my favourite fantastical romance, but it is something rather different and the characters carry this novel just as much as the plot does.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Shape of Water
Guillermo Del Toro & Daniel Kraus
March 2018
Pan Macmillan Publishers

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

I am a Belle. I control beauty.

In the opulent world of Orleans, the people are born grey and damned, and only a Belle’s powers can make them beautiful. Camellia Beauregard wants to be the favourite Belle – the one chosen by the queen to tend to the royal family.

But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favourite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that her powers may be far greater – and far darker – than she ever imagined.

When the queen asks Camellia to break the rules she lives by to save the ailing princess, she faces an impossible decision: protect herself and the way of the Belles, or risk her own life, and change the world forever.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton explores the dark nature of beauty, and how one’s obsession with being beautiful can be incredibly harmful and can contribute to society’s high expectations for people to look a certain way.

This book is set in the fantasy world of Orleans — a world where a person can change their body however they want. Everyone is born with red eyes and grey skin, but they don’t need to stay that way. They can change the colour or texture of their skin, they can change their hair colour, eye colour, thigh size, waist size, and pretty much anything else they can think of. And the only people who can successfully help people change their appearance are women known as the Belles. It is their job to fulfil the wishes of their clients, each and every time they book in an appointment.

“You are to act as if you’re an artist floating through this world. Your sole purpose is to beautify, and transform the Gris. You are a Belle.”

People go through immense pain to change their body, but they do it because society thinks they should look a certain way. And this desired look can change every day. Tabloids and news reports are always speculating on what is ‘in’ right now, and then young girls will come in to see the Belles because they once again want to look like what society thinks they should look like. These young girls are never satisfied, and neither is society.

The Belles may be a fantasy novel, but it explores themes of beauty and identity. Any reader who has ever felt disappointed by how they look will relate to this novel. Any person who has ever wished that one small part of their body could be changed will relate to this novel. Because it’s never just one thing. If you were able to change your body however you liked, I’m sure people wouldn’t be able to stop at just one change. The world would be a very different place.

“The rest of the day zips by like in a lightning flash. Women come with their beauty boards, attendants, and friends. I alter bodies, change hair colours and skin tones, give a man a songbird voice, erase age-lines and try to reassure frantic courtiers about how beautiful they are.”

Admittedly, it did take me at least 50 pages to fully understand how the Belles’ power worked and how they were able to change appearances, but once I could wrap my head around the world I was really mesmerised by the originality of the premise and the depth of the world that Dhonielle has built.

The Belles is both haunting and enchanting — Dhonielle straddles the two throughout the book and as a result, readers go through a range of emotions when reading this book. Dhonielle’s prose is very polished, with poetic lyrical sentences that entice the reader. The world-building, whilst talking a little while to be fully explained, is very unique and intriguing and something I hadn’t yet come across in a novel.

“Bree wheels over a cart of chafing dishes. Triangular color blocks sit on tiered trays like a series of sugary petit-cakes. They melt in glass skin-tone pots creating every pigment imaginable: ink black, sandy beige, eggshell white, desert brown, lemony cream, soft sable, brown sugar syrup, and more.”

Dhonielle Clayton presents an unlikely villain in this story, but it is rather satisfying. Princess Sophia is at first friendly and trustworthy, but you soon learn just how manipulative and calculating she is. The characterisation of Princess Sophia is one of the strengths in this book.

Unfortunately, I felt that the relationship in the book wasn’t developed as much as it could’ve been. I didn’t feel like there was any chemistry between Camellia and her love interest, and so I wasn’t really that invested in their story.

Young readers will love this book, enticed by the beauty, magic and obsession that fills the world and the dark, sinister twists and turns. There’s plenty of murder and betrayal to maintain interest.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Belles
Dhonielle Clayton
February 2018
Hachette Book Publishers

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black is the first novel in a really complex, compelling trilogy. Jude is a mortal human, but she is raised in a world of faeries and magical beings. She despises her adoptive father because he murdered Jude’s mother and father, and she grows distant from her sister Taryn because Taryn is determined to wed in the Court and fulfil their adoptive father’s wishes.

It has been ten years since Jude’s parents were murdered and Jude and her sisters were kidnapped and taken to the High Court of Faerie. She is determined to become a Knight and learn how to fight, but she is despised by many of the fey just because she is human. She is determined to succeed regardless.

“Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever. And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.”

Holly Black brings faeries to the forefront in this novel, and despite the tension and violence present, The Cruel Prince is a rich, vibrant tale that readers will love.

The novel explores the concept of power and the complexities surrounding magic. Jude is considered weak and inferior because she doesn’t possess magic, but her determination and her gut instinct do make up for this.

I loved that Jude doesn’t fall into any stereotypes within this fantasy genre. She doesn’t cower away or get spooked easily. She is violent and confident, and she’s also a murderer. She does what she needs to do to survive, and she’s a really strong protagonist.

“Even though I am holding a knife, even though I’ve avoided his attacks twice and disarmed him, even though I’ve stabbed him once before, he grabs for my throat again. His fingers sink into the flesh of my neck, and I remember how it felt to have fruit jammed into my mouth.”

Jude is smart and strategic. After ten years of being raised by a violent man, she’s learnt a thing or two about getting what she wants. And she’s also very good at keeping secrets.

The novel explores power, family and abuse. The Cruel Prince is lyrical and at times poetic, taking the reader on a journey that is both lush and brutal. We question what it’s like for Jude and her sister to grow up in this new land, away from the human world. They have been raised by an evil man, but lear that there’s nothing they can do about it. The Cruel Prince forces the reader to think about what horrible actions we should deem ‘necessary’ when survival is the end goal.

“The next day at school, Taryn walks beside me, swinging her lunch basket. I keep my head high and my jaw set. I have my little knife with me, cold iron, tucked into one of the pockets of my skirt, and more salt than I reasonably need.”

There’s one aspect of the book that I didn’t like. The Cruel Prince follows the stereotypical trope of ‘boy is mean to girl because boy is in love with her’ which I find a little unrealistic and overdone in YA fiction.

I’d recommend this to fans of young adult books, but also anyone who has a vested interest in fantasy. The Cruel Prince reimagines the tropes of the genre and presents a unique story with fascinating characters. Holly Black pulls us into this world and leaves us desperate for the sequel.

The Cruel Prince
Holly Black
January 2018
Allen & Unwin Publishers

City of Bones (10th Anniversary Edition) by Cassandra Clare

Celebrate the tenth anniversary of Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones with this gorgeous new edition, complete with special content including a new piece from Cassie and exclusive colour illustrations.

The pride of any fan’s collection, City of Bones now has new cover art, over thirty interior illustrations, and six new full-page colour portraits of everyone’s favourite characters! This beautifully crafted collector’s item also includes four bonus stories that have previously only appeared in limited distribution, and – best of all – a new piece written by Cassandra Clare.

This is the book where Clary Fray first discovered the Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of warriors dedicated to driving demons out of our world and back to their own. The book where she first met Jace Wayland, the best Shadowhunter of his generation. The book that started it all.

I first read City of Bones by Cassandra Clare many years ago; I was completely absorbed in the story and the characters, and I devoured the book. Unfortunately, I never got around to reading the rest of the series and as time went by, I forgot everything that had happened in City of Bones.

Enter the 10th Anniversary edition. This was the perfect opportunity for me to reread City of Bones and also review it for Jess Just Reads.

City of Bones is the first book in The Mortal Instruments series. This anniversary edition is gorgeous — just perfect for a Cassandra Clare fan. It’s hardback, cloth-bound, with gorgeous colour illustrations inside of the characters.

Additionally, there are black and white illustrations scattered throughout the whole book. There are whole page illustrations and there are also illustrations underneath each chapter heading.

My favourite part of the book was and always will be the dialogue between the characters. Isabelle Lightwood is bold and witty, but also self-aware and at times caring. Jace is hilarious — snarky and sarcastic and a very fun character.

“You want me to hold your hand?”
Clary put both her hands behind her back like a small child. “Don’t talk down to me.”
“Well, I could hardly talk up to you. You’re too short.” Jace glanced past her, the torch showering sparks as he moved.

City of Bones has always felt a little long to me. I did find myself getting a little exhausted in the final few chapters, even though that’s when most of the action is happening.

Despite this, though, Cassandra Clare is really great at weaving dialogue and prose together so that one doesn’t dominate the other. The dialogue is relatable, funny, and easy to read, and the prose is detailed yet necessary when building a world like this.

“Hodge, gasping, stared after him, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. His left hand was gloved with the wet dark fluid that had seeped from his chest. The look on his face was a mixture of exultation and self-loathing.”

This edition is definitely a collector’s item, so I recommend this to people who have read and loved City of Bones. If you’re not sure whether this series is for you, I’d probably recommend buying the regular paperback.

But regardless of what edition you buy, this is a really fantastic series and this first book is fun and a fantastic launch to the series.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

City of Bones 10th Anniversary Edition
Cassandra Clare
November 2017
Walker Books

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