3 out of 4 stars
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The Ash Throne is the first instalment in E.G. Arch’s The Fae Trilogy. Arch has set her story in a new setting based on Scandinavian folklore, giving a unique perspective on a classic fairy story.
Fallon Solveji was born into the royal house of the Blodvinger clan. But she is a bastard and has never belonged among the Vikings. When her father banishes her, Fallon must get as far away from the clan as possible and with the help of a Hulder (a seductive forest creature), she stumbles into Elphyne – the world of the fae. There she discovers that she is so much more than just a chief’s daughter, and with Elphyne in danger, she might be the only one who can save the Ash Throne.
From the first page, the reader already gets a sense of Fallon’s personality and the story immediately opens up with action. I enjoyed this because the book drew me in quite quickly and had me eager to turn pages during the first five chapters. Arch wrote a brilliant beginning to her story, but towards the middle, things slowed down a bit too much.
One of the subplots that didn’t seem to make much sense to me was the romance that occurred in the story. For a large part of the book, the characters were developing a friendship which involved lots of banter and good moments, but I never felt any chemistry between them. Towards the end of the book, where the story started to hint at a romance, I found myself hoping that the characters would not get together because it didn’t seem believable.
There were other smaller aspects of the story which I also didn’t enjoy. Fallon learns things incredibly quickly – mastering skills in the period of an afternoon. She also references her mother quite often and quotes her a lot. But later in the book, she says she ‘never knew her mother’ which confused me. One of the characters, Ronen, also seemed to not have much of a goal or purpose in the novel. All characters must want something, that’s what drives their story, and the lack of this made him feel unnecessary at times.
Another good point was that the book seemed to be professionally edited and I found no evidence of spelling or grammar mistakes.
I’d rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. There were moments which I didn’t enjoy, but for a Young Adult fantasy novel, I think the author did a good job of telling a story. I would recommend this book to younger fans of the genre, and even middle grade readers.
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The Ash Throne
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