Ash by Malinda Lo

Apparently we’re doing blog posts again. Nice post from 2 weeks ago by Maddie. Sorry about the lateness here. In any case, I’ll start off with saying something exciting about Ash by Malinda Lo.

THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER!

 

Okay, since you’re going to take me with a grain of salt anyway, I’ll elaborate. Calling this The Best Book Ever is maybe a little bit of an exaggeration, because of course there are lots of books out there that I like equally well, for different reasons. But I liked this book so much I felt like it was the best book ever after I finished reading it.

You might watch this video wherin Libba Bray and Maureen Johnson (some other YA authors who this post isn’t about, but they’re cool) discuss the way teens talk about books they like versus adults. (Or you can slide the video timer to 5:44 where the "Libba on Writing for Teens" section starts to see the part I'm talking about.)

Teens tend to exaggerate; adults tend to give calmly explained (“constipated”) opinions about the book. What I am trying to say is, I felt the way about this book the way I did about books I was excited about as a teen.

I actually heard of this book a few years ago but didn’t want to read it until a bunch of librarians recommended it at the Colorado Teen Lit Con in Spring 2012. (I know. Youtube videos from 2008. References to conferences from six months ago. I’m so timely.) It was on a list of recommendations at a panel called The Changing Face of Queer Lit: Moving Beyond the Coming Out Novel led by Shanna Shadoan. There were a few other cool books on her list that I would also like to read, (although I was admittedly late to the panel, snuck in the back, and didn’t get to hear the whole list) but none that looked like they’d fit my personal taste as well as this one (fairy tale).

Anyway, before I got to hear this summary and recommendation, basically all I knew about this book was that it was a YA Cinderella retelling, and I really didn’t think I needed to read yet another one. Since it’s a trend going around anyway, it’s the type of genre that people will read and promote even if it’s not anything special. (But not librarians. They know how to find good stuff.) Ash was quite good, and Malinda Lo is a very skilled writer. I’ve not read a fairytale I liked this much in a long time. Even when I thought I had an idea of where the story was going and noted the typical motifs as they popped up, (sometimes in disguised forms) I genuinely couldn’t figure out how Ash was going to get her Cinderella ending until it actually happened. In the meantime, I enjoyed the lore and fantastic elements of Ash’s world. Because the writing is precise, lush, and at once visual and emotional, it didn’t matter if the plot started out slow, because it was a very rewarding experience overall. It makes me want to read it again and/or discuss it with someone. In general, I’d definitely recommend it. But if you know you’re one of those people who really doesn’t like books with slow plots, regardless of beautiful writing, you might want to wait on this book until you feel like you’re ready for it.

Another strength of this book I should mention, which is part of why it won me over, is that even though this book is primary a fantasy and a love story, and a fantasy, there are also themes of loss, sadness, and difficulty that really brought the fairy tale down to a relatable, human level. Even though it’s quite sad at times, it’s ultimately uplifting, and always very genuine. This is why having a slow plot works: it wouldn’t be fair to readers to see Ash work through all of her problems quickly and without difficulty. Anyway, I quite enjoyed it, I want to read it again, and THERE IS A COMPANION NOVEL called Huntress that I would really like to read. I’d recommend this book for teens or adults, especially if you like fairy tales and/or enjoy the power of different interpretations.

--Jordan