Booish Thoughts: Ash by Malinda Lo

Aisling's mother died at midsummer. ~ Opening of Ash

Ash by Malinda Lo

Little Brown, 2009

Fantasy (YA); 272 pgs

I chose to read Ash by Malinda Lo for A More Diverse Universe this week in part because it also meets the criteria for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge.  Killing two birds with one stone so to speak.

From the moment I began reading Ash by Malinda Lo, I knew I would like it. I was immediately taken in by Lo's writing and swept into her world.  Ash is a retelling of the Cinderella tale, and much of it was familiar and yet quite a bit was different as well.  One quality I enjoy about retellings is just how familiar they are. It can also be their downfall if the story is just a rehashing of the original, of course, but the ones that stand out are the stories that take on a life of their own.  Malinda Lo's Ash does just that.

Aisling, or Ash, is a sweet girl, lost in her grief.  She first loses the mother she adores and then her father, being left in the care of a stepmother who obviously sees her more as a burden than anything else.  While the youngest of the two stepsisters is mostly kind to Ash, the eldest is not.  Locked in the cellar when she talks back to her stepmother and made into the family slave, Ash hates her life and longs to be with her mother. She turns to the fairies for help, remembering the stories she had heard as a young child and continued to read and dream about as a young adult.

One fairy in particular takes a special interest in Ash, although she isn't sure why. Sidhean seems to be a sort of protector, and yet Ash knows that protection and guidance comes at a cost. With fairies, there is always a price to be paid.  Sidhean is beautiful and yet dark; Ash is not quite sure she can trust him. Yet, she begs him to take her home with him, to save her from her miserable life. He refuses each time.  At least at first.

Then Ash meets the King's Huntress, Kaisa, and things change for Ash. A friendship evolves between the two young women, and Ash finds herself looking forward more and more to her visits with Kaisa.  The more time they spend together, the more their feelings for one another grow.

Sidhean waits patiently and when called upon to grant a wish, he binds Ash to him. Ash agrees in desperation, but worries the cost will be too high. Promised to Sidhean but longing to be with Kaisa, Ash is not sure what to do.

Elements of magic and magical beings have faded in Ash's world, not fully believed in and yet there are those who still cling to the old ways. Fairies are just characters in stories, some argue, as a way to teach children how to behave. Ash's mother was of the old ways, however, and Ash believes. Her fairy Sidhean is proof of the fairies' existence.  I loved how the author inserted the stories of magic and fairies into the novel by the characters telling the stories themselves.

There is a subtleness in the author's writing that really drew me in. Admittedly, the characterization in the book wasn't its strongest suit, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway.  I loved the world the author created around her characters. Lo's descriptions made me feel as if I was right there in the pages of the book. I came to really care about Ash and Kaisa, their love evolving from friendship so naturally. It was beautiful and sweet, without being overly so.  It is a quiet novel. There is definitely darkness in this tale.  No fairytale is without it.

I was sad to see Ash come to an end.  I was not ready to leave Aisling's world.

Rating:   (Very Good)

To learn more about Malinda Lo and her books, please visit the author's website. 

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