Hello Ami,
Todays review is regarding the Second book in the Ash Princess Trilogy by Laura Sebastian, Lady Smoke.
Theo has escaped the Kaiser and no longer wears forced to wear a crown of ashes.
She has taken back her rightful title, and made Prinz Soren her hostage. All though Theo is free her people remain enslaved under the Kaiser’s rule, and now she is thousands of miles away from them and her throne.
To get her throne and her people back, she will need an army. Only, securing an army means she must trust her aunt, who happens to be the dreaded pirate Dragonsbane. According to Dragonsbane, an army can only be produced if Theo takes a husband. Something an Astrean Queen has never done and something Theo doesn’t want.
Theo knows that freedom comes at a price, but she is determined to find a way to save her country without losing herself.
Lady Smoke is a telenovela of a YA fantasy.
Theo has swapped one political mine field for another, showing the court what ever version of herself will keep her safe. I like the fact that now that Theo isn’t Kaiser rule, she want to be her true self, and find it hard to fit the parts her Aunt wants her to be. One of my favourite part are when she can’t keep that mask on, especial when talking to the King of Sta’Criveran. She had more decorum that I would have had in this situation.
Lady Smoke introduces us to more of the world, than what we saw in Ash Princess. Laura Sebastian shows that not everything that looks beautiful is beautiful. That allowing people to suffer is just as bad as being the cause of the suffering.
I very much ship Theo and Soren, they both see both side of each other. The person the world see and the person they are.
Lady Smoke has pirates, a more dangerous version of the bachelorette, romance, magic, wars and political drama that keep the book interesting from beginning to end.
My rating for Lady Smoke is 4.5 out of 5.
Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the e-book copy of Lady Smoke for a fair and honest review.
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Thanks for Reading,
Gem x
