Penned Perspective

Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost Review

Let me start by saying that, I love Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress Series which is the reason I chose to read her YA venture The Beautiful Ashes.

The Night Huntress Series was my favorite new series a couple of years ago and I was incredibly impressed by the author’s ability to create two incredibly strong characters who fit together despite their differences. The cast of characters she brought into their world was so strong that the series was able to live on through several spin off books even after retiring the two characters I loved: Cat and Bones.



Summary (Minus as many spoilers as possible)

The Beautiful Ashes protagonists are Ivy and Adrian, two characters who are complete strangers at the beginning of the book. They along with their supernatural acquaintance Zach and a small team, band together to rescue Ivy’s sister Jasmine who has gone missing. The adventure takes them through several demon realms and there’s a biblical twist that provides an obstacle to both characters while pushing them together to complete the rescue.



The Good

The setting of the books and its background were a great basis for the story. I enjoyed and applauded the author’s use of biblical details to ground the characters and their adventures. I liked that both characters are descendants from two of the most well-known people in the bible pitting them as historical enemies even as they have to work together to accomplish a greater goal. All the ingredients are there for this to be an amazing book.

The Not So Good

My biggest issues what that readers have to wait until the end of the book to find out what Ivy’s role in this novel really is. I had to read almost 400 pages to get to the part that really matters. Second, the characters were not well conceived. Ivy often behaved like a child instead of the young adult college student that she is. She is whiny and even when she showed some strength there is a tinge of weakness that didn’t feel authentic. She was not likeable and halfway through the book I couldn’t stand her. Third, I have a real issue with unnecessary violence between the characters we are supposed to be routing for. Adrian practically choked Ivy out to get her to accomplish a task and the author tried to justify his reaction by using his childhood as an excuse. Not cool. Fourth, I think you get the point. This book should have been good but it wasn’t.

The Verdict.



I’m not happy. I didn’t like the book and wouldn’t bother reading the others in the series. I wanted to like it so much but as I’ve been told you can’t always get what you want.

Full disclosure if you’ve read my blog in the past you might know I’m a fan of this series. Charley Davidson is one of my favorite protagonists. Who wouldn't love a character with a heart of gold, a very dirty mind, and witty dialogue? When you factor in the chemistry between her and Reyes, each book is a page turner.

This one was no different. Charley has evolved immensely since the beginning of the series and in this installment, she’s solving the case of a missing child and hot on the trail of Reyes’ adoptive parents.

The Good



Charley’s hilarious remarks are something to behold. After eleven books, I'm still surprised at the depths of her banter. In this book, Charley is learning about her powers and instead of being swept away to another part of the country without her memory she’s taking lessons from her smoldering hubby. They take a trip to the Sahara so hot that I had to grab a glass of water. We get a few updates on Beep and see evidence of how close the gang has gotten when Amber is placed in harm's way.


The Not So Good
Sometimes it feels a bit disjointed. On one hand, we have Charley’s human side that is concerned for her well-being and on the other, we are gaining glimpses of who she was before becoming human. The stories were connected but sometimes it felt overwhelming keeping up the different stories. Yes, readers know that Charley is a god and adding to this she has issues with God, Jesus and some of the other gods in opposition to her values. Some of Charley's decisions are frustrating. I'm not sure if this is a testament to her humanity but I'm screaming WHY when she makes a choice that puts her in serious peril because we've seen evidence of her being able to move past the natural plane.



The Verdict



Bottom line, I love Charley and probably always will. Her escapades are ripe with new challenges and learning more about who she really is. As a long time reader, I appreciate learning more about her god status though I am still a bit confused about her previous relationship with Reyes. Maybe I'm just impatient for the next book? I have invested so more time in this series than my workout plan so, like Charley, I'm ready for the next adventure.

My Verdict

So I’m back.. or I will be. Many of you might have noticed that I haven’t posted a review for some time. About a year to be exact but there’s a great reason.  I went to graduate school. Yay!!  I know it doesn’t sound like much fun but I took away a great deal of knowledge and experience after working like a crazed person.