Title: The Beautiful Ashes
Written by Jeaniene Frost
Read by Tavia Gilbert
Series: Broken Destiny #1
Published by HQN Books
Publication Date: September 29th 2015
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Length: 8 hours and 21 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Scribd
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Rating:
Flame Rating: 
Challenges: 2015 Goodreads Book Challenge, 2015 Historical Romance Challenge
Sometimes, falling in love really is the end of the world…
Ivy has always seen things that she cannot explain. Strange things. Otherworldly things. But when her sister goes missing, Ivy discovers the truth is far worse—her hallucinations are real, and her sister is imprisoned in a realm beyond Ivy’s reach. The one person who can help her is the dangerously attractive rebel who’s bound by an ancient legacy to betray her.
The fate Adrian has fought to escape is here – but he never expected the burning need he feels for Ivy. With destiny on one side and desire on the other, Adrian must help Ivy search for the powerful relic that can save her sister. Yet he knows what Ivy doesn’t: the truth about her own destiny, and a war that could destroy the world. Sooner or later, it will be Ivy on one side, Adrian on the other, and nothing but ashes in between…
The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost is her first YA novel. I have been putting off reviewing this book for a few months because Jeaniene Frost is one of my favorite authors and this book was a huge disappointment to me.
What is it about?
The Beautiful Ashes is about a young teen (adopted) who has the power to see otherworldly things (i.e. ghosts, different places not seen by other normal humans). When her sister is kidnapped and her foster parents die of a car accident, Ivy is left alone and vows to find out what happened. Because of her investigations, she stumbles upon another world full of demons and angels and this hot guy that she fell for.
There is also a war between angels and demons brewing and Ivy and Adrian play a very important role in it. View Spoiler »
My initial thoughts.
I wanted to love this book so bad. So bad that my heart is aching. I really loved The Night Huntress novels (Halfway To the Grave, One Foot in the Grave, there are more books in the series, but these are the only 2 that I reviewed) and The Night Prince series so I had high hopes for this. I didn’t know that this was going to be about angels and demons so I was mildly surprised when it was.
Honestly, I had problems with The Beautiful Ashes from the start. One of the issues I had with it is the cover. Originally, the cover is just that of a girl, which is a typical YA cover. I didn’t really like it, though. I think the author realized this and now, there is a new cover.
from this
to this
What do you think of The Beautiful Ashes‘ new cover?
I think the new one catches the overall feel of the book.
That being said, the new cover doesn’t scream YA to me and goes in the feel of The Night Huntress series which is an adult/New Adult genre.
This brings me to the genre. I don’t know what Miss Frost was thinking, but the themes that she used doesn’t feel like a YA novel but more like NA or adult. It would have been better if she wrote is an NA so she could add more steamy scenes (yes, I like Cat and Bones’ scenes) to add to the romance. What we got instead is an attempt to temper the scenes and made it more YA, which I didn’t really understand. There was definitely a steamier sexual undertone to the romance, but it just wasn’t explored because it’s a YA novel.
If I take out the romance and focus on the overall plot, it didn’t wow me at all. I am not going to fall hot rebel, Adrian, because there wasn’t enough of his character to love at all.
Then there’s Ivy. She was such a TSTL heroine that I was really annoyed with her. The decisions that she made were just not practical at all. I didn’t like that. If that was supposed to show that she was an independent woman, it really failed. I also didn’t care for her inner monolog at all. Plus, she was always thinking about how hot Adrian was.
Let’s talk about the narrator.
Tavia Gilbert is an amazing narrator. She read all the books by Jeaniene Frost and she is amazing. Picking her as the narrator for this book was the best decision. If not for her, I wouldn’t have finished reading this book. Her awesome use of voices (even the male voices) is just superb that you just can’t help but be transfixed by the plot (it was because of her narration that made me finish the book).
My recommendations
I have realized that angels/demons are just not my thing. If it is your I recommend reading this or listening to this via audiobook because it is tons better as an audio.
I may or may not read the second book in the series.
| Rating Report | |
|---|---|
| Plot |  |
| Characters | |
| Romance | |
| Rereadability | |
| Overall: | 3 |
Do you like your heroines to have TSTL tendencies?
About Tavia Gilbert
Tavia Gilbert is a Brooklyn- and Maine-based award-winning narrator with nearly 300 audiobooks under her belt. Contemporary and literary fiction, biography and memoir, fantasy, romance, children’s literature, science, religion…Tavia’s range of genres is a direct result of her intuitive interpretation, clever diction and pacing, and sensitivity to each author’s or publisher’s needs.
Classically trained in voice and theater, Tavia attended the University of Washington and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Original Works in Acting from Cornish College of the Arts and a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Non-fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has been singing in choirs since she was 12 years old and has been working full time as a voice actor since 2006.
About Jeaniene Frost
Jeaniene Frost is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the Night Huntress series, the Night Prince series and the Broken Destiny series. To date, foreign rights for her novels have sold to twenty different countries. Jeaniene lives in North Carolina with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. Aside from writing, Jeaniene enjoys reading, poetry, watching movies with her husband, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling – by car. Airplanes, children, and cook books frighten her.
Hmm I didn’t actually know she’d written YA! I’m not that tempted to check this out now, though – I think I’d be happier going back and rereading Night Huntress, because I love Cat and Bones.
Great review, Ezrah!
(ALSO I finished Throne of Glass!)
Annika @ Hiding in Books recently posted…the Sunday Post: in which it’s Easter break!
I LOVE CAT AND BONES!! I MEAN BONES!! I picked this book up because it’s Jeaniene Frost but it was really, really disappointing!
OMG!! We need to talk about Throne of Glass!!