Saturday, August 30, 2014

Review: The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

The Beautiful Ashes
Release Date: August 26, 2014
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN:  1306906725
ISBN13: 9781306906722
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: NetGalley
In a world of shadows, anything is possible. Except escaping your fate.

Ever since she was a child, Ivy has been gripped by visions of strange realms just beyond her own. But when her sister goes missing, Ivy discovers the truth is far worse—her hallucinations are real, and her sister is trapped in a parallel realm. And the one person who believes her is the dangerously attractive guy who's bound by an ancient legacy to betray her.

Adrian might have turned his back on those who raised him, but that doesn't mean he can change his fate…no matter how strong a pull he feels toward Ivy. Together they search for the powerful relic that can save her sister, but Adrian knows what Ivy doesn't: that every step brings Ivy closer to the truth about her own destiny, and a war that could doom the world. Sooner or later, it will be Ivy on one side and Adrian on the other. And nothing but ashes in between…

I was really excited to see a new series from Jeaniene Frost. Everything I have read from her I have thoroughly enjoyed, so I jumped right in to THE BEAUTIFUL ASHES expecting nothing less than a great story.

THE BEAUTIFUL ASHES starts off with the main character already in the middle of something so you don't have a back story or any real idea what is going on. The author however makes it really easy for you to fall into her story while keeping your mind busy on other things. I actually found myself looking forward to each little slow reveal of the overall story, but I was content to wait for those small reveals.

The romance wasn't really what drove the story for me. Sure it progressed and Ivy and Adrian fit together/made sense, but it was a slow progression with Adrian fighting a relationship the entire way. There is bad history between their family lines that make it easy to understand but the story itself is what I felt drove THE BEAUTIFUL ASHES.

The end didn't give me as much satisfaction as I would have liked. It was somewhat easy to guess and the final conflict wasn't as *POW* as I thought it deserved. THE BEAUTIFUL ASHES was a great start to Jeaniene's new series, I think anyone that likes her previous books will enjoy it.

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.