One of the things I really liked about the first book was the way that Theodosia doesn't use her powers, the reasoning behind it and the...not necessarily religious but more spiritual connection she has to them was really powerful. I thought that this book did less with that idea, though it comes in towards the end. This book is far more about politics, alliances and that fabled choice between your country and your heart - which is perfectly fine but I was missing that element from book one.

This isn't necessarily a critique, it's more something that made me laugh, because there was at least one point in this book where it felt like every character you came across was instantly falling for Theodosia, now I'm sure the girl is very lovely to look at but it definitely felt like she couldn't possibly be everyone's cup of tea. I'm sure the intention was to show that people were desperate to get hold of her power and her clout but it didn't quite hit home for me. It didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book but I thought it was amusing to note.

If you enjoy the kind of 'who will she choose to marry when everyone has a hidden agenda' kind of story I think you'll really enjoy this? I'm a sucker for suitors (I blame Shakespeare and fairytales) and that was definitely my favourite plot thread to follow. I was surprised at how much of the book was taken up with those decisions, I suppose because Ash Princess was so isolated in comparison, it was necessary to introduce the rest of the world in book two. It won't be to everyone's liking but I personally enjoyed the plot of this book.

I'm still a little on the fence with how this book is clearly writing a 'take back your land and culture from invaders' narrative...and the author is (as far as I can tell) a white woman. I'm obviously writing as a white woman, but I didn't feel as though she said anything damaging - but I do think we ought to be questioning who is allowed to write these kinds of stories, would this kind of publishing opportunity be afforded to a woman of colour for whom the narrative would be more personal? - I'll be looking for reviews from reviewers of colour to find out their perspective.

Overall I thought that this was a solid fantasy book that draws from a lot of YA tropes. I personally love a trope-y YA novel and this one does go against the grain in enough ways that it falls more into 'comfortably nostalgic' rather than 'disastrously cliché'. I have some qualms about some of the themes explored but overall I did enjoy reading this.

My rating: 4/5 stars

I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Lady Smoke is out tomorrow!

This book has a far greater political fantasy slant than the first book, which I loved. Rather than being primarily about survival and escape, Theo is striving for alliances to free her country. But the asking price is her hand in marriage, something no Queen has done before.

At first, this felt like it wasn't explored beyond the change in tradition and that she didn't like the idea of marrying a stranger. However, slowly the full implications of a political marriage to bring in armies was explored (namely the control it would give the other country over Astrea, hence all the Kings/Princes etc after her marriage).

I really liked how it was handled, and the tug-of-war between not wanting to exchange the Kaiser for another ruler, albeit a less harsh one, and leaving the country under the Kaiser's rule. The way Theo resolves this issue felt a tad like a cop-out to me - idealistic at worst, but it was fun and felt like the best option from a mix of terrible ones. It was also semi-predictable from about midway the shape of what she was going to do (just not the details).

There's a really nice misdirection subplot though about the suitors and the Kaiser. I probably should have seen coming until the beginning of the reveal chapter.

Cress is kept very central to the story, despite being in a different country. I thought this was done really well - very naturally and not forced which would have been so easy for 1st POV. Having been such a central character in ASH PRINCESS, it would have been strange for her to drop away entirely. Instead, she bubbles away in the back of the reader's awareness and the focus is on Heron, Art, Blaise and Søren (ugh, going to have to copy and paste that every time I want to say his name).

Heron and Artemisia felt rather peripheral last book, but this book gives them the time to shine. They feel far more fleshed out now.

Heron's the quieter character of the two, a solid pillar of friendship and loyalty. He won't be the one to (overtly) challenge Theo, but after ASH PRINCESS, it's lovely to see her with someone who she can just trust.

Art is almost the polar opposite of Cress - more than willing to push Theo to be more, be better (at least according to her definition). It's a far healthier relationship than with Cress, and Art is your typical YA 'badass' female character: strong, great fighter and with a bit of a temper. It's a nice foil for the quieter strength Theo has - brains and resilience.

Blaise and Søren are the two love interests, but nicely it never feels like a triangle. They didn't feel in opposition to each other (except initially when Blaise was suspicious). I didn't like Blaise so much. He's grumpy, overbearing and stubborn. He's determined to keep going despite clearly being ill - and resentful when Theo tries to pull him back from making it worse.

Søren, on the other hand gives his advice and aid when it's asked without trying to hold Theo back. yes, he's done nasty things, but he's remorseful and is trying to help. And the remorse is the most important thing. To be truly sorry, you have to regret what you did and want to make amends. And Søren isn't trying to be better for Theo; his character arc isn't about impressing her, it's self-led.

There isn't much I can say about the climax without being super spoilery, so I'll say that I loved it and particularly what it means for the next book. A year until the final book EMBER QUEEN! I'm very excited to see how it all ends.

LADY SMOKE is another fast-paced, action-packed and romantic entry into the ASH PRINCESS trilogy.

The main problem I had with ASH PRINCESS was that it wasn't particularly eye-catching amongst its YA fantasy brethren. LADY SMOKE unfortunately follows this pattern, but thankfully manages to avoid being an awkward unnecessary drag into the third book with its own stakes, plot and additional world-building. Particular it was good to learn more about the world's magic and the so-called beserkers.

I have to admit, I missed Cress a lot. Of all the characters in ASH PRINCESS, she was the one who stood out most, and her absence leaves a hole in the cast. I loved her twist in the last book and I wanted to see it explored in more depth here. The other characters also got some much-needed development, as well.

Overall, a solid entry, but nothing special.

WILL I READ ON? Sure, but a guarantee I will have forgotten everything by the time EMBER QUEEN rolls around.

Lady Smoke is an excellent addition to the story of Ash Princess, and one that takes Theo's life out of the realms of love-triangle-y YA and into a deeper, smarter kind of YA. There's a lot more politicking going on, as Theo tries to make allies in a foreign court so she can take on the Kaiser, and the romance takes something of a backseat to her own personal growth. I really enjoyed this, and I'm excited to see how the trilogy ends!

first of all I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an E-arc in exchange for a review.
When I read Ash Princess last year, I bloody LOVED IT, now I know that it did have mixed reactions but hell, I am so here for females fighting back, so it was definitely up my street, then the cliff hanger at the end had me a little bit *shook*.

My aim is to do this with as few spoilers for both novels as possible but as this is a sequel it is possible that I maaay accidentally mention something from Ash Princess.

Lady Smoke picks up straight after the cliff hanger in Ash Princess: where Theodosia finds out that the infamous “Dragonsbane” is actually her own Aunt (and former mothers twin sister) and Artemis (one of her Shadows) is her cousin.

Not only do we have our old group from Ash Princess, we also get to meet a whole host of new characters and not all of them have good intentions.

I loved the growth of Theo in this novel, she definitely starts to come into her own, and made sure people know that she IS the queen; despite her aunt trying to belittle her and marry her off in order to “save” Astrea- something which Theo was not impressed with, I have to say that I actually like how Theo used her knowledge from being imprisoned by the Kaiser to try and change things for the better, she had learnt about politics and how to converse with people of different stations, she knew how to “play people”, granted I wouldn’t approve of the behaviour in real life but I do believe that Theo had to do whatever she could.

I did like the romance in this but I wasn’t keen on the love triangle, at times I could almost believe that Theo did have romantic feelings for Blaise but then her feelings for Soren seemed a lot more intense and real whereas with Blaise it may just be because he is her link to life before the Kaiser.

As much as I like romance I do love a good old familial relationship so being reunited with Erik and Hoa was definitely one of my favourite moments- although there may have been a few moments where I did question Erik (unfortunately you can’t trust everyone and Theo had a huge price on her head)

There was definitely a lot of feminism throughout this novel and I was bloody loving it.

One of my favourite quotes has to be

I hope that you come to see that a woman can wield power beyond what’s between her legs, for your daughters sake if nothing else.

I would love to sit and ramble about this book for hours but then I would ruin the whole novel, I am looking forward to seeing more of Cress in the next novel now that the Kaiser is out of the way… I’m not going to tell you how, you’ll just have to read Lady Smoke to find out.

I can’t wait for the third instalment now, I have a feeling it is going to keep me on the edge of my seat just like this one did.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Blaise and Theo manage their powers as well.

Thank you to Laura, the publisher and Netgalley for an e-arc of this, I will 100% be purchasing a copy on publication day.

Lady Smoke is published in the UK on 02/05/19

So I only ended up reading book one of this trilogy, Ash Princess, a couple of months ago but I loved it so much that when I saw it available for request on Netgalley I requested it so quickly I nearly gave myself whiplash. I didn't expect to be approved for the ARC and I was in work when I got the email so my colleagues were confused as to why I was almost in tears and bouncing in my chair. Some middle books of trilogies can be a little flat (not bad by any means, just a little of a 'filler' book before the finale, but this was not one of those books. I loved this so much and already know the wait for Ember Queen is going to destroy me, as will the book itself.

First of all I want to talk about Erik, I loved him in Ash Princess, I thought he was a brilliant character addition to the storyline and I love him even more in Lady Smoke. Also can we just take a moment to appreciate that (even though no labels are mentioned) Erik is bi/pan... AND I AM SO HERE FOR HIS CRUSH ON HERON. However him losing someone he just got back in his life had me in tears.

It pains me that even though Theo managed to escape the control of the Kaiser that she's essentially jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire by going from the grasp of the Kaiser to her aunt. I still think she has her own agenda but we'll see how that goes in the finale book. I think Theo pretending to choose a suitor to marry as 'it's the only way she'll get an army' only to then say no and get two, almost three armies without a marriage shows a lot about how everyone underestimates her as a queen. I'm so glad she finally admitted to herself that she's in love with Soren. After that ending I need Soren back with her now, I want them to get married and have beautiful Astrean/Kalovaxian babies. Also that death near the end was a plot twist I was not expecting, even as it happened I was sat there saying 'WHAT?' outloud.

Lady Smoke is the second book in the Ash Princess trilogy. While I enjoyed the first book, I had a few issues with really connecting to the characters and, as I said in my review at the time, I wasn’t entirely sure if I would pick up the sequel. Obviously, I did, and I’m really pleased to say that this one clicked so much better for me. Usually, I find mid-series/trilogy books a bit of a slog, but Lady Smoke was full of drama and action from start to finish.

The novel can (very roughly) be split into three parts:

Theo-the-pirate, clashing with her aunt, the ruthless rebel known as Dragonsbane.

The marriage circus. Full of interesting new characters, lots of politicking and hidden motives.

And an action-packed third act, that I don’t want to give away.

I loved seeing Theo gradually come into her own as a queen-in-the-making as opposed to the princess she was in the previous book. I thought she was smart, making decisions carefully and under-advisement. She’s learning to play the politics game very well, and while she’s very much still a hero-type character, there are moments where she makes difficult decisions. Sebastian has been very clever to examine how Theo’s upbringing in the Kaiser’s court would affect these decisions – and whether Theo regards these changes as positive or negative.

We got to see a lot more of the Shadows and Prinz Soren, especially more of the five characters working together (tension included). Even the romance — which I often struggle with — worked for me. Yes, it’s a love triangle and takes up a lot of Theo’s consideration, but it’s not rushed and its existence didn’t baffle me when there’s so much else going on. Yes, Theo’s a young woman with Feelings TM, but she’s also pretty practical about what she really wants: getting her country back. I do have a side I’m hoping for (and a side-relationship too) but I’m happy to wait and see how it pans out.

I loved that Lady Smoke was a huge step-up in terms of world building. There are ambassadors from many different countries with lots of different forms of governments: patriarchy, matriarchy, elected officials, religious leadership etc. And we see how these leaders feel about the Kaiser’s empire and Theo’s position as Astrea. I loved that the attitudes were so different, for example, the Astreans completely confusion over the concept of virginity, let alone placing value on it.

The last act was so dramatic I flew through it, and I’m incredibly excited to read the final part, Ember Queen, as soon as I can.

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.

What can I say? This book exceeded my expectations. I felt Lady Smoke triumphs over the Ash Princess, it progresses well and I really enjoyed the characters. Theo is quite inspirational, a strong willed female lead is exactly the kind of character I enjoy in a book. She is put in a position where she has to trust others, and that is a situation that could turn either way. Good or bad. I would recommend this to fans of YA fantasy. Overall a brilliant sequel by Laura Sebastian.

Theo has managed to escape the Kaiser, taken back her rightful title and taken Prinz Soren hostage. But what little people she has isn't enough to take back her country from the Kaiser. To do that she needs an army and the only way to get that is to marry and take a husband. Something an Astrean Queen has never done. Theo knows the price is high and she will do whatever it takes, without losing herself.

Second book syndrome hit hard. I can't say the entirety of this book is useless to the whole plot of the trilogy because I obviously haven't read the final one yet, but other than the odd bit here and there I feel confident in saying almost all of this book is useless. Things start decently with Theo trying to put as much distance between herself and the Kaiser as possible, but the second we dock in Sta'Crivero things go down very quickly.

I'm not saying it wasn't interesting a times because it was. My main area of interest I've realised is very much Theo and Soren. So a lot of the other stuff didn't really stick and considering there isn't much Theo/Soren in this book you can imagine how much of this got read and then went straight out my head. The idea of Theo having to marry to get an army to save her country and going through the stages of picking the best political ally sounds interesting, but Laura Sebastian dragged it out way too much. It should not have taken up about 75-80% of the book its just too much considering it wasn't a strong enough angle to carry the book in the first place. Sebastian could have really ran with a political power play angle and made it super-intriguing, but she didn't.

Thankfully Theo did go through a good bit of character progression. Maybe that was the main intention of the book, to take Theo and make people see her as a Queen. But again, that alone isn't strong enough to hold the book. Plus, while Theo did start to make some Queenly decisions she still had a lot of naive, petulant moments. I was actually glad we had Dragonsbane who stood there and told Theo like it was and was definitely right about everything - I actually find Dragonsbane the most interesting character in his trilogy at this point, can we not have a Dragonsbane book instead?

One of the things that saved Ash Princess for me was the pace. It was consistent and flowed, Lady Smoke did not have the same flow for me. It was very readable and I can definitely see why I've read so many positive reviews about it, but it just wasn't engaging for me. The love-triangle is once again completely underwhelming. Obviously I'm team Theo/Soren but that's mostly because they're less forced and more natural - and Blaise has the personality of a toothbrush.

Honestly, about 95% of this book was rather underwhelming. The beginning and the end were decent. The ending is about the only thing that matters and has done enough to peak my interest in potentially reading Ember Queen but it definitely isn't top of my TBR. I'll have to check the synopsis out when it gets released and see if I'm interested upon the book coming out as to whether I actually read it or not.

I received a digital copy of Lady Smoke from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback.

Wow, just wow. Ash Princess was good but Lady Smoke was somehow better.

In this book, Theodosia is free of the Kaiser but has to agree to meet suitors in the hope of getting the support of another country's army.

This makes it sound like there's a lot of political intrigue but there's a lot of violence too. These books are so beautifully dark and the characters so grey and I love that. But Soren is still my favourite. No, he's not innocent or a poor baby or misunderstood. He did bad and he admits it but the important thing is that he wants to change now. He doesn't excuse himself but is trying to make up for the bad.

And I just really love him and Theo together.

Lady Smoke was such a ride and I honestly didn't see a lot of the twists coming. They're going to make for an interesting finale next book, that's for sure...

Now I need the final book grr.

This was a pretty solid book! It made me really excited to read the next instalment and finally see Theo get to take back her own land 🤞 Whilst there is a bit of a love triangle (which I usually hate, fun fact: I didn't hate it in this book! I understand why Theo loves both boys, but in different ways... I think I know who she is meant to be with, though😉), there is a laaaaht of Theo exploring her own character and morals and deciding the type of Queen she wanted to be. I loved this as it highlights the difference between the person you want to be and the person you actually are, because of your upbringing and personal circumstances etc...

Overall, I enjoyed this sequel - it didn't have that 'slump' that some sequels do as it picked up right from where the last finished and there was definitely even more action in this book over the first book.

I'm really thankful to Netgalley & the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review!

Actual rating 4.5/5 stars.

Theodosia is the last remaining heir of a vanquished country, now owned by its conqueror and the man who kept her a beaten and paraded captive, for almost her entire childhood. But this once Ash Princess is now determined to fulfil her role as Queen Theo, and this queen wants her land back and her people freed.

The Theo the reader was introduced to in the previous series instalment is a very different being to the one that appeared here. Theo's original wishes were almost solely those of self-preservation. This was understandable. But the continued harsh treatment and exposure to the pain of both herself and her people slowly whittled away this softer exterior to reveal an inner-core of strength that disallowed either to become the playthings of another, ever again. No matter the cost. Her resolve has hardened and, with it, my love for her character is complete.

However, I often found adoration for Theo divided, as the other lovable characters, who made up her inner-circle, battled for their rightful place in my heart, too. This band of vicious, little rouges made this story as bad-ass and bloody as they did unbearably sweet, and I bonded with them as truly as they did with one another. Theo, on her own, was enough to make me a passionate advocate for this series but her loyal companions, dogging her journey every step of the way, made this a truly unputdownable and continually fraught yet fascinating read. It is a very rare book that can make me soar through 500 pages in a handful of hours, foregoing a good night's sleep in the process.

As these characters fled from the kaiser who sought to imprison them, the geography of the land was further revealed to the reader. I loved learning more about this world and the unique politics that governed each realm. It seemed the Kaiser was not the only corrupt player and Theo and her crew must once again concern themselves with all the court niceties and underhand political scheming necessary to get their freedom returned to them.

I have so far only waxed lyrical about all the aspects I love about this novel but the aspect I appreciated the absolute most were the feminist vibes that proceeded throughout. Theo is not playing games in this book! She has no qualms about calling out the patriarchal system that advocates for the unequal alignment for the gender of its people. She also calls into question outdated traditions that further bias this inequality, and are accepted due to nothing more than the length of time their practise has been committed to memory.

Sebastian steeped this entire book with the embodiment of female empowerment and I appreciate her so much for doing so. One other such instance is that virginity is not imbued with any social significance and, as such, the word does not even exist in most languages. By providing the reader with a fantastical parallel to such accepted real-world issues it calls into question, in the most thought-provoking of ways, the inequality that exists outside of these pages. This is one feminist novel not to be missed!

I love ash princess so was very excited to get my hands on this, this throws us back into the action, it’s agreat sequel and can’t wait now for the final book. I found it fast paced, great characters I love Theo as much here as the first and couldn’t put it down. It’s a great read.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

"Friends, enemies, I don't think it matters anymore. The chains are just as heavy, no matter who holds the key"

* * * 
3 / 5

My opinion of Ash Princess was that it was a perfectly fine YA fantasy book. In fact, it seemed to have many popular tropes crammed into it: an orphan princess, a country under the rule of a tyrannical king, the king has a hot son, her hot childhood friend rocks up, and rebellions and love triangles ensue! I like Lady Smoke because it doesn’t feel like it was trying so hard. Lady Smoke felt more natural, it flowed better, and it was more enjoyable because whilst it still wasn’t particularly original, it didn’t feel like it was trying cram in every popular cliché under the sun.

"To Astrea," Artemesia says, lifting the bottle. "What is was once. What it will be again. And all that we sacrifice for it."

Theo is aboard the ship of her aunt, Dragonsbane, a battle-hardened pirate. Dragonsbane won’t launch a war on her niece’s behalf but she will bring her to a neutral country, Sta’Crivera, to find a husband with a big army of his very own. Obviously, Theo with one of her fledgling loves, Prinz Soren, in the ship’s brig as her prisoner, and her childhood friend who definitely likes her, has lots of options that she prefers to some random man. But she’s willing to do what she feels she must for Astrea.

Most of this book is taken up with various men (and one woman!) attempting to court Theo and her crown. Tension mounts as Theo and her merry gang infiltrate the refugee camp and find it doesn’t have great conditions, and as bodies start dropping it seems that not everyone is here to marry Theo. But despite this, the book feels quite slow and leisurely and I quite liked that.

"With your bright eyes and crown of ashes and Fire Queen mother. Lady Thora, everyone called you, but I thought of you as Lady Smoke"

Lady Smoke was enjoyable enough, but I wish it had been brave enough to be bold. There’s very little surprising in this book. Yes, most of the book is about Theo looking for a husband but I never once actually expected that she would marry one of them. It would have been great (in my view) for Theo to make a strong move, whether it be marrying Prinz Soren or pledging an alliance based on a marriage that was platonic or indeed making Theo bi and marrying a woman. It would have been nice to read something new, to be surprised. Instead what happens is exactly what you would expect to happen.

I liked Lady Smoke more than Ash Princess. It is a more relaxed, more confident book, but it wasn’t bold enough, daring enough, to have me on the edge of my seat, frantically tearing through the pages. Instead Lady Smoke is a leisurely, comfortable read in which what happens is exactly what you expect.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of Lady Smoke.

A good follow up to Ash Princess but in my opinion suffered from the same issues I had with that book. The frenetic pace which allows no time for full character development or sub plots which enrich a story, for instance. And then there’s the arranged marriage. This is a personal opinion but I’m really sick of arranged marriages in YA fiction. It’s never explored well and it’s far too often used as a device to make the MC choose or to wedge in a bit of unnuanced pocket book feminism. Basically, if you’re entertaining arranged marriage and your MC has been brought up to the idea, then it would be a really refreshing change to see her choose to go through with it for political reasons, work out a suitable marriage agreement and then consider it part of her job. (Perhaps even take a ‘mistress’ in a few years!) Or how about we just look at a polyamorous arrangement? Which brings me to the love triangle. I actually don’t have anything against them as long as they are used to explore character development and all the players have their own desires and arcs. Here, it added nothing to the story. I would like more books to normalise the idea that romantic love isn’t the only form of love worth anything, that many different types of pairings or groupings are valid, and that valuing oneself must come before a meaningful romantic attachment. Your happiness should never depend entirely on another person – you should be able to find contentment within yourself. This was an engaging story so it succeeded despite the love triangle, which could have been left out as it added nothing. I still enjoyed this book, it just lacked the crossover appeal that makes truly great YA literature shine.