I really really loved this book, although at times I was very shocked by some of it's language. it is a world I am super excited to see and read more of.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC

I like books that start in the middle/towards the end of a conflict, it shows how characters are in the moment and often gives more depth to how they are perceived within the story.

This is definitely a heroes journey story, though it doesn't start where you think it starts, set in, what I would describe as in a setting where people are turned around and disorganised post a civil war.

NGL I'm not the biggest fan of the Queen, but I do understand having to make the best of a terrible situation inherited, which leads to having Orval and Amari out on their asses and trying to make the best of it.

The world building is great, I would love to have learned a bit more on the factions and the specific power struggles that seemed to become relevant down the line, but I feel like this part was expecting the readers to have reader the authors other books - I believe there were numerous characters that had emphasis in this book that I just didn't get, then I read a review that mentioned these characters were more upfront and center in a previous series.

Pacing wise. It was a bit all over the place, like I mentioned it starts off very high speed in the middle of war, then it slows down to near a slow, becomes faster and then slog, bit of whiplash there. Also there is a big focus on pregnancy and motherhood, that while I don't have an issue with was at times a bit out of the place with the story (see note about pacing), like it does emphasis that Amari is a good parent but I don't know if I'm missing something here.

Anyway overall 3.5 stars, good start to the first in a series.

Okay, full disclosure: Ashes of Xy had me hooked from the first scene: Amari of Uyole hauling two babies through a brutal civil war is instantly gripping. But by the halfway mark, I found the lore layers getting a bit… dense.

Vaughan’s world-building is undeniably vivid. You can feel the rumble of battle and taste the grit. Given her previous books, it’s no surprise she writes war so well. There were moments when all the backstory and politics felt like they were weighing down the action, but I totally understand that the world-building was essential before the next book comes out.

A few standout positives: the bond between Amari and the heir isn’t some fated “mate” trope you’ve seen a dozen times in Romantasy—it’s a traditional ceremony of the kingdom that adds cultural weight while making their free choice impactful and all the more romantic. Plus, Vaughan’s language is fresh and her tone strong, giving every scene a vivid immediacy.

The core relationship—Amari’s fierce protectiveness over both children—remains incredibly moving, and when the story shifts back into high-stakes action, it truly delivers. And that prologue for the next book? Completely intriguing—I’m already counting down to the sequel.

If you love fantasy, are unafraid of heavy themes, and don’t mind wading through a thick storm of lore, Ashes of Xy will reward you. For me, it was a solid 4 stars: beautiful and intense, just a touch dense in places.

Thanks to NetGalley and Elizabeth Vaughan for the ARC!

While the synopsis makes it seem that this book revolves around a wet nurse who flees with a baby heir after the king and queen are killed in a struggle for the throne, and the scholar who gives them sanctuary to keep them safe, there is a lot more involved. Multiple POVs pop up throughout this book, perspectives from each side of this war aftermath.

There is romance in this book, slowly given and I would said a kind of side plot to the political drive. Outside of the struggle for the throne we see the other “kingdoms” and if they cower under the new reign or are deciding to go against it.

I liked how the characters were written, maybe I should’ve read up more on the world though because some words were thrown at me and I just struggled threw it all. While I don’t like Queen Satia, and was very happy whenever things didn’t go her way, you gotta admit that the woman can get things done. She’s smart, knows how to play the King because he’s an idiot.

I would like to see more of the marcusi in this plot, I also don’t understand what’s really happening with Orval and Amira. For future books in this series I mean. The overarching series plot is kind of escaping me, unless it does a 18 yr time jump for Lara to go for the throne I mean. Or is the plot about the multiple fractions that will rise up against these new monarchs? I guess I’ll find out.

All in all, I did very much enjoy this book. It was written in a way that I just wanted to keep going. The end was a bit abrupt, nothing to tell you where it’s going next but the rest of the book was good enough that I want to find out anyway.

Este libro me tomó completamente por sorpresa. Desde la primera página te lanza de lleno en la acción, con un ritmo que recuerda a sagas como Game of Thrones o The Priory of the Orange Tree. Me sorprende que no se hable más de esta historia, porque tiene muchos elementos que atrapan: política, magia, traiciones, y una vibra oscura que se equilibra muy bien con momentos de humor y ternura.

Los personajes, en general, están bien construidos. Me encantó Orval: siempre es un placer ver personajes más tranquilos y estudiosos, sobre todo en un mundo donde predominan los héroes de espada en mano. La reina Satia, aunque no sea la más simpática, es imponente y demuestra fuerza real, en contraste con un rey bastante... desorientado. Eso sí, me costó mucho distinguir a las compañeras de sangre de la reina: nombres parecidos, roles poco definidos… se vuelve confuso en más de una escena.

En cuanto al mundo que propone la historia, es claramente rico y amplio, pero me quedé con ganas de más explicaciones sobre las distintas facciones, la magia, y sobre todo esas referencias a razas élficas que se mencionan al pasar y no se desarrollan. Entiendo que quizás sea parte de un desarrollo mayor en los próximos libros, pero en este tomo se sintió como una oportunidad desaprovechada.

Hay dos puntos que empañaron mi experiencia. Primero, la edición. A medida que avanzaba noté cada vez más errores de puntuación, ortografía y especialmente de comillas mal colocadas. A veces interrumpían tanto la lectura que me sacaban del momento. Ojalá el libro tenga una edición revisada en el futuro, porque el contenido lo merece.

El segundo problema fue el final. Sin entrar en spoilers, esperaba una gran resolución o algún tipo de cierre fuerte, y lo que obtuve fue más bien una preparación para lo que vendrá. Se siente como un largo prólogo a la verdadera historia, lo cual fue bastante decepcionante considerando el desarrollo emocional y narrativo que se venía construyendo.

It’s fun to see a book about the Chosen One — the orphan princess of a fallen queen, inheritor to a kingdom ruled by a cruel king and queen — told through the POV of her adoptive parents.Orval is a member of the ruling family (fourth cousin twice removed) who took one look at the politics of court and retired to become a poor scholar, renting a room above a brothel. In one night he became the husband of Amari, and a father to twins — the princess and her milk brother, Amari’s son. Amari went from being a wetnurse to a princess to being married, from having one child to having twins, and the both of them, over the course of the book and through a few adventures fall in love in the sweetest way.

The evil king and queen are a wonderful mix of bad and evil, with Queen Satia — at first — acting no more evil or horrible than any ruthless queen would on winning a civil war that has half the nobles (if not more) hating her and her husband for winning. Her temper and mood swings are more the result of a stressful pregnancy than any maniacal cruelty. Rather than killing a disobedient housekeeper and palace guard, she has them exiled. Rather than murdering Orval and Amari, she has them exiled.

She’s aware that taxes will be unpopular, that her kingdom is broke, and her husband is a fool who wants grand parades and a giant, naked statue of himself that must somehow be paid for … but she’s not a complete monster, and I like that. I don’t like her as a person, mind you, but as a character I think she’s a lot of fun.

There’s quite a bit of world building, or rebelling baronies, various political factions, mages and elves, different religions, different cultures and different groups of people who are all working towards there own ends. The book feels nicely epic, for all that it’s a slow, leisurely slice of life story of Orval and Amari changing diapers, feeding infants, falling in love and worrying about how they’re going to protect the people they love.

And I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book!

Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!

I was quite surprised by this book to be honest. For some reason I thought it would be packed with lots of cruel fighting scenes and a lot of action. But through reading this book I got quite a mellow feelgood feeling.

I liked the big contrast between all the sweet, feelgood scenes and the fighting scenes that did occur.

I do feel however that some roles didn't make a lot of sense and even though this is only book one of the series, it feels like some stories weren't yet ready for the book to come to an end.

I absolutely adored Orval and I am convinced we need a lot more men like him.

I loved both babys and the fact that breastfeeding was quite a prominent occurrence. And Amari is just a bad ass mum!

I am really excited to see where the story is going next. I'm ready for book two!

I felt this was fast paced right from the beginning and threw me in the deep end. It did capture me but then i felt a teeny bit lost.

I haven’t read anything else by this author so I had nothing to base the world on

Fantasy, bit dark and deep at times, some romance element.
.
I did finish it and glad I did.

“Beware the learned ones, for not all warriors wield steel”
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC!
Ashes of Xy by Elizabeth Vaughan was such a fun, daring and vivid read, I loved the fast paced feel of the story-line and adored how deeply we got to know the characters throughout their journey.
Our story begins when we meet our brave royal wet-nurse Amari, who has been tasked with the care of the recently slain queens newborn daughter, the only hope for the royal bloodline. Amari has her own newborn son and takes on the brave task of caring for both children and does not hesitate to risk her life, running with and blindly trusting Vren of the Marcusi. Her place of safety turns out to be the modest yet secure home of Orval, a most beautiful natured and gentle soul of a scholar who, while clearly being immediately out of his depth with two babies and a woman entering his home unannounced, does not hesitate to help them putting his life on the line. What develops from there is such a joy to read. The cast of supporting characters in their journey are so unique and bring so much to the story, from the self-indulged newly crowned Queen, the difficult Chained Mage and the mysterious Vren of the Marcusi (just to name a few) there is so much more to delve into and I can’t wait to continue with this fantastic world.

First and foremost, I would buy a poster of that cover. It is absolutely stunning. This book is packed with action, distinct personalities, darker vibes, and an engaging story. I really enjoyed it. There are some issues. I feel like the ending could've been better and there are side characters that are difficult to tell apart - it doesn't feel like they really exist outside of the story. Definitely would love to read more from Vaughan, though.

An incredible opening to what is going to be an exciting series (I hope).
Different characters and stories woven together has created an interesting world with an intriguing magic system.

I very much enjoyed this fantasy story about two people struggling to survive and protect those they care about--and finding something more in the process. Told through revolving POVs, mainly those of Amari and Orval, the story follows the end of one ruler's reign and the beginning of another's, focusing not on the victors but on those threatened by them, including the former queen's newborn daughter. I fell in love with Amari's strength and Orval's kindness and cheered them on as they faced troubles and tribulations until finally finding a place to call home...together. The next book in the series will have a lot to live up to, and I'll be keeping an eye out for it!

I had two main issues with this book. While the first few chapters were super clean, as I kept reading, I noticed spelling, wording, and punctuation errors popping up more and more frequently. Quotation marks were the worst offender. There were dozens of instances of misplaced or missing quotations. It was really distracting at times.
The second issue is that... Well, I was so excited for a really satisfying pay-off. I can't go into specifics too much without spoilers, but I will say quite the opposite happened. I was very, very, very unhappy with the ending of the book, enough to knock it down to 3 stars from the 5 stars I would have given it despite the punctuation issues.

The worldbuilding has sparks of brilliance. There's magic, political tension, and ancient rituals that hint at a rich, complex culture-but most of it feels
underdeveloped. Magic exists, but its rules are murky at best. Houses and factions are mentioned, but their relationships are confusing. Its like looking at a painting through fog: I can tell there's something beautiful in the background, but I just wish I could see it more clearly.
Stylistically, the writing can be a mixed bag. Sometimes it's lyrical and poetic. Other times, it slips into stiff or overly stylized dialogue that doesn't quite match the prose. The tone swings from elevated ceremony-speak to casual, modern-sounding lines, and the inconsistency pulls you out of the story a bit. Still, there's something sincere in the way it's written, even when it fumbles. You can tell the author cares, and that matters.
Representation is strong in concept-diverse characters, gender role reversals, queerness, cultural complexity-but not always fully explored. Some of the sapphic and cross-cultural relationships are sweet, but they'd be even more powerful with more backstory or tension to deepen them. There's a lot of telling, and I wanted more showing.

DNFed at 30%

Unfortunately this book was just really not my cup of tea. While I knew there would be a focus on raising the babies, the heavy focus on pregnancy, nursing and changing diapers was not at all appealing to me. Also I just couldn't connect to the characters at all.

I think this book could really work for someone else, just not for me.

Wow! New to me author. What a wonderful fantasy story to get sucked into. From the first pages, there was non stop action. I loved the world building and sorting out the power struggles.

I loved Orval! What a great dude to his core. Amari could not have landed in better hands. He may not be a warrior but he is a good human.

The story continues in the next book so not much resolution here. A bit of a gasping ending for me. I do have questions about the Blood--the ruling powers. Wyrven and Airion?? Are these just symbols or do people turn into these creatures? I felt I was missing some history there.

Regardless of that mild confusion I loved getting lost in this story and look forward to more.

Firstly, thank you to the author and netgalley for the arc opportunity.

There were two things that I didn’t enjoy in this book and that’s why it’s 3 stars instead of 5.

First, the book felt more like a prequel or a prelude to set the tone and the stage for the book after. You keep reading and reading till you reach the end but there is no big confrontation or payoff more of a set up for the actual events to start taking place starting for the next book.

Second point, is that the synopsis is kind of misleading, it talks about the relationship formed between a wet nurse and a scholar. So you go into the book expecting that however I’m sure if all of their scenes were put together it’ll be less than one third of the book. It’s not that the rest wasn’t good it’s just wasn’t what you would expect going into this book. Not to mention the amount of POVs and side characters we have, at points it felt a bit overwhelming.

Other than that the book was great. The writing was clear and easy to follow. I loved the uniqueness of the story it felt very fresh and not at all repetitive or cliche. I loved the soft and innocent relationship that developed between our wet nurse and scholar and absolutely adored the babies and the found family aspect that is really emphasized on in the later portion of the book. Overall this is a really good start to a new series, I finished this book in one sitting it’s that interesting.

5 Stars. Fantastic. Do you know that feeling when the right book hits you at just the right time and just speaks to everything you are feeling right now? Ashes of Xy is one of those books for me. It is not a traditional hero's journey, with more of a Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction feel as described by Ursula Le Guin. The book opens with the decisive battle of a civil war reaching the point where the winning side is clear but people are still dying for their lost cause. The winners are not good people and it becomes clear that the losers were maybe less terrible but were also privileged people fighting over scraps of power and empty prestige. The heroes of this story are the people without grand ambitions but who just want to do their jobs, have some safety, and to take care of their community. The main thread is a single mother/nursemaid and a disabled scholar on the edge of the privileged class who are together protecting the missing infant princess of the losing royal family. And we also get a front row seat to the machiavellian schemes of the new Queen and her entourage. But beyond that, we also get to bounce around to a bunch of small POV characters to experience slices of life with people fighting small battles to be able to do their job or take care of their neighbor. Some of these are won and some of these are lost. It is a story of finding some hope while keeping your head down if you can and making the best of where the cards fall if you can't. Elizabeth Vaughan's skill at character voice shines as each point of view character comes to life even if we just spend a few pages with them.  I am eagerly looking forward to the next installment of The Blood of Xy.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT’S HOW IT ENDS?!? I want more!!! This book was fantastic. I loved all the intricate side plots and the characters were written so well. Like, really though, the characters are all fantastic which I didn’t expect because there are so many. I never once felt overwhelmed by the switching of POVs and the story just flowed so well. I’m already waiting in anticipation for the next book!

This ARC was provided by Birch Cove Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic start to a new series
You are in for a treat if you haven’t read any of Elizabeth Vaughan’s books. Ashes of Xy is the start of a new series, Blood of Xy. It is set in the same world as her splendid series, Chronicles of the Warlands, but hundreds of years later.

At the heart of this romantasy are Amari a young wet-nurse and Orval, a crippled scholar. The two are thrown together when Queen Kara of Xy gives birth and shortly after dies in the battle for the throne. They are entrusted to save the life of the former Queen’s infant daughter. Amari has an infant son, and with 2 young babies, nothing will be easy.

There is a sweetness to the interactions between Amari, Orval and the babies. It is in direct contrast to the evil machinations of the new Queen Satia and King Xyrath. How will they keep the babes hidden and safe in this dangerous world?

The author is an expert at creating a detailed world that draws you into the story. You can’t help but root for Amari and Orval. I cheered at the neighbours and friends who helped the pair out. There are as many tense, suspenseful moments as there are tender and heartwarming. What a great start to the new series. I can’t wait to see where Elizabeth Vaughan takes these characters and world next. If you haven’t read Chronicles of the Warlands yet, not to worry, Ashes of Xy can be read on its own. But what are you waiting for? Go find the original series as well.

Thank you to Birch Cove Press and NetGalley for a digital ARC!

I enjoy fantasy books and romance books, and the combination thereof is one of my favorites when done well. Author Elizabeth Vaughan wrote a marvelous series 20 years ago titled <i>Chronicles of the Warlands</i>. Composed of 6 books originally, and starting with the phenomenal WARPRIZE, this series was utterly captivating. Vaughan came back and wrote a prequel to this earlier series in 2019 which was only ok, not like the great original books. Now, Vaughan brings us a new related series called the <i>Blood of Xy</i>.

The <i>Blood of Xy</i> series is clearly set in the same magical and primitive world as <i>Chronicles of the Warlands</i> but in a vastly different timeframe, and it’s unclear whether these books take place in the past or the future from the original series. ASHES OF XY is the first in this new series. It’s hard to read ASHES OF XY without comparing it to the epic greatness of WARPRIZE, and I think that riders who loved the original books will be disappointed by this latest tale. Even without suffering the comparison to Vaughan’s early glory days, readers may be underwhelmed in general by ASHES OF XY.

A civil war was just lost, and the new evil overlords are consolidating their power. The wet nurse for the born-on-the-battlefield heir to the throne escapes with her tiny charge, and finds herself thrown into a living situation with a crippled scholar who is a distant relative of the former (and current) rulers. There is a gentle romance between these two which is slow-blooming and sweet. I also like the mage and his half animal (but sometimes human) warrior who spirit the wet nurse away and then work in the background to try to save the kingdom. These characters don’t make up for the somehow one dimensionality of many of the characters, however, including the almost cartoonishly evil usurper king and queen.

Having fangirled so hard over the original series and eagerly awaiting this new release, I am disappointed to be so underwhelmed by ASHES OF XY. Having been such a loyal Vaughan fan for years, I will definitely pick up book 2, but with a little trepidation. New readers to this author would be much more richly rewarded to revel in the glory of WARPRIZE instead.