Book Review: Kingdom Of Ashes by Rhiannon Thomas

---

Kingdom Of Ashes
A Wicked Thing #2
Author: Rhiannon Thomas
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Released: February 23 2016
Review Source: HarperTeen

Asleep for a hundred years, awoken by a kiss, Aurora’s life was supposed to be a fairytale. But since discovering that loyalty to the crown and loyalty to her country are two very different things, Aurora knows she can only dream of happily ever after. Once the enchanted princess, savior of her people, she is now branded a traitor.

Aurora is determined to free her home from the king’s tyrannical rule, even if it means traveling across the sea to the kingdom of the handsome and devious Prince Finnegan—someone who seems to know far more about her magic than he should. However, Finnegan’s kingdom has perils of its own, and any help he gives Aurora will come at a price.

As Aurora and Finnegan work together to harness her power—something so fiery and dangerous that is as likely to destroy those close to Aurora as it is to save them—she begins to unravel the mysteries surrounding the curse that was placed on her over a century before…and uncover the truth about the destiny she was always meant to fulfill.

Brimming with captivating fantasy and life-threatening danger, the sequel to A Wicked Thing takes Sleeping Beauty on an adventure unlike any she’s ever had before.

Starting where A Wicked Thing picks up, we follow Aurora as she fights her way through the hardships of being a wanted criminal and figuring out how to control this power that she now has. This new story of the Sleeping Beauty that we all know and love that has taken on such an adventurous tale.

To be honest the book didn't grip me like the first one did. I loves the first one because of the story that came after Aurora woke up, I loved that. Maybe the wait between the first book and the sequel was too long and made me forget the story but I felt very disconnected. I should've maybe read A Wicked Thing first before just jumping right into this story.

Aurora is still such a strong character - which is nice to have. A female lead that is strong in her own will and doesn't necessarily rely on anyone else. I love taking the character of sleeping beauty who is usually seen as a weak woman who's asleep waiting for her true love to come kiss her awake and making her this strong, headstrong woman.

Book Review: A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas

A Wicked Thing
A Wicked Thing #1
Author: Rhiannon Thomas
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Released: February 24, 2015
Review Source: HarperTeen

Rhiannon Thomas's dazzling debut novel is a spellbinding reimagining of Sleeping Beauty and what happens after happily ever after.

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

Rhiannon Thomas weaves together vivid scenes of action, romance, and gorgeous gowns to reveal a richly imagined world … and Sleeping Beauty as she’s never been seen before.

Aurora wakes up after 100 years expecting it to be the day of her 18th birthday. When she is faced with the fact that everyone she knows has already died she becomes frantic over what she's going to do with her new life. Marrying Prince Rodric is what the stories tell her, and everyone else, that she is suppose to do. But can she marry a man that she doesn't love?

I love Sleeping Beauty, she is my second favorite princess. So I thought this story was interesting. I really liked the fact that it took place after the story that we already know! She wakes up and the story takes place from then on-we don't have to sit through knowing that she pricked her finger due to a witches curse. I really liked that because I have rarely seen any stories that tell that part of Aurora's life.

This is Thomas' first novel and it was a good one-not only that is a series, so that's really good for just starting out. I loved the twists and turns that were within the story. I was excited to see where things would be going for Aurora and what she would decide would be best for her. I also found it interesting that she didn't fall in love with the man who woke her up. Having grown up thinking that Sleeping Beauty would marry whomever kissed her and broke the spell it was a little refreshing to not have that be the case within this story. There were some parts that I felt drug on longer than were necessary, but once you got past those parts you would get to a part of the story that will intrigue you. And so I stuck around through the longer parts for the parts that had me wondering what would happen next.