Ash

Written by Malinda Lo

Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

Cinderella retold
In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother.
Consumed with grief, she finds her only joy by the light of the dying hearth fire,
re-reading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the
fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and
dangerous fairy Sidhean, she begins to believe that her wish may be granted.
But the day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s royal Huntress, her heart begins to
change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their
friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash’s capacity for love—and
her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must
make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.
Entrancing and romantic, Ash is an empowering retelling of Cinderella about the
connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation
can come from even the deepest grief.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705048214

Reviews for Ash

[Airun 357 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

IT HAS A HAPPY ENDING FOLKS! so! Cinderella retelling with some changes with the characters and secondary facts. Starts looking a bit straight but it's gay at the end don't worry!

[kenf_29 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A thoughtful reworking of the Cinderella story with a great main character.

[mutantpudding · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book but felt that it suffered somewhat from trying to be a Cinderella retelling. The story works on it's own without tying it to an existing fairytale, and the many of the Cinderella connections felt weak or forced. Overall a good read although I didn't appreciate the hunting scenes.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Teen fiction; fantasy/fairytale/LGBT. Cinderella retold, but this time fairies are mysterious (and quite possibly dangerous) and servantgirl "Ash" gets caught in a bisexual love triangle.

[ssperson_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful take on the Cinderella story. I didn't really understand why things worked out with Sidhean the way they did, but I may have missed something.

[readingbeader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Aisling is distraught at the death of her mother, but nothing has prepared her for her life after her father’s remarriage and subsequent death. Torn from the only home she has known in a small village, to serving her step family to “repay” her father’s debts is quite a shock. Her only “friend” is a fairy prince, who is as frightening as he is intriguing. Ash only sees him when she walks in the woods, and then only when he decides to show himself to her.

Ms. Lo’s take on the Cinderella fairy tale replaces the fairy godmother with a fairy prince who demands a price for the wishes he grants. Complicating that potential romance is the growing friendship and attraction between Ash and Kaisa, the King’s Huntress. Sacrifices must be made but who will make them is up in the air.

Cinderella is my favorite fairy tale; I had the Disney sound track on a record as a child and can still sing those songs. I had to have the movie when it was released on VHS even though I was in college at the time. So, I read a lot of retellings of this tale. Ash blends the traditional story with a love triangle, and weaves in its own “old tales” of fairy. I wasn’t familiar with the tales Aisling/Ash told, but then, I haven’t read everything. I am working on it, though! I’ll be reading The Huntress next; it is a companion to this book.

YA, fairy tale, Cinderella, family, romance, GLBT, PHS library

[librarymeanslove · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A beautiful retelling of Cinderella. Loved it and I would read it again.

[isana-943166 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a really cute story. Entertaining and sweet. I like the idea of a reworked fairy tale. The only thing bad that I have to say is that the ending was a bit weak. I understood what happened, kind of, but I would have liked it to be fleshed out a bit more. Something more solid would have been nice. Instead, it was a few pages and left me unsatisfied. I mean, the story felt done but not enough development at the end.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

With it’s slightly different take on the Cinderella theme, Ash by Malinda Lo uses both lyrical writing and magical storytelling to enhance and give this age old story some depth. I think the lesbian viewpoint will enthrall many readers while many others will be taken slightly aback. My personal view is that it is hard to find someone to love and who loves you back so wherever or whenever this happens, rejoice in it.There was never any doubt in my mind as to whether Ash would choose the beautiful huntress or the magical fairy prince, but I would rather have been shown how her feelings developed rather than simply be told. This quibble may arise because this is a YA story and so graphic details are not included. I, being a vindictive sort, would also have loved to see the wicked stepmother get her just reward.Ash is a lovely retelling of a classic fairy tale, the author supplies a dreamlike atmosphere and a gentle romance that sees the heroine chose real life over a beautiful illusion.

[thetreereader · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I wanted this book so much and when I finally got it I was beyond excited. I’m not sure why, but for some reason it ended up sitting on my shelf for over a year before I finally got around to reading it.All I can say is that I am so glad I bought this book and have now read it because it is amazing. Part of me wishes I read it sooner but another part of me is happy I didn’t. I’m just sad I will never get to read this book for the first time again.I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately, but as soon as I started reading Ash I was hooked. I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting. I just had to know how it was going to end.Malinda Lo’s writing is beautiful. Sort of magical. It’s hard to explain. I felt like a little kid while reading Ash. I don’t think any other book I’ve read has made me feel like that, except for Harry Potter.I absolutely love all of the characters, especially Ash and Kaisa. Just everything about this book is perfect. I will definitely be buying Huntress, Adaptation, and anything else Lo writes. She is now one of my favourite authors.If you haven’t read Ash yet, what are you waiting for? It’s a must read!

[literaryfeline · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I chose to read Ash by Malinda Lo for A More Diverse Universe this week in part because it also meets the criteria for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge. Killing two birds with one stone so to speak.

From the moment I began reading Ash by Malinda Lo, I knew I would like it. I was immediately taken in by Lo's writing and swept into her world. Ash is a retelling of the Cinderella tale, and much of it was familiar and yet quite a bit was different as well. One quality I enjoy about retellings is just how familiar they are. It can also be their downfall if the story is just a rehashing of the original, of course, but the ones that stand out are the stories that take on a life of their own. Malinda Lo's Ash does just that.

Aisling, or Ash, is a sweet girl, lost in her grief. She first loses the mother she adores and then her father, being left in the care of a stepmother who obviously sees her more as a burden than anything else. While the youngest of the two stepsisters is mostly kind to Ash, the eldest is not. Locked in the cellar when she talks back to her stepmother and made into the family slave, Ash hates her life and longs to be with her mother. She turns to the fairies for help, remembering the stories she had heard as a young child and continued to read and dream about as a young adult.

One fairy in particular takes a special interest in Ash, although she isn't sure why. Sidhean seems to be a sort of protector, and yet Ash knows that protection and guidance comes at a cost. With fairies, there is always a price to be paid. Sidhean is beautiful and yet dark; Ash is not quite sure she can trust him. Yet, she begs him to take her home with him, to save her from her miserable life. He refuses each time. At least at first.

Then Ash meets the King's Huntress, Kaisa, and things change for Ash. A friendship evolves between the two young women, and Ash finds herself looking forward more and more to her visits with Kaisa. The more time they spend together, the more their feelings for one another grow.

Sidhean waits patiently and when called upon to grant a wish, he binds Ash to him. Ash agrees in desperation, but worries the cost will be too high. Promised to Sidhean but longing to be with Kaisa, Ash is not sure what to do.

Elements of magic and magical beings have faded in Ash's world, not fully believed in and yet there are those who still cling to the old ways. Fairies are just characters in stories, some argue, as a way to teach children how to behave. Ash's mother was of the old ways, however, and Ash believes. Her fairy Sidhean is proof of the fairies' existence. I loved how the author inserted the stories of magic and fairies into the novel by the characters telling the stories themselves.

There is a subtleness in the author's writing that really drew me in. Admittedly, the characterization in the book wasn't its strongest suit, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. I loved the world the author created around her characters. Lo's descriptions made me feel as if I was right there in the pages of the book. I came to really care about Ash and Kaisa, their love evolving from friendship so naturally. It was beautiful and sweet, without being overly so. It is a quiet novel. There is definitely darkness in this tale. No fairytale is without it.

I was sad to see Ash come to an end. I was not ready to leave Aisling's world.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I dunno. I wanted to like this, as I like more alternative takes on traditional tales, and I like GLBT characters. But it was just a little too, I dunno, simplistic? I didn't feel as if I quite got into the characters' hearts&souls enough. The ending especially was a bit too tidy.

[jimrgill · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This incarnation of the Cinderella story features Aisling (Ash) as a conflicted and oppressed young woman struggling to take control of her life from an evil stepmother while contemplating an escape with a fairy (Sidhean) cursed to love her. Further complicating matters is her attraction to Kaisa, the Royal Huntress. Set in a non-specific magical realm where faith and science vie for dominance, *Ash* readily conforms to most conventions of the fairy tale genre. What makes it distinct is the absolute dominance of female characters—with the exception of a few minor male characters (e.g., since it’s a Cinderella story, a Prince is pretty much required) and Sidhean the fairy, whose gender is nearly irrelevant. By adapting the familiar fairy tale format, this young adult novel depicts a young woman who overcomes oppression and empowers herself to determine her own fate and seek happiness that does not depend on a male presence in her life. While the pastoral setting and the passages of extended lyrical prose might bore some readers—there is a noticeable lack of “action” and narration far exceeds dialogue—*Ash* is a powerful tale of female young adult agency.

[semjaza-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“Ash” is nearly a traditional fairy tale, with spare prose and characters that are more ideas of people than people themselves. Ash herself is a worthy Cinderella, though her fairy godmother is a dangerous sidhe prince straight from the depths of Celtic folklore, and her Prince Charming is someone else altogether. The twists on tradition are enjoyable, and although I worried if the story’s pacing could handle the unexpected changes, the author deftly worked through them without sacrificing style. While I’m not the intended audience for this novel, I do love fairy tales of all sorts, and this one is no exception.

[glitzandshadows · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Oh, Ash, you were so close to being the lesbian Cinderella retelling this world deserves but the stilted, uncomfortable dialogue between Ash and Kaisa just killed it all for me. If you're writing a F/F retelling of a fairytale, I feel like the protagonist should have a touch more chemistry with her love interest. Ash had better dialogue with Sidhean by far.

[pussreboots · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ash by Malinda Lo is a YA alternate retelling of Cinderella. After the death of her mother, her father leaves for the nearby city on business. Things are forever changed when he returns with a wife and two step daughters.That's the extent of the similarities Ash's story shares with the fairytale. Ash had a healthy childhood with loving parents, and a mother who taught her self confidence and the local lore. Her mother was a witch and was aware of the faeries who inhabit the forests.Ash watches from the sidelines as her step-mother and step-sisters burn through her inheritance and and try to rise up the ranks. It's suggested that the step-mother might be a black widow, a detail that makes her actions all the more understandable and sinister.But what makes Ash something truly special is Lo's world building. Through the stories the king's huntress tells we learn about the kingdom, it's history, mythology, and magic. Better yet, Ash is given an alternative from the typical happily ever after ending that's tied to the perfect dress and dancing with a prince.Ash finds love and a way to escape her oppressive home life through her friendship with the huntress. Rather than turning Ash's sexual awakening into a source of angst or melodrama, Lo gives her the confidence and brains to make this work for her.

[daniellemd-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a re-telling of Cinderella where Cinderella ends up falling in love with the King's Huntress instead of the Prince. It was a good book, but I wasn't too crazy about it.

[librarycatnip · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a fantastic re-telling of the Cinderella story with a realistic and sympathetic lesbian bent. If I were to write a paper on it, I think I would discuss representations of patriarchy as embodied by the fairies, the hierarchy, and the family unit.

[mothwing-2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What drew my interest was the beautiful cover and the heterocentric pearl-clutching I'd seen over this online over bisexual Cinderella. It's as though some people were shaken down to their fundamental because this wasn't the "Original" fairy tale. Given the fact that fairy tales are an oral tradition and versions tend to vary wildly this is a pretty strange outlook, and it got odder. Apparently even today Disney's Cinderella is many people's romantic dream. Well, good for them, they've got their billion-dollar-franchise, and now those whom Cinderella doesn't fit have this book.

I liked the beautiful style, the bisexual characters, that same-sex couples exist, that it has strong female characters and even occasionally people who communicate. I enjoyed what the author does with the fairy world, the dFinisheded love triangle, the fact that there are characters who take the initiative and have plans.

I didn't like the plot holes and moments in which characters went off the rails and acted in unexplained and plainly odd ways that didn't seem in keeping with traits established earlier.

[ariel.kirst · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I was pretty disappointed in this one, to be honest. I was THRILLED about the idea of Cinderella being a lesbian, ditching the prince (and also the faerie prince!) and hooking up with the huntress. Brilliant!

Except the characters didn't feel real to me at all. The story didn't draw me in. I was skimming the surface of this novel with no ability to sink into it. I frankly didn't care about Ash, or Kaisa. I wanted them to get together on principle, but felt they had no chemistry. Or personality, for that matter.

Disappointing.

[raselyem7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a fantastic re-telling of the Cinderella story with a realistic and sympathetic lesbian bent. If I were to write a paper on it, I think I would discuss representations of patriarchy as embodied by the fairies, the hierarchy, and the family unit.

[librarycin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

is a retelling of Cinderella, but add in a fairy and a huntress. Aislin (a.k.a. Ash) is treated as a servant by her stepmother and two stepsisters after her father dies, only a short time after he married her stepmother. Lucky for Ash, her stepmother and stepsisters go into the city often, to try to secure the prince as a husband for the older stepsister. While they are away, it gives Ash a chance to escape into the Woods, where she can meet up with a fairy who knew her mother, or the king's huntress, who Ash has become friends with.It was good. Quick to read and enjoyable. There is a sequel, but I'm not sure if I liked it enough to continue with it. Ash ended with a twist on the end of the original Cinderella story, so the sequel shouldn't have anything to do with the fairy tale (I don't think).

[katie1802 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was far from my idea of a good book. I thought I would appreciate the Cinderella aspect of the story but it just didn't work for me.

Ash, the character, seemed a bit wishy-washy and not too memorable. Admittedly, her family are assholes, although Clara had promise. Kaisa pissed me off, period. Its not like she was horrible or anything but I just didn't care. Is it wrong to say the undeveloped male characters were the ones with the most potential? I suppose I'll never know now.

I think there's going to be a companion to this book, I won't be reading it.

[schatzi_5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to like - no, love - this book. Billed as a lesbian reimagining of the Cinderella tale, the book, unfortunately, is about as dull as can be. I never identified with any of the characters; there seemed to be a severe lack of depth. There's also practically no conflict in the entire story; Ash makes a deal with a fairy prince, but it is resolved with practically no thought at all. She also never questions her sexuality, either, once she starts to fall in love with the Huntress (although, to be honest, she has little to no chemistry with the Huntress). In this world, it's apparently perfectly acceptable to be a lesbian, which is fine by me; honestly, that is the way the world should be. But...I don't know, I'd like a little more conflict here.I found myself plodding through the book, waiting for it to be better until the last page was done. And then I wondered why I had bothered to finish it.I wanted to love this book, and I wanted to give it a much higher rating. I simply can't.

[flying_monkeys_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rating: 3.5 of 5I loved that Lo named her Aisling instead of some typical variation of Cinderella. I loved that the story included old school fae, not the typical pretty little flying Disney fairies who live to grant humans' wishes. The worldbuilding and setting had the familiar feel of old tales, yet still felt fresh. The twist in the romance department was refreshing, especially since Lo allowed the relationship to build in a subtle way, not with flashing lights and bullhorns; Ash's feelings were a discovery, an awakening.It wasn't a perfect book, though, only skimming the surface of its thought-provoking themes for young people, such as grief, individuality, and sexuality. And the aforementioned relationship was almost a little too subtle - it would have been nice to see into each of their hearts and minds a bit more before the book ended. Ash could have gone much deeper in that respect, which is why I didn't give it the full four stars.I look forward to reading another book by Lo.

[liveshipvivacia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I greatly enjoyed reading a fantasy world where gay couples were on equal footing with straight couples. That being said, I feel like there were moments here that were too easily swept away without suitable explanation. The novel ended too well, with all the 'loose ends' tied up too firmly. There wasn't enough conflict, at the end, to justify everything.

It was an engaging tale and an interesting take on Cinderella. I would just have wished it to be longer, to iron out what I felt happened too quickly and neatly.

[carebear36 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Like a lot of the other reviews of this book, I had really high expectations after reading what it was about, but the novel ultimately fell short. I am not much into fairy tales, but the idea of "Cinderella" not choosing the prince and falling in love with a woman instead was pretty appealing to me. I felt bored most of the way through and was just waiting for it to get interesting. I think the second half (when the Huntress has a bigger part) is better, but it never really gaged my interest. The language was beautiful, no doubt about it, but the characters and plot were pretty dull. I think I am harder when judging female characters, but I was disappointed that Ash was so passive and kind of wimpy through most of the novel. I never really felt like she did anything. I did enjoy the Huntress' character much more and while overall I was not satisfied with this book, I may read Lo's next novel, The Huntress, because I feel as an author that she has talent, but Ash just wasn't for me.

[turrean_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lovely storytelling. There was a classic fairy tale quality about the book. The fairy folk are remote and mysterious, chillingly beautiful and a bit cruel. The stepfamily is (mostly) disdainful and mean-spirited, giving the reader something to be passionately indignant about. Since I have a serious addiction to detail in my texts, I loved the descriptions of food, fabrics, dresses, the forest, and so on.

But a fairy tale quality has its drawbacks. As in many classic fairy tales, the reader never felt the full presence of any of the characters. They weren't dull, exactly, but they seemed to play appointed roles without much explanation or motivation. This reminds me of the tales which simply state things like, "the prince fell in love at that moment" or "the queen was angry that the girl was more beautiful than she herself." No need to explain these feelings, in a fairy tale. I kept waiting to know the characters better. For example, Ash must choose between two lovers. One loves Ash because of a curse, the other falls in love with Ash in a presumably ordinary human way, yet I saw no difference in how they acted, nor in how Ash acted toward them, right up to the last ten pages of the book.

The ending was so abrupt, and there was no final confrontation with the stepfamily. There are hints that the younger stepsister is not past redemption, but we have no clue what the future holds for her.

And I was irked that Ash is warned over and over, by stories she reads, and by the fairies themselves, that time in the fairy world does not run the same as time in the human world. But other than a little bit of traveling-farther-than-possible-in-one-night, time is ALWAYS equivalent in the two worlds, even at the most important moment of the book.

[katebond-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Gay YA. I bought this and read it for the first time in Paris three years ago. I re-read it in hopes that I'd like it this time, but the writing is still flat and dull.

Making Cinderella a lesbian was a brilliant move, though.

[ceilidhann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is actually a reread for me. I received my own shiny cover of “Ash” as a gift from a lovely friend and was heartily looking forward to seeing how well it stood up the second time round.

Most commonly referred to as the ‘lesbian Cinderella’, the book does retain the basic structure of arguably the most famous fairytale of all time whilst weaving in its own world, one where magic has been forgotten and viewed as a simple child’s tale by many. Stories and the telling of them make up a huge part of the narrative, which may divide readers since, while they’re beautifully crafted, they bring the pacing to a grinding halt. The prose is well crafted, the retelling of the iconic fairytale is interesting and the relationship between Ash and Kaisa is definitely the highlight.

However, there was something a little off about “Ash” upon its rereading. Maybe I was just less blinded by my love of Ash and Kaisa’s relationship and therefore the novel’s flaws were more noticeable. Whatever the case, the novel, while still enjoyable and well written, fell a little flat this time round. The magic element added an interesting twist to the mythology, but I found it rather two dimensional that everyone who doesn’t believe in the ‘old ways’ is either incredibly ignorant or extremely cruel, like Ash’s stepmother, one of the book’s other main failings. The evil stepmother trope seems like a tale as old as time and Lo had a great opportunity to bust the cliché or perhaps expand upon it to give it more dimensions. Instead, Lady Isobel falls flat and offers nothing new as an antagonist. She’s predictable cruelty and it’s rather dull.

As much as I loved Ash and Kaisa’s relationship – they grew over time, had a sweet and awkward chemistry and it was refreshing to see the girl in the Cinderella role break out of her mould of passivity – it seems as if the development of the novel’s male characters was completely forgotten about. Sidhean felt more like a plot device who is shoved to the side once his story is dealt with (although I found the use and exchange of magic for help an interesting take on old fairy mythos) and the prince is just sort of there. On the positive side, Ash is allowed to develop and grow as a woman independent of a love interest’s involvement. As someone who is so bloody sick of the “Love saves the girl/day” trope, it was a welcome change. Not that Ash doesn’t make a few stupid decisions, she definitely does. Some left me scratching my head. I appreciated that LGBTQ romance was not taboo in this world.

After finishing “Ash” for the second time, I couldn’t help but feel that the tale seemed rather lacklustre upon rereading. The framework is still strong and prose very lyrical, but the execution seems weaker upon further analysis. I still recommend the book, although now with some reservations. There’s definite potential for Lo to build upon the world she has created, and I have been told this is exactly what she does with the companion novel “Huntress”, which I eagerly look forward to reading.

3/5.