Only Ashes Remain

Written by Rebecca Schaeffer

Narrated by Almarie Guerra

Dexter meets Victoria Schwab in this dark and compelling fantasy about a girl who seeks revenge on the boy who betrayed her, a sequel to the critically-acclaimed Not Even Bones.

After escaping her kidnappers and destroying the black market where she was held captive, all Nita wants is to find a way to live her life without looking over her shoulder. But with a video of her ability to self-heal all over the dark web, Nita knows she's still a prime target on the black market. There's only one way to keep herself safe. Nita must make herself so feared that no one would ever dare come after her again. And the best way to start building her reputation? Take her revenge on Fabricio, the boy who sold Nita to her kidnappers. But killing Fabricio is harder than Nita thought it would be, even with Kovit by her side. Now caught in a game of kill or be killed, Nita will do whatever it takes to win.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Dec 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781721340682

Rebecca Schaeffer

Rebecca Schaeffer is the critically acclaimed author of Not Even Bones, Only Ashes Remain, and When Villains Rise. The Webtoon adaptation of the trilogy has garnered over a hundred million reads and nearly 2 million subscribers. Her next book, Cage of Dreams, comes out in 2023.   rschaefferbooks.com Twitter: @rrschaeffer. Instagram: @rebecca_schaeffer

Reviews for Only Ashes Remain

[Selena Wallace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

-There are spoilers here, read at own risk-

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I enjoyed this book! It was a fun sequel to the previous with a new setting and some new characters to interact with. The fighting and violence aspect of the story was fun, with the visuals doing well to paint a bloody picture that did well to keep the reader unsettled. Nita’s continuous “twitching for a scalpel,” line is present, but not nearly as repetitive as the first book.
The side characters were introduced to are fine, with Adair and Vanessa a fresh breath of moral air. Nita’s mom gets some interesting development, but not enough to comment on.

I’d say the real focus of a lot of the story is to build upon Kovit and Nita’s differences and parallels and focus upon their relationship. There were a couple moments i was frustrated with Nita for her hypocrisy regarding Kovit and was continually yelling at her for her poor decision making skills. Luckily though, the actions Nita takes are called out as the flaws they are and she eventually (though it does take a while) takes accountability and apologizes for her actions. I was a little worried we wouldn’t be going down that route and instead fall over into edgy “serial killers are cool” territory; and while i do think it toes the line sometimes, i was pleasently surprised at the route Schaeffer took, choosing to instead beat the lesson into Nita’s who’s so heard-headed she probably only got half the message.
I mean seriously, how many people keep having to tell you vengeance is not the answer, how many damn plans have to fail, how many times do you have to repeatedly screw yourself and everybody around you over until you get the idea.

If that didn’t imply it, i find Nita’s continued attempts on Fabrício to get exhausting fairly quickly. I can’t quiet tell if the reader is meant to be on her side, or agree that Fabrico selling Nita makes no sense at all. Even with the reveal at the end, i don’t think it fits. There’s too many questions to make me feel anything other than conflicted when she attempts to kill him.

Kovit is of course, my favorite. I love seeing his dynamic with Nita, his creepy smile and just willingness to go along with like any plan Nita has. I can’t call him a monster, nor can i call him a good person, but i do feel like a lot of Nita’s opinions about his actions are coming from a place of ignorance. You shouldn’t excuse his actions, no one should, not the reader, nor Nita, but we do have to approach situations from a logical instead of emotional standpoint. I just think it’s not fair for a killer to call another killer a monster when it can be argued that she’s worse and i’m glad he calls her act for her behavior and they are now, fully, equals. I will be reading the third book.

[Billie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is book two of the series, and it picked up after the first book. It was better than the first: a lot more details about the characters, quite a bit of funnies, and the Doctor Who reference was the bomb!

It was a very quick read (listen). I had a hard time walking away from the story, I had to know what was going to happen. While there were quite a bit of repetitive phrases, lines, and reminders that she wanted to dissect a body and go to school and be the best, the story was a lot more to-the-point even though there were the unnecessary ramblings.

One of the new characters was interesting, but the MC, I can’t decide if I should like her or hate her, but I would be very afraid of her if our paths crossed. It's a nice change for the MC, while being a good guy, they are also a very bad guy.

Of course, there is violence, blood, gore, murder, etc, so I don't think it's appropriate for readers under 14.

I would be giving this book 5 stars, but there was way too much repetitiveness, and it took some enjoyment from the story!

4 stars.

[Ranakkuma · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

THAT WAS EPIC! the whole time listening to this I was so tense, and what a cliffhanger we were stopped on! Seriously, Rebecca never fails to make me stay on the edge of my seat!

[alejandraivanez · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I couldn't wait to read this book after I finished the first in the series. The story had a good pace but I felt like there was too much drama in the end. Drama in the sense that it was filler fluff instead of helpful to the story.

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have seen the first book in this series but never read it. After finishing this book, you can bet that I will go back and pick up a copy as well as be waiting for the third book. Even with the fact that I have not read the first book, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and had no issues jumping right into this book. Nita and Kovit are bad asses. Although, Nita could have been a little less gullible. However, I don't quite blame her as the lies that Fabricio gave her were convincing. Luckily for Nita she has Kovit by her side. I really liked him. He is like the side kick that you always want. Plus, his skill set comes in very handy. This book is urban fantasy. Which is the gritter side of fantasy. Bonus, there is no romance. I feel like a lot of these young adult books have to have romance inserted in them. Sometimes not having love is a great thing. Plus, there is a dragon in this book. A must read.