Title: Ash & Bramble
Author: Sarah Prineas
Pub. Date: September 15th, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 464
Pub. Date: September 15th, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 464
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Retellings, Romance
Rate: 1.5/5 stars
Synopsis :
A prince. A ball. A glass slipper left behind at the stroke of midnight. The tale is told and retold, twisted and tweaked, snipped and stretched, as it leads to happily ever after. But it is not the true Story.
A dark fortress. A past forgotten. A life of servitude.
No one has ever broken free of the Godmother’s terrible stone prison until a girl named Pin attempts a breathless, daring escape. But she discovers that what seems to be freedom is a prison of another kind, one that entangles her in a story that leads to a prince, a kiss, and a clock striking midnight. To unravel herself from this new life, Pin must choose between a prince and another—the one who helped her before and who would give his life for her. Torn, the only thing for her to do is trade in the glass slipper for a sword and find her own destiny.
Review:
I was really looking forward to Ash & Bramble because 1) I do love retellings (even if there are so many nowadays that it is getting a little old), and 2) this said it had a darker twist to it, which I was really looking forward to. Well this is the problem with retellings and my love for them...they're either hit or miss. I either really love them or can't stand them. I don't know why there's no in-between for me, but there isn't. And this novel falls into the "I can't stand it" category. I'm being generous and giving this book 2 stars, because I didn't hate it. There was just too many things that I didn't like to go any higher in my rating.
This book is divided into several parts. The first part was extremely boring and made me want to DNF it, but I wanted to see if the story would get better. My biggest reason for not liking the first part though was the insta-love. These 2 characters, Shoe and Pin (don't even get me started on the names), fall in love even though they don't even have a full conversation with each other. How that's possible, I don't know. But it happened, so I guess we were just supposed to accept it.
This book is divided into several parts. The first part was extremely boring and made me want to DNF it, but I wanted to see if the story would get better. My biggest reason for not liking the first part though was the insta-love. These 2 characters, Shoe and Pin (don't even get me started on the names), fall in love even though they don't even have a full conversation with each other. How that's possible, I don't know. But it happened, so I guess we were just supposed to accept it.
The second part was looking up for awhile, but then it went back to being boring and tedious. I honestly stopped caring about the characters and what would happen before the halfway point. They were blank and had no personality or anything special that made me like them. Pin/Pen was extremely tiring, while Shoe got on my nerves for multiple reasons.
There were a lot of things in the second part of the book that just didn't add up or make any sense. Whether it was something the characters did or said, or just the time frame...it was confusing. I didn't even realize the time span of this book until 1 scene actually pointed it out. Honestly it didn't seem like years had passed, but apparently they had. Another big thing for me was the dual POV's. While the dual perspectives were actually very well done, and I applaud Ms. Prineas for writing them well, I didn't really like the fact that Pin's chapters were in the 1st person, while Shoe's chapters were in the 3rd person. This wasn't my favorite way to read the story, and it did get a little distracting.
Finally, the ending really just threw me for a loop. After all the back and forth between 2 boys (yes...there's a love triangle), she picks who she wants to be with, but decides to leave while the boy she chooses is recovering from the climatic scenes of the story. When she returns, the boy she chooses says that he didn't know if she would return or not, and she agrees with him. Pin goes onto say that she doesn't like fairy tale endings, there isn't such a thing as happily-ever-after, and that she won't be a wife. BUT...then decides to tell her choice that she experiences "true love" whenever they kiss. And that's how it ends. Well...okay then.
There were a lot of things in the second part of the book that just didn't add up or make any sense. Whether it was something the characters did or said, or just the time frame...it was confusing. I didn't even realize the time span of this book until 1 scene actually pointed it out. Honestly it didn't seem like years had passed, but apparently they had. Another big thing for me was the dual POV's. While the dual perspectives were actually very well done, and I applaud Ms. Prineas for writing them well, I didn't really like the fact that Pin's chapters were in the 1st person, while Shoe's chapters were in the 3rd person. This wasn't my favorite way to read the story, and it did get a little distracting.
Finally, the ending really just threw me for a loop. After all the back and forth between 2 boys (yes...there's a love triangle), she picks who she wants to be with, but decides to leave while the boy she chooses is recovering from the climatic scenes of the story. When she returns, the boy she chooses says that he didn't know if she would return or not, and she agrees with him. Pin goes onto say that she doesn't like fairy tale endings, there isn't such a thing as happily-ever-after, and that she won't be a wife. BUT...then decides to tell her choice that she experiences "true love" whenever they kiss. And that's how it ends. Well...okay then.
Ultimately, this just wasn't my cup of tea and it just didn't live up to my expectations. I had high hopes for the story, but it just fell flat. I'm not giving up on retellings because I love them too much, but I would recommend skipping this one.
~Cassie
Oh my. Sorry that you didn't like this! I just added this to my tbr yesterday, and honestly it was because of the blurb. I hate insta-love so much and that majorly contributes to my decision whether to DNF it or not. How unfortunate to see in your review that this didn't go well to your liking. I would still be willing to try this so I could see it for myself as well.
ReplyDeleteNice review! It was nice & I liked the addition of funny gifs up there. Haha! xx
Fiona | A Girl Between the Pages
Haha thank you! I wanted to try to at least add some humor lol. But I would definitely love to hear your thoughts if do read the book. Some people I know really enjoyed the book, so I think it's just that this wasn't my cup of tea.
Delete~Cassie