Lady Smoke (Ash Princess, #2)

by Laura Sebastian

I could not wait for this book and when I could finally read it, it was just as good as I hoped it was. You will be disappointed if you expect a story that is either plot-driven or character-driven. This book and the first one take around three weeks in story time, thus there is not a lot of character development, which is understandable. This book focusses on decision making, the difficulties of it, and being torn between what you wish to do and what you should do. I connect to this book because I like reading about Theodosia struggles and difficult decision making. She is a strong woman, but even strong people can struggle with making the right decisions and it is heartwarming to be able to read about it.

Personally, I believe that this book is not for everyone. If you wish an action-packed novel that takes you completely into the world, or even if you just want great worldbuilding at all, this book is not for you. There is some worldbuilding, but it is a smaller part of the book than in fantasy novels that are about the action, politics, et cetera. Also, as some people say, there is a bit of a love triangle. Only a bit, because I honestly do not believe that Theodosia actually cares for Blaise in that way. She does not want to see him go, he was her childhood friend. She is way too afraid to lose people, so she acts dumb and tells him what he wishes to hear, even though she does not actually feel that way. Yes, they kissed, but in this book, it becomes fairly obvious to me that Theodosia only wants friendship from Blaise. She struggles to tell him that, but I think he knows it pretty well with Soren sleeping in her room every night.
I am also really glad that we got to see Erik and Heron together. Even though nothing happened, there is something blooming there and it is written in a very nice (subtle) manner. Also reading about Hoa's death was heartbreaking. I really cared about her and had not expected her death at all. I saw some reviews mentioning that Theodosia did not care about the refugee camps, and I believe that those people have misinterpreted the book there. It appeared to me as if Theodosia did care about the refugee camps but she could not stomach it. She did not want to see it, because it was horrific, not because she did not care for it. She could not understand how Hoa could continue seeing it, without breaking completely. I never thought of that part as Theodosia not caring. She did not care about dying apparently since she took off in the middle of the night without anyone there to protect her, while someone just tried to assassinate her. People understandably may hate her for that dumbness. But hey, I don't need a perfect main character. Even though that was really, really dumb...

For me, this is the story about a sixteen-year-old girl who is in an unrelatable situation, but who struggles with difficult decisions that are somewhat recognizable or entertaining to read about. Personally, I believe that Laura Sebastian did a marvelous job of bringing Theodosia's struggles to life and make the reader really feel for everyone in the story, even though some characters are pretty bland. Does it deserve a five-star rating looking story wise? Maybe not, but I loved it enough.