I’m so excited to be a part of the blog tour for Air & Ash! Before I share my thoughts on this first book in a series, I want share the book details!
Air and Ash by Alex Lidell (Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Published by Danger Bearing on May 2, 2017
Format: eARC
Master and Commander meets Tamora Pierce in a seafaring adventure of duty, love, magic, and a princess’s quest to protect her kingdom on her own terms.
After a lifetime of training, seventeen-year-old Princess Nile Greysik, a lieutenant on the prestigious Ashing navy flagship, sails into battle with one vital mission—and fails.
Barred from the sea and facing a political marriage, Nile masquerades as a common sailor on the first ship she can find. With a cowardly captain, incompetent crew, and a cruel, too-handsome first officer intent on making her life a living hell, Nile must hide her identity while trying to turn the sorry frigate battleworthy. Worse, a terrifying and forbidden magic now tingles in Nile’s blood. If anyone catches wind of who Nile is or what she can do, her life is over.
But when disaster threatens the ship, Nile may have no choice but to unleash the truth that will curse her future
I absolutely love that we’re seeing more and more YA titles set at sea and on ships!
Princess Nile Greysik has spent her lifetime training to lead the Ashing Navy. When we first meet her she is in the midst of a vital mission and when everything goes south, she’s somehow spared.
When she awakes, she finds that she has been barred from the sea and navy that she loves… instead she’s destined to a political marriage… something that she is determined will never happen.
Joining the first ship she can hiding in plain sight as a common sailor, she finds herself on a ship filled with problems and one first officer who knows exactly who she is. But she has more problems … she feels forbidden magic within her and if anyone finds out it’s there, her life is over.
I thought this was an amazing start to a series that I can’t wait for more of.
With a determined heroine, a captivating story and a slow-burn romance, once I started reading, I just couldn’t put this one down. Filled with action, the pacing was wonderfully done and the story itself was intriguing and interesting. I absolutely love how strong and capable Nile is in this story and it’s hard not to be completely captivated by her and her story. I kind of loved that Domenic was the only one on board who knew who she really was.
But the relationship forming between Domenic and Nile isn’t the only thing going on here… There is the added complication of the current Captain. Rima is a coward and incompetent and it’s obvious that he’s got more going on than he’s sharing with his crew. Navigating him and his temper is proving to be difficult and when things come to a head there will be repercussions.
I know I mentioned this forbidden magic the flows within Nile’s blood… her twin brother suffers the effects of his magic and part of her mission on this voyage is to find a cure if it’s possible. But Nile isn’t prepared when she suddenly starts feeling the effects of magic and she’s afraid of what it will do to her. This for me is where the story lost me a bit … mostly because I wanted more info on the origin of this magic… what it meant, why it happened to certain people… how it affects others… why it was so forbidden. I felt like some of that was glossed over and could have been explored a bit more.
But seriously that was my only issue here in an otherwise amazingly crafted story.
Air & Ash is filled with action and adventure from the very first page to the last, and fans of Tamora Pierce and Sarah J. Maas are absolutely going to love this!
Giveaway Details:
1 winner will receive a finished copy of AIR AND ASH & a hardcover of A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN by Sarah J. Maas, INTERNATIONAL.
Follow The Tour
Week One:
5/1/2017– Wandering Bark Books– Excerpt
5/1/2017– Twinning for Books– Review
5/2/2017– Don’t Judge, Read– Interview
5/2/2017– History from a Woman’s Perspective– Review
5/3/2017– Fiction Fare– Review
5/3/2017– Book Princess Reviews– Review
5/4/2017– Two Chicks on Books– Interview
5/4/2017– Reading for the Stars and Moon– Review
5/5/2017– Margie’s Must Reads– Review
5/5/2017– Angelic Book Reviews– Review
Week Two:
5/8/2017– BookHounds YA– Guest Post
5/8/2017– Book Briefs– Review
5/9/2017– A Backwards Story– Interview
5/9/2017– Mundie Moms– Review
5/10/2017– Book Sniffers Anonymous– Excerpt
5/10/2017– J.R.’s Book Reviews– Review
5/11/2017– Bibliobibuli YA– Review
5/11/2017– Booklove– Review
5/12/2017– Reese’s Reviews– Review
5/12/2017–A Dream Within A Dream– Review
About Alex Lidell
Alex Lidell is an avid horseback rider, paramedic and ice cream addict. Born in Russia, Alex learned English in elementary school, where a thoughtful librarian placed a copy of Tamora Pierce’s ALANNA in Alex’s hands. In addition to becoming the first English book Alex read for fun, ALANNA started Alex’s lifelong love for YA fantasy books. Alex’s debut novel, THE CADET OF TILDOR, was an Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards finalist. Her second book AIR AND ASH releases in May 2017.
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