Kingdom of Ashes (Wicked Thing) Hardcover – February 23, 2016

Fantastic sequel! I'm curious if it is the last book or if there will be a third? Either way it was a satisfying ending, but I hope there is more!

Wonderful second book to continue Aurora's story. The plot contained surprising twists and turns. Dragons, revenge, clarity, power, magic, and romance all in one book!

It was okay, but I found it alittle boring at times...

Even better than the first.

See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy came courtesy of YA Books Central for review.Y’all know I’m all about feminism and not all that here for fantasy. For some reason, the two clash more often than I’d like thanks to copy-of-a-copy fantasies that overdo it on the patriarchies (see: Defy by Sara B. Larson, The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons) and I’d rather not choose. WHY NOT BOTH FEMINISM AND ORIGINAL FANTASY?Well, A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas gave me both last year and I loved every page of it. Of course I’d hunt down a copy of the sequel! (aka I got one from my lovely friend Dahlia and then ended up with a second copy from YA Books Central.) The more plot-driven, discovering-the-truth nature of Kingdom of Ashes will do a great deal for readers who weren’t fans of the character-driven first book. Plus there are dragons.The first time around, Aurora was a very passive character as she tried to operate within her role of Prophesied Princess and chafed in it, ultimately leading to the royal disaster of a wedding that was the climax of A Wicked Thing. Now Aurora leads the way in almost every respect. She actively seeks out rebel Tristan when she hears he’s in the city, pursues her magical abilities herself, and generally comes into her own fully. Romance is on the backburner now; possibilities with Tristan and Rodric all but eliminated, she develops a tame slow-burn relationship with Finnegan.Kingdom of Ashes is feminist fantasy with equal emphasis on both parts. You get your dragons (yes, dragons, and Aurora gets along with them very well) and political intrigue, but you also get a strongly written heroine in Aurora, whose strength is far more mental than physical. She’s not the princess who will take up a sword and charge into battle herself; she’s the strategist. There’s also the fun metaphor of Aurora and her magic giving her the ability to burn everything down and start over again in a kingdom of ashes. (Ba-dum tsss.) Is “burn it down and try again” not the frustrated feminist’s mantra? Aurora is our kindred spirit!I want to go into the novel’s themes of powerful women and what the world makes of them as well as the nature of magic, but it spoils so many things to even attempt to. One theme I can go into: who lives, who dies, who tells your stoooooooory. Fellow fans of Hamilton rejoice because that is a central theme as Aurora digs deeper into the story ascribed to her as she slept like the dead in addition to the stories she thought she knew about others.Admittedly, Kingdom of Ashes is a mild step down from A Wicked Thing in terms of quality. One of the book’s largest twists is very predictable, and Finnegan’s feelings for Aurora are swept aside by both Aurora and the narrative. A woman isn’t required to consider another man’s feelings for her, but he makes them so clear that it would have been nice to see the two have a healthy conversation in order to keep love from getting in the way while they’re essentially planning a war against Aurora’s kingdom and the man who stole her throne. Their future as a couple is bright at the end of the novel and yet I am still left wanting.This is the feminist YA fantasy you’ve been looking for and you won’t have to worry for a second about a Superpatriarchy ruining your fun. I love these books so much that I went out of my way to purchase them at my local bookstore! In case you’re interested, Freeform/ABC Family is also developing a television series based on these books too! The working title After is underwhelming, but if it makes it to air, I’m so there. SO THERE. The Wicked Thing duology comes Paige-approved and I hope you’ll check it out.

This review was originally posted on herestohappyendings.com.If you’ve read A Wicked Thing, Kingdom of Ashes is a must read (especially if you liked the first book in the series). I finally got to read A Wicked Thing recently (I have no idea what took me so long), and while I did point out that it was a bit slower paced and didn’t have as much action as I had hoped, Kingdom of Ashes delivers all that action and fast-paced awesomeness that seemed to be absent in the previous book.Kingdom of Ashes is amazing. There is so much going on in this book, and if you like your books faster paced (like I do), then this is definitely a sequel that you don’t want to miss.This book picks up pretty much exactly where A Wicked Thing left off. There isn’t really any gap in the time from one book to the next, and that makes it easier to jump right back into this amazingly crafted world. Plus, this book revolves around dragons. Yes, dragons!“‘We know three things about dragons for certain,’ Finnegan said. ‘That they exist, that they hate water, and that they kill us. Everything else is guesswork. No one gets close enough to fragons to learn about them and lives to write a book.'”Oh, and Finnegan is back, too, which I thought was awesome (I’m a huge Finnegan fan, and this book only made me more so)!So, Aurora is making her way across the kingdom after running away in the last book, with her powers completely uncontrolled, with essentially no food or anyone on her side. When she finds out the guards are looking for her and that there is a reward for bringing her back to the castle, she tries her best to hide, but when faced with danger, she accidentally burns down the village she is hiding out in. When Nettle reappears, with the job of helping her across the land to Vanhelm (Finnegan’s kingdom), Aurora is relieved and finally feels like things might pan out for her.When she reaches Vanhelm and sees Finnegan, she is thrilled. She tells him what happened, and of course, he welcomes her into his kingdom and allows her to stay. We get to meet Finnegan’s mother and sister, as well. I was pretty partial to his mother in the beginning, because she’s a strong queen who does what she needs to do to help her people, and they respect her for it. She seems to like Aurora for the most part, and allows her to stay there until she figures out what she needs to do.Finnegan and Aurora spend plenty of time together, and their relationship goes beyond that of constant bickering friendship. Aurora does spend a good portion of her time wishing Finnegan would kiss her, and wishing she could just work up the courage to kiss him, and this whole mindset does get a little frustrating, but seeing the two of them develop feelings for each other is sweet. Their entire romance is just one of those that you were probably even hoping for since the first book (I know I was!), and fans will finally get the chance to see some flirtation between the two. Finnegan is back to his goofy, bad-boy self, calling Aurora by the nickname “Dragon Girl,” which is kind of cute.“‘What can I say, dragon girl? You’re hard to look away from.'”As Aurora learns about her magic and how to control it and work with it, she also realizes a few secrets about herself that are vital to the story, so it’s important to pay attention when you’re reading this one. Finnegan helps her research and try to figure things out, while also helping her plan out how she is going to go back and save her own kingdom. When Aurora realizes that she can connect with the dragons that have left Vanhelm a literal kingdom of ashes, she starts to wonder if perhaps the dragons are a way that she can save her kingdom and fight off the king.The ending of this book seemed to wrap up the story that began in A Wicked Thing quite nicely, so I’m not sure if there will be a third book or not. If there is, I’m looking forward to reading it, but if not, I think things were wrapped up pretty well, so it won’t be a disappointment.There is a lot more development with Aurora’s character in this book than in the last – she has become strong and independent – definitely the type of ruler a kingdom needs. The whole dragon aspect of the book was AMAZING. It tied the whole book together, and really made things more interesting. The return of all the characters from the previous book was nice, too.If you liked A Wicked Thing, definitely don’t miss out on this one!Note: I received an ARC copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Couldn't put the book down!

Satisfied