A Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier

3 out of 5 stars to A Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier

I was given a free eARC of this book by the publisher and that had no impact on this review.

To start off with I found the setting of this book a little confusing. It seemed to be set in a sort of generic historical setting where girls would be sent off to work as servants but it was hard to tell if it was a historical setting with magic realism or a generic historical sort of fantasy setting. On the one hand there were a lot of townspeople who did not believe in magic but on the other the main character runs into a wizard who has apparently attended university and majored in fortune-telling. If there are universities offering magic courses, why does no one seem to believe in magic? Is it regarded as some sort of pseudo-science? It really wasn’t clear.

This story follows that of a sixteen-year-old girl named Elodie who has been sent away from her family farm to work as a servant in Black Oak Cottage. The letter of her employment arrived under seemingly mysterious circumstances as she doubts her stepfather or mother would have sought employment for her due to the fact that they themselves rely heavily on her servant-like labour. When Elodie arrives in the town closest to her new place of employment, she discovers rumors of monsters in the woods and spots some mysteriously large animal markings of her own as she walks into town. She soon finds that not only are there creatures in the woods but her new mistress is a witch.

What I liked about this book;

1.         The female friendship between Elodie and Aleida. It was refreshing to see a strong relationship between the two. They had each other’s backs and were loyal to each other almost to a fault and their dynamic was really interesting.

2.         The plot, to a certain degree. I liked that the plot points were refreshing and different, the creatures and ghosts and magic gemstones were intriguing.

3.       The magical elements were wonderful and I wished there had been more of them in all honesty.

What I didn’t love about this book;

1.         I’ve seen some reviews that talk about how practical and no-nonsense Elodie was and whilst I agree that she was a sensible character I felt like it was taken to an unrealistic extreme. I find it difficult to believe that a young, barely educated, girl could go through all Elodie does in this book and just accept it calmly. If she had been trying hard to be strong and put aside her emotional reactions, that would have been one thing but instead she just didn’t seem phased by anything and for that reason I couldn’t really connect with her character as well as I would have liked to.

2.         Pacing. I did really enjoy the second half or so of this novel but it felt like it took too long to get there and then it was all over and done with too quickly to really wrap things up nicely. I know there are more books to come in the series but I didn’t feel too satisfied with the ending and would have preferred more time was spent on the action towards the end than all the background information at the beginning.

3.         The wizard from the start and the fact that he never showed up again.

The bottom line;

If you’re looking for a quick, light and magical read then I would recommend giving it a try. I’m not sure if I will pick up the sequel because I wasn’t overly invested in how the story will progress but I do think it has potential as a series.