Are you hungry for a good book? How about a book that
is a gourmet banquet for even the most ravenous reader? Truong's writing is a sensuous literary feast; it makes one want to
read it aloud, to devour each word, to hear it and taste it, just like
Linda, who longs for a certain word "like it was a spoonful of
peach cobbler."
What if Cinderella hadn't needed a handsome prince? What if the Fairy Godmother had been the old sort of fairy, whose motives and intentions are decidedly less than kind?
Ash takes the classic fairy-tale and turns it smartly on its head.
Aisling (called Ash), an orphan left in the care of her not-entirely-wicked step-mother, dabbles dangerously in the land of Fairy, trying to escape her daily drudgery and make contact with her deceased mother. But when real-life intrudes in the form of Kaisa, the King's Huntress, Ash finds she must decide between her promises to Fairy and the person she loves truly in the human world.
Ash is a wonderfully empowered heroine. She may not always make the best decisions, but she is adept at accepting the consequences and pressing ever onwards towards her goals. She is clever and resourceful, and it was a pleasure to read about a heroine who can rescue herself.
