Book Review: Malinda Lo’s ASH
March 15th, 2009 | Published in General
by Samantha, Racebending.com Staff Writer
It took a walk for me to write this review. It was cold—winter has been harsh and ongoing where I am—and dark out. But as I sank deep into the snow, I wondered if this biting embrace is what Aisling felt when she went to her mother’s grave night after night. In her grief, did this Cinderella-like character feel as empty as the crisp air?
Malinda Lo, in her debut novel Ash, delves into a deeper and more haunting aspect in this Cinderella re-telling. Aisling—more commonly known as Ash in the story—is our Cinderella. Like previous tales, her mother dies and she gains a stepmother who is recognizably wicked. But Lo doesn’t linger on the stepmother’s treatment or Ash’s chores and dreams for a prince. In fact, Ash doesn’t want a prince.
She wants what any other twelve year old girl would want: her mother.
Through simple yet poetic writing, Malinda Lo immerses the reader in a little girl’s grief. She accurately depicts loneliness, yearning, and the need to escape. Even her choice of setting, a kingdom’s transition to a more “modern” and “rational” age, reflects the unwanted change in Ash’s world.
She shows Ash clinging onto her mother’s tales of magical creatures. But they are not cute fairy tales one would expect. They are dark and foreboding. Fairies, if a girl wasn’t careful, would kidnap you and take you far from what it means to be human—which Ash wouldn’t mind happening. As she grows into an eighteen year old, she even wishes it to happen. Her desire may very well come true in the form of a tall and dark fairy named Sidhean.
When Ash meets the King’s Huntress, Kaisan, her desire begins to change. Kaisan offers what Ash had missed during her parents’ absence: warmth, affection, life—and love.
All the familiar elements of a Cinderella story exist: the prince, the midnight ball, and the transformative power of falling in love. But Lo re-imagines these elements and more. She adds complexity to relationships and layers her characters into believable people whose actions and desires we could understand—even if we don’t want to.
Going beyond the romantic ideal of fairy tales, Malinda Lo tells a beautiful story of a girl in grief and of love transcending magic, status, and gender.
