Ash

This book has a great deal of potential, but sadly lives up to little of it. As a fairytale retelling, it diverges so far from the original Cinderella that it almost can't act as commentary upon it. Conversely, as a story in its own right, it's hampered by the constraints of the Cinderella plot; certain events are shoehorned in, while not enough time is spent on the original elements of Lo's tale.

Additionally, the pacing is terribly off. The beginning chapters are slow and lyrical and, frankly, boring; Lo seems to be trying to instill a sense of wonder and magic in the reader by lingering over a bunch of pretty images, but there just isn't enough substance to make those images meaningful. By contrast, the bulk of the plot--and particularly the resolution--occurs at breakneck speed, too quick to be really exciting or believable.

Despite these faults, there's definitely stuff to appreciate in the story. The worldbuilding that does occur is intriguing (though there needs to be a great deal more of it for it to truly be coherent), and the writing style beautifully self-assured. I also loved the fairytales within the fairytale; the book is almost worth reading for those alone. Though I wasn't very impressed by Ash, I'm looking forward to reading Lo's future books, in the hope that the above problems are simply those of a new author who will later grow past them.

(Review originally written 1/31/2010)