Summer Reading #4:…

Summer Reading #4: Malinda Lo, Ash

Mild spoilers follow. I didn�t know anything about the plot of this book when I picked it up; I just knew that the author was a woman of color, and that there were queer elements in the book. As I started reading, it seemed that it was going to be a Tam Lin story of some kind � faeries featured prominently in the tale. It moved slowly but with grace to be something else as well � a Cinderella story, and perhaps I am slow myself, because I didn�t realize that until a quarter of the way through the book, despite the eponymous title (our protagonist Aisling�s nickname is Ash). I�m not sure I�ve seen this done before, a Cinderella retelling crossed with a Tam Lin faery tale. I think I love it. And then when you add in the decidedly queer romantic element (all very chaste; nothing more explicit than a kiss and some heavy breathing) and then another element which I can only interpret as a tiny bit poly, in much the same vein as the ending to The Hero and the Crown � well, I�ve already ordered the sequel, is all I have to say. Recommended.

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