Malinda Lo: Ash

** spoiler alert ** I loved this book. It's a twist on the Cinderella story that turns the handsome prince fait accompli inside out. Lo also manages to write fairies that I don't hate, which is a fairly large miracle. The interface between them and regular people worked really well. Honestly, if I'd known there were fairies beforehand, I wouldn't have read this book--that's how much I hate that kind of thing. But these were done in such an interesting way, like the way children see adults, or across the gender gulf, or like aliens. That's it, they were truly alien, terrifying and powerful, but distant and unknowable.

Ash herself is a terrific character. Terrible things happen to her--she's the Cinderella, after all--but she never feels sorry for herself or gives up. She works hard and finds unexpected friends and makes her own choices. And those choices determine her future.

I'm deeply allergic to passive heroines so I'm always nervous about the inherently passive Cinderella story, but this one overcame all that without being all rah rah power grrl about it.

If I had one tiny complaint, it would be that at first it seemed that the magic and fairies might or might not have been real. I prefer that over the relatively boring option where they're real but some people don't believe. It's so much more interesting if Ash believes in these people (and their powers) and that belief is what transforms her and changes her life. The book seemed to set that up beautifully for the first half but then drops it.

Overall, a terrific book, gorgeous and sad and well worth a read. Even if you usually hate fairies.