Haley Sulich

Full Review on my blog!

*a copy was provided by NetGalley*

I'm sooo excited to review this! Crimson Ash by Haley Sulich is such an amazing, unique book! It is a fun but dark read. So prepare for angst and a lot of emotion. The book moves fast. From the first chapter on, there are surprises that you don't see coming mixed with themes of dealing with depression, loss and self blame while learning on how to deal with all of those.
I literally devoured this book in one day. My only regret is that it's over!!

This book grips you from the moment you read that first page. The world building is crazy; it's dark and twisted and dangerous and incredibly imaginative with the technological advances the author has thought up.

It's the year 2065 and a virus called the Devil's Dream has wiped out almost the whole human race. No one particularity knows the source of the virus, because it spread so incredibly fast. Those who are affected by the virus are soldiers. And these soldiers search the Earth for human survivors and give them the Choice to take part in the new society and live or die.

Ember, one of the main characters, is one of these soldiers, while her sister Solanine still roams the Earth freely. Solanine's ultimate goal is save and free her sister from the soldiers, in order to do this Solanine joins Nightshade and her rebels in their war against evil.

The sisters, Ember & Solanine, are both still teens, they have real issues and real struggles that actually fit within the storyline. Their story is filled with death and destruction and their mental health, naturally, shows it. These characters are some of the most complex I've read. They often make difficult choices and the author does a great job of making you understand why they make those choices and what they must learn as a result. They are all on a path to healing in some way and the author creates their arcs in a way that feels real and satisfying by the end of the story.

I wish some of the side characters were expanded more upon and some of the battles were more elaborate. There's advanced technology being used, which is great, but no explanation as to how it is possible that this technology is available less than 50 years from now after the world has succumbed to a very deathly virus. There's also an element of mind control but it's not clear if this is all advanced technology or something else.

But overall, this book is a unique, roller-coaster dystopian. A must read! I highly recommend it!

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… (altro)

This book brought me back into the feeling of dystopian societies. I haven't read a dystopian book in a while, so this was a nice refresher to the genre. Haley Sulich knocked it out of the ballpark with this book. There was just one problem; it's way too long.

I felt that she could have broken this up into two books at the minimum, especially since there were so many chapters. After the first fifty chapters, the first thing that I thought was, "This book is really really long." Don't get me wrong, I love long books. It's just, you got the feeling that it was going on for too long.

Besides that, I loved everything about this book. The characters--Solanine, Quinn, Kane, Tucker, Cahira, Ember, Nightshade--everyone, was amazing. They all had amazing character development, and they definitely helped to build the story and plot. I was really sad for Quinn, for he barely got any time in the book. In fact, let me go over a few things about the characters that I liked.

Solanine - Even after eight years, she still wanted to save her sister from the City of Soldiers. I give her the "semi-best sister award" for that. I also want to give my condolences for losing her fiancé. That must have been awful to go through, and I hope I never have to go through that in the future.

Ember - Though she couldn't remember anything, I give her credit for at least holding back a little bit. She fought against what she was doomed to suffer with, and I think that's really brave. The relationship she and her sister have is pretty complicated, but I'm glad that they at least have one. I am also not a big LGBTQ+ reader, but she was really used well to express that in this book.

Quinn - Though we didn't get to see him much, he was a great beginning to the story. You could physically feel the love he had for Solanine radiating off of him, and he's a fictional character! I really liked how he, I guess you could say, sacrificed himself for his fiancee.

Tucker - Best big brother award over here! The way Tucker protected his sister as soon as she got back to the camp was actually amazing, and I loved his addition to this story. I liked how he kept his dreams, even after all hope for the world was gone. He was also there for Solanine after her fiancé died, so he deserves the best friend award too.

Kane - Prosthetic arm or not, this dude is amazing. I loved his character and seriously fell after he helped Solanine conquer her addiction. He was PERFECT. I almost died when some of the events occurred (I can't tell you because that would be spoiling, and I'm not about that life). Seriously, give me a Kane to love over here! Indiana boys are too boring and uuuuuugly.

Cahira - This girl scared me a bit. I was happy with her character at the beginning of the book, and most of the way through. Then, things kind of went off the hill. I get that this book also centers on self-harm, suicide, and multiple other things, but I felt like it was overused, if you know what I mean. Cahira's character was all good in the beginning; she was relatable and understanding. But then she did something twice, and it became kind of unbelievable in the "it's not unbelievable in a good way, but unbelievable as in it's unbelievable". That probably made no sense, but oh well.

Nightshade - I liked that Haley included a mother figure in this book. As you know, most, if not all, of the characters lost their parents (this is a Dystopian book, so that's not really a spoiler). I liked how she had her secrets but then released them to the girl she trusted (*cough cough* Solanine *cough cough*). I also liked how she contributed a lot when it came down to rounding up the ex-soldiers. She was like the mother to everyone.

Like I said before, I really enjoyed this book. The plot was well thought out, the characters were well developed, and the story moved along. For everything I've listed, I give this book 4/5 stars. I really hope to read more from Haley Sulich in the future.… (altro)

Arc Book Review
Release Date-10/5/18

Unfortunately for me, this was really just an Ok read; I originally requested a copy of this because I was oh so intrigued by the actual blurb.
It really captured my attention and sounded ever so intriguing in its overall description.
But this one; for me was one that worked much better on paper than in its actuality.
Initially, I found myself rather bored and uninvested I also had real issues getting into and immersing myself in the story plot.
I'm not really sure why that was, as it had all the necessary ingredients that usually work for me.
Just something seemed to be missing from the recipe which was a shame as It was one that I was really looking forward to reading.
So after several stops and false starts, I finally bit the bullet and managed to get through the first few chapters and once accomplishing this feat I then found myself much more interested in what was to come next.
Basically "Crimson Ash" is a YA future dystopian tale set against a surreal post apocalyptic landscape.
Our story though encompassing many characters is really the saga of two sisters Ember and Solanine; told by focusing individually on each sister and then alternating POV "Crimson Ash" bounces back and forth weaving a fantastical web.
A war is raging between two opposing factions drawing all into the crossfire whether wanted or not.
So this has all sorts to offer its readers; deep tragedy action and romance all combined together to bring forth a fresh new voice in Dystopian YA fiction and once I connected here I did then enjoy myself; there were still things that for me spoilt things, but for the most part, I was satisfied with the eventual conclusion we were given.
The main grumbles I had that caused me to drop my rating a smidge was the constant back and forth between the rebels and the government; I did find this slightly tedious and I also thought some of the secondary characters could have been a tad better developed than they were.
ultimately though this wasn't a bad read just one that wasn't really my flavour at times.
Maybe it will be a better fit for you; as at its heart, this was a good solid YA read that was at times just so bittersweet and poignant in nature.
Thank you to the author for providing me with a Review copy of "Crimson Ash" of which I have reviewed voluntary.
All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm.
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com… (altro)

Arc Book Review
Release Date-10/5/18

Unfortunately for me, this was really just an Ok read; I originally requested a copy of this because I was oh so intrigued by the actual blurb.
It really captured my attention and sounded ever so intriguing in its overall description.
But this one; for me was one that worked much better on paper than in its actuality.
Initially, I found myself rather bored and uninvested I also had real issues getting into and immersing myself in the story plot.
I'm not really sure why that was, as it had all the necessary ingredients that usually work for me.
Just something seemed to be missing from the recipe which was a shame as It was one that I was really looking forward to reading.
So after several stops and false starts, I finally bit the bullet and managed to get through the first few chapters and once accomplishing this feat I then found myself much more interested in what was to come next.
Basically "Crimson Ash" is a YA future dystopian tale set against a surreal post apocalyptic landscape.
Our story though encompassing many characters is really the saga of two sisters Ember and Solanine; told by focusing individually on each sister and then alternating POV "Crimson Ash" bounces back and forth weaving a fantastical web.
A war is raging between two opposing factions drawing all into the crossfire whether wanted or not.
So this has all sorts to offer its readers; deep tragedy action and romance all combined together to bring forth a fresh new voice in Dystopian YA fiction and once I connected here I did then enjoy myself; there were still things that for me spoilt things, but for the most part, I was satisfied with the eventual conclusion we were given.
The main grumbles I had that caused me to drop my rating a smidge was the constant back and forth between the rebels and the government; I did find this slightly tedious and I also thought some of the secondary characters could have been a tad better developed than they were.
ultimately though this wasn't a bad read just one that wasn't really my flavour at times.
Maybe it will be a better fit for you; as at its heart, this was a good solid YA read that was at times just so bittersweet and poignant in nature.
Thank you to the author for providing me with a Review copy of "Crimson Ash" of which I have reviewed voluntary.
All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm.
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com… (altro)