Ash by Leia Stone Series: Hive Trilogy #1
Publisher: Self-Published on December 15, 2015
Genres: Urban Fantasy, New Adult
Pages: 201
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads
Rating:
Heat:
Are you an Ash?
*Increased stamina
*Lack of appetite
*Anger outbursts
*Insatiable thirst
*Beauty & Strength
*MaleCall the hotline if these symptoms come on suddenly!
Turns out Charlie Bennet was all of those things except the last. Don’t let the name fool you, Charlie was all woman and she wanted nothing to do with the ash … until the day she found out she was one.
It all started when infected bats bit a small group of humans and created what are now called vampires. Then, the male vampires knocked up some female humans and the result was a gorgeous race of all male ash. Superhuman freaks that had looks to kill.
Charlie is the first female ash, aka unicorn of the Hive – the gated compound in Portland that the humans have designated to isolate vampires and ash from society.
Problem? The Hive is full and only a select few will be allowed to live there. To live at all, really. If Charlie wants to earn the right to become a citizen of the Hive, she will have to survive the culling – a series of fights to the death. And guess what? Just because she’s a girl doesn’t mean she’ll get special treatment.
Good thing there’s Ryder, the mysterious lead ash enforcer, who seems to always have her back. But when secrets bubble to the surface, it will take more than one guy to save her.
At A Glance
Liked the concept but it took forever to get anywhere.
The Good
I like the whole ‘the only female vamp hybrid’ concept. Who doesn’t want to be the special snowflake amongst beautiful half-vampire meat?
Charlie was a cool chick for the most part. She didn’t fall for all that pretty half-vamp Ash memorization crap that most of the female population seemed to. Then she had to ruin everything by becoming an Ash herself, which is impossible, because she’s a girl. But whatevs, you gotta roll with the punches. Ryder, ultra sexy Ash enforcer, is there to help Charlie learn how to fight for her place in the ash/vamp community. Literally fight. Like there’s 11 rooms and there are over 50 of you, so let’s start killing each other type of fighting. Yeah, sucks. But who doesn’t love a vamp Hunger Games!!!
The action was pretty good once it got started. I like the direction of the book. I was surprised by some of the reveals. I would be interested to see what happens to Charlie and her “uniqueness.”
The Bad
I feel like a good chunk of this book dragged. It took forever to get to the big killing competition. Then the competition was pretty short in comparison to how long Charlie prepared for it. I was like, “That’s it?”
Charlie was not my favorite MC. She was whiney and weak. She was suppose to be special but she really wasn’t that good at anything. More often than not she had to be rescued by the menfolk.
The Snuggly
Charlie and Ryder where a little too angsty for me. They spent the whole book pushing each other away that I didn’t even feel that happy once they got together. And there wasn’t even a sex scene to make it a little more interesting.
Final Thoughts
I was entertained for the most part but I wouldn’t spend money on the second book. Not enough happened for me to keep me interested. But I enjoyed the read overall.
Quotes
“I was just as tough as most of the ash. Sure, I had boobs, but that only increased my power.”
“I had to harden all of my soft edges if I was going to survive my new life as a tasty Nutella unicorn.”
“I found my eyes drawn again to Ryder. I was like a fucking bee with a flower, needing to suck out whatever sweetness I knew was inside.”
Melliane
Ah too bad it wasn’t more than that. I’m happy to see you back, I hope you’re better!
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
Thanks. Doing much better.
chucklesthescot
I gave up on this book because I just found it slow and not much of interest happening. A book needs to get right into the story and drag my interest there or I won’t stick around!
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
I agree, it is slow in the beginning.
Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf
Eh…I got bored just reading the synopsis! lol
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
Bwhahaha!
Melissa (Books and Things)
“Is that it?” is not a good sign. Darn. However, if this one comes up at the library, I may try it since you were still entertained.
Let's Get Beyond Tolerance
Sorry this book took awhile to really get anywhere. That’s never a good thing!
I hope you are feeling better.
-Lauren
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
I know, I really thought it was going to be better.
Melissa (My World...in words and pages)
Maybe the setting of the dragging part sets up the past and world for the next books. Thanks for sharing about it. 🙂
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
I guess we will see.
Christy LoveOfBooks
Ugh. It’s so annoying when a character is supposed to be badass, yet always has to be rescued by men. Barf!
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
I really, really, really, hate that!!! Badasses need to be actual badasses.
Jaclyn Canada
Definitely an interesting concept here. I’m a fan of the special snowflakes. I’m wondering if her whiny bits and needing men to save her will hopefully get ironed out in future installments with character growth? That would make it more acceptable for sure to see her start out that way, but she’s got to Woman Up.
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
I do always hope that too. I can take one book of non-character growth, but not two.
Nathan
I am not into the Hunger Games type fight to the death part. It is to bad the MC seems to need to the rescued a lot when she is supposed to be an independent bad ass. I hope you are feeling better now..
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
I am feeling better. Thanks!
Olivia Roach
I actually really like the premise of this one. Especially when it came to the idea of her being the first female Ash that there is. It’s a shame that it takes so long to get anywhere though… I think I’ll be skipping over this one because of that reason.
Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)
The concept is still awesome, the execution, meh.