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H. L. Burke
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Ashen Kindle Edition

by H. L. Burke (Author), H. L. Burke (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 162 ratings
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Stealer of warmth, bringer of death. What if Cinderella had a secret that kept her locked away?

Unable to make her own body heat, foundling Lizbete survives in the tavern kitchen, drawing warmth from the fires, the sun - and sometimes, other living beings. Her days are spent cooking alongside the tavern owner and avoiding the suspicious gazes of the villagers in her small northern town. While she quietly longs for the handsome Brynar, she knows she has no chance with the mayor’s son, even if he invites her to the First Frost festival.

When sudden earthquakes strike Brumehome, blame falls upon Lizbete, and not even her friendship with Brynar can protect her. She finds shelter in the dangerous caverns of nearby Ash Mountain. There, she discovers mysterious people with her same ability to draw heat - and a fiery doom in the mountain that slowly awakens with every quake.

Now, the festival Lizbete thought to avoid is her only chance to warn the villagers. Yet, even with Brynar at her side, can the strange girl dubbed the Ash Lizard hope to save the town that fears her?

A rugged YA Cinderella retelling set in a fantasy world with light steampunk elements.

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  1. Reading age
    10 - 18 years
  2. Print length
    309 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    June 23, 2023
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  8. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Unique and refreshingly original.~7 Billion Words7billionwords.com/review/ashen/ --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C97MRLJH
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (June 23, 2023)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 23, 2023
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1769 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 309 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 162 ratings

About the author

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H. L. Burke

H. L. Burke

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Born in a small town in north central Oregon, H. L. Burke spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and was always accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic.

An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, or television series (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek all took their turns), but she has grown to be what she considers a well-rounded connoisseur of geek culture.

Married to her high school crush who is now a US Marine, she has moved multiple times in her adult life but believes that home is wherever her husband, two daughters, and pets are.

She is the author of a four part fantasy/romance series entitled "The Dragon and the Scholar," the Award Winning (2016 Realm Award for Young Adult Fiction) Nyssa Glass Steampunk series, and MG/Fantasy "Cora and the Nurse Dragon," among others .

Sign up for her monthly newsletter at www.hlburkeauthor.com

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
162 global ratings
Magic, mystery, and romance!
5 Stars
Magic, mystery, and romance!
4.5 stars for an imaginative world populated by memorable characters, especially the mysterious heroine Lizbete with skin the color of ash and a constant need for warmth. Burke is so good at writing stories about scrappy young female protagonists, and this one is hard to put down! It's difficult to write a review without spoilers, but if you like magic, mystery, and romance, you must read this book! It's fun to see the Cinderella tropes reimagined, but mostly it's a journey of discovery for Lizbete, her few friends, and the many who fear or distrust her. The climax is amazing! And I'm still puzzling over how Burke wrote temperature so well--I felt a chill in some places and began to sweat in others. Bravo!
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Top reviews from the United States

R. Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars 4.8 stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2024
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A beautiful and original take on Cinderella! I loved the idea of cavers and terrifying lava monsters, and was especially tickled by the way the glass shoes were incorporated... Well told, and completely enjoyable.
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MeliRue
5.0 out of 5 stars captivating
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2024
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Couldn’t sleep I had to know what happened next. Wonderful take on Cinderella but it’s own story. Love love love. I’m going to get a physical copy of this book and probably the series
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Vicky J. Tecce
4.0 out of 5 stars fairytale remake
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2023
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This was a random choice to read, but I ended up liking it. It had a lot of adventure for young adult readers, and a great message for loving people for who they are not what they look like.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2023
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This story was amazing. I loved the characters involved in the tale. It had twists and turns that kept me wanting more. It was well put together.
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SJE
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Cinderella Retelling!
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2020
Verified Purchase
What a unique twist!

First off, I absolutely LOVED Liz. Her condition of heat-stealing was so unique to me and so interesting that I was drawn right in to sympathizing with her and wanting to know as much as possible about what was going on.

I also bonded a little bit with her experience of her first pair of glasses. I remember well that feeling: putting on your first ever pair of glasses and having the world suddenly snap into focus. You really can’t stop looking at everything! It was delightful to see that in a story. (Side love: I LOVED the character that gave her the glasses, Widow Gri the Scholar. I would have loved to see more of her at the end, but alas, ’twas not to be.)

I also really enjoyed the way the plot came together. It was so easy to get lost in this world of cold and magic. Once I started, it was hard to put the book down. The pacing was fantastic, keeping me engaged throughout, and the revelations all came at the right places. It was awesome seeing Liz come into her own and stand up for herself, as well as seeing justice served by the end (I love a good, satisfying ending!).

And the feels! Very few books can bring me to tears, but this one? Burke seems very good at making her readers cry. Let me put it that way. But I truly felt everything the characters did, and boy was it an emotional roller coaster.

There were very few things that detracted from the experience. There were a few places where I found typos or similar issues, but overall I found them to be minor; it wasn’t enough to take away from enjoying the story.

My biggest complaint was that I had been promised Iceland, but this felt much more like a general Norse-inspired setting than Iceland to me. I kept waiting for trolls, and while there may be a version of trolls in this story, it wasn’t similar enough to the tales I’d heard and read to be clear. And there were steam vents in the story, but that didn’t really track with my personal experience there. There were no lava fields, though Brumehome seems to be next to an active volcano, but I think the steam vents were almost lava tubes. And I can live with that. But honestly, if I hadn’t been as invested in Iceland itself, I would never have noticed. So my biggest complaint will also probably not bother any other readers.

Short version: you need to read this book! Overall rating is 4.5 stars, and if you’re looking for unique magic, engaging story, and consuming worlds, this is the book you need.
4 people found this helpful
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A.J.A
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite H.L. Burke stories!
Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
This is probably the most unique Cinderella retelling I've ever read! I really liked the uniqueness of the protagonist, Liz. The way that Burke wove the traditional elements of the Cinderella story into this one was really cool, even as the story itself kept me guessing.

Definitely recommend!
One person found this helpful
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T. Gonzalez
4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet story
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2021
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Very creative version of a Cinderella story. It's great that Liz had the love and care of her adoptive aunt and a couple friends. Sad that the rest of the village was not kind to her. Very sweet how everything worked out in the end.
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Carol Riggs
5.0 out of 5 stars Very unique premise!
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2023
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4.5 rounded up to 5. Major points for the unique premise of this novel—a girl who can’t get warm and thus draws/steals heat from other people and things. Ideally summer would’ve been a better time for me to read this story, not winter, as I felt COLD reading it, lol. I couldn’t see how the handsome mayor’s son thought she was “beautiful,”, with her grayish skin and gaunt/sunken cheeks…bit of a stretch in believability. I did like how the town grew to accept her, and the ending was satisfying. For a while I didn’t know how old she was, and her thoughts sounded more like 13, younger than a 16-year-old. The novel is presented as a Cinderella retelling/variation, but it only has a few similar, non-important details, so it might as well have been a separate story, quite imaginative enough on its own.
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Top reviews from other countries

Isabelle D
5.0 out of 5 stars YA fantasy with Cinderella references
Reviewed in France on October 21, 2020
Verified Purchase
Having enjoyed other books by this author before (as well as the samples of several others that are waiting in my to-read or to-buy lists), I was looking forward to reading this new one and I'm happy to say it exceeded my expectations. I'm not sure I would have noticed the subtle Cinderella references (probably only the obvious one near the end) if I hadn't seen this novel presented as a retelling, but that only makes the story better in my opinion.
I greatly enjoyed following Lizbete's adventures, finding out what was causing trouble in the village (this includes some scary events that I think makes the book count as a suitable near-Halloween read for people like me who only like those when they're nowhere near real horror) and how she and her "prince", Brynar the mayor's son, could get a "happy ever after" after the First Frost "ball".
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Lesley Barklay
5.0 out of 5 stars This Cinderella retelling had a lot of heart.
Reviewed in Australia on September 27, 2023
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I loved the sweet slow-burn romance between Lizbete and Brynar. I loved the family dynamics--there were no comic book villains in this story. Einar had his moments of casual cruelty, and Hangur played the role of "wicked stepmother" to a tee, but even then, his motivations were believable. Elin was sweet and sassy, and the perfect friend for Liz. Even Witta's moments of entitlement were natural as the most beautiful girl in the village, hand picked for the mayor's son.

And what story does not need a giant lava octopus?

This was the perfect read for a lazy afternoon.
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Lilly
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing story.
Reviewed in Canada on December 21, 2022
Verified Purchase
Wow! From start to finish “Ashen” had me sucked wholly into it. The writing style was easy to read and flowed smoothly as a whole.
The fantasy world and setting were very well introduced in the beginning without long tiresome descriptions. I immediately got the idea that these people were living in a medieval setting yet had some things (such as taking advantage of the steam vents) that gave it a modern feeling twist.
I wholly loved the characters. So many even the side characters had wonderful character ARCs and each had their own personalities.
The main theme I picked up on was that no matter who you are, what you or anyone else thinks you are each person is precious and beautiful with their own unique gifts. They can either hide them away or use their gifts to bless others.
This was the most original and beautiful Cinderella type retelling I’ve read yet.
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