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The Beautiful Ashes: Broken Destiny, Book 1

The Beautiful Ashes: Broken Destiny, Book 1 - Jeaniene Frost This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life

This was kind of meh for me. I didn't hate it or anything but I didn't love it either. This story honestly just didn't do a whole lot for me which makes me a little sad. I feel like this book should have been incredibly exciting based on the blurb....ancient legacies, visions of strange realms, powerful relics...how can that be anything but exciting? I was never pulled into the story and could always easily set it aside but I did think it had some high points.

The basic plot was promising and things were going on from the very beginning of the story. Ivy has had hallucinations her whole life. She has seen doctors and has taken medication to control the her visions. But it turns out that what she sees is real. She is actually seeing the demon realm and has a few abilities that she didn't even know about.

We are soon introduced to Adrian. He seems to know what is going on but doesn't necessarily feel the need to share what he knows with Ivy. Ivy isn't even sure which side Adrian is on and can't completely trust him. I never had a great feel for him to be honest. We know he is hot based on Ivy's descriptions but he is so selective on what he shares with her I never could tell what was real. He is a lot more skilled at handling the demon realm than Ivy could even dream of being.

Ivy is kept in the dark about a lot of things in this book. Unfortunately, since the book is told from Ivy's point of view so is the reader. Over and over in the story we would learn that what we thought was true wasn't. It became somewhat tiring. I don't mind a few surprises but please give me something to build on. I didn't feel the chemistry between Ivy and Adrian that should have been there either so the book romance didn't do a lot for me either.

I liked the narration for the story. Tavia Gilbert does a great job with the different characters in the story. I could always tell who was speaking as I listened to the story. Ivy was full of emotions and I thought that the narrator did a great job with portraying all of them. I would definitely listen to other audiobooks from this narrator.

At this point, I am really not sure if I will continue with this series or not. I have found that the first book in a new series is often not quite as good as subsequent installments. I liked enough about this one that I may give the second book a try before giving up on the series completely. I generally love everything Jeaniene Frost writes so it is hard to give up too quickly.

Initial Thoughts
So this book was just kind of Meh for me. It really should have been exciting but I just wasn't feeling it. I have to say that I am a bit disappointed especially considering how much I love The Night Huntress series. Oh well.