Title: White Wolf and the Ash Princess
Author: Tammy Lash
Series: White Wolf, #1
Genre: Fantasy Adventure/Christian/Historical (I know …)
Setting:
Publisher: Tammy Lash
Source: from author (in exchange for honest review)
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 stars

White Wolf and the Ash Princess by Tammy Lash

Eighteen year old Izzy’s limited world begins to feel cramped after she completes her self-appointed book dare. After reading two-hundred and fifty books, a thought that had been once tucked away as tightly as the books on her library shelves becomes too irresistible to ignore…”Who am I?”

Memory loss prohibits Izzy from remembering her life before age seven when she was injured in a fire. Jonathan Gudwyne and his head housekeeper rescued her and took Izzy in as their own, but who did she belong to before they took her in?

Crippling panic keeps Izzy from wandering beyond the stables but Tubs, the Gudwyne’s young stable boy, encourages Izzy to go beyond the property’s rock wall to a world that promises possible answers, but also great danger. A scorched castle in the woods and a mysterious cellar filled with secrets sets Izzy on a path to the New World, where she will not only have to face her own terror but face the people responsible for her scars.

It is here, in the untamed wilds of the seventeenth century that she finds love and a home in the most unexpected of places.

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There were things about this book that were quite amazing, but there were also some bad things. I gave it the middle rating of 3 stars and then bumped it to 3.5 because of the raw emotion of it.
And … I’m doing pros and cons today because otherwise I will not be able to organize my thoughts into any semblance of normality.

PLOT: 3/5

PROS:

Got to be quite an adventure once it took off! I especially loved the parts with the wolf and then anything with Izzy and Miconan … and anything with Jonathan, of course. He’s pretty cool.
Loved all the details about American Indians culture.

CONS:

Rambly exposition. The book took forever to begin! However, around 30% it started to get better, and by 50% we were flying.
The bat was kinda random. I mean, there was a teeny little tie-in towards the middle of the story, but … still. Not the way you want to start a book about wolves, if you will. 😉
I felt like the whole plotline with Jonathan took forever to get off the ground.

CHARACTERS: 4/5

PROS:

Tubs was adorable.
Jonathan was a nice guy! I really admired him (and didn’t really understand why Izzy could be mad at him … he was just protecting her!).
Izzy’s character arc was very well-done. *highfives the author for doing a great job there* Very emotional, too.
Mikonan. *hugs him forever* HE IS SO AWESOME. I just love him to death. <3
The wolf. *can’t explain my fascination with wolves*

CONS:

Izzy was a little brat and too easily frightened at first for my taste. I just couldn’t like her for the longest time. For this reason, I was in a grumpy mood about the book.
I  also felt her anger towards Jonathan was unjustifiable and sudden and cruel. He was just trying to protect her, aright?
Not enough Jonathan!

SETTING: 2/5

PROS:

Once we got to America and were tramping through the forest, the setting was very well-done, though. Looks like the author did her research!

CONS:

I thought we were in Victorian England for the first 25% of the book. It didn’t feel like the 1600s in the way the character acted, the descriptions of the buildings or dress, or the dialogue.

WRITING: 4/5

PROS:

The author had a very different writing style that was fun to get to know!
The emotions were very vivid, and there were times when the writing beautifully portrayed the tension of a scene.

CONS:

I honestly felt the description went overboard. It was kind of lengthy and hard to get through.
Sometimes it seemed like we were only in Izzy’s POV, but occasionally we would ripple away and see things she couldn’t have seen – from her perspective? I also just aren’t a fan of first person present tense. Especially for a historical novel … doesn’t make sense to me.

CONTENT: 0/5

Language: n/a
Violence: gun fights, wounds, fighting among animals and humans that results in deaths, some details concerning slavery.
Sexual: a few kisses, no details.
Other: Izzy and other characters were badly burnt in a fire. There are some flashbacks and such about this. Talk about slavery (treated as wrong).
Okay for teens, I’d say 14+ for violence.

OVERALL: 3.5/5

Overall, a very interesting story. It’s unlike anything I’ve read before. I did have quite a few cons, but I feel that in many ways the pros outweigh them. The characters were especially vivid – a big plus for me – and the plot was really cool once it picked up.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tammy lives in Lower Michigan with her husband and her three children. Izzy’s home in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (Munising) is where she and her family enjoy exploring. Tammy enjoys hiking, kayaking, beach wandering, “hunting” for birch bark and hopes to someday find a porcupine quill. White Wolf and the Ash Princess is her first novel. She is published in Keys for Kids and has been in children’s ministry for over twenty years.

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tammylashauthor/
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• Blog: http://tammylash.wordpress.com
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• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16373527.Tammy_Lash

Review by Kellyn Roth of Reveries Reviews

Giveaway

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