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Air and Ashes: A Young Adult Science Fantasy Romance
Win a free kindle copy of this book!
23 days and 21:37:06
100 copies available
U.S. only
What if you found out everything in your life was a lie?After seventeen-year-old Emma Cross learns her mom didn’t die of cancer but was murdered, her life is upended. Forced from her home, Emma is thrown into a world hidden within our own, where Elementums—genetically engineered super soldiers who control the elements—are caught in a vicious war against the unstoppable Clinic.
Emma is convinced she doesn’t belong there—until she herself is targeted as a rare Halfbreed. If she wants to survive and uncover the dark secrets of her mom’s past, she must train to defend herself against the Clinic while resisting the distracting allure of the icy Kaden Hale—a powerful, driven Elementum with secrets of his own.
When Emma discovers a highly classified project that somehow involved her mom and could change the entire course of the war, there’s no turning back. Only three options life in the Elementum world, death, or worst of all—capture.
Air and Ashes is a gripping tale of warring elements, heart-stopping romance, and devastating betrayals, perfect for fans of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko’s The Last Airbender and Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone with a sci-fi twist. Don’t miss your chance to join the fight against the Clinic! Go click Buy Now!
Emma is convinced she doesn’t belong there—until she herself is targeted as a rare Halfbreed. If she wants to survive and uncover the dark secrets of her mom’s past, she must train to defend herself against the Clinic while resisting the distracting allure of the icy Kaden Hale—a powerful, driven Elementum with secrets of his own.
When Emma discovers a highly classified project that somehow involved her mom and could change the entire course of the war, there’s no turning back. Only three options life in the Elementum world, death, or worst of all—capture.
Air and Ashes is a gripping tale of warring elements, heart-stopping romance, and devastating betrayals, perfect for fans of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko’s The Last Airbender and Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone with a sci-fi twist. Don’t miss your chance to join the fight against the Clinic! Go click Buy Now!
284 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication October 8, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 24, 2024
This book was a fun read. The premise centers around Emma, a seemingly ordinary girl whose life takes ... a BIG turn. When researching her mother's death, she disabled a firewall, inadvertently setting off a momentous chain of events. She's uprooted from her life and everything she knew to be true. She and her aunt are forced to go on the run from the Clinic, a group who target Elementums (who were created via genetic engineering? I was a bit confused by this part. Her aunt takes her to the Arc, which is essentially made up of several safe havens for Elementums.
Emma is a halfbreed, born to a mother with abilities and a father without. The Elementum ability system is comprised of 4 categories, and each person has control over their respective elements. These are igniter (fire), terra (earth), hydro (water), aero (air).
Readers are kept in the dark at the beginning, learning more about the world of Elementums as Emma herself discovers it.
I thought the story lacked a bit of depth. I had a slightly hard time connecting with any of the characters, and the relationships between them felt forced. There is Kaden, a classic scarred and brooding male love interest. It was an insta lust situation, but I didn't necessarily mind it in this case. I think for me, the book is just missing that "spark" -- a sense of chemistry. There were a lot of common tropes used as well, which is inevitable in most books, but I felt that this book didn't necessarily bring anything new or inspired to it.
Although this book fell flat for me in some areas, it is undeniably well-written with a captivating premise, and it was overall a very enjoyable read!
Emma is a halfbreed, born to a mother with abilities and a father without. The Elementum ability system is comprised of 4 categories, and each person has control over their respective elements. These are igniter (fire), terra (earth), hydro (water), aero (air).
Readers are kept in the dark at the beginning, learning more about the world of Elementums as Emma herself discovers it.
I thought the story lacked a bit of depth. I had a slightly hard time connecting with any of the characters, and the relationships between them felt forced. There is Kaden, a classic scarred and brooding male love interest. It was an insta lust situation, but I didn't necessarily mind it in this case. I think for me, the book is just missing that "spark" -- a sense of chemistry. There were a lot of common tropes used as well, which is inevitable in most books, but I felt that this book didn't necessarily bring anything new or inspired to it.
Although this book fell flat for me in some areas, it is undeniably well-written with a captivating premise, and it was overall a very enjoyable read!
September 28, 2024
Air and Ashes is the debut novel of Margaret Mantor in which there are Elementums, genetically engineered people that can control the elements who mostly belong on 2 sides of a conflict - the Clinic or the Arc. We learn about the world at the same pace as the main character, Emma, learns about it.
Emma was kept in the dark about what is going on in her world her whole life. Emma is a typical YA main character and fulfills a few common tropes.
She's living a normal life until one day she disables a firewall and looks for something on the Internet. That action has consequences and her whole life is turned around. She's instantly falling for the dark haired love interest. All of her relationships seem very superficial written to me with not much depth. The only relationship I was intrigued by was the one with her aunt but I feel like that also had way more potential than was used.
For the next books I'd wish for the author to develop the relationships more, to give us a reason to root for characters because I felt nothing for them. What annoyed me most were all the nicknames that tried to be funny but just...weren't.
It was good for a debut novel, well edited and the writing style really was pleasant to read but there is a lot of potential for the future.
Thank you to Netgalley and Margaret Mantor for the ARC of this book.
Emma was kept in the dark about what is going on in her world her whole life. Emma is a typical YA main character and fulfills a few common tropes.
She's living a normal life until one day she disables a firewall and looks for something on the Internet. That action has consequences and her whole life is turned around. She's instantly falling for the dark haired love interest. All of her relationships seem very superficial written to me with not much depth. The only relationship I was intrigued by was the one with her aunt but I feel like that also had way more potential than was used.
For the next books I'd wish for the author to develop the relationships more, to give us a reason to root for characters because I felt nothing for them. What annoyed me most were all the nicknames that tried to be funny but just...weren't.
It was good for a debut novel, well edited and the writing style really was pleasant to read but there is a lot of potential for the future.
Thank you to Netgalley and Margaret Mantor for the ARC of this book.
September 18, 2024
I decided to DNF this at around 25%.
The writing and writing style was great and I enjoyed what I got of the magic system. It was well edited too, it felt very professional. For the most part, the book really had begun to deliver on the promises made by the description.
My primary gripe was with the main character. She really felt like a YA protagonist but not in a good way. She had a lot of the classic markers of a very whiny teenager whose whole life was going to be turned upside down by the special power and finally got to find herself like her too-pretty best friend that she was subconsciously jealous of.
In short, it's well done, just a little bit tropey. Which doesn't have to be a bad thing either, I just don't really like all of the tropes in this story.
Thank you to Netgalley and Margaret Mantor for an ARC of this novel.
The writing and writing style was great and I enjoyed what I got of the magic system. It was well edited too, it felt very professional. For the most part, the book really had begun to deliver on the promises made by the description.
My primary gripe was with the main character. She really felt like a YA protagonist but not in a good way. She had a lot of the classic markers of a very whiny teenager whose whole life was going to be turned upside down by the special power and finally got to find herself like her too-pretty best friend that she was subconsciously jealous of.
In short, it's well done, just a little bit tropey. Which doesn't have to be a bad thing either, I just don't really like all of the tropes in this story.
Thank you to Netgalley and Margaret Mantor for an ARC of this novel.
September 20, 2024
I don’t typically read books in this genre, but I really enjoyed "Air and Ashes". I was most captivated by Emma and her relationship with her aunt, both are really strong female characters. I was excited to keep reading to see what would unfold as she attempted to figure out her place among a group of really interesting characters. The author does a good job of introducing the Elementals and their secret world, which is an interesting concept where people control the elements and can use that power for good or bad. I loved the detailed descriptive writing which brought the characters and scenery to life. I’m excited to keep following this story to see where Emma and Kaden’s relationship goes, especially as she grows and figures out who she really is.
September 19, 2024
Received as a review copy from Booksirens, this as an honest review. Air and Ashes is both a complex adventure as Emma discovers a reality that feels as if she had fallen down a rabbit hole... because people that can manipulate the natural shouldn't exist or secret, shadowy organizations using these people like lab rats for their own needs. It's also a poignant story with Emma finding a way to embrace secrets within her family and always just desiring to the truth of what's her mother was involved in.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews