When Princess Theodosia of Astrea was six, her life was ripped apart. Her peaceful island nation was invaded by the fearsome Kalovaxians, her mother slaughtered, and her people enslaved. Over a decade later, Theodosia is still imprisoned in the palace she once called home. Theodosia is forced to watch as the Keiser runs her country into the ground, and slaughters her people, as each small act of rebellion is etched onto her back with the Theyn’s whip. But with the reappearance of a childhood friend, everything changes. Theodosia has been the Keiser’s pawn for too long, and for better or worse, she soon finds herself a Queen in a perilous game of deception and betrayals. One wrong move means death, and if she wants to win, Theodosia will have to be cunning, brave, and ruthless in order to save her people— and herself.
Theodosia is by far the smartest— and possibly the most ruthless protagonist I have ever read. She’s cunning, manipulative, brave, and unlike most heroes, has excellent survival instincts. But she’s also human, and even as she gets closer to her goal, she finds herself inexorably drawn to the crown prince that she swore to kill. Theodosia soon finds herself trapped, caught between her people, and the boy she may be growing to love.

Ash Princess is a beautiful and heartbreaking story of a girl who has lost everything, and is willing to do anything in order to survive. The writing is beautiful and compelling, the characters diverse and colorful, and the plot a masterpiece of twisting, interlocking tales. Ash Princess is undoubtedly one of the best fantasy novels that can be found on the YA shelf.

Over a decade and a half after the release of The Amber Spyglass, the last book in his groundbreaking  His Dark Materials trilogy, Phillip Pullman returns to the world of Lyra Belacqua. In this debut novel La Belle Savauge, first, of a new trilogy titled The Book of Dust, Pullman introduces new characters, while at the same time giving us a closer look at the pasts of some old ones. Set in a time when the church has nearly every scrap of power, Pullman manages to perfectly demonstrate both the good and bad sides of religion.

Nearly a decade before the events of The Golden Compass, a boy named Malcolm roams the streets and canals of Oxford with his daemon Asta at his side. As the son of an innkeeper and the holder of a dozen odd jobs, Malcolm is the kind of boy who hears a little too much for his own good. When he finds a message meant for an agent of an organization known as Oakley Street, dedicated to fighting the church’s chokehold on politics and science, he is drawn into a world of secrets and spies. However, when he meets Lyra, the baby girl the nuns in the local priory are taking care of, his entire world is flipped upside down. Since Malcolm has no siblings, he begins to think of Lyra as his little sister, one he would do anything to protect. And Lyra needs protection.

Malcolm finds himself caught between the opposing sides of the Magisterium and Oakley Street. In a web of secrets and conspiracies Malcolm and Asta struggle to keep themselves and Lyra safe, but as the forces of the church close in, together with mysterious strangers and dark rumors, that is not an easy task. With the help of a peculiar and unlikely cast of characters, Malcolm and Asta navigate their way through this surprising and wonderful tale.