A Storm Of Silver And Ash by Marion Blackwood - Review
Title: A Storm of Silver and Ash
Author: Marion Blackwood
Genre/s: Fantasy, Young Adult
Date Read: 21st December 2019
Publication Date: October 2019
A Storm of Silver and Ash follows Storm a master thief lethal with knives, and the would be skills of an assassin. Shortly into the book she becomes entangled with a mix of higher powered people and has to scheme and first and foremost survive some deadly situations in order to save her friend. Hers is a beautiful story about survival and friendship.
The world Blackwood created is a mix of medieval fantasy, but also with some more modern takes concerning the weapons (there being guns). In addition, the underworld situation gave me similar vibes to that of the worlds in Mistborn and Six of Crows. I do feel as though their could've been more information on the past events leading to the current situation as it would've added more depth to the world building. However I absolutely loved how well the city is described, I found myself really intrigued by the setting and wanting to know more quite early on.
Storm as a main character was an excellent choice. She has the snark, banter and excitement that is needed to keep your attention but also the depth behind her character was well developed and packed a heart-wrenching punch. I often found myself getting emotional and on several occasions actually laughed out loud because of the things she said. There were different levels to her that actually explained the way she acted and the decisions she decided to make. Which I've felt is lacking in some of the books I've been reading recently. Her actions weren't solely for shock factor, they actually made sense which made the plot even better. Also the fact that the development is slow and the reveals are well paced throughout was excellent. As a whole Storm felt realistic and she was easy to get attached to. If you like like Celaena from Throne of Glass I think you'll love her.
The first half of the book was well developed and paced but I found myself wondering what the point was, however the second half really surprised me and went in a direction I wasn't expecting. The second part of the book was like a realisation that a lot of little details in the beginning were actually hints towards things and I am surprised I didn't pick up on where the plot was going. It was very well weaved within the writing and really paid off in the end. Blackwood created something similar to a lot of other fantasy books but also added her own take and twists that made it rather unique.
My favourite parts were those between Storm and the elves. I found myself quite taken by the elven society and as soon as they were introduced I really did fall in love with the story. I'm a sucker for an interesting group of people coming together in order to fight and protect each other.
There are only a couple of things can think of that I didn't like so much; mainly that it was just so short, I do think that things could've slowed down slightly. I wanted more little moments between certain characters. But I think that's just because I wanted more. So honestly I'm happy with what we got and can appreciate a good standalone.
Overall I really loved this and can't wait to read more things by Marion Blackwood in the future. This was a fantastic read and I definitely would recommend checking it out!
Rating: 4.5 Stars
*Thank you so much to the author for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
Thanks for reading!
-Sophie
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