Laura Sebastian Books In Order

Publication Order of Ash Princess Trilogy Books

Publication Order of Castles in their Bones Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Born and raised in South Florida, Laura Sebastian is a promising author who resides in New York City. After completing her high school education, Laura Sebastian attended Savannah College, where she took a major in Arts and Design. Laura’s debut book titled, Ash Princess was well received by both readers and critics, many of whom had nothing but praise for author Laura Sebastian.

Laura Sebastian Best Books
Ash Princess
If you are a fan of the Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, and An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, then you will love this brilliantly written debut novel, by author Laura Sebastian. Ash Princess is a new-fantasy narrative about a throne, and a kingdom snatched from a young girl. The young girl must now fight against powerful adversaries, with the hopes of liberating her people. In Ash Princess, author Laura Sebastian introduces the readers to Theodesia, a young girl and the rightful heir to the throne. When villains invade Theodosia’s kingdom, Theodosia is only six years old. During the invasion, the Kaiser’s brutally slain Theodosia’s mother who was the queen, and the entire court council, in front of Theodesia. Apart from taking Theodosia’s family, the Kaiser’s also take Theodosia’s name and her land. To mock the ruling system and to stamp their authority, the Kaiser’s decision to give Theodosia, the name, Princess of the Ashes. With her new title, Princess of AshesTheodesia has to bear in her new life as a slave.

For more than ten years, Theodesia was a captive in her kingdom and palace. During this period, Theodosia endures endless ridicule and mockery from the Kaiser. Theodosia is powerless and to survive, she has to bury the girl that she once was, deep inside her. One day, the Kaiser force Theodosia to do the unthinkable. With the hopes of reclaiming back her kingdom, Theodosia realises that survival will no longer be enough. Thus, she begins to construe a plan which she will use to reclaim back her land and her people. Nonetheless, what the Kaiser does not know is that Theodesia has a weapon that no one in the entire kingdom can match; her sharp mind. Many at times, one does not need to have a large army to win a war, and Theodosia shows that a sharp mind and a laid out plan is all one needs.

Filled with plot twists and political intrigue, the Ash Princess is a book that will take the readers on a fun ride. Author Laura Sebastian fills the narrative with numerous triggering and controversial themes such as murder, slavery, racism, psychological abuse, slavery and many other themes. Moreover, author Sebastian gives all the characters a solid start; thereby the readers get to know each of them extremely well. Ash Princess has several main characters, many of whom, have plenty of room and great depth for growth. Apart from having realistic responses to the various situations that they found themselves in, all the main characters including Theodesia showed real feelings for what they were going through. Nonetheless, despite being a real masterpiece, Ash Princess is full of various Young Adult tropes such as love triangles, which somehow prevented the book from getting a perfect rating.

Many readers find YA tropes such as love triangles, quite unnecessary mainly because a good story does not need to have a romantic backdrop. From the look of things, the love triangle is going to continue in the second book as well. However, many readers and reviewers hope that the author is going to scrap off the love triangle from the second installment, mainly because it does not add any value to the narrative. Despite having several shortcomings, Ash Princess still had some major strengths. Some of the things which set Ash Princess apart from all the other YA books include, the underlying spiritual aspect, the Kalovaxian culture and finally the spirit gems. When it comes to the spirit gems, readers are going to enjoy reading about the main character’s inner struggle with the gems, as she tries to control her destiny. In the world that author Laura Sebastian creates, the law only allows individuals to use the Spirit gems that they create or earn. One can earn the Spirit gems by either going on a pilgrimage or by praying.

The Astreans believe that when one uses the Spirit gems without the permission of the gods, they will not have access to the afterlife. Instead, one’s spirit will remain trapped in the world, as a shadow and will wander on the surface of the earth for eternity. Despite having Houzzah’s power running through her veins, Theodosia chooses not to use her powers, mainly because she understands the repercussions that she will have to face in the future. As she continues to stay at the palace as a slave, Theodosia realizes that Prinz, Kaiser’s son are not in good terms with his father. Furthermore, Theodosia also realizes that Prinz likes her as well. Despite the fact that Prinz does not agree with his father, Theodosia is still uncertain whether she can trust him.

Theodosia understands that she will have to choose between becoming the queen, saving her people and pursuing her relationship with Prinz.With that said, Author Laura Sebastian has given all the characters, both main and minor, a solid start. Like many Young Adult novels, Ash Princess has numerous characters, many of whom, play their respective roles extremely well. From the look of things, author Laura Sebastian will continue to develop these characters further, in her future installments. Thus, readers will get to learn more about these characters as the series progresses. Apart from showing realistic feelings, these characters also had realistic responses to the various situations that they found themselves in.

As expected, Ash Princess had lots of political intrigues, plot twists, and turns, which in turn made the storyline quite unpredictable. In the process, the book takes the readers on a fun ride through the court. It is important to note that Ash Princess is not a story of butterflies and rainbows, mainly because it has some extremely dark parts which will surprise the readers in a great way. Nonetheless, despite having some dark parts, author Sebastian managed to make it a story about fighting for individuals who are not able to fight for themselves and oppression as well.