You can travel the same path countless times, but it can sometimes lead to another realm.A mystical tree captures the attention of Megan and her friends, morphing the surrounding environment, transferring them to an exotic planet with bloodthirsty creatures. Saved from the deadly beasts by hunters, Megan finds herself stuck in a rural town still maimed by the plague. A chance encounter with a … with a familiar face gives Megan and her friends some security during their adjustment to this new world. While settling into promising lives, they are attacked and stalked by planet Dalya’s humanoid inhabitants, who focus solely on Megan.
One dark night, after a magical attack, the Fae King’s knight is sent to fetch Megan for a reason she can’t possibly guess. When she wakes up a prisoner, she learns that there is much more to this strange place, and it is oddly more like home than she ever would have expected.
The more Megan learns about the strange world of Dalya, the more she realizes that finding a way home is insignificant compared to everything else at stake.
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I was first drawn to Ashes and Blood by Katie Zaber when I saw the cover. I love trees, whether real or fantasy.
What would you do if you are ambling along a familiar trail, and all of a sudden, you find a tree that was never there before? I think I would run, but before they can decide to do the same, things begin to change with every step they take and they are whisked away, into another world.
Sarah, Dana, Ciara and Megan are in for the time of their lives and I am along for the ride. Katie Zaber did a fantastic job creating a world filled with wonder and magic. I quickly became immersed in her world, created in vivid detail with characters I immediately became involved with.
Of course, we have to have one who is in the spotlight and that will be Megan, though all peripheral characters have very important parts to play to make this book a whole. Each has their own personalities and talents that will come in handy. They are tight and their ‘family’ grows as the adventure moves along.
Action and adventure abound and they find their destiny in a place they never could have imagined. Of course, we have to have a bad guy, and he hits very close to home, but there is someone involved who never shows their face. Are they there to save her, or want her for themselves. AND why do they want her? I am curious about who this ‘person’ is and maybe I will find out in the next book, which I hope Katie is rapidly writing.
As I searched around, Ashes and Blood is the only book I have seen by Katie Zaber. If this is her debut novel, she did a bang up job and I can only imagine what is to come. I plan on being along for the ride.
If you are looking for a story to get lost in and escape the real world for a while, I highly recommend Ashes and Blood by Katie Zaber.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Ashes and Blood by Katie Zaber.
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A very mystical story
Zaber pens a mystical story in Ashes and Blood. I haven’t read anything from this author before, and I really enjoyed it. Enter a new realm, a new reality and the ability to morph. It’s starts as a normal adventure for Megan and her friends, as they travel (basically through light). It’s a grand read, and very interesting. I like how authors can create mystical and magical worlds or realms, a whole new reality. A very well-written story, and I enjoyed it. This author’s characters develop and interacts well with the other characters. I have fast become a big fan of (this author). Dalya is a whole new world. Ashes and Blood is a definite recommendation by Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews. I look forward to reading many more stories by this author.
I love the world building of this series! I felt so immersed in the story. I love when an author throws in the twist which you then realize was set up with breadcrumbs, but so masterfully that they were subtle enough to not give it away. I really enjoy portal fantasies, and definitely recommend this one.
This story held me captivated the whole book, the details in the book was amazing and I loved it.
Four young women, early twenties, are visiting a cabin at the Jersey shore. The house is a short walk through the woods to the beach. They start to walk and the scenery they know so well begins to morph into something they’ve never seen before. Suddenly, these besties find themselves in another world where the rules are different. Things they think they know are strange. They manage to stay together, but when darkness falls, the danger increases. They find themselves under attack by large, shadowy panther types and the only thing that helps is the flashlight setting on their phones. They are rescues by two guys who seem to fit into this environment, and they have a huge supply of good, old fashioned torches. They offer to lead them out, and they do. They spend the night between to huge bonfires. Then the real fun starts. I loved this book, and I think you will too
Katie Zaber seems so good at painting a picture. Not just of the setting of her book but of her characters too. This is a fantasy (not my chosen genre) and it fits the description…odd characters, Fae kings, faeries, humanoids and yet… there is an underlying modern story. One with emotion, betrayal, fears. All the pieces of an adventure. A modern story in a well-painted and described fantasy story. Who would have thought it could flow and read so well.
I must admit I did think there were a lot of pieces to this plot. It was woven together well and not nearly as hard to keep straight as I thought it might be. A good first book of a series. Ashes and Blood is Book 1 of a series titled “Dalya”. Definitely worth my reading time.
Ashes and Blood is the first book in the Dalya series and it starts off with a very weird tree! Even though this book is listed as New Adult I still, somehow, managed to convince myself it was Young Adult. So it was a bit of a shock when I read about them drinking and swearing. Still, it was my error and one I quickly got over as I immersed myself in their adventure.
The details in this story are simply amazing. The descriptions given help the reader to see every tree, person, and situation so clearly. The action is non-stop and with enough twists and turns to keep anyone happy. There is romance but not with the main character (or at least, not yet. I’m hopeful for the future!) which made a nice change.
And speaking of characters, the ones in here will jump out at you. They are so well described and three-dimensional, you will have no issue with remembering who is whom. I loved the girls’ different attitudes and capabilities PLUS how Tristan was the one to watch, even though he came across as the most easy-going!
This was a fantastic start to the series and I really can’t wait to read more and return to Dalya. Absolutely recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books!