A REALM OF ASH AND SHADOW

When Princess Valeria finally returns home after 18 years, nothing is as she is expecting.

Val is the exiled princess from utopian Empyrean, one of the four realms. After Val’s brother assassinated their mother, Val has been kept safe in the Realm of the Mortals, and her high school graduation, just around the corner, will be the last mortal rite of passage before she returns home. But on prom night, a horde of demons attacks, and she is whisked away by her alleged soul mate, a young warrior named Gideon. But Empyrean turns out to be nothing like the paradise Val expected, as her father is a tyrant who deserves to be usurped. When an unexpected journey to the Realm of the Forsaken leads Val to be apprenticed to its dark but alluring ruler, she unveils the real history of her kingdom, its rulers, and her lineage. Val’s fierce but meandering journey toward self-empowerment in this secondary-world fantasy is full of ups and downs as, in her quest for answers, she tries to resist the calls of a hitherto-unknown darker side and the two men who vie for her heart. The worldbuilding is convoluted, often confusing and disclosed in bits of expository dialogue that mar the already overlong narrative. Despite the protagonist’s age, violence and sexual content are presented in ways that feel directed more toward adult readers. Val and Gideon are White; supporting characters have a range of skin tones.

Unremarkable.