Ashes of Betrayal - J. Dawn - 4 Stars

Ashes of Betrayal
J. Dawn

****

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In the year 2000, the world crumbled into a state of chaos and war as the humans learned they have been sharing the planet for 150,000 years with the Homo sapiens magicis races. The war between humans and humans with magic left three hundred million people dead in a short amount of time, but it also led to prodigious shifts in the Balance of Life – some known and others unknown.
Forty years later, the most consequential shift begins to reveal itself.

The Hybrid Princess, Araleesi Dragori, lives a perfect and happy life in New Orleans – the capital of the Dragori Region. She has her entire immortal future planned out and is waiting patiently for the day the Aelfr Crown Prince, Asher Dragorion, sees her as more than his sister’s best friend. But the elaborate carpet of her life is ripped out from underneath her shortly after her eighteenth birthday, and she wakes up in the darkest place imaginable in her beautiful post-war world. Araleesi will fight to hold on to her sanity and hope that the darkness doesn't consume her.

Guilt and sorrow of a past event accompany Asher Dragorion to his new reign as the Aelfr King over Europe. As he reluctantly prepares himself to do what’s expected of him, he learns the past isn't as dead as he thought it was. Like the Great War he fought in forty years prior, this will change everything.

Araleesi and Asher will begin sifting through the ashes of dreams, betrayals, and revelations as they learn what the Balance of Life has in store for them. What will they find in the ashes?

A very complex and vast world, vivid and very thought out. A dystopian future with a new twist.. 

Ashes of Betrayal is set in a very complex world, full of a lot of history. You can tell the author has worked hard to create such a backstory so full and so complex. I admire her for making her world, her lore so in depth. It must have been a slog to keep up with it all. 

The story is from the POV from our heroine and princess, Araleesi, she is certainly going through her fair share of hardships. Stuck in a concrete prison cell is hardly a place for a girl like her. I enjoyed her take on the world and the vast imagination of the mythical beings. She is put through hell and back and then through some more - she certainly grows as a pretty awesome heroine.

The story itself is incredibly well thought out and you can tell a lot of thought and planning has gone into Ashes of Betrayal. The characters are each their own, some are quite filler-ish which in a big world is to be expected. 

My only let down with this is the first four chapters is very much getting to grips with the huge backstory, the vast history of a very vivid world. Perhaps it was a bit too overwhelming at first, after all the first four chapters are meant to be setting you up ad luring you in. Not a bad thing to be well informed but perhaps a suggestion to add parts throughout the story in conversation between characters or flashbacks, not necessarily all in one big lump. 

Overall it had good dialogue but perhaps s little bit too rigid in places, some conversations seemed almost strained. 
The descriptions of the world were great and I implore the author on her writing style. There are a few cosmetic grammar issues here and there and a handful of typos but as it is a self published book it's to be expected. After all I've found typos and mistakes in the big gun authors. We are not all perfect.

I wait to see the next instalment and looking forward to hear more from Araleesi.