Malinda Lo: Ash

ASH by Malinda Lo (2009) is the first book, which I read to come out of my comfort zone and which also fits into the LGBT Book Challenge.

In a nutshell: Aisling’s father dies shortly after he had married again. Aisling, called Ash, now has to live with her stepmother and stepsisters who treat her like a slave. Than the prince gives a ball…

- Wait! Does this remind you of something? Well, you’re right: This is kind of a Cinderella story. But - :

Ash knows from old fairytales that fairies are used to take human beings with them – without a possibility return. From Ash’s point of view this sounds very alluring. She finally finds Sidhean, a male fairy, who is interested. But then Ash meets Kaisa, the royal huntress, who is quite fascinating…

Fans of fairytales may be enchanted to hear that there are some fairytales told in this book – I had some trouble with it, because it slowed the tempo of the novel down.

What I liked best was that in this book lesbian relationships are nothing irregular. Most books about women who fell for other women focus on the problems with the persons around them. In this case it is completely different: It’s a full acceptance of their sexuality – though there is not much sexuality in this book. ;”) But: Imagine how relaxed the world would be if this part of difficulties would vanish. Yes, a drop in the ocean, I know - but we got to start somewhere when we want universal peace, haven't we? ;")

Malinda Lo (<- here is the link to her webside) lives with her partner in Northern California. This is her debut novel.

Talking of Cinderella: Every Christmas Season German television stations broadcast the Czech movie of 1973: Tři oříšky pro Popelku (=Three nuts for Cinderella - UK title: Three wishes for Cinderella) – which I LOVE. I fell madly for Libuše Šafránková who played Cinderella and I still love this melody: