Review of 'On Wings and Ash'

Synopsis

Alessa awoke the morning of the festival for Hades expecting nothing more than a night at the bonfires with her charming best friend. She never expected the rest...

Not meeting the man she would end up promised to in marriage.

Not the Spartan warrior or the desperate fight to save a lost princess.

And certainly not the monsters who swooped down in the dark.

When Alessa’s ability to communicate with them results in her taking the blame for the bloodshed, she’ll have to fight for her life. But she never imagined her future would depend on the trust of a stranger – the stranger she’s set to marry – or the strength of a long unspoken love.

Before the night is over, more than just the bonfires might burn...

Review

On Wings and Ash was not a bad story, but it was not memorable either.

The novel is more of a novella firstly. At only 134 pages, the novel takes place in a single day. This is not the problem with the novel. Some of the greatest stories are short stories and novellas. However, what works against the novel is the pacing. It drags out too much, stretching thin this story that already has a thin foundation.

Needs Some Work

The references to Greek mythology and ancient Greek culture was interesting, but the Pyx diminishes it, beings that can exist with the minds of an animal. Right from the beginning, the Pyx challenge the idea of Greek mythology as this small village prepares for the festival of Hades. They do not understand it. So already, some of the magic and charm of the novel is taken away. As for what the Pyx are, it is somewhat unclear. As you read it, they come off like disembodied voices. It would have been better if they had given more history and that probably would have prevented the novel from dragging so much because then there would have been this clear idea of the Pyx and their origins.

It just felt like there was more Holloway could have done with this story because there is this prophecy in the beginning, but it is unclear what the prophecy is exactly and then the reader is waiting for the story to address it.

There is also a lot of character POV switching. I usually do not mind this except for the fact that some of the points of view seem unnecessary. Take Charon for example, his point of view did not add much to the story; it was just there to highlight his love for Alessa. It was unnecessary because the reader already has this sense of romance between the two from Alessa’s perspective and that is enough. As for the first-person point of view, the constant use of “I” and these point of view shifts sometimes made it confusing as to who was talking. There needed to be more detail to ground the reader in the scene to make it easier to follow who was talking.

Final Thoughts

The ending as well, does not offer much closure. It is open-ended and fails to resolve some of the issues within the story.

All in all, On Wings and Ash was not a bad story, it is a short, sweet read, but there is so much more the author could have done in this amount of time. Alessa does not come off as that unique; she is very ordinary which, on the one hand, does make her relatable. She steps away from the social norms and is headstrong, but other than that, there is nothing remarkable about her.

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About the Author

Cynthia Bujnicki graduated from Emerson College with a BA in Writing, Literature and Publishing. She has always loved to read since she was a child. A contributing writer for YA Fantasy Addicts, she is also the Editor-in-Chief for Cyn's Workshop. She lives in sunny South Florida with her husband and son and their two cats, Mr. J the Kitten and Nyx.