This is one of my new favorite duologies. I loved this series so wholly. Ashes of Gold explores so many things (heavy callings, pressure when people are counting on you, losing faith in yourself, mistakes, the weight of our ancestry, how who tells history can create lies and propaganda, prejudice, PTSD, daddy issues, etc) yet manages not to be a mediocre mishmash.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. There are a few plot elements that are obvious and you can tell where things are heading, but the journey to getting there was excellent. Also, the twists to each revelation kept things exciting. I liked the pacing. There was never a dull moment.

And Jhamal! I’ve never known a J(h)amal I didn’t like, fictional or real. Some of his lines, man. Just so lovely and sweet! Like, he poured honey on top of the page.

Definitely read this! J.Elle’s one of my new favorite authors.