In Wings of Ebony, Rue had such swagger and personality. Whilst reading Ashes of Gold, I kept looking for this hardened and memorable Rue. Her character felt watered down in the first third of the book, and then she magically reappears after a certain point. Rue’s dialect/way of speaking is also inconsistent,  with it peeking through at random moments when, in book one, it was infused throughout. The beginning first third felt like the author was warming back up to Bri; her distinct voice just was not present in the same manner I had expected. 

Overall, this is a solid conclusion to the duology. There’s great plot and character development, and I enjoyed the overall pacing. It kept me interested, and this is definitely a duology I’ll be recommending to students and putting in my classroom library. Plus, there’s on-page representation for a Black girl with anxiety and panic attacks.