“Today is done, the time has come for little birds to fly. Tomorrow is near, the time is here for old crows to die.”

Ash Princess has a lot of depth to it. It holds a realism to how prisoners of war and conquered people are treated. It’s not pretty. It hurts to read, but I found it to be done incredibly well. Do not go into this story expecting a relief because it is gruesomely dark and upsetting, but at the same time, I really love the hope the author weaves into the story. It’s powerful.
Theo is a complex character that at first struggles between staying weak, since it is easier due to her situation, and becoming the queen she was meant to be. Those contrasting sides to her were one of my favorite parts to the story. She makes tons of mistakes and tons of errors in her journey to finding a semblance of her wants/ sense of self, but in my opinion, it was realistically done. 
Laura adds an amazing eloquence through her writing, and she took the plot places I wasn’t expecting. In this story, I wanted to find a way for some shred of happiness to bloom, but in a cruelty like this- there is no reprieve or at least for very long.
There are trigger warnings for massive abuse, torture, racism, genocide, etc. These elements are important to know going into the story, but I, personally, believe Laura did them right. It wasn’t a trivial usage of these topics.
Now they’re dosages of jokes to counteract the intensity of the story, and it reminds you of how young these characters are. You just want to save Theo and the others from all their pain.
There is representation in this story. The main character and her friends are POC, and there is LGBTQ+ rep too.
Lastly, the political intrigue was STUNNING. I applaud Laura with all the stars on that front.