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Ashes of Twilight
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Ashes of Twilight
Unavailable
Ashes of Twilight
Ebook336 pages5 hours

Ashes of Twilight

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this ebook

Wren MacAvoy works as a coal miner for a domed city that was constructed in the mid-nineteenth century to protect the royal blood line of England when astronomers spotted a comet on a collision course with Earth. Humanity would be saved by the most groundbreaking technology of the time. But after nearly 200 years of life beneath the dome, society has become complacent and the coal is running out. Plus there are those who wonder, is there life outside the dome or is the world still consumed by fire? When one of Wren's friends escapes the confines of the dome, he is burned alive and put on display as a warning to those seeking to disrupt the dome's way of life. But Alex's final words are haunting. "The sky is blue."

What happens next is a whirlwind of adventure, romance, conspiracy and the struggle to stay alive in a world where nothing is as it seems. Wren unwittingly becomes a catalyst for a revolution that destroys the dome and the only way to survive might be to embrace what the entire society has feared their entire existence.
Ashes of Twilight is the first book in a trilogy by Kassy Tayler.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 13, 2012
ISBN9781250018243
Unavailable
Ashes of Twilight
Author

Kassy Tayler

KASSY TAYLER has always been a writer. Since the beginning of her memories, her biggest desire has been to put words to paper. Now she is living her dream and has several published novels to her credit in multiple genres. Her books include Ashes of Twilight, Shadows of Glass, and Remnants of Tomorrow. She’s been married for several years to the man of her dreams. They’ve raised two exceptional sons. Tayler lives within the shadow of Pilot Mountain, North Carolina with her husband, her doxie, Cody, and two cats who continually make life interesting.

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Reviews for Ashes of Twilight

Rating: 3.3478260086956517 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

23 ratings4 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Nice entry in the 'we're sealed inside because what's out there is worse' thread of YA dystopia. Good cast of characters, plenty of action and a nice building romance between Wren and Pace. I'll be interested in what comes once they're outside.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ashes of Twilight by Kassy TaylerWren is a shiner and her grandfather takes care of her under the dome, under the sewers. The shiners work in the coal mines.The bluecoats are the guards up in the dome that won't allow anybody to leave. Alex left once and they returned him and burnt him til he died. He did say 'the sky is blue' when Wren saw him.Pace followed her and now they are both wanted. They share that they each lost a good friend and are now trying to survive and talk about outside the dome.Death and fight outbreaks occur leaving their destination unknown..Love learning about the coal mines and all the tips along the way.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Having seen a couple of uninspiring reviews for Ashes of Twilight, I did not have high hopes for my own enjoyment of the novel. However, when a review copy comes, you do what you have to do. Thankfully, I enjoyed this more than my compatriots did, finding it an easy, enjoyable read.

    The best part of Ashes of Twilight is the writing. Tayler's style suited me well, with pretty sentences and just enough slang that I guessed the book was set in England. By the end of the book, I marked down several quotes I enjoyed. Tayler has a mature writing style, with no abuse of sentence fragments.

    Wren MacAvoy wants more out of life. Born a shiner, she climbs out of the mines every day into the more dangerous reaches of her domed world to speculate on what's above. The rulers say that flames fill the world outside, making the dome a necessity, but she does not think she sees flames out there. Wren is a seeker, curious and unwilling to settle for anything, most especially a life she's been told to live and a boy she's been told to marry.

    The characters that stole the show were the animals. I just love adorable animals with tons of personality in my fiction, and Tayler included bunches. Even better, none of them die, which there has been altogether to much of in my recent reads. Tayler kills people instead. Cat, a cleverly named cat, is my personal favorite. Pip, a canary, also warms my heart. So do the ponies with whom Wren works in the mines, who would not have survived without her aid. I love Wren and Pace for taking such good care of them, and I love Tayler for not putting animals in just to kill them off tragically.

    While I did enjoy Ashes of Twilight, I really wish there had been more to it, something unique. None of the elements herein were unfamiliar to me: the dome, the class hierarchy punishing to those on the bottom-most rungs, the terrible air quality, the mining, the instalove, the abusive guy who wants to marry Wren, the twist regarding Wren's father, or the plot arc. All of this I have read in other dystopian novels, not all together like this, but I would still hope to see something solely of Tayler's creation. I have read a lot of dystopian novels, however, so this might not be an issue for readers without so much knowledge of the genre.

    One element which should have been better handled is the inclusion of the biblical references. For whatever reason, the shiners only have one book, The Bible. As such, Wren references scripture a lot, as she does in the first sentence. I never really could see a point made with this. The references come thick and fast at the beginning of the novel, but drop off significantly towards the end, without seeming to impact the plot. These should either have served a plot purpose or be taken out entirely. They were not preachy particularly, just out of place.

    The most worrying aspect of Ashes of Twilight is Wren's tendency to exhibit TSTL syndrome. As I mentioned, the guy she was supposed to marry, James is abusive. In one of the first scenes, he tries to force himself on her. She is, rightly, uncomfortable around him for the rest of the book. However, she also tells him multiple times that he is a great guy who will make some other girl very happy. No, Wren, he's actually not a great guy, and this makes me doubt your sanity. Can we please stop this trend of pretending that attempted rapists are the kinds of guys any girl should want? They're not. End of story.

    Ashes of Twilight does have rather a slow pace, but, if you do not mind that, you might enjoy this book. Tayler's debut might work better for those without too much familiarity with the dystopian genre.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The premise sounded exciting with a dystopian world that has a social caste system in place. Growing up, the children are taught that the world outside the dome is an inferno. The clues found along the way suggest something completely different.
    Wren, the main character is strong and defiant. She is what they call a Shiner, they live in the tunnels below the city. It is dark, claustrophobic and not an environment for a young girl to be brought up in. But none the less this is the world they live in. She is an outsider, but has one good friend. Alex. After his death, she sets out to see just what might be outside the dome walls. She has some qualities that make her likable but some that don’t make her easy to connect with. There is a little bit of romance. The relationship between Pace and Wren develops very quickly, and I do mean quickly, but it did have it’s sweet moments. Pace had a great personality and tried to find the good in everything, and I did like him. And look forward to more of him in the future.
    The world that was created was fascinating. Living in a dome, with social classes and never being allowed to know what it looks like outside the dome itself would be scary and certainly not something I would endure. It was an intriguing world, and I did want to learn more. One thing I want when I read a dystopian is action that has me on the edge of my seat, not wanting to put the book down. I found myself waiting for this, and while it wasn’t as action packed as I thought it would be I still did enjoy it. Overall this was an enjoyable read, and I will certainly pick up the sequel, Shadow of Glass.
    Ashes of Twilight is a dystopian, post-apocalyptic journey of survival. I would say give this a try. And look for Shadow of Glass out later this year.