Title: In an Orchard Grown from Ash
Author: Rory Power
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3
The Argyros siblings have lost everything. With their father dead and their family home captured, they’re no longer the rulers of their fractured kingdom—and no longer bound to each other.
In the frozen north, Rhea struggles to wield her newly inherited command over death and to find her place in an increasingly distrustful rebel group. Chrysanthi travels to a distant, war-torn land in search of her elusive brother Nitsos, certain that he is there on a dangerous mission to restore the family to its former glory, this time with himself at its head. And Lexos, now stripped of all his power and a political prisoner of the Domina family, is left to rot in a hauntingly desolate palace with nothing but thoughts of revenge.
Alone and farther apart than they’ve ever been, the siblings must reckon with the pain of their past and find a new path forward—or risk their own destruction.
I really enjoyed the first book in this duology, In a Garden Burning Gold; this one, however, felt like a waste of my time. I will say that I enjoyed Chrysanthi’s growth, although she felt so passive through the first 2/3rds of the story, just letting everything happen to her without taking action herself.
Nitsos was almost a non-presence in this book—and he was pointless. Lexos was useless: all he did was whine about not having power. And Rhea…man. I really liked her in the first book. In this one, she was a terrible human being, and I just wanted her to hurry up and die already. I do not recommend this read.
Rory Power lives in New England. In an Orchard Grown From Ash is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Random House/Ballantine in exchange for an honest review.)
Tomorrow Is Another Day 