Thank you to NetGalley and Kate Cowan for the opportunity to read rate and review this story
You can tell this story was supposed to be Asian inspired but clearly written by someone not in those cultures.
Lackluster writing and many many liberties taken with a culture not her own. I do not recommend this book to anyone. I DNF at 45%

After seeing the author post about this book in a Facebook group, I knew I had to read it.
I'm so glad I did. This book has a strong female character who empowers other characters. You can tell who is good and who is a villain, there isn't any guessing. I love that there are twists that you don't expect The world building is perfect you can picture everything. There was some typos and Grammer issues but these did not take away from the story. I can't wait to be able to enjoy book two. I would give this book⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Why. Why? Why?! WHY on earth did I request this? the cover screams ACOTAR/That vampire serpents ACOTAR book series, and that is NOT my thing. For those who love these, enjoy!

This book for sure was one that came out of left field for me. I randomly gave it a chance with its intriguing synopsis of a girl, who is now the last of her people, tasked with protecting a Prince her people were caring for. Broken hearted and defeated Aero out sets on a journey to get the Prince back to his home while planning to get financial backing to rebuild her home and get revenge on the people that took everything from her.
This book was for sure gripping one for me. It reminded me of Mulan with its strong central character, Aero, being the only female in training to be a Shae, Fearless warrior monks who train their whole lives to defend the realm.
She is underestimated and judged for not being what society expects a woman to be. She fights head on and it’s just admirable to see her show that she earned her title and that women have just as much as right to be bada**es as men do. Her romance flowed smoothly and naturally and made sense with how the story progressed,which I loved. It sometimes had its moments with predictability but did it enjoyably. I for sure want to keep reading about Aero’s journey of revenge and romance.
Would I recommend this book? I would. If you love bad a** female main characters and intriguing stories. Aero and her journey to stop a demon from destroying the world will have you flipping through pages like a maniac.
Thanks to the folks at NetGalley for a copy of this book. My review is a honest reflection of my feelings towards this book.

This book was a phenomenal read for sure. There was never a dull moment in this book. This gives me Dorian and aelin vibes between aero and Niran. I love their connection and I feel like that’s what makes a good book and relationship between characters.

The Shae warriors are the protects of the six kingdoms. After finding Aerona, they take her in and she becomes the first and only woman apprentice of the Shae. Years later Aerona or Aero as she is mostly called, saves the life of Prince Niran and is tasked with taking care of him and returning with him to his city Dorthor. Soon after, an army of Red Wolves, take out the Shae leaving Aero as the last. Aero and Niran must work together to return to Dorthor and avenge the Shae.

Rating: 4/5 stars. ⭐️

Opinion: I liked this book a lot. The pacing is nice and the world building is done well. The writing itself is easy to read and follow.

This is marketed as a dark YA novel and while it has “dark” themes, I wouldn’t say this book is dark.

Aero is great and I love that she’s a strong FMC, but sometimes it comes off as being “not like other girls.” This is somewhat fine as of course she isn’t like other girls, but it can be a bit annoying when it’s mentioned a few too many times. She has multitudes, which is really great. She’s fierce but also gets scared. She’s strong, but sometimes she needs help

Niran was great too. I liked him a lot and didn’t really have complaints about his character.

Chime was awesome and I loved the friendship that formed between her and Aero

I loved the relationship building between Niran and Aero. A lot of romantasies get straight into the romance and leave behind the friendship, but here their relationship starts as a friendship and rides that wave for a good amount of time in my opinion.

I don’t understand why the Shae were so easily killed when they are the protectors of the six kingdoms. It almost felt like they didn’t even fight back and accepted that they were at a loss. I think if they were attacked once before and lost a lot of people and then were attack again and that’s what made them die would make this point stronger.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"How do legends die?"

This is a book about the journey of a warrior girl Aerona who belongs to the Shae (a group of warriors). In a blink of an eye, she loses her entire Shae family and is forced to run away with the prince she saved and make sure he is back in his kingdom while being his bodyguard.

"No. Legends don’t die in a blaze of glory, in shaking sunsets, or godly
battles. They die like anyone else.
They bleed."


This was an amazing book. I liked the realistic way in which Nilan's addiction had been depicted and how Aerona dealt with it. I liked Aerona even more as I read further which makes it hard to believe that this book is so underrated.

I am very excited to read the next book soon!

A strong woman protagonist, Aero has trained her entire life as a warrior. She faces betrayal after betrayal as she attempts to determine her course in life. This book is full of battles and high energy scenes juxtaposed with drama and a slow burning love story. The cliff hanger ending has me ready to read the next book to find out what happens next.

Things this book has:

• slow burn
• plot that doesn’t rely solely on romance
• strong FMC
• a lot of grammatical errors

This books plot was interesting enough. The romance was cute and a slow burn. However it was filled with grammatical errors, plot holes, and is marketed as a dark Ya fantasy when it clearly isn’t. I would say with a heavy editing hand and a change of it’s marketed audience. It has potiental to be a great read.

I really do not like giving negative feedback, but I found this book a chore to get through. The characters were simply not interesting and I was not at all invested in the stakes. It is very much a YA novel, but the writing and dialogue feel even younger than that. The world building somehow feels hollow. It is an interesting premise but the one dimensional nature of the characters and lackluster backdrop cannot carry the story.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review the ARC.

I had no idea what to expect from this book. And I’m so happy I took the jump and gave it a chance.

The story is simple and sad and beautifully written. A young orphan girl is brought under the wing of a secret group of warriors. The first woman accepted to train with them. And the last of them when her people are wiped out in a night raid. Leaving her alone to take the young prince back to his father’s “loving” arms.

A mixture of amusing characters fill out this beautiful cast and build this world of unknown magic and wonder.

The moral of this story, trust no one and even then you will find allies in the strangest places.

If you’re looking for something action packed, fast paced, full of intrigue and coming of age, look no further!

This was a strong start to the Fearless Saga series, it had a great feel and worked as a start to this world. It had the elements that I enjoy from this type of world and loved that the main character was forged into a weapon. The characters were really interesting and I was enjoying getting to know them in this scifi world. I enjoyed how good Kate Cowan wrote this and left me wanting to read more in the Fearless Saga series.

This book was interesting. I would definitely call it Avatar the Last Air bender inspired. It’s about a girl who is raised by a group of all male Monks called the Shae. She grows up away from the outside world until she’s 18, at which time due to certain circumstances her life is turned upside down and she’s basically alone fighting for her life. The reason I say this is Avatar inspired (without spoiling it too much) is due to a few reasons. 1) the main character is oblivious to what the world outside her temple home is like so like Ang she’s unaware of customs and how to act around everyday people. She sticks out like a sore thumb. 2) she’s a parentless girl being raised by monks away from the world. Monks with magical abilities. A group of monks that get tattooed when they reach a certain age. 3) the big city sounds so much like Ba Sing Se I kid you not. There are other reasons that I can’t say without spoiling the book 😭👀 it was a good read and the end definitely has me wanting to find out more. The beginning was amazing but once they reached the city in the second half it kind of started to feel a bit rushed and choppy. It was still a good read tho I enjoyed the twists and turns. If you grew up liking Avatar then you will enjoy this like I did. It had a nostalgic feel to it.

So good. The story is very well written. The character are fantanstic. I already have book 2 downloaded.

ARC reader for NetGalley

I enjoyed the premise of the story. It’s a good read if you can look past all the mistakes in the writing. With a bit more polishing and proper editing this could be a great series.

Not the fault of the author, but the arc I had was completely unreadable, so the version I read was the published final version on kindle unlimited.

The book offers a gripping introduction to a captivating world. The storytelling weaves a rich tapestry of adventure and intrigue, drawing readers into a realm where courage and destiny collide. The characters are well-crafted, and the narrative unfolds with a perfect balance of action and emotion. With its vivid descriptions and unexpected twists, this book sets the stage for an epic saga. The author has crafted a promising start to what promises to be an enthralling series for fantasy enthusiasts.

Thank you Netgalley for an Advanced Reader Copy of Legends of Ash and Dust in exchange for an honest review.

Legends of Ash and Dust is a story of Aerona, a girl abandoned by her mother and taken in by the Shae. The Shae are warrior monks who live separated from the rest of the world, and are training Aerona. Near the beginning of the book, prince Niran of Dothor is found near the Shae sanctuary by Aerona. Prince Niran, though he seems to be kind and caring, brings devastation with him into the Shae sanctuary. In a single night, all of the Shae warriors are slaughtered by the Red Wolves, a massive army. Aerona, however, survives the attack, and is tasked with returning prince Niran to his home kingdom, Dothor. Along the way, Niran seems to keep putting Aerona in danger, whether he's aware of it or not.

I mostly liked this book. Would I say that it's impeccable and something out of this world? No, I wouldn't. I would give it a solid 3/5 stars. I enjoyed around half of the story. The things that ticked my rating down consist of the characters, the lack of trigger warnings, and the roundabout plot. To me, the characters were inconsistent and were extremely annoying at times in a way that wasn't a normal flaw. The lack of trigger warnings is what really got me. I searched on goodreads, google, as well as the author's website. Nothing. While reading this book, there were a lot of lines that openly said things about sexual assault and sexual topics in general, which, in my opinion, shouldn't be in a young adult book if it's going to be right in your face. Finally, the plot. Some parts of the plot were good, but it felt like I was going in circles as the reader. While Aerona and Niran were on the journey to Dothor, it was a cycle of them going to sleep in a new place, getting attacked and/or kidnapped by the enemies, fighting back, getting away, and then the cycle continues.

Legends of Ash and Dust by Kate Cowan is a delightful fantasy read and promising series opening.
What I loved
- Atmospheric writing style
-Asian inspired setting that doesn't simply try to copy paste the culture
What didn't work as well for me
-Pacing and tone consistency were a bit all over the place. especially during the second half of the work
Who I recommend this title for
Fans of work such as shadow of the fox may enjoy the the darker theme elements to this fantasy offering.

wow, oh wow! i LOVED this. the action, the budding romance, the twists and turns, all of it was amazing

i especially loved the asian inspired world and characters, it was nice to see that in a fantasy novel.

this was fast paced but not in a way that made it feel lacking in any area. i felt immersed in this world and so connected to these characters.

speaking of characters, our main character aerona is so bad ass. i loved being inside her head and watching her fight against everything thrown at her. she knew when she could do things and also when she couldn’t and it was time to turn over

the discussion of drug abuse and addiction was also really lovely and not something i expected. it was raw and real and i appreciated the discussions and moments niran and aerona had about it.

and speaking of niran and aerona, how dare you?? i need to read the next book asap because how could you?! the slow burn and tension between these two was killing me (in the best way)

This is not a good book. The idea is there but it seems like the manuscript would benefit a lot from a good editor - too many stories that don’t really make sense, lots of errors and mistakes, a main character being a typical Mary Sue, discrepancies within the text…

There is lot to be fixed, but the book has a potential. Just for now it doesn’t seem like a finished product, more like a draft.