Jesse’s Reviews > Only Ashes Remain > Status Update

Well uh that’s one big ol’ cliff-hanger. I think that the romance between two maladjusted sociopaths is klunky but, really, how can it be anything but? That is more of an argument as to whether or not their romance should even exist and I’m not gonna bag on it because I think another core concept of this book is exploring intimate relationships between sociopaths. Problematic though they may be

An unenviable position for Nita where she guesses at the trauma-bonding that brought her to imprint on a torturing serial killer. Her moment with her mom is bittersweet but also shrouded in the language of an abuser who is offering excuses for their horrific behavior. In this case, it feels like we are leaning toward cyclical generational trauma. Like, what if her mom already lost a child to the black market?

At this point much of the book’s emphasis is on how hamstrung Nita has been by her sheltered, utilitarian existence. She continues to be naive about both good and bad things and justifies her attitude with her victory over the Death Market. She had an action hero moment, more or less, and believes in the sanctity of her agency. She is a main character with Main Character syndrome.

I am kind of interested in Nita’s vengeance story but the unnatural community / society feels more interesting, here. Adair and Diana are interesting characters and I’m all for seeing how unnaturals who have gone underground try to maintain a semblance of the normal lives that they were raised in. It feels like Gold could be a cool character - the pawn shop suggests a lot more depth to her and her situation.

More reading about Kovit’s long hair and him brushing it out of his eyes and Anita instinctively wanting to brush it out of his eyes. Schaeffer is going hard on drawing more parallels between the MCs as she explores Kovit’s backstory; part of that is how this is more purposefully romantic than Not Even Bones. It also has Nita exploring the relative morality that she wants to disclaim.

Schaeffer’s Nita does a lot of wallowing in whether or not she is a monster for doing things that basically are meant to ensure her own survival against the Market. The philosophical concept is basically a utopian paradox - because she holds herself to more or less absolute virtue, she considers whether or not she is a monster.

Also surprised to see the anti-capitalist / western theme is absent for the moment.

Getting a better feel for Anita’s relationship with her father since this novel focuses on her grief with his loss. Her constant yearning to dissect people as a coping mechanism is super extra but there is a lot of merit in how the book is exploring the mindsets of consciously socially awkward people. It’s interesting to see how physical contact is a focal point for character traits across YA.

Upping the stakes early on with attempted murder. It remains to be seen just how much of the truth Fabricio has been telling… possible plot twist is she finally kills him and THEN finds out he was being mostly truthful, which would be textbook blurred lines YA and usher Nita further down her dark road. Or, it turns out he really is just an awful person doing what he can to survive, transmuting her in the process.