Lesbian Lit.: Malinda Lo's "Ash"

Since Malinda Lo's Ash hit book shelves last year, YA reviewers and bookworm bloggers alike have descended on the tantalizing, exotic concept of the "lesbian re-telling of the classic Cinderalla tale."

LOOK! LESBIANS! IN A YA NOVEL! EVERYONE, LET'S ALL POINT AND STARE AT THE BOOK ABOUT TO GET BANNED ACROSS THE STATES! ZOMG!! I READ IT FIRST!!!

With their blunt penchant for reductionism, these reviewers pare down the novel's honest portrayal of adolescent mourning and erase the intricacies of Lo's rich lore for the abridged "GIRL-ON-GIRL ACTION/FANTASY CINDERELLA NOVEL!!" angle. Yes, two women find the magnetism of first love with one another, but to ignore the other aspects of the novel is to lose the vibrancy of the story overall.

*Sigh*

Despite the initial, lesbian-induced frenzy of the novel's release, Ash promises an impressive, sweeping narrative for fans of the fantasy genre and for readers interested in YA literary titles. The overarching Cinderella tale offers comforting, familiar ground for readers to drift through even as Lo augments the original with her own world's storytelling. The human world and the fairy realm bleed into each other and provide ample space for the title character, Ash, to navigate her grief after losing both parents and falling victim to the cruelty of her stepmother. Over the course of the novel, Ash rediscovers her capacity to love and her desire to live -- and then, she must decide between a world of fairy tales and her one chance at true love.

It's a mesmerizing read, almost quiet and breathy with its language. I imagine most readers will consume this novel in a weekend, if not a single sitting. Of course, I imagine young lesbians might find a piece of themselves in the introverted Ash or the confident Huntress, Kasia. It's a romantic, complex novel I wish I could have accessed when I was an adolescent. I can think of no higher compliment to pay the book than that wish.

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Side note: Readers might recall how I'd investigated the state of the local library's lesbian literature selection and vowed to dive into those texts for the sake of this blog. Ash is the first book I placed a hold on and, given the length of the queue in January, I just received it now.

Yes.

A suburban library is attracting other ladies with Sapphic-inclinations to their catalogue. I wonder if this is the reason behind their flood of queer acquisitions in the last handful of years. Methinks a book club is in order for the future...