Ash Princess, Book 1

Ash Princess offers a keen examination of ruling by fear and absolute power and weighs he value of one life vs. many, and whether a son should pay for the sins of the father. There's a strong message about the power of hope over fear.

A 16-year-old political prisoner endures 10 years of torture, including repeated whippings until she is near death (one whipping described vividly), is forced to kill her own father with a sword (also described in gory detail), experiences disturbing psychological warfare and the threat of sexual violence. Many mentions of how she watched her mother's throat get slit when she was 6. Talk of genocide: Most Astreans are killed, their heads displayed on pikes, or enslaved in mines that make them go mad, and then experimented on and blown up. A woman is pushed off a balcony to her death, and displayed at her funeral as she was found. A 13-year-old is forced to drink poison that burns her from the inside out in another vivid scene that describes "broiling flesh." Talk of two more poisonings, one fatal. Story of a wedding day that ends in the slaughter of whole families. Talk of widespread rape during the conquering of Astrea and a man who has beaten and killed multiple wives. Story of whole slave crew in chains going down with a sinking ship. Story of main character nearly drowned by bullies as a child.

A few instances of "damn."