Witches of Ash and Ruin

cn: homophobia, religion-based homophobia, cult-like religion, murder  The first thing I noticed when I dove into “Witches of Ash and Ruin” was that it felt a lot darker than other YA fantasy books I have read. The whole, let’s call it vibe or undertone is somewhat grim and distressing. First, I was a little irritated by that but after a few pages I got used to it. But unfortunately, “Witches of Ash and Ruin” and me didn’t really click. I think the story is quite intriguing and I liked most of the characters – especially Dayna’s coven and their dynamics – but I was not a fan of the romance part. For me it felt like the author wanted to create an enemies-to-lovers situation with Dayna and Meiner who are not very friendly with each other when they first meet, but get closer while working together to save their covens. I just didn’t feel any chemistry between them; it didn’t feel natural to me but forced to check something off the trope list. Also, does it really need five people to tell this story? I don’t think so. Especially Sam’s POV did nothing for the story – yes, he finds some stuff out that helps Dayna and her friends but that could have been integrated in some other way. I would say the other four POVs are kind of okay, because all of them explore different angles of what’s happening. But it would have also worked with less POVs. I think another problem with “Witches of Ash and Ruin” is that there is a lot of stuff going on at once. There’s the main plot about witches being killed and Dayna’s and her coven’s investigation into the murders. Then we follow Dayna’s struggle with her religious father and her absent mother who spend several years in a church camp and is now returning home. But we also get a look into the dynamics of the second coven who comes to town to help fighting the witch hunters and into Sam’s relationship with his father, the local sheriff. Oh, and then there are the witch hunters who get their own chapters. It’s a lot. Which is not necessarily a bad thing but could be overwhelming and/or confusing. All in all “Witches of Ash and Ruin” is an okay Young Adult fantasy but couldn’t catch me completely.