Ahsoka – A Disney Nerds Book Club Review

For Star Wars Month, I had to keep my reading in the Galaxy Far, Far Away! This month, we’re reading “Ahsoka” by E.K. Johnson. This is the second book I’ve read by E.K. Johnson, this first we talked about in 2020 when I read Queen’s Peril. I was happy to read another book by this author, especially about one of my favorite characters Ahsoka Tano!

This story finds Ahsoka Tano after she left the Jedi Order. It’s a year after the Siege of Mandalore and the establishment of the Galactic Empire. Ahsoka is in hiding on a planet called Thabeska. She has adopted the pseudonym “Ashla,” and has found work with the Fardi clan. The Fardi Clan is a powerful and wealthy local family involved in smuggling. The family has taken Ahsoka in and the young ones love having her around. On the first Empire Day, one of the Fardi nieces comes to her house to inform her that there are Imperial officers in town. Ahsoka tells the girls that she’ll be at the Fardi house later, and decides to leave the planet and escape the Imperial officers. She gathers her few belongings and heads for the spaceport. Ahsoka makes it to the port and ends up taking one of the Fardis’ freighters, mentally apologizing for the theft.

Ahsoka heads to the Outer Rim and lands on the moon of Raada. She is looking to stay under the radar but ends up meeting and becoming friends with a local farmer named Kaeden Larte. She quickly becomes a friend of Ahsoka. Ahsoka poses as a mechanic and starts to do work for Kaeden and eventually other farmers in the area. As hard as she might try not to form attachments, Kaeden quickly gets her to meet her sister and other members of their farming team. She also eventually discovers that things are not all calm in this farming community. A resistance is forming and Ahsoka has to choose if she wants to become a part of it. She also has to figure out if she wants to trust her new friends. Will she help them or keep running?

I really enjoyed this book. This is a part of Ahsoka’s life we wouldn’t know about without it. It is a part of the path that leads her Bail Organa, the Rebel Alliance, and on. Personally, I love any chance to get a better look at Ahsoka and other female characters in the Star Wars universe. Ahsoka is a character that I feel wasn’t expected to be as popular as she is. She was just Anakin’s padawan at first and now she’s so much more. We get a better look at how what happened in the Clone Wars animated series affected her. She’s hiding because she knows that the Empire is looking for any Jedis that survived Order 66. She’s scared but she also feels betrayed and not sure if she can ever trust someone or even another group again. The life she knew was ripped away and she doesn’t think she’ll ever have another home. When she meets the people in Raada, she is conflicted because of what’s happened in her past. I found following Ahsoka on this journey fascinating. I feel like I know Ahsoka so much better now.

In my opinion, this is a must-read for any Ahsoka fan. Now I do also want to say, if you don’t have time to read this book but are still interested, find the audiobook! Ashley Eckstein narrates the audiobook! Ashley Eckstein is the voice of Ahsoka in The Clone Wars, Rebels, Forces of Destiny, and Tales of the Jedi!

Let me know what you think! Have you read “Ahsoka?”