Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

14 reviews

trazimmariju's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

iwasagiftedkid's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape

readutation's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Well. This was one hell of a read. I’m too muddled to write a coherent review, so here are snippets of my thoughts:

1) The writing is very simple and straightforward and yet elegant at the same time. I’m impressed with it.
2) The plot is definitely engaging. I like how it started as, like, a military fantasy and then it branched out to full high fantasy mode. Everything was intriguing.
3) The characters are all interesting. Laia and Elias are wonderful protagonists, and even the antagonists are fascinating.
4) I like how the romance storylines are handled. It’s almost a love square, and it makes sense that Elias and Laia have different love interests before they meet each other.
4) The themes of power, revenge, and colonization are nuanced. I like that the Scholars, Martials, and the supernatural creatures are all in the wrong, and this is just an endless cycle of violence due to a greed of power. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Hate crime, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Violence

alingtori's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

If I started this while the series is still ongoing, I wouldn't be able to handle the wait for the next book. An Ember in the Ashes got me so hooked as early as the first chapter. 

I've always struggled to keep up at the start a fantasy book because there's so much to take in--not just with the introduction of the characters, but also the worldbuilding. But Sabaa Tahir managed to do it without it seeming like an info dump. The story is action-packed and full of intrigue, each chapter keeping us curious at how it will all play out.

As for the romance, I'm still not keen on it as I'm still not completely sold as I'm not a fan of love at first sight. So the most believable to me right now would be Helene and Elias but I already know that they're not the endgame. I'm looking forward to how it will go. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Hate crime

Minor: Blood and Rape