You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
DNFed @ p. 176, maybe for now, maybe forever. Felt like I was reading Red Rising and/or The Hunger Games again. Not giving a rating because people will tell me it gets better, etc, but I'm not convinced after 176 pages and I'm not gonna stick around to find out.
Didn't feel genuine, inspired, or refreshing. Mary Sue from an oppressed community, love polygon, insta-love, fight to the death game/duel/match thing, unconvincing historical "inspirations" that had inklings of just word-borrowing and word-dumping as opposed to actual believable world-building (other reviews on here have noted inaccuracies in comparison to actual events, cultural issues, and terms in Roman history. I haven't ever studied Roman history and am not qualified to comment on it).
This feeling of word-borrowing leads to a disingenuous vibe. If you picked up the story and swapped out those words with their everyday counterparts, the story would be no different and would just be the bare bones structure of any YA dystopian, hence the feeling that I was reading Red Rising and/or The Hunger Games again. It felt stale and I wanted to take the book by its shoulders and shake something else out of it.
Don't have much more to say about it other than I just didn't want to read any more and started feeling slumpy so I stopped.
Didn't feel genuine, inspired, or refreshing. Mary Sue from an oppressed community, love polygon, insta-love, fight to the death game/duel/match thing, unconvincing historical "inspirations" that had inklings of just word-borrowing and word-dumping as opposed to actual believable world-building (other reviews on here have noted inaccuracies in comparison to actual events, cultural issues, and terms in Roman history. I haven't ever studied Roman history and am not qualified to comment on it).
This feeling of word-borrowing leads to a disingenuous vibe. If you picked up the story and swapped out those words with their everyday counterparts, the story would be no different and would just be the bare bones structure of any YA dystopian, hence the feeling that I was reading Red Rising and/or The Hunger Games again. It felt stale and I wanted to take the book by its shoulders and shake something else out of it.
Don't have much more to say about it other than I just didn't want to read any more and started feeling slumpy so I stopped.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4.5 stars. I want to re-read this later this year in order to finish the series and decide then if I should bump it to 5 stars.
This book was an amazing yet heartbreaking story, told from two perspectives, of a boy who was never meant to live and his enemy, a girl who risked everything but is still nothing. Their stories connect in a most uncanny way, causing a complicated romance that isn't like one you've seen before.
Laia is a regular girl living with her brother and grandparents since her parents died. She's one of the luck ones. But when a mask kills everyone she loves but keeps her brother alive, she runs, hoping she can find a way to save her. But no one is who they seem, and their intentions can't be trusted. Can Laia find her way through this twisted world and come out with more than just her hope intact?
Elias is a mask. But he's also a mistake. He was never meant to be born, but he survived. He hates his life of violence and killing, and he thinks he has a way out. But when he receives cryptic messages and warnings, he sees that his future isn't as clear and simple as he thought it was. He has a purpose, but can he fulfill and still be the same?
Can these two different people find a way to hold onto what they love and want the most without becoming the very thing they fear they will be? It's a tangled story of lies, truths, unclear destiny, romance, and life. Will they be able to overcome the darkness around them or will the light be snuffed out?
I loved this book and if you like mysterious romances, fantasy that isn't too wild, and stories of finding yourself, this is the book for you.
Laia is a regular girl living with her brother and grandparents since her parents died. She's one of the luck ones. But when a mask kills everyone she loves but keeps her brother alive, she runs, hoping she can find a way to save her. But no one is who they seem, and their intentions can't be trusted. Can Laia find her way through this twisted world and come out with more than just her hope intact?
Elias is a mask. But he's also a mistake. He was never meant to be born, but he survived. He hates his life of violence and killing, and he thinks he has a way out. But when he receives cryptic messages and warnings, he sees that his future isn't as clear and simple as he thought it was. He has a purpose, but can he fulfill and still be the same?
Can these two different people find a way to hold onto what they love and want the most without becoming the very thing they fear they will be? It's a tangled story of lies, truths, unclear destiny, romance, and life. Will they be able to overcome the darkness around them or will the light be snuffed out?
I loved this book and if you like mysterious romances, fantasy that isn't too wild, and stories of finding yourself, this is the book for you.
So many feelings. It's so rare to find a book that captures you and so hard to stop reading. I definitely recommend .
challenging
dark
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
!! REVIEW OF WHOLE SERIES !!
an ember in the ashes is a ya high fantasy series that follows the three main protagonists laia of serra, elias veturius and helene aquilla through their journey of self-discovery, saving the world and love. set in a fictional land of serra, ruled by the martial empire, the first book tells us of the struggle of the scholar people—brusied, broken and suppressed. it brings to light the struggles of the oppressed and the compulsion of the oppressors.
laia of serra, a 17 year old scholar girl, watches helplessly as her family is murdered and her brother imprisoned by the tyrant martials who have terrified her whole life. now it is up to her to
free her brother and save the scholars. elias veturius, a skilled but compassionate solider, is a student at the infamous blackcliff academy of the martials. on the eve of his escape from the school, something happens that changes his life irreversibly. helene aquilla, the only female student in her year at blackcliff, is a fierce warrior who must prove herself again and again to save her motherland.
while it took me a while to get through the first book for it seemed like a concept too overused, the second book had me hooked. it's a plot-driven series with little time for much else studded with clever twists, well-rounded characters and more than a touch of the supernatural. the three protagonists are figureheads of inspiration, each embodying love, compassion and strength.
my only grievances with the series are the dearth of queer representation, which though present seems only performative; and the lack of a trigger warning as there are several casual mentions of rape.
however, the author makes up for them with spectacular battle stratagems and aggravating villains, making the series utterly unputdownable. though it's a high-stakes political drama, the sultry undercurrent of romance is the perfect countermelody to the gruesome grit and gore of the constant killing and betrayal.
what i like most about the series is how women-centric it is. it tells the tale of every mother, every sister, every daughter, every woman of war who ever loved and lost. even the minor characters are imbued with strength, not just physically but mentally. it was gratifying and humbling at the same time.
needless to say, this is one of my favourite reads of the year.
rating — 8.5/10
an ember in the ashes is a ya high fantasy series that follows the three main protagonists laia of serra, elias veturius and helene aquilla through their journey of self-discovery, saving the world and love. set in a fictional land of serra, ruled by the martial empire, the first book tells us of the struggle of the scholar people—brusied, broken and suppressed. it brings to light the struggles of the oppressed and the compulsion of the oppressors.
laia of serra, a 17 year old scholar girl, watches helplessly as her family is murdered and her brother imprisoned by the tyrant martials who have terrified her whole life. now it is up to her to
free her brother and save the scholars. elias veturius, a skilled but compassionate solider, is a student at the infamous blackcliff academy of the martials. on the eve of his escape from the school, something happens that changes his life irreversibly. helene aquilla, the only female student in her year at blackcliff, is a fierce warrior who must prove herself again and again to save her motherland.
while it took me a while to get through the first book for it seemed like a concept too overused, the second book had me hooked. it's a plot-driven series with little time for much else studded with clever twists, well-rounded characters and more than a touch of the supernatural. the three protagonists are figureheads of inspiration, each embodying love, compassion and strength.
my only grievances with the series are the dearth of queer representation, which though present seems only performative; and the lack of a trigger warning as there are several casual mentions of rape.
however, the author makes up for them with spectacular battle stratagems and aggravating villains, making the series utterly unputdownable. though it's a high-stakes political drama, the sultry undercurrent of romance is the perfect countermelody to the gruesome grit and gore of the constant killing and betrayal.
what i like most about the series is how women-centric it is. it tells the tale of every mother, every sister, every daughter, every woman of war who ever loved and lost. even the minor characters are imbued with strength, not just physically but mentally. it was gratifying and humbling at the same time.
needless to say, this is one of my favourite reads of the year.
rating — 8.5/10
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes