Reviews with content warning for Sexism - An Ember in the Ashes

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

45 reviews

bfirstedition's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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anne_escaping_reality's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

This is a two-viewpoint story, told from Elias, a Mask fighter, and Laia, a girl from an oppressed people, in alternating chapters. (Unfortunately the chapters are only named after the viewpoint which makes navigation tedious.)
It is very YA, a lot of tropes but well executed and it had enough tension to keep me glued to the pages once I had read a few chapters. It is a bit strange to have both main characters pining after another 'love' interest beforhand even though their second interests both made somewhat sense. In all relations, there is a lot of description of physical attraction and you really have to search for some emotional romance. There is a lot of attraction-at-the-first-sight and not much more to that.

Still, I am happy to see that Elias and Laia are not lovers yet at the end of the book - looking forward to a hopefully slow-burn sequel :P

There are some small grievances and questions that still linger after reading (caution, spoilery):

I am struggling to fully understand the magic system. I find it to be very unclear how the Empire's weapons are better than the Scholars' and how the Masks are overpowering fighters apart from rigid training. What do their masks actually achieve besides obscuring faces and marking their wearers as specific fighters? Why are the Augurs sometimes so impassive to the happenings in the Trials and then directly involved in steering them in one direction? Why did they let themselves so obviously be fooled by the Commander? How is the flame-red-haired Keenan fit for blending in to a crowd and sneekingly lead Laia to the Resistance? The character development of Laia also makes a sudden jump at the last chapters which is a bit unbelievable. I would have liked to read the thought process in her mind leading to her grand plan of rescue at the beheading besides "must save my brother". (Also how on earth could it be so easy to overwhelm the whole military school for 3 slaves even if one of them seems to be a genius former Resistance member - after one short night of planning and preparation? Must be the magic of YA I guess...)

Still, I will be reading the next book soon. This was so much fun!

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luliposatieris's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad 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? No

4.75

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angstifies's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

i apparently did not like this as much as many people did but oh well. the world building was terrible, i was exited to read about a fantasy world inspired by the Roman Empire and except from the somewhat latin names we get none of that.

the narrators and characters were so annoying, the main characters are 17 and 21 but i felt like i was being told a story by a fucking child.

but the absolute worst thing about this book was the <b>overuse of misogyny and sexual violence against women.</b> i get it, some books’ worlds and settings are sexist but it was so overused. there are so many mentions of rape/threats of rape when it’s not even needed, and it was absolutely pointless. and the sexism was absolutely disgusting, even the male main character himself is so fucking misogynistic and constantly objectifies the “love interests”, i could not believe this was written by a woman.

i’m gonna make examples that infuriate me about <b>Elias specifically and his misogyny:</b> using “don’t act like a girl” as a degrading insult to Helene (a woman) SO MANY TIMES, even in his internal monologue + saying things like “oh they’re women! that’s how they are!”, shut the fuck up. sexualising both Laia and Helene basically always. feeling bad for a literal abusive RAPIST. letting marcus win knowing that now he can do whatever he wants with Helene and she can’t say no to him, all for a girl with no personality he met less than 2 months ago.

the characters were almost always insufferable and the romance was shit, i at least enjoyed the overall plot and the last 80 pages were great.

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ktkeps's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

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r1vana's review against another edition

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3.75

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viccreadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

4/5 Stars

Favorite Quotes:

-“Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing.” p.20

-“You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.” p.65

-“All the beauty of the stars means nothing when life here on earth is so ugly.” p.221

-“But there are two kinds of guilt, girl: the kind that drowns you until you’re useless, and the kind that fires your soul to purpose.” p.286

-“Once I’d have wanted that. I’d have wanted someone to tell me what to do, to fix everything. Once, I’d have wanted to be saved.” p.411

——

Tropes/Characteristics:
- 2 POVs
- Love Triangle
- Female Lead
- Enemies to Lovers

Things I Liked:
- fast-paced so it held my attention well
- great storyline in an interesting world
- merciless villains who don’t hold back (more realistic)
- a female MC who doesn’t want to be saved or rescued by someone else ; independent
- dark themes that aren’t explored in graphic, unnecessary detail
- interactions with love interests that had me grinning and blushing

Things I Didn’t Care For:
-i almost wish it wasn’t written in a YA style. I think the darker themes and plot could’ve been explored more deeply and hit more profoundly if the book wasn’t bound by YA constraints.
-i struggled to get into the story at first, because it felt like everything was happening too suddenly at the beginning
-the quick pace did leave me with low attachments to side characters,

so when some died I didn’t feel any emotional reaction other than “oh that’s sad”

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am excited to read more of this series!

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