Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

25 reviews

mikasana's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

Slow in the beginning but it picks up a bit and then goes full speed towards the end.

Honestly, the storytelling was perfect. I got really attached to Laia and Elias and their character arcs. And the villains?? Black hearted killers who couldn’t have been written any better (

shout out to mummy dearest

). 

The weight and finality of all the injustices this world festered really just slapped you in the face over and over as the pages went by. The tension from it burned me and had me fully entranced just hoping some good would prevail.

However, if you are looking at this first book expecting romance, look away. The two main characters don’t truly get to know each other in this book and spend much of their time apart. In fact most of the “romance” that exists is spent on

the giant love square (yes, not triangle) between the two main characters and their wooed side pieces. I find love triangles, or any semblance of them, completely unnecessary and distracting. It dampens the potential of the main relationship every single time.

Irritating.

This actually would have been a lower rating due to how irritated I was by the

love square

but that ending? A chef’s kiss. Perfection.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Classism, Confinement, Slavery, Sexual violence, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Trafficking, Pregnancy, War, and Rape

amre23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.5

This book was dark and violent but believe the start to a great story. This starts about a girl thrown into conflict larger than simply finding and saving her brother and a boy who is trying to escape the expectations and confines of his life. She is adamant to find her brother but constantly is navigating who her true allies are and how to complete the requests from everyone around her. He is constantly navigating between the "mask" he wears for everyone and who he wants/wishes to be.

The Dual POVs made the story progress faster. Was nice to see when the 2 main characters weren't interacting how their actions and inactions impacted each other.

At times could truly feel her worry and anxiety through the pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Slavery, Physical abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, Genocide, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Grief, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, and War

Minor: Medical content, Self harm, Abortion, Alcohol, and Pregnancy

risten's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Classism, Child abuse, Blood, Murder, Death, War, and Child death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Trafficking, and Suicide

Minor: Stalking, Sexual content, Vomit, Self harm, Abortion, Alcohol, and Animal death

theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Death, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Torture, Murder, Sexual violence, Rape, Confinement, Toxic relationship, War, Police brutality, Colonisation, Abortion, Sexual assault, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Minor: Kidnapping, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Cursing

kitsunasaur's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

I have had this on my TBR for so long and I am happy it did not disappoint. I am hoping for more romance going forward, considering there are three more books, but I understand this is solidly YA, and Laia is 17. Great mix of mystery, action, and suspense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Sexual assault

Moderate: War, Torture, Murder, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, and Death

Minor: Suicide, Vomit, Death of parent, Child death, Rape, Pregnancy, and Murder

_alyssar_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Grief, Slavery, Abandonment, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Blood, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

tea_leaves's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death of parent, Death, Violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Abandonment, and Torture

Minor: Pregnancy, War, Alcohol, Child death, and Abortion

takarakei's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

If you like books where no one is who they say they are and you don't know who you can trust... this is it! It's very dark, honestly I am surprised this is labeled as YA. Besides it following young adults and them all being horny teenagers, the subject matter that this deals with is very adult (see TW). I really enjoyed the dual POVs, world building, and the mysterious qualities. It is very attention grabbing and interesting right from the get-go, and it was a very unique concept. I can feel a much more intriguing plot line to come in the rest of the series...

You have a soul. It's damaged, but it's there. Don't let them take it from you...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Death, Child death, Sexual harassment, Confinement, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: War, Rape, Colonisation, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Genocide, Misogyny, and Grief

Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Death of parent

This is an extremely dark book hence the long list of TW Rape/SA - there is none graphic on page, but rape is referred to a lot (seems to be common occurrence in this world) and

a main character nearly is raped on page

katvou's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Slavery, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Rape, War, Blood, Sexual violence, Grief, and Child death

Minor: Child abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Medical content, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

sarahsbookss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Classism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Pregnancy, and Torture