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

Very good book but was not expecting it to be so brutal. I enjoyed the general moral greyness of people and groups. Also i could not picture the masks on except when they were mentioned

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hiashleynine's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful reflective 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

4.0

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brooketreads's review against another edition

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challenging 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

5.0

I loved this book. This was my second read.

The first time, I would have said no flaws. I feel like it’s fantasy light, more focused on politics. I loved the duel POV. I loved both the main characters. Laia was just a complete badass in my eyes. Elias was just everything, tortured soul vibes just leaving me like 🥺. There was

a double love triangle going on with both MCs being involved in their own love triangle

, but I loved that the romance angle took a backseat to the plot. It made the romantic-ish scenes all the more sweet in my eyes.

This second read through I did feel a little bit more critical. Laia was still an extremely strong person for what she endured through this book, but

she kind of acted like an assassin near the end, she had absolutely zero training.

I was constantly frustrated with Elias, because he seemed to constantly be encouraging Helene’s feelings and even reciprocating her feelings and then completely throwing it into her face later. This time around he felt like so much more of a guy, objectifying both Laia and Helene. I think the first time around I was so focused on the potential romance between Laia and Elias and all there interactions and when that would be, that everything else seemed secondary. This time around I felt like I had my focus so much more on everything else all the other people and especially the Augurs.

I’m excited to continue the series (I’ve only read book 1).

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lswan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.5

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katie_graham's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This was obvious massively setting up for a series. Not totally sold on the romance element of it yet, but hopefully I start to feel more of a connection that is undoubtedly always my favourite part. I will say that I genuinly feel like I need to read the next book at least just to find out what happens in the politics part of the book. I do think that the world building and the plot of this book seems well thought out and I can see little hints peppered throughout the book of what’s to come. It does a good job of keeping you guessing and wondering, so I look forward to the next book which I’m going to start rn. :)

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