Reviews tagging 'Grief'

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

85 reviews

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No

5.0

Wow. Just wow… this book was a lot emotionally. I found myself so invested that I couldn’t look away even if I was so scared for the fates of these characters. There are high stakes all over the place!! The writing is beautiful, the characters are dynamic and nuanced, and I just want more. While classified as a YA fantasy, it wasn’t written with immature characters or simplistic writing. Even if it was put in the adult section, I would still give this five stars. I cannot start the next book fast enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Bullying, Grief, Slavery, Physical abuse, Torture, Racism, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Police brutality

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Death of parent, Cursing, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, and Child death

Minor: Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, and Pregnancy

theresamothinmyroom's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Vomit, Abandonment, Child death, Classism, Torture, Sexism, Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, Medical content, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abortion, Confinement, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

1.0

again the issue might really just be that I'm a hater but there is something wrong if rape threats are making me roll my eyes. bad writing, unclear worldbuilding, flat characters, terrible love square that overwhelms the actual (thin in and of itself) main plot, sexual violence as a constant random unaddressed plot device given nowhere near its appropriate weight.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Colonisation, Violence, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Classism, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Trafficking, War, Death of parent, Rape, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Abortion, Abandonment, and Suicide

tabookish'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Child death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Genocide, Murder, Grief, Death, Abandonment, Blood, Slavery, and Confinement

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

mj1588's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Body horror, Child death, Abandonment, Blood, Gore, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Slavery, Torture, and War

jeyjeyyy'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? No

4.5

SO GOOD!!! I HAVENT BEEN SO INVESTED IN A SERIES SINCE SIX OF CROWS

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Blood, Child death, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

erwikka's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book has become and instant favorite and I have too many feelings to put into words right now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Murder, and Slavery

crybabybea's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

A good YA dystopian-ish scifi-ish fantasy-ish romance-ish read! I appreciated the unique setting based on West Asia and the inclusion of Arabic mythology. At first, I wasn't super into the story because it felt very typically YA to me, especially the info-dumpiness of the beginning, and I was expecting more immediate fantasy. The fantasy elements are subtle and the overall story leans more toward sci-fi/dystopia. Because of this the world-building doesn't feel as complex as I would like, and a lot of the settings don't feel fully fleshed out.

I had my doubts about the characters but I ended up liking the main characters for their individual arcs, especially Laia. I wish the side characters got more attention and felt more fully developed.

I was pleasantly surprised at the complexity of the themes explored and the story beats. I wasn't expecting anything crazy from YA but this book was very dark and the author made some crazy choices that really flipped the typical YA experience on its head. Of course it had its tropey moments but I enjoyed the story a lot and found it compelling. 

Definitely a page-turner, an intriguing thriller of a story with unique, subtle fantasy elements to get lost in for a few days.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Confinement, Slavery, Child abuse, Misogyny, Child death, Sexism, and Kidnapping

my_personal_escape's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Death, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Slavery, and Blood

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Grief

alexijai98's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Confinement, Abandonment, Blood, Violence, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Torture