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

I was so hyped to read An Ember in the Ashes, but it was a bit underwhelming, even though the beginning was so promising. I still gave it 3.5 stars and I’m curious how the series will continue.

Like I’ve said, the dark start of the story was so promising. We get to know the two different POV characters: Laia witnesses how her grandparents are killed right in front of her eyes and has to flee from home to survive. She lands with the rebels for whom she has to become a spy at the training academy for soldiers. The second POV character is Elias, son of the leader of the training academy, who wants to desert but decides last minute not to. After becoming a solider, he has to take part in a battle to become the next Emperor.

What I furthermore liked about both story lines is that they are so plot driven and that the stakes are so high for both of them. Some moments were a bit more predictable, like

the blacksmith helping Laia, the Commander seeing that she opened a seal, or Laia and Elias not actually dying in the end

, but most of the story was interesting. My only problem is that it was just too long; the book would’ve worked perfectly with 50 or 100 fewer pages.

In comparison, the dramatic ending was so good, besides

the task where they were forced to kill each other. Of course, this moment was dramatic and well written, but this task didn’t make so much sense to me; why would the academy want to sacrifice so many of their best soldiers

? Anyways, it was predictable that

the rebels lied Laia, and that the Commander knew the truth about Laia all along. This all doesn’t matter for the fourth test of the Emperor battle were they should kill Laia. Elias is of course not able to do that, but Marcus is, so he becomes the new Emperor and Helena his deputy

I also really liked the world, how it’s inspired by the Roman empire and how dark it is. The settings, like the academy, were also great but I was a bit disappointed that there’s only one female student. From a story telling perspective, there were too many monologues for my taste, and I found it stupid how characters talked loudly about their secret plans.

Coming to the characters, I was not the biggest fan of them. I found Laia’s character a bit stereotypical and she was quite stupid in some moments. Same goes Elias, I don’t know why he acted so suspicious when he was trying to desert at the beginning. It also annoyed me how, of course, he has to be the best student for decades. Their romance was an insta love and so cliché since, according to Elias, Laia doesn’t know how beautiful she is and she has to talk about his “manly” smell, urgh.

What was worse about the romance was that both of them had a love triangle. I first liked Helena, but she got so unnecessary jealous and her love for Elias became her only character trait that I couldn’t stand her anymore. There’s so much lack of communication between them which would solve their problems easily. On the other side, Elias is very jealous of the other rebel guy who’s in love with Laia (I genuinely can’t remember his name) as well.

An Ember in the Ashes is a more interesting YA high fantasy read because of its dark plot and its interesting world. Compared to this, the characters are not that great, but this can change with the following books.

Content Warnings

devinder's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

4.5

I absolutely LOVE Elias and Laia. They're vibrant characters, and DIVERSE. They are morally grey, complicated, and a little messed up in the head, but ultimately their character arcs are so SO satisfying to witness (even if by the end of this first book, they're not entirely completely new people). And the side character made me cry and scream so the whole line-up is so strong.

The multiple POVs are probably the biggest reasons why this book is irresistible each of the chapters changes from Laia to Elias and back and it almost always ends on a cliffhanger. Each of the plots interwoven and are is completely compelling.

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booksanna's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

Emotional. This book activated so many feelings in me, I am still baffled by the effect. This book has the perfect formula of good plot + interesting characters + a little humor + a sprinkle of romance+ of tragedy= Masterpiece. The plot had very good plot twists and wasn’t impossible to follow(although sometimes very hard). I loved the system and world-building this book provided, the diversity of each characters background. The characters weren’t just a slave girl, or a ruthless mask, a heartless mother. They were so much more and more. I truly loved the 2 point of view system(personally it’s my favorite). Even the language and small details like drums. I liked the mystery the plot delivered and sometimes flow of events was really frustrating and surprising. The characters were so well-developed and thought out like every time I though i was going to stop liking Helen, she would grow on me in another way. Although this book was V-E-R-Y grotesque and disgusting sometimes(so much I had to forcefully suppress my gags), it made the experience so much more realistic and meaningful. Overall a pretty good book that pumped me of adrenaline, worry, and a little sarcasm.

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liveyour_story's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

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ali_k0's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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marissasa's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

This book made me love the dystopian genre again, and pulled off the angst and pain iconic to this genre incredibly well while still having believable characters on both the "good" and "bad" sides. I live for characters questioning their morals and their identities, and our main two Laia and Elias were constantly doing this throughout the story. I also loved that despite the harrowing situations they lived through and are still facing in the story's current timeline, they are still teenagers and actually act like it at appropriate times. They may be hardened by the realities of losing their families or being raised as ruthless soldiers, but they still show raw emotions and act based on their feelings, they still long for freedom and try to maintain friendships despite being in situations where self-preservation is more logical. There was also more brutality and violence than I expected in the book but it wasn't without purpose, as it helped define the world that they live in and the harsh reality of the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. Sabaa Tahir did so well at building tension and having real, meaningful stakes in both Laia's spy mission and in Elias' decisions during the Trials. The last act of the book was particularly great to read, I actually felt my heart pounding at some of the very tense life or death moments and felt satisfied with the ending as it was but engaged enough to be excited for the rest of the series to pick up where it left off.

Content Warnings

kinsportch's review against another edition

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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? No

5.0

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