Reviews tagging 'Blood'

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

141 reviews

sh543's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Confinement, Death of parent, and Murder

scorttarius's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

4.5

I went in expecting this book to be a lot all the other fantasy books but it was more dystopian than anything and I loved it. It even got me to look past a double love triangle if you think about it and I HATE that trope 😅. It reminded me a lot of Hunger Games and even though I haven’t fully finished Game of Thrones I can see why people would relate it as such. The chapters were short and so it was easy to get through. I finished in 5 hours. I cannot read to read the next book in the series

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Body horror, Slavery, Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, and Physical abuse

achillies_veturia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, and Slavery

shalladin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Torture, Trafficking, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Classism, Death, and Misogyny

pnutbutterprincess's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

Laia is a Scholar, one of the people who have been conquered and subdued by the militant Martials. When as Martial soldier kills her grandparents and takes her brother from her, leaving her alone, Laia is faced with overcoming her fears in order to save her only remaining family.

She goes undercover as a slave in the military academy, where Elias, a soldier nearing his graduation, is planning his escape to seek a life where he won't have to kill any longer.

I was caught up quickly in the vivid world of the story, finding myself quickly invested in the lives of both Laia and Elias in their struggles against almost inevitable failure. The worldbuilding is well done, it being clear that there is much more than the scope of what is seen in the story, and small glimpses are given of some mythical and magical element to the world, expanding it beyond a warring land of countries and states. Romance and friendship and adventure twist the story into an exciting tale, as Elias and Laia find their paths crossing as should-be enemies but finding no reason to hate each other, rather their goals begin to align as the tension escalates and both are finding themselves in increasing danger in a political state of upheaval and looming conflict.

I hope to see more of the mythical elements coming in the later books, and look forward to seeing more of the diverse and lifelike characters which I really came to like in this first book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Genocide, and Sexual assault

anova's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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: Grief, Death, Rape, Slavery, Murder, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Torture

tris256's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, and Blood

cozybookseller's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Slavery, Gore, Confinement, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Grief, Physical abuse, and Murder

aishallnot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I've had this book on my tbr for the longest time and finally got around to it this year and I think this a pretty decent debut book/series (I was going to give this 3.5 stars but I think this is a solid 4 maybe 4.5).

As someone who is slowly getting back into fantasy I think this could be a great start as this is more action packed rather than fantasy if that makes sense. I was more interested in the former but I'm hoping in the second book we see more of the fantasy elements.

The characters (for the most part) I liked. I think Elias' character was well developed and with Laia I do see that she has potential to grow in the next book or two. Helene I don't really hate tbh bc ik she *might* have some sort of redemption arc, but usually characters like her I wouldn't care for. 

I usually struggle to move forward with continuously reading series but I think this left a strong impression on me to start Torch (reserved a copy on hold at my library)!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Death

Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence

Minor: War and Blood

violetreader's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.25

It felt like nothing was happening the entire book and all the good stuff I want from a story was happening in the last 50 or so pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Death, Classism, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Rape, and Blood

Minor: Abortion and Confinement