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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
adventurous
dark
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
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
I was pretty excited for this one - and I ended up being disappointed (why does this keep happening to me?). The ending did redeem it slightly, though.
When the Martials invade Scholar land, Laia, her family, and the rest of her people must pledge allegiance to the Martial Empire. They live their lives in constant fear of raids, and more than one neighbor has been brutally murdered or carted off to jail for imagined slights. But still, Laia and her family survive - until her brother is arrested for treason and the rest of her family is killed. Desperate to save him, Laia goes undercover at the Martial military academy to ferret out secrets and feed them to the Scholar Resistance in return for their help breaking her brother out of jail. At the school, she meets Elias, the top student who secretly wishes to defect. They begin to work together, but hundreds of outside forces threaten their mission and their lives.
A lot of YA books have similar plots, and the bare bones of many YA fantasy novels are probably exactly the same. However, the characters and/or the world are interesting enough to make me forget this. Maybe it's because I just came from Harrow the Ninth (a novel with complex characters I love, a world I've never seen before, and a twisty plot with good writing) but An Ember in the Ashes felt very formulaic. It didn't bring anything new to the table. The plot was predictable. And while I didn't dislike Laia and Elias, I didn't root for them either. I wasn't invested in their fates. They felt flat. The most interesting characters were Helene and Zak, but we didn't get enough background information to truly understand them.
I also didn't enjoy the romance/love triangle that's going on. I don't like romances that are built on an imbalance of power. Laia is a slave. Elias is a man, a soldier, and part of the affluent ruling class. I know that Elias is not a "bad guy" and that he doesn't want to be part of the system that enslaves other people, but he is complicit in it for most of the book/his life. That doesn't eradicate his power and privilege over a "slave girl." The power imbalance is huge and unhealthy and just...I don't like it!!
Maybe this is me just being my dark and twisted self, but a lot of the violence in the book didn't feel convincing, either. The Commandant is supposed to be super sadistic - and she kind of is, but without understanding why she's like this it feels utterly performative. When Laia is tortured a little bit, I'm like oh well whatever because I know she's going to survive and be fine. Scenes that were meant to be high stakes became low stakes with little tension.
The more I write, the more I'm thinking I didn't like this book lol BUT I will still read the next one in the series because I want to know what happens / I am holding out hope that it gets better!
When the Martials invade Scholar land, Laia, her family, and the rest of her people must pledge allegiance to the Martial Empire. They live their lives in constant fear of raids, and more than one neighbor has been brutally murdered or carted off to jail for imagined slights. But still, Laia and her family survive - until her brother is arrested for treason and the rest of her family is killed. Desperate to save him, Laia goes undercover at the Martial military academy to ferret out secrets and feed them to the Scholar Resistance in return for their help breaking her brother out of jail. At the school, she meets Elias, the top student who secretly wishes to defect. They begin to work together, but hundreds of outside forces threaten their mission and their lives.
A lot of YA books have similar plots, and the bare bones of many YA fantasy novels are probably exactly the same. However, the characters and/or the world are interesting enough to make me forget this. Maybe it's because I just came from Harrow the Ninth (a novel with complex characters I love, a world I've never seen before, and a twisty plot with good writing) but An Ember in the Ashes felt very formulaic. It didn't bring anything new to the table. The plot was predictable. And while I didn't dislike Laia and Elias, I didn't root for them either. I wasn't invested in their fates. They felt flat. The most interesting characters were Helene and Zak, but we didn't get enough background information to truly understand them.
I also didn't enjoy the romance/love triangle that's going on. I don't like romances that are built on an imbalance of power. Laia is a slave. Elias is a man, a soldier, and part of the affluent ruling class. I know that Elias is not a "bad guy" and that he doesn't want to be part of the system that enslaves other people, but he is complicit in it for most of the book/his life. That doesn't eradicate his power and privilege over a "slave girl." The power imbalance is huge and unhealthy and just...I don't like it!!
Maybe this is me just being my dark and twisted self, but a lot of the violence in the book didn't feel convincing, either. The Commandant is supposed to be super sadistic - and she kind of is, but without understanding why she's like this it feels utterly performative. When Laia is tortured a little bit, I'm like oh well whatever because I know she's going to survive and be fine. Scenes that were meant to be high stakes became low stakes with little tension.
The more I write, the more I'm thinking I didn't like this book lol BUT I will still read the next one in the series because I want to know what happens / I am holding out hope that it gets better!
This book is underrated!!
I really loved it. Characters are incredibly well built and each of them has their little secrets. They are all amazing but ELLIAS HAS MY HEART
I really loved it. Characters are incredibly well built and each of them has their little secrets. They are all amazing but ELLIAS HAS MY HEART
slow-paced
I lost interest towards the end and skim-read the last few chapters.
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
I loved this so much. Can’t wait to read the rest of the series. I loved the character development of both MCs, and how ruthless the world can be. It was nice to see finally some different colours and cultures, as well as some different magical beings like djinns and ghouls.
2025 REVIEW:
So it's been almost 10 years since I first read this series!?!?! How did that happen?
I still think that this is a phenomenal book and series - filled to the brim with compelling writing, captivating characters, and a story that 100% had be engaged the whole way through. I'd forgotten in the last 10 years just how violent and heartbreaking it could be, but in the end I kept on wanting more. Break my heart 1000 times, Sabaa Tahir.
2015 REVIEW:
This was a great book, one that I devoured in under a day! From the very beginning, I was completely hooked by the story, characters and writing. Brilliantly done, and I am so glad that there will be a sequel!
This was a very complex story, one that had so many elements, but never presented in a way that was hard to keep track of. I loved the characters and completely felt for them during some of the book's more tense moments (and oh my god were there tense moments!). This was such a great read, I can't wait to get my hands on book 2!!!
So it's been almost 10 years since I first read this series!?!?! How did that happen?
I still think that this is a phenomenal book and series - filled to the brim with compelling writing, captivating characters, and a story that 100% had be engaged the whole way through. I'd forgotten in the last 10 years just how violent and heartbreaking it could be, but in the end I kept on wanting more. Break my heart 1000 times, Sabaa Tahir.
2015 REVIEW:
This was a great book, one that I devoured in under a day! From the very beginning, I was completely hooked by the story, characters and writing. Brilliantly done, and I am so glad that there will be a sequel!
This was a very complex story, one that had so many elements, but never presented in a way that was hard to keep track of. I loved the characters and completely felt for them during some of the book's more tense moments (and oh my god were there tense moments!). This was such a great read, I can't wait to get my hands on book 2!!!
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Honestly my only question still lingering is body swapped or spy ?
And why so much obsession with rape ?
And why so much obsession with rape ?
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes