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A review by syllareads
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
adventurous
dark
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
An Ember in the Ashes is the first book in Saaba Tahir's series of the same name and it introduces us to the Martial Empire, a place where the Scholar faction is oppressed by the military-centered Martial faction. Laia is a scholar and lives with her grandparents and her brother Darin, when a Mask, an elite soldier, arrests her brother for treason and kills her grandparents in front of her eyes. Devastated, Laia tries everything to free her brother - even if it means serving as a slave to the very woman who commands the greatest military academy the land has ever seen...
Elias, a soldier, is in his last year at the academy, but his thoughts only concern themselves with one thing: freedom. Freedom from the academy, freedom from the Empire, freedom from his mother, the Commandant. Freedom from the blood on his hands. But when the Emperor's lineage is about to fail and the Trials for a replacement begin, he can't escape his fate anymore...
This book was even more gruesome than I expected it to - I'll be adding some serious trigger warnings on here, as much as I can think about. Laia was a wonderful character intent on saving herself and what little else was left of her tiny family, whereas Elias served as a reminder that dark places punish even the ones unwillingly born into them. I'm not sure I breathed sometimes. Secondary characters served as a nice way of lending different motivations to our main characters.
I wasn't always the biggest fan of how easily Elias and Laia seemed to at least get interested in one another but I'm interested to see how the author continued this train of thought in the later books! The twist at the end of this one was surprising but well-enough executed. A good read - mind the warnings, though!
Elias, a soldier, is in his last year at the academy, but his thoughts only concern themselves with one thing: freedom. Freedom from the academy, freedom from the Empire, freedom from his mother, the Commandant. Freedom from the blood on his hands. But when the Emperor's lineage is about to fail and the Trials for a replacement begin, he can't escape his fate anymore...
This book was even more gruesome than I expected it to - I'll be adding some serious trigger warnings on here, as much as I can think about. Laia was a wonderful character intent on saving herself and what little else was left of her tiny family, whereas Elias served as a reminder that dark places punish even the ones unwillingly born into them. I'm not sure I breathed sometimes. Secondary characters served as a nice way of lending different motivations to our main characters.
I wasn't always the biggest fan of how easily Elias and Laia seemed to at least get interested in one another but I'm interested to see how the author continued this train of thought in the later books! The twist at the end of this one was surprising but well-enough executed. A good read - mind the warnings, though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Rape