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A review by themelodyofspring
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
5.0
“There are two kinds of guilt. The kind that's a burden and the kind that gives you purpose. Let your guilt be your fuel. Let it remind you of who you want to be. Draw a line in your mind. Never cross it again. You have a soul. It's damaged but it's there. Don't let them take it from you.”
This book was very beautifully written, even though it had one of the worst book-verse ever. It shows the ugly, evil side of people, the amount of evil there is in the world, how less people care - how willingly they turn a blind-eye to everything, and how we all are surrounded by monsters in a cage; a cage from which we want to escape.
Initially, I had this impression that the book [b:Children of Blood and Bone|34728667|Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, #1)|Tomi Adeyemi|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516127989s/34728667.jpg|55911580] was a lot like this book. An oppressed class, siblings, characters knowing that what they're doing is wrong but they can't just walk away. Moral dilemma much? But after reading it, I can happily say that both books have very different plots and handled their own plots very well.
The plot for this book was good, but the setting and the inhuman characters really irked me. Not that that's a bad thing. The author was going for that, so good job making me feel so many emotions.
We have POVs from two characters: Laia and Elias.
Laia started as a helpless girl who lived in the shadows, saw her brother get taken away while protecting her and their family, watched her family get murdered, and didn't have the courage to fight for them because of fear and ran away. All of these being normal reactions of a person being assaulted. What I really liked about Laia was the fact that towards the end, when she's in the same situation again, she says that she will fight unlike the way she ran away in the beginning. She's no more the same scared girl. Best character development ever.
Elias' POV was a bit more irksome for me because he felt trapped in his own life and wanted to run away to be free of it, to live freely however he wished. Are you speaking for all humans here, Elias? Every chapter where Elias was forced to make a decision of staying or running away, I remember screaming, 'Run away, it's not worth it! This place sucks. Go be free.' (Maybe because I feel trapped in a way too).
Helene was only partially likeable because she trusted in the system more, than in her own best friend. Also, her disregard for life was pointed out very smartly using Elias' POV. Like, when she untied a Martial from a rope and his body falls down and Elias notices that but Hel didn't. How she didn't care about Scholars because they're slaves, but she still helped Laia. But then again, the ending explained her actions so I don't blame her. Doesn't mean you should still have swung the axe, woman. Not everyone's moral compass has the same setting. We got so many different types of characters in this book.
Speaking of that, I should mention that I dislike the Commandant to the core. Stupid, worst mother ever! No words for her!!!
List of things I liked:
Starting from the end of the book,
- The ending chapters where Elias didn't even care that he was being sentenced to death, because he was finally going to be free - this had to be my favorite chapter from the book. I loved his reactions in this chapter, the backstory for his deranged mother, and how he told her that she wasn't the one that will be freed by his death, it would be him.
- Laia in the last chapters, where she points out that if she were the same person as she was in the beginning, she would have wished for someone to come and solve all her problems. But she was no longer that person and she would stand up for herself. Best character development again :D
- Laia, Izzi and the Cook blowing up the place with sand bags was nice!
- Augurs are assholes but I'm interested to learn more about them. If the NightBringer is the No-Name-King of the Djinn, then what does that make the Augurs?
- Every chapter in which Elias thinks about how Blackcliff and the people there are evil-incarnate. Because I agree with you 200%.
- The Moon festival dance was one fun thing that happened.
- Laia and Izzi becoming friends.
- The quote on top, that Laia says to Elias.
- How there were more important things in this book to worry about than the love square! Thank you, dear author, for not making the characters indecisive just because they fell in love.
This book was very beautifully written, even though it had one of the worst book-verse ever. It shows the ugly, evil side of people, the amount of evil there is in the world, how less people care - how willingly they turn a blind-eye to everything, and how we all are surrounded by monsters in a cage; a cage from which we want to escape.
Initially, I had this impression that the book [b:Children of Blood and Bone|34728667|Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, #1)|Tomi Adeyemi|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516127989s/34728667.jpg|55911580] was a lot like this book. An oppressed class, siblings, characters knowing that what they're doing is wrong but they can't just walk away. Moral dilemma much? But after reading it, I can happily say that both books have very different plots and handled their own plots very well.
The plot for this book was good, but the setting and the inhuman characters really irked me. Not that that's a bad thing. The author was going for that, so good job making me feel so many emotions.
We have POVs from two characters: Laia and Elias.
Laia started as a helpless girl who lived in the shadows, saw her brother get taken away while protecting her and their family, watched her family get murdered, and didn't have the courage to fight for them because of fear and ran away. All of these being normal reactions of a person being assaulted. What I really liked about Laia was the fact that towards the end, when she's in the same situation again, she says that she will fight unlike the way she ran away in the beginning. She's no more the same scared girl. Best character development ever.
Elias' POV was a bit more irksome for me because he felt trapped in his own life and wanted to run away to be free of it, to live freely however he wished. Are you speaking for all humans here, Elias? Every chapter where Elias was forced to make a decision of staying or running away, I remember screaming, 'Run away, it's not worth it! This place sucks. Go be free.' (Maybe because I feel trapped in a way too).
Helene was only partially likeable because she trusted in the system more, than in her own best friend. Also, her disregard for life was pointed out very smartly using Elias' POV. Like, when she untied a Martial from a rope and his body falls down and Elias notices that but Hel didn't. How she didn't care about Scholars because they're slaves, but she still helped Laia. But then again, the ending explained her actions so I don't blame her. Doesn't mean you should still have swung the axe, woman. Not everyone's moral compass has the same setting. We got so many different types of characters in this book.
Speaking of that, I should mention that I dislike the Commandant to the core. Stupid, worst mother ever! No words for her!!!
Spoiler
List of things I liked:
Starting from the end of the book,
- The ending chapters where Elias didn't even care that he was being sentenced to death, because he was finally going to be free - this had to be my favorite chapter from the book. I loved his reactions in this chapter, the backstory for his deranged mother, and how he told her that she wasn't the one that will be freed by his death, it would be him.
- Laia in the last chapters, where she points out that if she were the same person as she was in the beginning, she would have wished for someone to come and solve all her problems. But she was no longer that person and she would stand up for herself. Best character development again :D
- Laia, Izzi and the Cook blowing up the place with sand bags was nice!
- Augurs are assholes but I'm interested to learn more about them. If the NightBringer is the No-Name-King of the Djinn, then what does that make the Augurs?
- Every chapter in which Elias thinks about how Blackcliff and the people there are evil-incarnate. Because I agree with you 200%.
- The Moon festival dance was one fun thing that happened.
- Laia and Izzi becoming friends.
- The quote on top, that Laia says to Elias.
- How there were more important things in this book to worry about than the love square! Thank you, dear author, for not making the characters indecisive just because they fell in love.