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A review by ranjanireviewsreads
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I'll be honest: this book was a 5-star prediction. It let me down. By a lot. While this isn't the first time I've been let down by a hyped book, this one really stings.
I thought I could start this review with what I liked - honestly, it's not a lot. I liked the romantic tension, which doesn't count for much in the face of the novel as a whole.
So here are the things I didn't like:
--> The characters are extremely half-baked. I understand that many YA novels are about some kind of character growth, but this one just didn't hit the nail on the head. This is the first book in a series, yes. But I should have seen something. Some growth, some decline. Instead, these characters fall flat.
--> The plot. It's simple. Too simple. In the face of developing characters, I would expect the plot, other characters (mainly the antagonist), or the world politics to take over. Alas, that did not happen here.
--> The sadism. I just read the description of this novel on Goodreads and it's supposed to be based on Rome?
But where are the positive Roman attributes of this empire? This novel focused on the deaths, the slavery, the wars, the bitter reality of being conquered. But Rome also had a well-formed legal system. They were open to gaining and using knowledge from their conquered.
This novel was a mess; the military-based leadership would not get along with the religious sect. How did they maintain peace in the first place?
Maybe the last point and my thousands of questions about the world get answered in the next book. Who knows. I will be reading A Torch Against The Night but mainly for the romance and to hopefully get answers.
I thought I could start this review with what I liked - honestly, it's not a lot. I liked the romantic tension, which doesn't count for much in the face of the novel as a whole.
So here are the things I didn't like:
--> The characters are extremely half-baked. I understand that many YA novels are about some kind of character growth, but this one just didn't hit the nail on the head. This is the first book in a series, yes. But I should have seen something. Some growth, some decline. Instead, these characters fall flat.
--> The plot. It's simple. Too simple. In the face of developing characters, I would expect the plot, other characters (mainly the antagonist), or the world politics to take over. Alas, that did not happen here.
--> The sadism. I just read the description of this novel on Goodreads and it's supposed to be based on Rome?
But where are the positive Roman attributes of this empire? This novel focused on the deaths, the slavery, the wars, the bitter reality of being conquered. But Rome also had a well-formed legal system. They were open to gaining and using knowledge from their conquered.
This novel was a mess; the military-based leadership would not get along with the religious sect. How did they maintain peace in the first place?
Maybe the last point and my thousands of questions about the world get answered in the next book. Who knows. I will be reading A Torch Against The Night but mainly for the romance and to hopefully get answers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Classism, Physical abuse, Slavery, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, and War