shannonmahoney 's review for:

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

5.0

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this review has like insane amount of spoilers in it stop reading it rn if you thought it wouldn't have too many it does and also its super curse word heavy sorry

also isnt so much a review as a rant mostly

this book genuinely made me feel emotions i didn't even know existed

world was so fucked up, trials were SO fucked up especially the trial of strength honestly felt like all of the most insane and terrible events ever were happening to ME the way this book effected me. loved it so much omg

and the way that this made me feel something about every single little character too like the burning hate i have for marcus in every fiber of my being, but then also what happened during and right after the trial of strength still had me feeling for him for a second there like omg this book was so good ugh

the end holy shit. HELENE. i hate the augurs for doing her like this icl. like yes elias gets to live and be free but i feel like elias' little idea of her setting him free as her blood shrike hit harder but no i get hit with "after this, we're enemies" AHHHHH SHUT UP NO i feel so bad for her rn because she has to endure that clown marcus it's actually like not okay at all fuck. i feel like she's gonna have a pov in book 2 and its going to be sickening to watch her do whatever marcus wants which might actually be my last straw

AND THE FLASHBACK TO WHEN THEY WERE YEARLINGS AND THEY LOOKED OUT FOR EACH OTHER SO THEY COULD SURVIVE WHILE SHE WAS ABOUT TO KILL HIM WAS SO BEYOND DIABOLICAL IM ACTUALLY TEARING UP THINKING ABOUT IT RN

and faris and dex letting him go omg stop like literally every second of this book from trial of strength on is just raw misery

i feel like i barely talked about laias pov sorry it's just that like mazen's betrayal surprised literally nobody but i love izzi my free baddie and i hate the commandant fuck that bitch her own family hates her evil ass and everything as they should like thanks for giving birth to the only non-brainwashed seeming mask of all time when it comes to the scholars and everything but thats literally your only value as a being and your only contribution to the world fuck you. and the contribution is like her greatest regret to like ugh fuck you.

also kinda confused though because why did the grandfather even hate her sm her whole life anyway prior to everything with her trying to kill elias all the time and just being like a raging bitch as the commandant like where did the beef originate because she was kind of right in that her behavior even as commandant apart from her treatment of elias was sort of everything that he would've been proud of and admired in his kid because they're like the same traits he takes pride in within elias. was it just the thing he said about girls not belonging at blackcliff and if so thats a: ew wtf bro and b: confusing asf because they get picked by the augurs so it wouldn't have really been her choice to go to blackcliff anyway even as like the only girl they pick per generation so im a little lost there but he low key looks like he started the asshole streak if thats the whole lore there

also laia might be a little more like the lioness than we thought guys!! except im feeling like maybe that isnt such a compliment atp im not sure i feel like somethings fishy with the lioness between like cook like fucking quivering at the sound of her name and the earlier flashbacks of her and the dad fighting like idk maybe the lioness was actually a bitch im kinda confused if i like her or not rn i feel like theres more to come with this

read this if you wanna feel something and feel it a lot