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cherub456 's review for:
An Ember in the Ashes
by Sabaa Tahir
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Complicated
This was such a good book, My excitement from just finishing it wants me to rate this even higher, but I suspect the next books in the series will raise the bar higher.
Where to start with this review? First Laia, although I may have mentally butchered the pronunciation of her name more than a couple times, she was the shining light - the ember, if you will - of this book. I instantly took warmth to her as a character from her description of her family. The way she described her remaining family members in the beginning of the book, how she was clearly in awe of them and felt inferior to the image/perception she had of them. In particularly her brother, when it came to bravery/assuredness/a lack of fear. It was so beautiful to watch through this book her confidence grow. I feel the quotes that really solidified her arc were: “Once, l'd have wanted that. I'd have wanted someone to tell me what to do, to fix everything. Once, l'd have wanted to be saved. But what has that gotten me? Betrayal. Failure. It's not enough to expect Keenan to have all the answers.” ; “not Darin's words anymore, but my own. That voice has always been my own. My turn to live by Izzat.“. These quotes need no further comment, but reading Laia develop… to the point of leading her very own Gunpowder Plot… I felt like a proud big sister.
There is so much more I enjoyed about this book. I was initially sceptical about reading this book when I found out it included slavery, but in reflection it was immature of me - as even though I love books as a form of escapism - slavey has been and still is ~in new forms~ a part of our world - blanching at the subject in reality or fictionally doesn’t make it disappear.
I love how the author didn’t make this a typical sung trope of a white (or racially ambiguous in this book) male saviour bravely coming to the rescue and saving the poor enslaved/persecuted girl from the world and herself. Instead the author brilliantly and carefully flipped that trope on its head with the FMC quite literally saving the MMC. This alone has made me amend my initial rating to an even higher one.
This book whilst balancing delicate and important topics somehow managed in the midst of its reflectiveness to include moments of humour (or at least moments I found humorous). One that particularly had me wheezing for a couple of seconds was <So what you're saying is that you cheated and you still barely managed to win." I applaud slowly, my chains clanking. "Well done.">. Another one that got me laughing hysterically was, “This thing actually spawned? What kind of demon had she whelped?”.
There is really little I could fault this book with. I loved that there were multiple love interests. I loved that the characters were all layered in their own ways. This book made me feel for characters, whether it was love, hate, or understanding. The world-building was not overwhelming, especially considering it book 1 in a fantasy series.
It is also worth mentioning I warmed to the MMC, his morality and beliefs were handled in a way that was not cringeworthy/obnoxious/arrogant. Rather, towards the end you see his development and altruism as a result of being guided by his morality. One of my favourite quotes of the book was directed towards the MMC and really encapsulated his arc, <“There are two kinds of guilt," I say softly. "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.>
This book really honed in for me that there is good and bad on any side, focusing on who has the ‘right’ whether it is to take action, to respond, to be angry, etc., is often an impossible and/or futile task. This book really emphasised that that your moral line, your internal sense of right and wrong, is what should guide you always - because once that is compromised (with the risk of sounding redundant), so are you.
I’ll end off my review with a quote that will remain with me from this book: “Fear can be good, Laia. It can keep you alive. But don't let it control you. Don't let it sow doubts within you. When the fear takes over, use the only thing more powerful, more indestructible, to fight it: your spirit. Your heart.”
~My spirit is stronger than my fear :)
Where to start with this review? First Laia, although I may have mentally butchered the pronunciation of her name more than a couple times, she was the shining light - the ember, if you will - of this book. I instantly took warmth to her as a character from her description of her family. The way she described her remaining family members in the beginning of the book, how she was clearly in awe of them and felt inferior to the image/perception she had of them. In particularly her brother, when it came to bravery/assuredness/a lack of fear. It was so beautiful to watch through this book her confidence grow. I feel the quotes that really solidified her arc were: “Once, l'd have wanted that. I'd have wanted someone to tell me what to do, to fix everything. Once, l'd have wanted to be saved. But what has that gotten me? Betrayal. Failure. It's not enough to expect Keenan to have all the answers.” ; “not Darin's words anymore, but my own. That voice has always been my own. My turn to live by Izzat.“. These quotes need no further comment, but reading Laia develop… to the point of leading her very own Gunpowder Plot… I felt like a proud big sister.
There is so much more I enjoyed about this book. I was initially sceptical about reading this book when I found out it included slavery, but in reflection it was immature of me - as even though I love books as a form of escapism - slavey has been and still is ~in new forms~ a part of our world - blanching at the subject in reality or fictionally doesn’t make it disappear.
I love how the author didn’t make this a typical sung trope of a white (or racially ambiguous in this book) male saviour bravely coming to the rescue and saving the poor enslaved/persecuted girl from the world and herself. Instead the author brilliantly and carefully flipped that trope on its head with the FMC quite literally saving the MMC. This alone has made me amend my initial rating to an even higher one.
This book whilst balancing delicate and important topics somehow managed in the midst of its reflectiveness to include moments of humour (or at least moments I found humorous). One that particularly had me wheezing for a couple of seconds was <So what you're saying is that you cheated and you still barely managed to win." I applaud slowly, my chains clanking. "Well done.">. Another one that got me laughing hysterically was, “This thing actually spawned? What kind of demon had she whelped?”.
There is really little I could fault this book with. I loved that there were multiple love interests. I loved that the characters were all layered in their own ways. This book made me feel for characters, whether it was love, hate, or understanding. The world-building was not overwhelming, especially considering it book 1 in a fantasy series.
It is also worth mentioning I warmed to the MMC, his morality and beliefs were handled in a way that was not cringeworthy/obnoxious/arrogant. Rather, towards the end you see his development and altruism as a result of being guided by his morality. One of my favourite quotes of the book was directed towards the MMC and really encapsulated his arc, <“There are two kinds of guilt," I say softly. "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.>
This book really honed in for me that there is good and bad on any side, focusing on who has the ‘right’ whether it is to take action, to respond, to be angry, etc., is often an impossible and/or futile task. This book really emphasised that that your moral line, your internal sense of right and wrong, is what should guide you always - because once that is compromised (with the risk of sounding redundant), so are you.
I’ll end off my review with a quote that will remain with me from this book: “Fear can be good, Laia. It can keep you alive. But don't let it control you. Don't let it sow doubts within you. When the fear takes over, use the only thing more powerful, more indestructible, to fight it: your spirit. Your heart.”
~My spirit is stronger than my fear :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent, War