Sabaa Tahir: An Ember in the Ashes - An Ember in the Ashes Book 1

This book is one of the more popular YA fantasy reads out there, and after reading it, I can see why. I would definitely recommend this to older and more mature readers based on the content.

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir follows two characters: Laia and Elias. Laia has lost everything; her family and her home. Her brother has been taken to prison, and Laia's only option to save him is to work for the Scholar Resistance. She is sent as a slave to the most dangerous woman in the Empire, the Commandant, the leader of Blackcliff School. Elias is a Mask. He is of the ruling class in the Empire, a student at Blackcliff, training to become the Empire's most feared weapons. But he feels trapped. Disgusted by the things he must do, Elias finds himself abandoning his plan to flee the Empire and fighting to be its emperor instead. Will Laia be able to save her brother? Will Elias ever be free?

Overall, I loved this book. Tahir has woven a stunning tale full of twists and turns, that always kept me guessing. I loved the plotting of this novel, and I felt that it was stunningly written. I loved the overall story arc.

I would have liked her to explore the magic of the world a little more. I felt that it was a bit thin, as were some of her descriptions of the world itself. It was difficult to really picture the geography.

I didn't like Laia at the beginning. She was whiney and annoying. Elias never really struck me that way, but Laia bugged me for the first probably half of the book. After that, once she finally got her head on straight and started growing, I found her character much more tolerable and likable. It just took me a while to get to that point.

This book is quite violent. Tahir does not sugar coat the bloodiness of the battles nor the treatment of the slaves. There is some dancing around sexual violence that does not happen to Laia but is insinuated to happen to other slaves. If this makes you uncomfortable, this is not the book for you.

In all, I really enjoyed the novel, and I'm looking forward to reading the other three in the series!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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