An Ember in the Ashes is the first book in Sabaa Tahir’s Ember in the Ashes tetralogy, and it is excellent. If you haven’t read it yet, you want to add this to your TBR list. Be warned, however, once you start reading this series, you’re going to want to get your hands on the next two books so you won’t have to wait for the next book.
I was originally planning on reviewing Marie Lu’s Legend series today, but since the third book in this series, A Reaper at the Gates, just came out, I will be reviewing the three books in this series over the next several days instead. I plan on reviewing A Torch Against the Night on Saturday, and A Reaper at the Gates on Monday. As I am writing this, I’m only 120 pages into the second book, but I already know that I’ll be spending most of my free time reading these books until the series is done. It’s that good.
An Ember in the Ashes is set in a fictional world that is based on the ancient Roman Empire. In the beginning of the story, it’s a normal world with stories of magical creatures, but as the story progresses, it turns out that these stories are real. The story is told from the point of view of our two protagonists, Laia and Elias.
Laia is a lower (maybe lower-middle) class girl living under the oppressive Empire. Elias is about to graduate from 14 years of grueling training that have turned him into an elite soldier. After Laia’s life is turned upside down in one horrific night, she undergoes a quest to try to save her brother, voluntarily becoming a slave. This is where she meets Elias, who is not like most of the other trained killers in his profession. Elias doesn’t want to be a killer – he wants to be free to be something else. Over the course of the book, they develop an unlikely relationship and realize that they both can help each other.
The book is well-done. The characters are interesting, the plot is intricate but not confusing, and the world is well-built. Before I was even halfway done with this book, I made plans on obtaining the next two books. I didn’t go to bed until I had finished the book, and I’m sure that I will finish the second book tonight.
I couldn’t find anything that I didn’t like about this book. It seems appropriate for most teens. There is a lot of violence and some threatened sexual violence, but there is nothing explicit and there is no cursing (when the characters “curse” they say things like “ten hells” or expressions that we don’t consider to be obscene).
This book seems to have positive messages. Don’t beat yourself up for protecting yourself. As long as there’s life, there’s hope. I liked that about this story.
If you like young adult stories with a little bit of magic, check out An Ember in the Ashes, and the followup books. I’m loving it so far.
Other books in this series I have reviewed:
I’ve been so curious about this series! I LOVE binge reading about a series is complete so I think that is exactly what I will find the time to do with these! Glad you are enjoying them!
Just a word of warning though: this is a four-book series, so we all have to wait until next year to find out how it concludes. I finished the third book last night. I’ll be reviewing the other two between now and Monday, but a really quick synopsis is: characters get into even more difficult situations and most of them are still waiting to live happily ever after at the end of the third book. I will be reading the fourth book in 2019 though.