Publication Date-April 28, 2015
Genre-Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Dystopia
Hardcover Edition-446 Pages
Rating-5/5 Lily Pads, I would give this book all the stars in the world if I could!
Would I Recommend It? Yes!! Everyone needs to read this book especially if you love Fantasy!
No Spoilers!!
Favorite Quotes:
Page 20-"Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after.
Page 65-"You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it."
Page 286-"But there are two kinds of guilt, girl: the kind that drowns you until you're useless, and the kind that fires your soul to purpose."
Page 422:
"Fear is only your enemy if you allow it to be".
"Too much fear and you're paralyzed, too little fear and you're arrogant."
"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."
Hey guys! I'm back with a review. Today I am reviewing a new favorite book of mine which is "An Ember in the Ashes". This book has gotten so much hype in the past two years. I recently added this book to my TBR because it sounded different and I love my Fantasy books. I can't believe I didn't read this book sooner because I loved it so much!! This book was perfection and so amazing! It's definitely a new favorite of mine. This is probably my second favorite read of the year right after ACOWAR. Oh my gosh I loved this book! Anyway, read on if you wanna know why I loved this book so much.
Plot-5/5(Goodreads summary)
Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.
But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.
There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.
But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.
There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.
I really loved the plot of this book. This book is so unique. I've read a lot of YA fantasy books, but this one really stood out to me because it's so different. I've never read a book about a slave and a soldier. Before going into this book, I had no idea how dark it was. This book is very dark. It's very cruel, and there's violence in it. I loved the setting of this book. It takes place at a military academy called "Blackcliff". I thought that was so cool because I've never read a book at a military school before. I feel like the whole "my brother got kidnapped and I need to save him" trope is used a lot in books but it didn't really bother me in this book. It was a huge part of the plot. Overall, the plot gets a perfect rating from me.
World-5/5
This book doesn't have a lot of world building and she doesn't really describe the world. However, I really liked the world and the setting.
Writing-5/5
I really like Sabaa's writing style. She's a talented writer. I loved that this book is in multiple pov's. I got to see inside Laia and Elias's heads and I loved that! It made me connect to them even more and I just love reading books in different perspectives like the "Falling Kingdom" series.
Pacing-5/5
Some people on goodreads said the beginning was slow. I didn't think it was slow at all. It took me a little while to learn the world and the beginning was kind of info-dumpy but it wasn't bad at all. The pacing was amazing in this book, it was non-stop action. There was always something going on.This book was very addictive and I did not want to put it down.
Cover-5/5
I really like the original cover. I also like the paperback cover but I hate the new covers, I think they are ugly. Since I read the hardcover with the original cover, I'm giving it a perfect rating because the original is the best in my opinion.
Characters-5/5
Oh man, where do I begin? The Characters were the best part of this book. I hated the Commandant with a burning passion. She's so mean to the slaves but she's also mean to her own son Elias. She's a cruel, heartless person. How could you treat your son like that? She was a great villain but she was so horrible. All the side characters I liked. I loved Izzi, she was so cute. I really liked Cook even though we don't know a lot about her. I liked all of Elias's classmates except for Marcus. He is such a jerk, I hope he dies.I liked Keenan, but I'm not sure that I can trust him. I'll have to see in the next book. I really liked Helene. Her loyalty to the school bothered me a bit but at the end you find out why she acted the way she did. She is a nice girl and very tough. I liked her friendship with Elias. A lot of people ship them but I don't. I only see them as friends. As for Elias, I absolutely loved his character so much! He's definitely my favorite character besides Laia of course. He's so sweet and kind. He hates his lifestyle and hates all the cruelty with the slaves. He is such a brave and amazing guy. I just love him and I loved reading his pov. It made me understand him even more. I also loved Laia. I felt so bad for her, she lost so much and she didn't deserve it. She's a coward and she's not very brave but I liked that. I'm getting sick of all the female protagonist that are confident, strong and brave in YA Fantasy. I found her very realistic because that's how I am. She does become a better person at the end of the book. I love her kind nature, she's very sweet and is very selfless like Elias. I definitely ship them together and I want them to become more than just friends. Overall, the character development in this book was so amazing. I can't wait to see what happens to them in the next book.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, this was the best book I've read in a long time. This book was perfection and I loved every part of it. Ember is a masterpiece. I totally get the hype now. If you love Fantasy with great characters, I highly recommend this book. An Ember in the Ashes is definitely worth a buy, go out and buy it right now! You won't regret it. Obviously I gave it 5/5 Lily Pads because that's how amazing it was.
So yeah that was my review. Thank you so much for reading. I'll have a book review for "A Torch Against The Night" up soon so stay tuned. Thanks again and happy reading! :)
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