Title: An
Ember in the Ashes
Author: Sabaa
Tahir
Genre: YA;
Fantasy; Dystopia
Pages: 464
Time
to complete: 8 days
Book
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.
Review:
Okay
so I just had my feels crushed, stomped, risen from the dead and then
squished again...then brought back to life. Yay! This book was a
Goodreads Advanced Reading Copy book that I read forever ago but I
thought it would be something great to blog about since I loved it
when I read it the first time and now.
This
book was one roller coaster of emotions. Scholar Laia just lost what
family she has left and her brother is taken prisoner. Mask Elias
wants freedom but it looks like he's not going to get it when he's
entered into the Trials, a dangerous set of tests that will push him
to his limits. I should explain. See, the Scholar's are like
tradesmen and farmers. Mask's are military that have little to
no conscious when it comes to killing people, especially their
own members if they show weakness.
While
this book primarily frustrated me just based on what was going on (no
spoilers) I have to admit I liked it. The twists were nicely hidden
until they were meant to come to the surface, the slow build had me
on the edge of my seat all the way to the end, and the characters
were easy to love (and hate) even to the end. Granted I don't like
the ending (again no spoilers) but if and when the next book comes
out maybe it'll make up for it. Overall, I give this book a 9 out of
10!
So this morning I received an email from Goodreads that I had won their book giveaway! I'm so excited for the book to come in. It's called The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi. From the summary, it's based on Indian mythology and follows a female main character as she struggles to figure out who she can trust. I think this will be something new and creative to read. I'm so excited to start reading it.
