Book: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Read From: 8th February - 10th February 2022
Rating: 3/5 stars
Summary: Laia is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason and her family slain, Laia must go undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from those who claim they can free her brother. The academy’s finest soldier Elias is secretly its most unwilling. But before he can act on the desertion he plans, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Emperor. When Laia and Elias’s paths collide, they find that their destinies are inescapably intertwined...
Whilst this book is in no way a literary masterpiece, it immediately sucks you in, keeps you on your toes, and is overall just plain fun to read. And what more could you want from a book? This is exactly the kind of fantasy I would recommend to someone wanting to get out of a reading slump, the worldbuilding is incredibly vivid and immersive yet it’s not over the top or complex (which in my opinion is always a good thing - when you’re plunked into a new world the last thing you want to do is have to remember every little detail).
I don’t think these characters are my favourite of all time, but I definitely really enjoyed reading about them and being in their head - I can’t wait to see how they develop over the course of the quartet. Tahir has done such an incredible job of creating their personalities to make you feel close to them and really root for them. Although I have to admit that Elias has my heart just that little bit more! I LOVED his character. What I didn’t love however, was the several(!) love triangles/love square? I’m not the biggest fan of a love triangle in the first place, so to have two of them thrown in the mix wasn’t ideal but hopefully they will fizzle out over the coming books.
There are aspects of this book that are extremely gritty (for a YA) and can be hard to read but it only heightens the reading experience - you will feel all the emotions (mainly anger and fear). It has a fast-moving plot that will keep you turning the pages and an intriguing magic system that will hopefully become more developed as the books go on. If you haven’t yet read this book, I will warn you that there is a cliff-hanger ending so if you find yourself enjoying it then you might want to get the second book ready for when you finish! Whilst I’ve read more memorable YA fantasy books, I’ve definitely got off to a good start with this series and I hope it carries on being this action packed and exciting!