BOOK REVIEW | AN EMBER IN THE ASHES (AN EMBER IN THE ASHES, #1) BY SABAA TAHIR (SPOILER FREE)

August 14, 2020

Title: An Ember In The Ashes
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Pages: 446
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published Date: 28 April 2015
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Kinokuniya | Book Depository

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. (Source: Goodreads)

This is the first out of four books from An Ember In The Ashes series. I read this in June, but only got the chance to review it now. I really like the premise and concept of the book. Laia is forced to become a slave, in order to save his kidnapped brother. And Elias is a soldier who wanted to escape the brutal system of the Empire.

Going into this one, I had high hopes seeing the high ratings on Goodreads. I enjoyed the two-third of the book in the beginning. I didn't think it was slow as it's normal for the first book in a series to be tedious for world building. I think the writing style is flowery and melancholic. Perhaps the reason why I love the beginning of the book so much is because I got to see Laia and Keenan together. At this point, you can assume I ship them so hard 😂 Keenan reminds me of this one anime character I watched back then.

I know Keenan is supposed to be dark-skinned, but the red hair, oh boy the red hair reminds me so much of rail-tracer from Baccano! I used to have a huge crush on him, despite knowing he's a sadist lol.

Back to the review, as soon as the one-third left of the book began, I started to get boring. Somehow it felt like the romance was too much. It was lacking the action-packed scenes I was anticipating for. We got to see Laia and Elias became closer and flirted, which I don't understand. Elias' feelings for Laia is definitely an instant love. I think Elias mistook his feelings for Laia as love when he was just concerned about her. If Elias had feelings for Helene, I would understand because they had been fighting side by side and protecting each other's lives for so long. That's so romantic! But Laia? I don't know. And I couldn't stand Elias constantly being torn between choosing Helene or Laia when he was supposed to be more professional. In my opinion, Elias seemed immature to me. Even the writing style started to feel too lengthy.

Overall, I just couldn't see the chemistry between Laia and Elias which played a big part in the series. If the relationship is properly developed, maybe I would be more accepting. The romance made up 60% of the book which I think is unnecessary and I just couldn't care less about it. I have nothing against the author, this book is just not for me. I can see why a lot of people like it, too bad I don't. I don't know if the second book gets better, but I'm not planning to continue the series.

Rate: ★★★✰✰