layawaydragon
Written on May 27, 2017
I'll be back with a review as soon as I can.
BOOK ONE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES • One of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy and 100 Best YA Books of All Time • People's Choice Award winner • Bustle's Best Young Adult Book
“This novel is a harrowing, haunting reminder of what it means to be human — and how hope might be kindled in the midst of oppression and fear.” — The Washington Post
A gorgeous, collectable look for this beloved and bestselling fantasy series that “glows, burns, and smolders.” (Huffington Post). The deluxe paperback editions each feature tip-ins with exclusive character art!
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.
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR FROM The Wall Street Journal • Buzzfeed • LA Weekly • Bustle • Paste Magazine • Indigo • Suspense Magazine • The New York Public Library • Popsugar • Hypable
- ISBN10 1595148043
- ISBN13 9781595148049
- Publish Date 9 February 2016 (first published 28 April 2015)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 480
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781595148049
Reviews
I'll be back with a review as soon as I can.
liz089
Written on Aug 16, 2016
littleread1
Written on Aug 10, 2016
Stephanie
Written on Jun 14, 2016
nannah
Written on Mar 4, 2016
Book content warnings:
rape mention
violence against women
Laia's plot:
Laia and her family are Scholars, members of a people conquered by the Empire. When Laia's brother is suspected of being involved with the Resistance against the Empire, her family is killed, her brother is imprisoned. Laia manages to escape and find the Resistance. She makes a deal with them and will spy on the Commandant of the Empire's military academy as a slave in return for their help to free her brother.
Elias's plot:
Elias is a member of the Empire's military academy, and he's also the bastard son of the ruthless Commandant. He's one of the best, which makes him part of the academy's Trials to determine the new Emperor. It'd be an honor, except all he wants to do is run far away from the Empire and its cruelty.
I'm not sure what the overall plot is, except survive, survive, survive. This book is cruel. And complicated. There's almost way too many things going on at once, with too many side plots, too many characters, too much action. I think I remember one scene where the pace relaxed, but save for that chapter, everything is go, go! And despite all this, it's engrossing and readable.
I think much to do with the book's irresistibility are the characters themselves. Beyond the love story (which borders on ridiculous and takes up a little too much page time in my opinion), these characters are so realistic and well-created. All the main and secondary characters have their own agenda, beliefs, motivators, etc. It's so believable that they're their own minds, not concocted by one.
But that love story. Laia likes redheaded guy, but she also likes Elias. Now Elias has a deep connection with his childhood friend Helene, who is in love with him, but he likes Laia, so this is some strange love rectangle-like shaped disaster. Don't get me wrong, some people might love this sort of thing! I avoid it when I can.
Speaking of things that make me uncomfortable . . .
The Augurs have almost a too massive hand in the plot here. An Augur is a religious official (from ancient Rome - the place/time this book is based on) who interprets God's will from observing nature. In this book, there are fourteen Augurs, and they control everything. The characters make decisions, but then it's revealed it was foreseen/controlled/made to happen by the Augurs. So . . . are the characters really proactive, or is everything in this book orchestrated by these Augurs? I'm really not sure how I feel about all this.
There are just things that don't seem to make sense, or aren't fully resolved, and it makes me so frustrated, because I want to like the book so bad!
- when Laia goes undercover as a slave, how is it that she's able to keep her mother's armband?
- the matter of the Nightbringer, who was almost never mentioned after his first scene
- Helene's "secret talent"
- the ENDING. I sooooo get frustrated at first novels that don't have an ending. at least a sort of ending. when nothing resolves, there's no satisfaction!
((also I'm so, so tired of worlds so sexist and unsafe for women))
I mean, I moan about stuff, but I'll still probably read and buy all the books!
Nessa Luna
Written on Nov 24, 2015
Silvara
Written on Nov 19, 2015
I loved the world and all the twists and turns in the book! It shifted from Laia's point of view to Elias and back, but always in a way that wasn't confusing and easy to understand.
I really liked how strong Laia was, even when she thought she wasn't. She grew a lot from the scared girl we first met, into a woman who was able to see her mother in herself. I also loved reading about Elias. How he presented multiple faces to the world depending on who he was with and what role he had to play.
I wasn't as attached to Helene. I liked her sometimes and didn't like her others. Her personality made sense based on the world and how she'd been raised. But she was too inflexible about things, rules were made to be followed, but there's also a certain flexibility at times. And while she occasionally bent them because of Elias, you got the sense that she wasn't happy about it. On the other hand, she was a strong character with a fiery personality especially when she was angry. She struggled a lot with her choices, and with the strengths and weaknesses she had, she felt like a real person.
I'm not sure what you'd call the love angles in the book. It wasn't a triangle really, but it was complicated. I could tell who the girl was going to pick, but I'm not sure if that was just because I liked him better! *laughs* I had no idea who one of the guys was going to pick, it felt one way, but since it was a story, I figured it could just as easily have gone the other way. (And I'm not using names because I don't want to slip and spoil anyone!)
There is a lot of evil and dark moments in the book. The Commandant has no redeeming qualities what so ever. She's the kind of evil character you keep hoping something even nastier is going to come by and have her for a snack. The school and instructors are just as bad in their own ways. There is torture, child abuse, threats of rape and needless and cruel killings.
But there are also sweet moments. A slow burn and fall into love. Best friends who have each others backs. A friendship in dark times, and lots and lots of hope.
I also liked the fantasy creatures that appeared in the book. There weren't a lot of them, but they fit the plot perfectly. If only the magic had been addressed more. You have magic metal that melds with people's faces like a second skin. The power to heal with a song, and of course the magical creatures that appear. But very little is explained about the magic. Not even where it comes from or why it seems so absent from most of the world. There's a tiny little blurb of explanation about it in the book, but it was such a small blip I've already forgotten what the explanation was. And even while reading about that, it wasn't enough to really explain.
I did like the book over all, and I want to read the second one already to see what happens next!
This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon
vagasker
Written on Sep 3, 2015
inlibrisveritas
Written on Aug 19, 2015
In this we have two point of views: Laia who is a Scholar and a slave, and Elias who is an elite solider known as a Mask and longs for his own freedom. Two very different people from opposite backgrounds who have a lot in common. I loved both Laia and Elias, and the internal journey they both have to go through . Laia starts out the book very meek and unsure, she’s terrified of what could happen if she does anything wrong and she only wants to avoid the trouble, but with each new challenge she faces while trying to save her brother makes her stronger. She doesn’t go from tiny to larger than life in one book either and that makes me love her more, because she’s still herself…the person who doesn’t want to harm anyone but she’s also learning what it takes to survive on her own in a cut throat world. For Elias his journey isn’t about finding strength, he already has that…instead it’s about finding purpose. I loved that when attraction came into play he was completely logical about it, but in being so “there is no time for this right now” he ends up internalizing it and making it much more pronounced. To top it off he doesn’t follow a mindset just because it’s what he’s been taught, and that doesn’t change despite learning his best friend has an opposing mindset. I will say I wasn’t overly fond of the love…square? But while it does play a part in the story I didn’t find it stifling…only annoying, because when I ship someone I don’t want these extra people hanging about.
The world building and imagery is wonderful! A book automatically gets points when there is back story, not just for the main characters before the actual events that have happened. Bring on the fictional history lessons, because this girl loves it! The little glimpses of the fantasy elements here and there were just enough to add some mystery to a rather guarded and forbidden past, and make me want Laia and Elisa to dig up all the info they can in the next book. The pacing was also excellent and there were very few scenes that didn’t feel important to the overall story, which is a huge plus in a fantasy novel.
I did listen to this one on audio and I really recommend it! Both Fiona Hardingham and Steve West have swoony voices that are utterly perfect for reading to people, and their voice/accent range was great. They definitely brought these characters to life. I particularly liked Fiona’s reading of Cook, who has a quavery voice and gets really worked up at times.
I can’t wait for book two! Though I’m torn between buying the hardcovers for the book map, and the audiobook because I need to hear these two read to me again.
reveriesociety_
Written on Aug 19, 2015
What is worse than living in a Roman Empire-ish land? Living in a Roman Empire-ish land alone, your grandparents having been killed in front of you, and your brother possibly soon dead too. Having to make a deal in which you spy the nastiest woman to ever walk the earth just so your brother might have a shot at being saved, while you are continously on alert because of the whipping, the threat of rape, and discovery.
Talk about high stakes.
And that's just Laia.
No, seriously, An Ember in the Ashes is packed with super high stakes, suspense, conflict, tension... Every crap a good story needs when there are no kisses. Because that was the only thing that this thing was missing. More kisses.
Which brings me to the topic of romance. 'Romance' isn't exactly how I'd describe the mess of feelings bouncing off Laia, Elias, Helene, (Keenan?) +. Let's just leave it at attraction. And that's just fine, because in this situation, the page time alloted to attraction was less than I'm used to, but perfect for this kind of story. It's just not realistic that while your neck is on the line, you're daydreaming about the hot soldier boy, or the cute, but intense redhead.
The descriptions of battle, specially one very hardcore one, were completely awesome! They were raw, and as the killing blows piled up, I even teared up a bit.
There are two kinds of guilt. The kind that's a burden, and the kind that gives you purpose. Let your guilt be your fuel. Let it remind you of who you want to be. Draw a line in your mind. Never cross it again. You have a soul. It's damaged, bbut it's still there.
Towards the end, even though the pace didn't let up, it did made room for character development, tons of it actually. And that was wonderful. The end left me with a lot of unanswered questions, because, if you think about it, not much was wrapped up in terms of the plot plot. It seemed to me that the end was so character focused, that the other things to be ressolved were put on wait.
But that's not such a bad thing!
I just mention it because after I closed the book, feeling I'd just read something really good, and went about my day... I then realized that most of the goals the characters had started with weren't achieved. And what the hell? How did I not notice that before?
So, trust me, the revelations these characters have about themselves are definitely worth it! It was exactly the character aspect that moved me the most and made me give the book the rating I think it deserves. Yay!