Ele.ments
Written on Jun 4, 2022
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.
- ASIN B00KWG5RSC
- Publish Date 28 April 2015
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Razorbill
- Format eBook (Kindle)
- Pages 456
- Language English
Reviews
writehollydavis
Written on Mar 27, 2022
herseriallife
Written on Apr 12, 2021
lessthelonely
Written on Apr 10, 2021
I started reading this book in the middle of watching "Damages". The first few pages were interesting enough, but they didn't really grab me much for me not to want to keep watching the third season. But then, at some point in the early pages, stuff just picked up and kept going all the way up!
I believe it was after the ending of Part I? Might be completely wrong. This books understands character, this book understands plot and most importantly, it understands writing! The vivid descriptions of emotion (though, sometimes, the sort of "magical realism" with fantastic creatures seemed too much), the thought process of the characters, their motives... It's all perfectly clear!
To be honest, it wasn't a book that wowed me with plot twists - I was really more enthralled in the characters' dynamics, but I do have a little qualm with this book: the disposable love interests for the main characters. I find no joy in having characters that appear to exist solely to hinder at the main couples inevitable romance. And this isn't an argument from shipping, though I do ship the main couple, but from the fact that it's HEAVILY OBVIOUS what the main ship is. It's in the book's back, though indirectly! Laid out in perfectly understandable terms for whoever reads it.
Outside of that, this is an instant favorite for me. 5 stars. Gotta save up to buy the next one.
alindstadtcorbeax
Written on Jun 17, 2020
O. M. G.
*squeeeeee* !!!!!!!!
Please excuse me while I continue to freak the f*ck out about why I waited so long to read this, and more importantly, HOW FREAKIN’ INCREDIBLE THIS WAS!
On to A Torch Against The Night! RTC
Amber (The Literary Phoenix)
Written on Mar 16, 2020
I feel otherwise now.
I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry guys… but I just couldn’t to get into it. I’ve had this book on my TBR for a while, and I’ve had the audiobook on hold through the library for over 6 months. I was really looking forward to it and I came at it with an open heart, so ready to love it. But honestly? It didn’t connect. I was bored. On many different levels.
The writing felt so stiff to me, with a lot of the emotions being stated instead of felt. This bled into every aspect of the book, from the characterization to the action sequences to the setting. It brought the pace down to a crawl and even though I sped up my narration, I still felt like it was dragging. I could only listen to about an hour at a time, because I found myself fading off, bored and indifferent. I’m an avid audiobook listener – this almost never happens to me. I never felt this world come to life, and it’s such a shame.
Maybe if the characters were a little more… I don’t know… alive? Relatable? Round? I would like this more. It felt like something was missing at the core of them, that they were words on a page and nothing more. I stopped caring about Laia shortly after her introduction. Laia had no personality to me – a lot of words about how she couldn’t do something, and then she does it effortlessly. She went through pain, but didn’t suffer for long enough to make it believable. And there’s a few different scenes where someone comes to Laia’s aid and it just didn’t make sense to me – the instant loyalty or the forgiveness.
Elias started with more promise. He had established relationships with those around him and an established place in the world. His backstory stuck to him a little better than Laia’s (not a lot better, though). Furthermore, he had drive and motivation that fit in with his character profile for me. At first. But after a while, Elias began to grate on me – everything he did was gratuitous and his survival in the continuing challenges didn’t make sense. By all rights, Elias should have died several times, I think. Or, at least, had people turn strongly against him. There are a few moments where he is almost likable, where a relationship almost appears with another, but these weren’t strong enough to make me feel the loss in the trials.
And don’t get started with my feelings about the friendship/relationship/something between Elias and Helene. I have issues. Helene started out as a great character, the strongest in the book, and it was just torn asunder to make way for Elias, creating another completely unnecessary and uninteresting romantic arc in a book full of them. I was so disappointed by this choice – I felt like it tore Helene’s character to shreds to make her such a doting puppy.
So… yeah. I have feelings about the characters.
The most basic outline of the plot is interesting. I really liked the idea of the trails, even though I felt like the world building reason for them was super flimsy. Laia’s desire to rescue the only family she had left is admirable, but her character growth arc was too easy and effortless to give the situation as much gravitas as it perhaps deserved. I still want to like the story, but I can’t get past how much I didn’t like it.
And I guess I’m a glutton for punishment because I still intend to read the hardcopy of this book. I have a paperback I got a couple summers ago and I’m determined that my dislike here was just because of the audiobook or the narrators or something. I did find myself getting frustrated with them, particularly the pronunciation of Laia (I kept hearing “liar” and it threw me) and some of Steve West’s pauses in Elias’ narration. Which flabbergasts me, honestly, because I loved his reading of Strange the Dreamer. I’m so befuddled by how little I liked this well-loved book that I’m willing to give it another chance.
remuslynch
Written on Feb 27, 2019
Leah
Written on Jun 5, 2018
I loved the writing, I felt like I was properly in the story and I’m really intrigued to see what the rebellions have up their sleeve, if they even come back.
I’m intrigued to see more of Helene, too. Yes, this book is about Elias and Laia, but Helene is such an integral part to Elias’s life, and you could feel just how much they relied on each other.
I absolutely loved Laia - what she goes through in a bid to save her brother was heroic, especially the nasty stuff the Commandant did just for the hell of it or minor infractions.
I cannot wait to read book two, there is tons left to explore in this world and it’ll be interesting to see the aftermath of everything Laia and especially Elias went through because some of those trials were downright sadistic.
Ashley
Written on Aug 3, 2017
Jo
Written on Jun 7, 2017
I've been on a bit of a high fantasy kick lately, so I eagerly picked up An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Oh my god, I wish I had picked it up so much sooner, it was awesome!
An Ember in the Ashes is one of the more darker fantasies I've read - not in regards to magical power, but in regards to the evil of those in control. The scholars - whose land was invaded and conquered around 500 years ago - are under the control of the Martials. They rule with an iron fist, whose soldier elite, the Masks, who oversee the law. The slightest transgression can land you in prison, after which follows death or being sold into slavery. The Scholars were once a people of knowledge, but after the Martials invaded, their libraries were destroyed, and the new generations of Scholars were forbidden from being taught to read. The Scholars are nothing, the slaves are worse than nothing. The slaves are subjected to the cruelest and harshest treatment.
This is the world Laia lives in. When a Mask takes her older brother Darin and kills her grandparents, Laia has nothing left, but is determined to do all she can to rescue him. She seeks help form the Resistance, but their help comes with a price. She must spy on the Commandant, who runs Blackcliff Academy, the school where the Masks are trained. To do so, she must become the Commandant's new slave.
Elias is a Mask who is about to graduate from Blackcliff, but he finds the Empire's rule, and what a Mask is required to do to uphold the law, abhorrent. He sees the way his fellow Masks treat the Scholars and slaves - the beatings, the rape, having complete power over fellow humans - and is repulsed. He cannot bring himself to be apart of something so reprehensible, and so he plans to desert - knowing that if he is caught, he will be killed. The day before he graduates, however, he is approached by an Augur - one of 14, who are the Martials' holy people, who's word is never questioned - who, through his telepathic abilities, know of his plans. The Augur tells Elias if he deserts, he will become everything he hates, but if he stays, he will find freedom of body and soul. For the Augurs have foretold the death of the Emperor without an heir, and Elias will be one of four Masks who will compete in four trials to become the new Emperor.
I loved Elias. I loved seeing something who was trained to be a "villain", but had a conscience, and couldn't abide what he was being made into, what he was being trained to do. His struggle was just wonderful, even more so when talking to his best friend, Helene, who completely believed in the Empire, the Martials, and their rule over the Scholars. And for the most part, I liked Helene. She's not a bad person... until you hear her saying these words, and genuinely believes in the oppression of the Scholars, and how slaves are treated. It was just unbelievable to read. But Elias was wonderful, trying so hard to do what he felt was right, but trying to avoid the inevitable death that would come if anyone saw him showing kindness to those, it's believed, don't deserve it.
Laia was someone I found to be really relatable. She's not perfect, she's already wracked with guilt for running when her brother was taken, but she's trying not to right that wrong. She is absolutely terrified, but she agrees without question to spy on the Commandant for the Resistance. They are the only people who can free her brother, and she has to do what she can to get their help. It's through her experience as spying as a slave that we see how terrible slaves are treated. The Commandant is almost devoid of all humanity. The lashings Laia receives for being a minute late. The way the Commandant talks to her, treats her. There is no compassion, no mercy. When Laia is attacked by a Mask, the Commandant doesn't raise an eyebrow. It's sickening. Absolutely abhorrent. And Laia could walk away at any moment, the Resistance could get her out - but if she walks away, her brother cannot be rescued. So she stays, and she tries - so hard - to get the Resistance the information they need, never knowing if it's enough, while enduring such atrocious treatment.
I don't know what else I can say about this book. I don't want to spoil the story at all. But there's so much action, it's incredibly fast-paced, and completely gripping. I absolutely loved it, it was just brilliant, and I am so, so excited to read the sequel, A Torch in the Night!
Thank you to HarperVoyager for the proof.