An Ember in the Ashes (Ember Quartet, #1)

by Sabaa Tahir

[Kelly]

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2015/06/an-ember-in-ashes-by-sabaa-tahir.html
My review for An Ember in The Ashes is one of the most difficult I've felt expressing. When you absolutely adore a book so deeply, that you're left lost for words. From the world building, to the characters, even the romance and just when you think you've read it all.

Told in dual points of view, Laia is a Scholar, a girl who lives to make ends meet for her grandparents, since the death of her parents some years ago. Her brother leaves for hours at a time, taking his sketch book in the middle of the night and bringing the Empire raid in his wake. The Legionaries spare no mercy, capturing Darin in the raid and forcing Laia to flee. With a deadly Mask hunting her, she has no choice but to heed the warning of her late parents and seek the aid of the underground Resistance. But their assistance comes at a price.

Elias is an elite soldier in training, expected to fulfill his role as a brutal Mask upon the completion of graduation. But Elias has other plans. He wants to escape, to free himself of his mother's cold and calculating reign over Blackcliff, his internal struggle against needless killing not going unnoticed by his peers. Before Elias can escape, he's chosen as an Aspirant for the trials to determine who will be the next leader. Three tests that decide the victor. But Elias isn't the bloodthirsty monster his mother is, or his grandfather expects him to be.

Two world collide when Laia is brought to Blackcliff, a lowly house slave with fire in her eyes and a determination that Elias sees in himself. It was glorious! The romance takes a backseat to the oppression and darkness of their world as the two form a tentative friendship. It mixes a dystopian society with fantasy and a touch of the brutality of the Roman and Greek empires with the battle of intelligence against arms. The world building was immaculate, from the wary streets of the Scholars, to the darkness that surrounds the Academy, it was so incredibly vivid and set the scene for an enslaved and oppressed society. The intensity was delicious, the characters well developed and although set in a world so far removed from modern day society, they were crafted to be likable and relatable. The secondary characters were distinct and Sabaa Tahir was able to weave in their individuality, where so many young adult books seem to skim over.

It was utterly stunning! It instilled in me a sense of righteousness, I wasn't only immersed, but felt as though I was placed in the action. I loved it. Every. Single. Moment.

Read. It.
An Ember in The Ashes isn't a book you borrow, it's a book you need to own and read it again and again. This isn't yet another fantasy slash dystopian, it's immaculate. It'll have you completely immersed and torn between wanting to savoir the storyline and flying through the pages demanding to know where Sabaa Tahir will take the reader next. I loved it. I adored it. And now I'm hungry for more.