Monday 1 June 2015

Review: An Ember in the Ashes








An Ember in the Ashes
Author:
Publication Date: June 4th 2015
Publisher: Harper Voyager
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.

What if you were the spark that could ignite a revolution?

For years Laia has lived in fear. Fear of the Empire, fear of the Martials, fear of truly living at all. Born as a Scholar, she’s never had much of a choice.

For Elias it’s the opposite. He has seen too much on his path to becoming a Mask, one of the Empire’s elite soldiers. With the Masks’ help the Empire has conquered a continent and enslaved thousands, all in the name of power.

When Laia’s brother is taken she must force herself to help the Resistance, the only people who have a chance of saving him. She must spy on the Commandant, ruthless overseer of Blackcliff Academy. Blackcliff is the training ground for Masks and the very place that Elias is planning to escape. If he succeeds, he will be named deserter. If found, the punishment will be death.

But once Laia and Elias meet, they will find that their destinies are intertwined and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

In the ashes of a broken world one person can make a difference. One voice in the dark can be heard. The price of freedom is always high and this time that price might demand everything, even life itself




If you've already read An Ember in the Ashes you'll know three things. If you haven't read An Ember in the Ashes, you should know these three things.

It really is brutal.
It's without a doubt cruel and immoral.
Its empowering

If you're looking for another copy of The Hunger Games, you won't be looking here. An Ember in the Ashes is wholly unique and original in its execution. Set in a brutal Rome like world, the world building in An Ember in the Ashes is fascinating, it's vivid and horrible and just that, brutal. you gradually learn the ways of a scholar, how the  Martial Empire conquered, and the ways and tribulations of Blackcliff Military Academy the soldiers and the slaves alike. But, there's beauty in places too, which is shown through the night of the Moon Festival, up to a certain point, anyway.
An Ember in the Ashes is fast paced but also slow paced, Laia's side of the story seemed to slow down, but it's matched well with Elias's side, which is extremely fast paced, especially once the Trials start. 

What I loved about An Ember in the Ashes is it's brutality, not in the way it sounds, but how thought-provoking and how provocating it is. It messed with my emotions like a freaking bouncy castle. They were up and down throughout the whole thing. 

And, you know with 'rebel' type books, where one infiltrates the enemies space to gain information to help their cause? It's pretty standard, right? An Ember in the Ashes has it, but what it has that most of the ones I've read doesn't have?

Intensity.
Danger.

With others, even though they're in enemy territory, they're surrounded by enemies and could get caught at any time, I never felt that intensity or danger. It just seemed easy. Laia's wasn't. She's constantly tested, constantly on the brink of being watched, being discovered, being raped, being beaten, being tortured. You can feel that, and she actual is beaten, and tortured without even being discovered. All of that, just because she is a slave. It was realistic to the world of An Ember in the Ashes, and it's not without malice.  

We have three types of characters in An Ember in the Ashes, sociopathic, evil and subdued and all are complex and stretch the boundaries in their own way that they are not simply sociopathic or evil or subdued. Laia was submissive, but then she was determined yet scared and brave whilst playing submissive. Elias, on the surface, is just as submissive in a different way, in the Blackcliff Academy way, but he's angry and terrified, and he wants to do what's right. There's the Commander, who simply is a sociopath, well and truly, and then there are most of the soldiers that are sociopaths in training, who can rape the slaves, beat the crap out of them and don't get punished for it because they're just slaves. I say most, because there are grey areas, and there are grey area characters, who I'm not going to say who because spoilers, but An Ember in the Ashes is a world of distrust and dishonesty and it is so well developed.  

Just like the characters, there are three sets of romance that is equally complex, because there is two sets of triangles featuring our leads, but it's weird because it didn't feel like a love triangle, and it isn't really in your face type of romance on either sides, on Elias's, it's deep rooted friendship that's turned confusing, and on Laia's, trust. 

With complex characters that you'll root for, and a setting that on the surface seems black and white but isn't just black and white, An Ember in the Ashes is brutal but empowering. 



Rating: 5/5

18 comments:

  1. Wow you must have really loved this one, I actually DNF by the fourth chapter :/ I thought the writing was kind of boring so I put it down.. I've read reviews mention the love triangle but it doesn't seem that bad though. Atleast one of us could love it, wonderful review as always <3 Benish| Feminist Reflections

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    1. Totally did, and I loved the writing, it is definitely one you have to be in the mood for though otherwise you wouldn't have patience with it, so luckily I was. :)

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  2. This is a brilliant review of the book! I have yet to review this one and I already know I won't do it justice like your review haha. The double love triangle did cause me to stumble for a while, but it's more because of preconceived notions in my own head rather than the book itself - the author blended it in seamlessly. I'm so happy there's going to be a second book in the series; otherwise, the end of this book would have been brutal.

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    1. Awh, thank you! :D Shh, yours was awesome. Right? It never really felt like it, and it was definitely vital to the story, which is weird, haha. Same! I mean, it wasn't exactly a cliffhanger cliffhanger but still NEED to know what happens after that!

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  3. I've been hearing a ton of mixed things and I'm still not 100% sold on whether or not I want to read it. I know we generally have the same tastes so I'll probably give it a go sometime in the future, although I may try to get it at the library :)

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    1. It is amazing, seriously, I'm like 80% sure you'll love it, but it is slow paced in the beginning, and I think you definitely have to be in the mood for it.

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  4. It's always so great to have something original and different like that. I'm glad you had a wonderful time with the story and I confess that now I'm quite curious as well to try! Great review!

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    1. It is, I was in the mood for something completely different. :)

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  5. Love this cover for it, and great summary with the three things. I loved the complex characters and romance as well

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    1. Same! The UK ARC is totally gorgeous too, which is why I know this cover looks amazing in real life, because the gold detail on the ARC is just amazing. :)

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  6. Yay, glad you liked this one! I also thought the world was incredibly well crafted, although brutal. And YES about this not feeling like a love triangle, I've seen so many reviews complaining about that. In a situation like this you can't expect the characters not to have a history or be attracted to other people, it's actually even more realistic that way. Great review!

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    1. Exactly, and I mean, it didn't really take over the story anyway, and it was definitely vital to the characters to have that there.

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  7. Five outta five! I LOVE those kind!! This has been on my "To Read" list for a while. Clearly I need to expedite it to the top!!

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  8. Hmm would you call teh romance love triangly? I don't remember specifics but I remember liking how subtle and downplayed it was.

    And yes, there are DEFINITELY a lot of sociopaths. I can't wait to see with the Commandant ends up doing next! :) And our emperor!

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    1. Yeah, I wouldn't really call it that, I mean, it wasn't really there, but more of a back and forth type, wasn't it? But exactly, it was subtle and downplayed, wasn't really there there.

      Ha, yeah, I'm scared to see where that goes, because holy crap.

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  9. Ohhh gooood! I just read someone talking about how they didn't like this, but I think you and I have much closer tastes, so YAY! I'm dyingg to read this. I love crazy people and danger--can't wait! :D

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    1. Hope you do when you read it (though pretty sure you will!) :D

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