An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jul 20, 2015 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-and-sci-fi, young-adult, lotsa-buzz, r2015-in-2015

Some books live up to their hype ... some books don't. This book did not, at least for me.

I was expecting AMAZING, I was expecting to be immediately engaged in the story, I was expecting something new and different, with sparks flying! What I got was .... a pretty great YA fantasy, but nothing extraordinary. The ending felt very satisfying, however, which bumped up my enjoyment. The final resolution was pretty predictable, but how they got there was satisfying, so a three star book got bumped u Some books live up to their hype ... some books don't. This book did not, at least for me.

I was expecting AMAZING, I was expecting to be immediately engaged in the story, I was expecting something new and different, with sparks flying! What I got was .... a pretty great YA fantasy, but nothing extraordinary. The ending felt very satisfying, however, which bumped up my enjoyment. The final resolution was pretty predictable, but how they got there was satisfying, so a three star book got bumped up to four stars.

This switches between the POV of Laia, a poor girl living fairly happily in the Scholar Quarters, and Elias, A young man about to graduate the elite military school for Martials. Usually the alternating POVs are chronological, but sometimes they are not, which annoyed me. It feels like a device when used that way. In this world, the Martials are similar to the Romans, conquering other societies, and the Scholars are a conquered society. (We get some backstory towards the end about the Scholars and see that they have not always been the innocents, which I thought added a satisfying twist.)

Laia starts the book as a scared little bunny, she is seventeen and still a child, needing others to structure her life and make sure all is well. Then all hell breaks loose in her life and we see her start to grow, to rely on herself, to be less afraid. She faces some tough trials. She survives where others have not, but a lot of that was based on luck, not her own wiles and toughness. The book pretty much revolves around Laia's growth and changes. But I think we are supposed to feel like SHE succeeded where others failed. Well, no. People help her - people come crawling out of the woodwork to help her. Mean people are not nearly as mean as they could be to her. Her luck is always decent. Suddenly we learn that she is outrageously gorgeous but doesn't know it (oh that sad tired trope) and all the boys are lusting after her, two guys in particular. A love triangle rears its head. But that's okay, I enjoy a good love triangle.

And here we have title for Laia (an Augur named Cain, a mystical semi-human being, is speaking to her):

"You are full, Laia. Full of life and dark and strength and spirit. You are in our dreams. You will burn, for you are an ember in the ashes. That is your destiny."

Elias starts the book and ends the book as pretty much the same guy: hardened, aggressive warrior at the top of his class, with a secret heart of gold. Elias is tormented with indecision: he wants to be free of the killing and violence, but he doesn't know how. I liked his character, but it felt very btdt at the same time. A love triangle rears its head for Elias, too. Double love triangles! But they aren't equilateral triangles: it's pretty clear who Elias and Laia really really want.

And here, we have title for Elias (again, he is speaking with Cain) - it's some pretty cool imagery:

"... you are the one I remember best. For the Augurs dream the future: all outcomes, all possibilities. And you are woven through every dream. A thread of silver in a tapestry of night."

"And here I thought you drew my name out of a hat."

"Hear me, Elias Veturius." The Augur ignores my barb, and though his voice is no louder than it was a moment ago, his words are wrapped in iron, weighted down in certainty. "The Foretelling is truth. A truth you will soon face. You seek to run. You seek to abandon your duty. But you cannot escape your destiny."

"Destiny?" I laugh, a bitter thing. "What destiny?"

Everything here is blood and violence. After I graduate tomorrow, nothing will change. The missions, the rote viciousness, will wear me down until there's nothing left of the boy the Augurs stole fourteen years ago. Maybe that's a type of destiny. But it's not one I'd choose for myself.

"This life is not always what we think it will be." Cain says. "You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it."

I like that they both get title.

Elias's mother, the Commandant (the leader of the Martial school) is an interesting character. In lesser hands, she would be one-dimensional evil, but Ms Tahir does a good job of making her complex and multi-dimensional. She is Elias's mother, after all, and somewhere deep inside her are tender memories of his birth. Maybe. But at some point she grew to despise Elias. Here is a parting shot she gives him when he seems to be at death's door:

For the first and probably the only time in my life, I see something a little like sadness in her eyes.

"It's a hard truth, but there is no going back. tomorrow, you'll die. Nothing can stop it. Not me, not you, not even my indomitable father, though he's tried. Take comfort in knowing that your death will give your mother peace. That the gnawing sense of wrong that has haunted me for twenty years will be set right. I'll be free."

For all my grumping here, I am definitely looking forward to the next book. This time I'll have my expectations set appropriately. ...more

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Sep 29, 2015 Alya rated it liked it

Shelves: cool-females-in-fantasy, 2015

3.5

I'm not a fan of split perspectives. I find them very hard to be convincing. Aside from really obvious emotional responses to make the voices different, it's hard to actually achieve unique voices, unique vernaculars etc.

And I didn't like the relationships, the constant thrust of relationship potential after relationship potential.

The storyline and world building is great, reflective of historical time periods (HRE) that should make us constantly evaluate how we see and treat people. The sc ...more

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Sep 14, 2016 Mia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-books

YA fantasy series are not really my thing but I wanted to try this one out. I liked it, very action packed, but YA books and their love squares or whatever tend to annoy me so this one did too but overall it was pretty decent.

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Mar 14, 2016 Andronike rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club-jams

I finished the book and slammed it down on my desk. I'm angry! Because it's a series! And I was not prepared for a series, although all the warnings were there. And it's so well-written, that I HAVE to read the next book, there is no choice here. ...more

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