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

Sabaa Tahir

Start date: May 22, 2015

Finish date: May 31, 2015

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What Members Thought

Feb 26, 2019 Michelle rated it liked it

Shelves: calibre, reviewed, dystopian, romance, science-fiction, fantasy, young-adult, military, audiobook, choice-awards-2015

I am so torn on what to rate this book! I landed on 3 stars but it was really 3.5 I think I might have hyped it too much in my mind. This might be the kind of book that needs a second read through for me to fall in love.

I liked Laia, but she was a bit of a wilting flower, always comparing herself to her mother. Who, quite honestly, sounds terrible to me. I loved Elias, and I was a pretty big fan of Heline's as well. Laia did redeem herself by the end, and I will definitely read book 2, but I was ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

May 24, 2017 Wendy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-reads, recommendations

One of my 6th grade students (Jordan) is reading this series and recommends it.
I have to admit that this was a quick read with nonstop action that kept the pages turning. Laia is a likeable character, but I just didn't fully believe some of the actions that were attibuted to her. She was portrayed as being protected by her brother and family early in the novel, but then she becomes some super secret spy for the revolution - outsmarting the leaders. The characters of Elias and Helene were more in ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 13, 2016 jodiel86 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: active-series, genre-ya, genre-fantasy, genre-romance, on-my-bookshelf

Read - January 2016
Re Read - August 2016

See more reviews at Words Read & Written

Why I picked it up:

This book was pretty much everywhere in 2015. It has some amazing reviews and is up the top of the most popular books in 2015 on GoodReads, so I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

My Thoughts:

An Ember in the Ashes could quite possibly be the most blood-thirsty novel I've ever read. There was so much violence and torture going on. The author certainly takes her characters to hell and back - ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 12, 2015 Deborah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: adventure, politics, fantasy, romance, magic, mystery, loyalty, demons, character-development-gem, abuse

I adored this book--the structure, the language, the complexity of characters, the uncomfortable questions it raised, and the world building.

Chapters alternate between Laia and Elias, their genuine voices ring strong and compelling. From the start we see Laia is not the typical Genius/Ninja/Sarcastic teen. "My big brother reaches home in the dark hours before dawn, when even ghosts take their rest. He smells of steel and coal and forge. He smells of the enemy." The lyrical insight perfectly ori ...more

1 like · Like · see review