An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir - 4 stars

[Barbara M]

I liked this enough to want to read the next in the series. This is a YA book, probably for older teens. The female character Laia is 17 years old, and the male character, Elias, is 19 or 20. There is talk of women of ill-repute down by the docks and some of the soldiers sneak out there. There is talk of physical closeness but nothing descriptive, just the emotions experienced by the characters, in a kiss or embrace. There are incidents of reported rape, an attack that could have led to rape, that are mentioned a couple of times.

The story is from both of those main characters points-of-view with alternating chapters. The chapter sharing is very well done - not always the case in some books. All of the characters are well-done I thought. The "world-building" was also well-done, very clever and easy to follow. This could be set in some ancient time and many of the names seem to be Romanesque. The relationships between the characters is believable and sometimes quite cruel. I feel that a young reader would see the difference between good and evil easily and understand the moral dilemma the characters are facing.

This is a little bit Hunger Games in the amount of violence through the book. Like Hunger Games, there are many difficult moral choices and that is done very well here. Although a YA book, I enjoyed it and I'm much older with YA grandchildren! Another year and I'll probably recommend it to my oldest.

[Jennifer]

I'm looking forward to the next one too. I thought it was a little more complex than the Hunger Games.

[Nicole R]

I also thought it was a bit more complex/mature than Hunger Games. But I do see some of the similarities in the consequences of actions, the level of violence, etc.

I will definitley be getting the second one as soon as it comes out!

I can't seem to figure out though, is the next book a true sequel? As in it will wrap up the story? Trilogies seem all the rage today but the word sequel is specifically applied in this case instead of book two.

[Tricia]

I loved this book. I agree that the feel of The Hunger Games is present - so is the feel of Harry Potter (Goblet of Fire, specifically), Game of Thrones, ancient Rome - Gladiators, even some Stephen King. I feel like this author has read a LOT of fantasy. However, it didn't seem to be a copy of any of this....if that makes sense?

Read easily like a YA book but liked the complexity of the challenges presented. Not cut and dry, not wrapped up and tied in a nice little ribbon. Tough choices w/ tough outcomes.

[Denizen]

I enjoyed this book but, OMG, the love triangle aspect (a square, actually, in this book) was a bit much. I listened to the book and, I swear, one of the "who do I like? Why do I have these feelings?" scenes went on for about 30-45 minutes. I seriously thought about dropping the book. When it comes to wallowing in their emotions, Laia and Elias made Katniss look like a rookie.

[Nicole R]

Denizen wrote: "I enjoyed this book but, OMG, the love triangle aspect (a square, actually, in this book) was a bit much. I listened to the book and, I swear, one of the "who do I like? Why do I have these feeling..."

Hahaha! They did make Katniss look like a rookie. And it was definitely more of a love square.

[Jennifer]

I read somewhere that got her inspiration from a true event of some violent act against a woman. But clearly I've totally forgotten the details...

[Barbara M]

Jennifer wrote: "I'm looking forward to the next one too. I thought it was a little more complex than the Hunger Games."

I wasn't really comparing to Hunger Games! Only about the level of violence in the two. Between the beatings the moral dilemma of the responsibility forced on a young person to choose between life or killing.

[Jennifer]

I think the "challenge" at the end was very similar to the Hunger Games and the uprising aspect.