Reviews with content warning for Death - Une braise sous la cendre

This was an unoriginal, poorly written book. To start, the world-building was extremely lacking with names that felt like placeholders the author forgot to change ("The Empire", "the Resistance", "Masks" for the bad guys who wear masks). There were "factions", which gave me 2010s YA dystopian vibes, in a bad way. These factions were just "Martials" (read: evil) vs "Scholars (read: good), plus some Tribesmen (?). The only history we get of the world they live in comes during a single conversation about 60-70% through the book. There were jinn and other fantastical creatures that barely got any page time and were hardly a threat at all. There was a random group of somewhat religion-coded immortal mind-readers that were evil Martial "bad guys" until they randomly decided for some moments that they wanted to help the "good guys". I could not figure out their purpose in this book at all.

I put "bad guys" and "good guys" in quotes because it was abundantly clear who is meant to be good and bad, there is no moral grayness here whatsoever. The bad guys are so incredibly bad that they weren't even scary, because I was rolling my eyes at their mustache-twirling, over the top antics. The author heavily relied on shock factor for her character development and world building. Why make a morally gray character when you can just have her beat a 10 year old to death (not a spoiler, it happens in the beginning)? Why make an complex political background when you can just have the entire story take place at a school that raises children to be murderers/torturers/rapists?

All the characters are extremely flat, which made it annoying to be in their heads because they only had 1-2 topics of thought each. And we had the pleasure of having not one but TWO unbelievable love triangles, one for each main character we were stuck with! There was absolutely no grounds for their interest in each other besides some eye contact (with the exception of one side of one love triangle).

I haven't even gotten to the plot yet, but there's not much to say besides it was predictable and boring. Then again, it's hard to have a good plot with no world-building or character development to build on. The main plot was meant to be about Laia spying in the school and Elias going through trials to become emperor, but the trials were all pretty short and unsurprising, and Laia's spying attempts left much to be desired.

I imagine the remaining books will expand on the love triangles and the world will expand too. I went into this book planning on reading the entire series, but for my sanity, I will not be continuing. I gave it 2 instead of 1 stars just because it was readable and that's a somewhat redeemable quality. Also, as annoying as Laia was, it was nice to have a heroine in YA fantasy who was not a bad-ass, fearless assassin from the jump. If I had read this 10 years ago I probably would have eaten it up.

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luckykosmos's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Late to these books, but I appreciate how Tahir doesn't shy away from the brutal reality of this society while making it exciting for a YA audience to dive in.

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otterforce's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book is a bit more graphic than my usual reads. There are some serious streaks of violence and sadism. If you’re concerned, check out the first chapter and know that it’s kind of light compared to what’s to come.

The story and characters are both strong though and the very bad guys doing very bad (and sometimes graphic) things never feels gratuitous. It often reinforces the tension and stakes or serves the story. There’s are so many good people to offset the bad. I wouldn’t say the story is hopeful, but it’s also not overly bleak or dark.

I can’t wait to see how this series unfolds in later books.

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jae_28's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I don’t even know where to start with this one. My first impression from seeing the publishing year alone told me this was going to be good. It was EXCELLENT! Right off the bat, it felt like being dropped into a world of chaos and following the characters around, getting acquainted with everything and everyone. I love how the author built the world around the events and didn’t dump it all in the first chapter, it hooks you into the story and makes you want to know more about the systems and lore.

The amount of suspense, anger, and stress I went through reading this was actually amazing. The story was unpredictable and brutal. Several times I had to take a break to give the characters a moment because the plot didn’t let them experience a moment’s peace. I loved the conflict that kept the characters moving forward and I loved their development and growth. I also liked the pacing; things kept happening but it all felt cohesive and necessary to the storytelling—it made it all the more complex. Even though the events made me mad, Tahir absolutely gagged me. The only thing I wished was that we got more of Helene’s and Elias’s background as best friends throughout the book. Like flashbacks\mentions of things they used to do together because their connection felt more like work friends who had each other's backs more than anything.

I already have the second book lined up and after reading the preview at the end of the book, I’m so ready!

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