Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Une braise sous la cendre by Sabaa Tahir

52 reviews

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I had heard this book was rather popular, so I was cautiously optimistic as I’ve found my agreement with the masses about the quality of popular books is on and off. I think my cautious optimism is what kept this book at 2 stars, because I wasn’t wildly disappointed when I found some parts lacking.

I think the book started strong and I loved how everything felt and was conveyed, but it was more the middle and ending I had some issue/fell off. I think some of the issues I had later in the book were also foreshadowed by issues I had at the start, though at the time they were minor.

To start for what I liked. The beginning from Laia’s POV was very strong and didn’t have an overly long info dump of an introduction which I appreciated. It treated the reader like they were intelligent and let them infer a lot about the world and what’s happening. I also liked that Laia was just a very normal girl, I’ve read a lot of YA fantasy books where the MC is Extremely Special And Different and while not a bad thing it’s nice to see the variety. I thought the setup with the resistance was interesting and liked their internal politics and struggles, it felt very realistic and indicative of what we could expect from Laia’s plot line. I really liked the writing style, especially in describing characters and setting the scene. I also thought the author did a good job in establishing relationships and dynamics between characters. The Commandant was perfectly established as a frightening figure in the book and I liked the way her dynamic with Laia and Elias was so quickly established. Laia’s POV was easily the best written in my opinion, I was always interested in what was happening with her and her development. I think this is where the author’s skill in building tension and unease especially shines. I also found the world building fascinating and was always eager to learn more.

However, there were plenty of things I disliked as well. I personally found Elias’ whole thing rather boring and inconsistent. I especially hated the wag femininity and religion was treated in his chapters, especially regarding his alleged best friend Helene. I noted several times he was upset with her for being feminine/a heterosexual girl in general and at least one instance of him calling her stupid for being dedicated to the religion she had been raised in. I also found issues with showing vs telling with Helene. The book told us over and over again how strong she was and how much better she was than Elias, but was also so frequently damseled across his chapters, it was a bit of a let down. The trials too felt very repetitive with them all being combat, I’ve read other books that took place in trial-based settings and felt that each trial was unique and brought something new to the table in a way I felt this was just lacking. While each trial WAS different, it just got old after a while. There was just also a general feeling of inconsistency and plenty of times I thought that characters weren’t allowed to linger in their emotions for long enough. The romances too I generally found a bit flat and frustrating.

Overall I think it has a lot of potential and is interesting, but found it was dragged down in a few key ways, especially with Elias and his POV (which isn’t ideal for a duel POV book or having 2 MCs.)

Outside of that I thought that audiobook narrators were great and loved their performances.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Minor: Rape

_alyssar_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

justapasser's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad fast-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

princessrory's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Medical content

emmakhend's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

An Ember in the Ashes is one of my favorite YA fantasy books of all time. I’ve reread this book quite a few times and I never get bored with it. The world-building and characters are fantastic and loveable. The conflict throughout the series is gripping and engaging. Sabaa Tahir has an amazing writing style and portrays emotions and plot effortlessly.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

what_karla_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

esconce's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I have read this whole series but just wanted to write my final reviews, the characters in this book definitely get better as the story and series as a whole progresses. I personally really disliked Helene in the beginning but over time she became my favorite character by the end of the series. It definitely has a couple “Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire” sort of moments, but it deals with a surprising amount of classism racism and more that honestly just fits really well. The world building is just top tier and Keenan stays as one of my favorite characters from the beginning to the end. :D 9/10 would read again

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Slavery, Violence, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual harassment

takarakei's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

If you like books where no one is who they say they are and you don't know who you can trust... this is it! It's very dark, honestly I am surprised this is labeled as YA. Besides it following young adults and them all being horny teenagers, the subject matter that this deals with is very adult (see TW). I really enjoyed the dual POVs, world building, and the mysterious qualities. It is very attention grabbing and interesting right from the get-go, and it was a very unique concept. I can feel a much more intriguing plot line to come in the rest of the series...

You have a soul. It's damaged, but it's there. Don't let them take it from you...

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Grief, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

This is an extremely dark book hence the long list of TW Rape/SA - there is none graphic on page, but rape is referred to a lot (seems to be common occurrence in this world) and

a main character nearly is raped on page

shalladin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

darlinglu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This was a suprisingly fast-paced book and got me out of my reading slump.

First, I did not expect this book to be dark and I'm not sure if this would be even considered YA given it doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to sensitive topics. 
I like both Laia and Elias as characters. I appreciate that Laia, as a character, has insecurities and fears that she wants to surpass through the book. I am hoping for more character development for them, as well as Helene. While I think there is good in her, I believe she mostly only helped Laia because of Elias.

In terms of plot, I think it'll expand more in the next plot, however, a lot of things have aleready happened, there are stoll some unanswered questions.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War