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marlene_suntie_helton's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War
bluerskies's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I liked the author’s writing style and storytelling. Unfortunately, I found the female main character, Laia to be annoyingly naive. It’s still worth the read for the world-building and the plot. I’m sure I’ll read this again and maybe Laia will be less annoying the second time around??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Police brutality, and Classism
Moderate: Abandonment and Sexual harassment
kayceeisbookish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A riveting edge-of-my-seat book from start to finish. This book was intense and hit the feels HARD. Like EMOTIONAL DAMAGE. So excited to dive into book 2
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
taytummcadams's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
roseandivy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
okay so. i really wanted to love this book. i really did. i'd heard so many good things about it from so many people that i was sure coming in that this would be a 3.5 or higher. unfortunately, there were a myriad of things that i absolutely couldn't stand.
the first was elias as a character. listen, i like a morally gray mc, i like complicated people, i like characters rebelling against the systems they were raised in, but everything about this man fell so flat for me. he was boring, and the attempts at making him seem complicated were lackluster, and i couldn't buy the fact that despite being raised in blackcliff for the majority of his life, he somehow clung to the values he was taught as a five year old and became the sole mask to want to oppose the empire. he felt stilted and unrealistic, and i couldn't stand the way he talked about both laia and helene. his constant objectification of the both of them (especially when laia was enslaved) grossed me out so much,as well as his insistence upon "protecting" helene from marcus by having his classmates follow her, and acting like he knew better than her when she told him to stop . he's posited as the "good" man, but i feel like he still falls into the same misogyny as all the other male characters, just in less violent way, which would make sense if we had an arc of him unlearning the misogyny he's been taught, but his actions aren't ever really recognized as wrong or something he needs to change, just part of his "protective: and "dominant" character.
which leads me into the handling of misogyny and rape in this book. it feels like rape is used as a plot device or for shock value so much. every other chapter one of the female characters is being threatened with rape, or is scared of being raped, or a male character is joking about rape. as a survivor i think having depictions of and discussions of rape culture in books is important, but this felt less like a genuine attempt to engage with the weight of rape as an atrocity and more like the author was just using it as a tool to demonstrate that certain people were villains, and the fact that this is a young adult novel just makes it more uncomfortable. i certainly could've done with mature and meaningful discussions of rape in books as a child and teen, given that that aligned with my experience, but i've seen this book recommended as for ages 12+, and i think reading this book that young would've been more damaging than helpful for me.
there are a lot of other things in this book i could critique-- the one-dimensional villains, the fact that i found laia so boring, the lack of care given to the inclusion of magical elements (so many things just come out of absolutely nowhere with no warning or explanation seemingly just because it's convenient, especiallyhelene's magical singing )-- but the one thing i did like was helene herself. i've seen mixed opinions on her amongst various people who've read this book, but i actually found her far more nuanced and interesting than i ever found elias or laia, given her unique position within blackcliff as the only female mask. if the two main characters had been helene and laia (with or without the romance component) i would've been much more excited to see their interactions and watch the two of their stories intertwine, as well as the arc helene would've gotten.
unfortunately, my love for helene only made the end of this book even more disappointing.i cannot stand how illogical and ridiculous elias' decision during the final trial was-- if he's motivated by a desire to minimize the damage the empire does, wouldn't it make more sense to ensure that he or helene won, therefore giving him a chance to enact change? wouldn't letting helene kill laia and then going on to save the rest of the scholars from further brutality and oppression be more in line with his goals? why does he condemn his lifelong best friend to servitude to a man who's threatened to rape her multiple times in order to save a girl he's known for a fraction of that time? wouldn't letting marcus become emperor and continue to slaughter thousands of scholars be doing far more damage than sacrificing one life for the sake of an entire population? throughout the entire book, helene is presented as an accessory to elias, there to support him rather than to have her own autonomy or wants and goals-- her being in love with him really only hammers this in. and why can we never have a man and a woman be best friends without one of them being in love or wanting to have sex with the other? i found this so incredibly frustrating, because it felt like such a waste of a character with so much potential.
overall, very disappointed, but it gets one star for helene. i considered reading the next book just to get her pov, and i might still do it, but at the moment it doesn't seem worth my time.
edit: i forgot laia is seventeen and elias is 20. yikes.
the first was elias as a character. listen, i like a morally gray mc, i like complicated people, i like characters rebelling against the systems they were raised in, but everything about this man fell so flat for me. he was boring, and the attempts at making him seem complicated were lackluster, and i couldn't buy the fact that despite being raised in blackcliff for the majority of his life, he somehow clung to the values he was taught as a five year old and became the sole mask to want to oppose the empire. he felt stilted and unrealistic, and i couldn't stand the way he talked about both laia and helene. his constant objectification of the both of them (especially when laia was enslaved) grossed me out so much,
which leads me into the handling of misogyny and rape in this book. it feels like rape is used as a plot device or for shock value so much. every other chapter one of the female characters is being threatened with rape, or is scared of being raped, or a male character is joking about rape. as a survivor i think having depictions of and discussions of rape culture in books is important, but this felt less like a genuine attempt to engage with the weight of rape as an atrocity and more like the author was just using it as a tool to demonstrate that certain people were villains, and the fact that this is a young adult novel just makes it more uncomfortable. i certainly could've done with mature and meaningful discussions of rape in books as a child and teen, given that that aligned with my experience, but i've seen this book recommended as for ages 12+, and i think reading this book that young would've been more damaging than helpful for me.
there are a lot of other things in this book i could critique-- the one-dimensional villains, the fact that i found laia so boring, the lack of care given to the inclusion of magical elements (so many things just come out of absolutely nowhere with no warning or explanation seemingly just because it's convenient, especially
unfortunately, my love for helene only made the end of this book even more disappointing.
overall, very disappointed, but it gets one star for helene. i considered reading the next book just to get her pov, and i might still do it, but at the moment it doesn't seem worth my time.
edit: i forgot laia is seventeen and elias is 20. yikes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia
emilywemily6's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? No
5.0
Wow. Just wow… this book was a lot emotionally. I found myself so invested that I couldn’t look away even if I was so scared for the fates of these characters. There are high stakes all over the place!! The writing is beautiful, the characters are dynamic and nuanced, and I just want more. While classified as a YA fantasy, it wasn’t written with immature characters or simplistic writing. Even if it was put in the adult section, I would still give this five stars. I cannot start the next book fast enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, and Pregnancy
chocolatechump's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Murder
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
again the issue might really just be that I'm a hater but there is something wrong if rape threats are making me roll my eyes. bad writing, unclear worldbuilding, flat characters, terrible love square that overwhelms the actual (thin in and of itself) main plot, sexual violence as a constant random unaddressed plot device given nowhere near its appropriate weight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Rape, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Suicide, Abortion, and Abandonment
maddie_rae_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
✨YA Fantasy Book Review✨
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
This series has been on my TBR for a few years now, and they keep staring at me from the shelf, so I FINALLY jumped in. I alternated between the physical book and the audiobook through my library on the Libby app. Let me just say-I am so glad I did!
This is a YA Fantasy set in a brutal world of militant rule and subservient scholars. We follow the POVs of a rebel daughter Laia as she fights to save her brother, and a graduating Silver marshal Elias as he discovers the world is not as it seems. Who do you trust?
I like that the POVs are of two people from very different backgrounds. It allowed different aspects of the world to be built up in a natural way without heavy monologuing and gave the story a fuller perspective of the world. The extended relationships sometimes felt superficial, but the immediate relationships built nicely. Dialogue was pertinent and definitely added to the current mood of the story-frustrating, happy, worrisome, etc. while also moving the story along.
Since it’s the first in a 4-book series, there are a lot of unanswered questions and it ends on a fabulous cliffhanger.
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
This series has been on my TBR for a few years now, and they keep staring at me from the shelf, so I FINALLY jumped in. I alternated between the physical book and the audiobook through my library on the Libby app. Let me just say-I am so glad I did!
This is a YA Fantasy set in a brutal world of militant rule and subservient scholars. We follow the POVs of a rebel daughter Laia as she fights to save her brother, and a graduating Silver marshal Elias as he discovers the world is not as it seems. Who do you trust?
I like that the POVs are of two people from very different backgrounds. It allowed different aspects of the world to be built up in a natural way without heavy monologuing and gave the story a fuller perspective of the world. The extended relationships sometimes felt superficial, but the immediate relationships built nicely. Dialogue was pertinent and definitely added to the current mood of the story-frustrating, happy, worrisome, etc. while also moving the story along.
Since it’s the first in a 4-book series, there are a lot of unanswered questions and it ends on a fabulous cliffhanger.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
kdsmoove's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Death of parent