Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

45 reviews

katrinarose's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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? Yes

2.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Sexism, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Pregnancy

otterforce's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Abortion

Minor: Suicide

apple_atcha_reading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, 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

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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

theresamothinmyroom's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol

tabookish's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

jeyjeyyy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? No

4.5

SO GOOD!!! I HAVENT BEEN SO INVESTED IN A SERIES SINCE SIX OF CROWS

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

mikasana's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

Slow in the beginning but it picks up a bit and then goes full speed towards the end.

Honestly, the storytelling was perfect. I got really attached to Laia and Elias and their character arcs. And the villains?? Black hearted killers who couldn’t have been written any better (

shout out to mummy dearest

). 

The weight and finality of all the injustices this world festered really just slapped you in the face over and over as the pages went by. The tension from it burned me and had me fully entranced just hoping some good would prevail.

However, if you are looking at this first book expecting romance, look away. The two main characters don’t truly get to know each other in this book and spend much of their time apart. In fact most of the “romance” that exists is spent on

the giant love square (yes, not triangle) between the two main characters and their wooed side pieces. I find love triangles, or any semblance of them, completely unnecessary and distracting. It dampens the potential of the main relationship every single time.

Irritating.

This actually would have been a lower rating due to how irritated I was by the

love square

but that ending? A chef’s kiss. Perfection.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Rape, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and War

crybabybea's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

A good YA dystopian-ish scifi-ish fantasy-ish romance-ish read! I appreciated the unique setting based on West Asia and the inclusion of Arabic mythology. At first, I wasn't super into the story because it felt very typically YA to me, especially the info-dumpiness of the beginning, and I was expecting more immediate fantasy. The fantasy elements are subtle and the overall story leans more toward sci-fi/dystopia. Because of this the world-building doesn't feel as complex as I would like, and a lot of the settings don't feel fully fleshed out.

I had my doubts about the characters but I ended up liking the main characters for their individual arcs, especially Laia. I wish the side characters got more attention and felt more fully developed.

I was pleasantly surprised at the complexity of the themes explored and the story beats. I wasn't expecting anything crazy from YA but this book was very dark and the author made some crazy choices that really flipped the typical YA experience on its head. Of course it had its tropey moments but I enjoyed the story a lot and found it compelling. 

Definitely a page-turner, an intriguing thriller of a story with unique, subtle fantasy elements to get lost in for a few days.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

abby_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

I enjoyed this book. I liked the worldbuilding. The characters were good and I liked their relationships. I struggled with the writing style of alternating first person POV in the present tense. The plot was good though a little predictable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, and Murder