Reviews tagging 'War'

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

50 reviews

bittennailbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

What the hell was in this book?! This has to be the most sickening romantacy I have ever read in my life [positive].

Thumbs up: I was surprised to read that it took folks awhile to get into the story because I felt this one knocked me to the ground and dragged me through every brutal chapter like a spider monkey.  This book is so bloody and ruthless that you forget it is a YA novel. The torture, SA threats, and enslavement is definitely enough to turn your stomach. That being said, the writing was very accessible which made it quick to burn my eyeball nerves speed reading because I was terrible engrossed in this story. A new favorite on my shelf for sure.

Thumbs down: I don't have much in terms of criticism for this one.  Just make sure you check out the content before diving in [a lot of threats of rape but nothing on page]

Was it a nail biter? When I literally have to cover the bottom half of the page so I stop reading ahead due to my stomach dropping anxiety for these characters? I'm surprised I have fingers left. 4.75/5.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Confinement

Moderate: Trafficking, Hate crime, and War

fionamatilda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, War, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia

tea_leaves's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death of parent, Death, Violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Abandonment, and Torture

Minor: Pregnancy, War, Alcohol, Child death, and Abortion

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

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Content Warnings

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

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

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.

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Content Warnings

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

luuley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Sexual harassment, Death, Violence, Abandonment, Grief, Child death, Sexual assault, Genocide, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and War

Minor: Rape and Suicide

jennabenna's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.75

This was a good first book in the series. The world, main characters, and conflict are set up well. I found the slow pace if Laia's personal growth to be frustrating, and Elias to be a little too "perfect". I didnt love the dumb choices the characters (especially Laia) kept making. But  I am optimistic for continued growth from the characters, so I cant wait to read the next two books now that the plot has really gotten going! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Slavery and Genocide

Minor: War, Rape, and Murder

charlizardbookboi17's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Slavery, Abandonment, Torture, War, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Grief

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

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Sexual harassment

takarakei's review

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...

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

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

Spoiler

a main character nearly is raped on page