I was enraptured from the beginning. I liked the alternating POVs, they told such different stories that wove into each other. The whole structure and world-building of the Empire, the Scholars, Blackcliff, the Resistance, was really interesting. Holy wow, this book was brutal! So much violence. And so many layers of deceit. This is definitely not a standalone book. And I cannot wait for the sequel! That's the disadvantage of reading a really good book that hasn't been released yet! Plus the cover is beautiful!

So I have heard fantastic things about this book and it has been in my TBR pile for some time. Therefore when I heard that this was the March book of the month for my book club, I was excited to pick it up. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed overall. A lot of the people in my book club really liked it but I just didn’t really get into it. I felt that it was very slow in the beginning and I was expecting more interactions between Elias and Laia; yet there was literally two or three interactions between them until probably the last quarter of the book. Then suddenly, they had developed feelings for each other to the point that Elias was willing to sacrifice himself for Laia. It just seemed so unrealistic.

I’m also not a huge fan of the two main characters – Elias and Laia. Even though Laia was depicted as a free woman previously and had “a straight back” and other characteristics that seemed to separate herself from other slaves, I still found her timid and weak. People considered her brave yet she was only doing what she was doing because of her guilt for her brother. And Elias – I thought he was a complicated boy. I liked his premise – trying to become free from becoming a Mask and trying to help people rather than slaughter and rape them. However, I didn’t really like the execution of his character. He kept going back and forth about his feelings for his best friend, Helene, and he was attracted to Laia without actually knowing her. He wanted to escape yet didn’t do it because he was convinced otherwise by the psychic men (the Augurs). I just didn’t like how he seemed so uncertain about things and remained uncertain until the end of the book.

The romance between the two of them seemed somewhat forced to me. Since there was little to no interaction between the two of them, I didn’t really understand how any budding romance can be formed. Actually the only relationship that seemed natural was between Elias and Helene because they’ve known each other most of their lives and trust each other with their lives. That kind of relationship is something I can actually back. Then there was that relationship between Keenan and Laia which also seemed incredibly forced. He hated her at first then the second time they meet, he starts liking her. It literally made zero sense to me.

The only reason why I’m interested in reading the second book because I want to see how Laia and Elias’ relationship will grow now that they are officially going on a road trip. And I’m also interested in the magical/paranormal aspect of the book. That was also something that bothered me – there was little to no mention about anything magical in the book until the last quarter when suddenly, there were jinn and magical abilities. I wish that was something that was introduced gradually rather than suddenly thrust into your face.

Overall, not really sure what the hype is for this book but I’m really hoping that the second will be a lot better. Plus I’m really hoping that Helene will have her own POV – I think that will be something really interesting.

This has definetely picked my interest. To be honest, I was very hesitant to pick this book up because the hype surrounding it was too much and I was afriad it would be too dense or have too many descriptions for me to actully enjoy it or care about what was happening. This sneak peek sets the tone of the book and already gives the reader a view of what the full book has to offer. It does seem to be quite an interesting ride, but a dark andd intriguing one with a lot of twists and great characters.

I keep on meaning to read the rest of this and the sequels, it was a good start to a young adult dystopian fantasy.

I cannot wait to read this entire book. I purchased the full book and I am so excited to read it. I have heard nothing but good things about An Ember in the Ashes.

This is a sample valley so I can’t say much more han the fact that it got men interested in continuing on reading the story.

Test review on behalf of the NetGalley team. Please disregard.

I thought this preview was great. It grabbed my attention almost immediately, which is hard to do. I can't wait to read the rest of the book and find out what happened.

EDIT 04. 05. 2015
I have one big big problem with this book. It's not a first book in the series.

WTH is wrong with the author?? She said that maybe one day she will write more about the characters. Don't get me wrong. I liked the book enough to gave it 4 stars under one condition.... If I knew from the beginning that's it's a part of the series. I knew that the ending was open, I read some reviews but I thought "i am okay with open ends." I have no problem with open ends, i've rad them before, i even like them sometimes. But, dear author, there is a difference between an OPEN END and a NOT FINISHED BOOK. This book is not finished. There are too many unanswered questions and the end is just....joke. I thought that it's a joke. And still there is no promise of the 2. book.

I was so disappointed that I wanted to give it 1 or 2 stars, then changed my mind, because the plot is quite interesting. But I couldn't connect with the characters and there wasn't much suspense or romance there either. Big expectations , big disappointment.




3,5 stars

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir introduces Laia and her brother Darin, who both live with their grandparents. When the Empire raids their home, Darin runs and instructs Laia to hide his sketchbook. They’re both caught and taken back inside to watch their grandparents lose their lives. Elias is introduced next. He’s a soldier of the Empire, known as a Mask. Masks are skilled soldiers and trained killers. Elias watches with the rest of the Masks as a deserter is whipped to death by the Commandant. This sickens him because he’s planning on deserting also and he thinks that he will be the next to die at the hands of the Commandant. The Commandant is Elias’ mother and she holds nothing but hatred for her son. The story alternates between Laia and Elias and suspense flows throughout the entire book, each section ending on a cliffhanger. Laia enters the Empire as the Commandant’s slave and as a spy for the resistance, in exchange for helping Darin. A new era is upon the Empire and The Trials have been set and will challenge four Masks, only two will survive and one of them will be the new Emperor. Relationships grow more complicated for both Laia and Elias and the struggle for their lives becomes more desperate. This rollercoaster of a story keeps the suspense heightened to the very last page! 5 well-deserved stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!

This was definitely one of the more interesting sneak peaks I've read for a book. It was only a tiny snippet of the book and yet it managed to draw me in.

Amazing sneak peek, really looking forward to reading the whole book!!

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

I guess I forgot to leave my review of the excerpt. So I'll leave a full review here instead. I ended up buying the book and LOVED it!!

This was a bold, exciting, intriguing, romance debut for Sabaa Tahir. It captivated me from the very first page! She did a great job world building. I loved how it was Ancient Rome inspired. I was able to visualize the scenes and characters, so well done Sabaa!!

Je devais lire depuis un moment déjà Une braise sous la cendre en VO (An Ember in the Ashes) par le biais de Netgalley. Mais la version que j'ai reçu était loin d'être complète. Il y avait seulement le tout début de l'intrigue. J'ai donc du continuer ma lecture en français.

Une braise sous la cendre est un roman qui a fait beaucoup parlé de lui sur la blogo. J'avais flashé sur sa belle couverture, sans vraiment trop savoir si l'intrigue allait ou non me plaire. Durant la lecture, j'ai eu le plaisir de découvrir que cette histoire me convenait bien. Le côté fantasy, dont je ne suis habituellement pas trop fan ne m'a pas du tout dérangé. L'univers est propre à l'histoire sans toutefois que je le trouve extrêmement original car les ficelles du roman YA classique sont bien visibles.

Dans ce roman, nous suivons deux personnages dont les points de vue s'alternent. Laia, qui devient esclave et Elias, un soldat de l'empire. J'ai autant aimé l'un que l'autre !

La lecture est rapide et quasiment additive ! On se laisse prendre au jeu et on a toujours envie de lire "encore un chapitre". Malgré tout, j'ai trouvé que l'intrigue était un peu trop rapidement déroulée (mais cela a au moins le mérite de ne pas barber le lecteur). Je lirai le second tome avec plaisir, je ne peux pas en rester là !

Concernant la VO, je ne peux pas réellement vous donner mon avis là dessus. D'après ce que j'ai pu voir des premières pages, l'intrigue globale n'est pas vraiment difficile à comprendre. Pour la compréhension en profondeur, certains termes changent un peu de ce que j'ai déjà pu lire. Ce n'est pas le YA le plus facile à lire mais il ne me semble pas insurmontable.

This book was SO good and I can't believe I didn't pick up this book sooner.
It was very hyped up when it came out. I thought I would be disappointed because I had extremely high expectations, but I'm so happy it surpassed my expectations - this book was incredible! Sabaa Tahir's writing is impecable, the way she describes the world makes you feel like you are there with the characters. I also loved the alternating chapters, seeing things from both characters point of view definitely brought more to story and even though they were complete opposites, I felt scared/happy/sad for both just the same.

This book had so many amazing parts, there was never a dull moment, but my favourite scenes were definitely those where Elias interacted with Laia. I just found Elias to be so sweet, especially in such a harsh and cruel surrounding. As for my least favourite character I don't think I could say, there were so many of them - the Commander is probably up there on my list of most cruel, but I think she may have an interesting back-story about Elias' father that may explain why she hates him so much, maybe we'll learn more in book 2.

Moreover, I enjoyed this book so much I read it as part of my own Bookclub group I run on Goodreads (Read with Tessa - linked below) and I can't wait to pick up the sequel. 100% would recommend to every YA fiction lover!

Only an excerpt so no review, but enjoyed the excerpt and will be looking into getting a full copy.

This book sounds so good! I'll have to get my hands on a copy!

I love, love, love this story! I have already read this entire book and the second one. I can't wait for the following stories to be written.

I'm so glad I read this sneak peek of An ember in the Ashes. It inspired me to pick up a hard copy, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and suggest it to anyone looking for a fun, exciting read.