“An Ember in the Ashes” is Delightfully Action Packed

“Everything here is blood and violence.”

This book contained just about every YA cliché possible:

- Love triangle/sqaure
- Prophecy with the main character being “the chosen one”
- World ruled by an evil, controlling government
- Secret group of rebel outcasts
- Mission to save the main character’s sibling

Despite all of these overused ideas that were bound to result in another mediocre YA book, Sabaa Tahir totally made everything work.

The plot that’s been written a million times before in other young adult books wasn’t cheesy, but suspenseful to the point of having me on the edge of my seat. I became absorbed in the story from the very first page.

The romance between Laia and Elias was well-written and believable. It built up steadily as they slowly began to trust each other. I surprisingly enjoyed the complicated relationship between Elias and his best friend Helene, too. Man, that girl had some serious issues she needed to work out.

“I saw how you looked at her. That day when she brought us to the Commandant’s house before the Trial of Courage. Like she was water and you were just dying of thirst.”

As for the writing, Sabaa Tahir is seriously talented. This book is extremely fast-paced and the harsh, quick writing style accentuated the cold, ruthless plot perfectly.

I loved the concept of a fantasy world based on Ancient Rome. It was completely awesome and the descriptions of soldiers, or “Masks,” raiding people’s homes and terrorizing citizens was just plain scary.

The Commandant was an extremely well-written and complex villain. You know how in a lot of books the bad guy (or lady, in this case) always threatens the main character, but you never take them seriously because you know they’re all talk and nothing will actually come of it?

The Commandant made good on every single threat she uttered. I kept thinking, “Surely someone’s going to barge in the door and save them at the last moment . . . ?” when the Commandant was torturing one of her innocent slaves. Nope. Her acts of cruelty stretched to the extreme, and her persona was a completely merciless, cold-blooded killer. She terrified me.

This book gave me chills and practically had me hopping up and down from excitement. I recommend it to anyone in the mood for an epic, bloody, and brutal story.