An Ember in the Ashes

Maybe more of a 4.5 but I'm rounding up.

I've honestly been putting off this series for more than two years now (actually since I started blogging probably) because despite hearing great things about it, I've also heard it's intense and all the fans always say it involves a lot of tears. And I just wasn't ready to invest my time in another tear jerking intense world. But I finally decided to dive in and maybe I regret not reading it earlier, but I also think it found me at the perfect time.

If I have to choose a few words to describe the plot of this book, they would be fast paced, engaging and unputdownable. I just picked up the book on a whim and before I even realized, I was halfway done and then I went on to finish in a couple more hours. The story is very intense, the world is brutal, and I spent every chapter quite scared about what was gonna happen next. The author manages to create this very bleak atmosphere where there's very less hope, but I just clung to some glimmers of it, wishing it paid off. And wow it was totally worth it.

Laia is such a naive and sheltered character and it broke my heart to see how scared and confused she was a lot of the time, unsure of whom to trust and not knowing if she will survive but still not losing her focus on saving her brother. I admired her for keeping her wits about her even in such dire circumstances, but it was definitely towards the end that I realized there's so much more potential for her to be an awesome character.

Elias is a tortured soul and it was interesting to see him feel conflicted every step of the way. I still don't think he tried enough to do the right thing, but hopefully he'll get more opportunities to do that in the later books. And whatever problems I may have had with his character in usual times, I flew through the book so fast that I frankly didn't notice. I just found him quite sympathetic. I'm also not yet all in for the romance between both of them but I can see there is a bond and I'm definitely excited to see more conversations between them.

Helene is definitely the most fascinating character in this book but I'm not in her fan club yet. She is extremely capable and probably has had to be the best to achieve her position, and she is completely loyal to the causes (and persons) she believes in - which are highly admirable qualities - but she also has a ruthless streak and I'm much more interested to see where the author decides to take her character. But one thing I have to say, no one really treats her well and she totally deserves to punish them all for their atrocious behaviors.

There is also quite an ensemble of smaller characters and I have to commend the author because I remember most of them long after I finished the book, and that happens very less these days. What made it more interesting is that I could never guess the exact motivations of many of these side characters and while we do get some surprising reveals, I'm sure we'll get more. But my favorite of the lot has to be Izzi because she is so sweet and just wants a friend, and she may have suffered horribly since childhood but she has a heart of steel. I hope we'll see her again.

To conclude, I'm so glad my Stars and Sorcery book club chose this book as our BOTM forcing me to finally pick it up, because now I know what I was missing out. This is such a popular series that I don't think I need to say more to recommend it, but if you are someone who hasn't read it yet but loves intense and brutal fast paced fantasies, go check this out. I haven't completely made up my mind but I'm probably gearing up for a binge read of the next two. Let's see !!!!

“There are two kinds of guilt. The kind that's a burden and the kind that gives you purpose. Let your guilt be your fuel. Let it remind you of who you want to be. Draw a line in your mind. Never cross it again. You have a soul. It's damaged but it's there. Don't let them take it from you.”This book was very beautifully written, even though it had one of the worst book-verse ever. It shows the ugly, evil side of people, the amount of evil there is in the world, how less people care - how willingly they turn a blind-eye to everything, and how we all are surrounded by monsters in a cage; a cage from which we want to escape.Initially, I had this impression that the book [b:Children of Blood and Bone 34728667 Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, #1) Tomi Adeyemi https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516127989s/34728667.jpg 55911580] was a lot like this book. An oppressed class, siblings, characters knowing that what they're doing is wrong but they can't just walk away. Moral dilemma much? But after reading it, I can happily say that both books have very different plots and handled their own plots very well.The plot for this book was good, but the setting and the inhuman characters really irked me. Not that that's a bad thing. The author was going for that, so good job making me feel so many emotions.We have POVs from two characters: Laia and Elias.Laia started as a helpless girl who lived in the shadows, saw her brother get taken away while protecting her and their family, watched her family get murdered, and didn't have the courage to fight for them because of fear and ran away. All of these being normal reactions of a person being assaulted. What I really liked about Laia was the fact that towards the end, when she's in the same situation again, she says that she will fight unlike the way she ran away in the beginning. She's no more the same scared girl. Best character development ever.Elias' POV was a bit more irksome for me because he felt trapped in his own life and wanted to run away to be free of it, to live freely however he wished. Are you speaking for all humans here, Elias? Every chapter where Elias was forced to make a decision of staying or running away, I remember screaming, ‘Run away, it's not worth it! This place sucks. Go be free.' (Maybe because I feel trapped in a way too).Helene was only partially likeable because she trusted in the system more, than in her own best friend. Also, her disregard for life was pointed out very smartly using Elias' POV. Like, when she untied a Martial from a rope and his body falls down and Elias notices that but Hel didn't. How she didn't care about Scholars because they're slaves, but she still helped Laia. But then again, the ending explained her actions so I don't blame her. Doesn't mean you should still have swung the axe, woman. Not everyone's moral compass has the same setting. We got so many different types of characters in this book.Speaking of that, I should mention that I dislike the Commandant to the core. Stupid, worst mother ever! No words for her!!!SpoilerList of things I liked:Starting from the end of the book,- The ending chapters where Elias didn't even care that he was being sentenced to death, because he was finally going to be free - this had to be my favorite chapter from the book. I loved his reactions in this chapter, the backstory for his deranged mother, and how he told her that she wasn't the one that will be freed by his death, it would be him.- Laia in the last chapters, where she points out that if she were the same person as she was in the beginning, she would have wished for someone to come and solve all her problems. But she was no longer that person and she would stand up for herself. Best character development again :D- Laia, Izzi and the Cook blowing up the place with sand bags was nice!- Augurs are assholes but I'm interested to learn more about them. If the NightBringer is the No-Name-King of the Djinn, then what does that make the Augurs?- Every chapter in which Elias thinks about how Blackcliff and the people there are evil-incarnate. Because I agree with you 200%.- The Moon festival dance was one fun thing that happened.- Laia and Izzi becoming friends.- The quote on top, that Laia says to Elias.- How there were more important things in this book to worry about than the love square! Thank you, dear author, for not making the characters indecisive just because they fell in love.