Review AN EMBER IN THE ASHES by SABAA TAHIR @sabaatahir @penguinteen

The publisher of the media / book has provided me with a review copy at no cost. Opinions are my own. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
ISBN: 9781595148032
Published by Penguin on 2015-04-28
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Love & Romance, Politics & Government, Young Adult
Pages: 464
Format: ARC
Goodreads

I WILL TELL YOU THE SAME THING I TELL EVERY SLAVE.
 
THE RESISTANCE HAS TRIED TO PENETRATE THIS SCHOOL COUNTLESS TIMES. I HAVE DISCOVERED IT EVERY TIME.
 
IF YOU ARE WORKING WITH THE RESISTANCE, IF YOU CONTACT THEM, IF YOU THINK OF CONTACTING THEM, I WILL KNOW

AND I WILL DESTROY YOU. 

LAIA is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.

ELIAS is the academy’s finest soldier— and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.

When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself

About the Author

Sabaa Tahir grew up in California’s Mojave Desert at her family’s 18-room motel. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother’s comic book stash and playing guitar badly. She began writing An Ember in the Ashes while working nights as a newspaper editor. She likes thunderous indie rock, garish socks and all things nerd. Sabaa currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

MY THOUGHTS

GET YOUR HANDS ON THIS BOOK!

I was trying to sum up my thoughts on this one, when I was asked to describe to a friend.  This is what I came up with:  A sort of Romeo and Juliet story with all of the action of The Hunger Games, the magical elements of Harry Potter with some epic fantasy of The Game of Thrones just for good measure.  You can also throw in a bit of the Legend series and  the emotional strenght of Shatter Me.  Oh, and it all happens under 500 pages.  This book will leave you breathless when you finish it.  And hopefully, the author (and publisher) will hear your screams demanding a follow-up.

Laia is the sort of heroine that makes you believe a ordinary girl can face her fears and be strong when it matters most.  Growing up with her grandparents, she knows that her world is an evil place and they are poor, but have a considerable wealth in their family life.  Her brother Darin is a dreamer and quick with a paper and charcoal to capture any image and more.  When her family is raided by the Masks,  who are the enforcers for the government, and her grandparents murdered, her brother is taken away and she runs.  Laia ends up with the Resistance forces where she discovers the truth about her parents as fighters for them.

Elias, the Mask, she escapes from, has been trained since childhood to be an enforcer and when he runs into Laia more than once,  and there is a spark, but both deny it because of the circumstances.  Oh, yes, and there is a bit of a love triangle between Elias and Keenan, a resistance fighter that is Laia’s contact to the group.  Laia goes undercover  for the group as a slave to the Commandant of the school, and she just happens to be Elias’ mother.  Now, before you think this is really convoluted and hard to follow, believe me, it is just like Shakespeare, easy to follow and with that same sort of dramatic flair.

Well, that is all you are going to get out of me, even though I am soo tempted to spill everything.  Just read this!  It has also been optioned for a movie and I think this has all of the same elements that made The Hunger Games and Harry Potter such a win!  Parents:  be aware that there is violence, language, a few sexual situations, all of which are not too graphic.  Ok, the fight scenes are a bit graphic but no worse than television.

 

 

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