Book Review of 'An Ember in the Ashes' by Sabaa Tahir

 

Premise:

 Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

Suspenseful and Exhilarating

This story takes place in a world inspired by ancient Rome. An Ember in the Ashes is written from two points of view sharing the same plotline, starting from opposite perspectives. One is from Laia, a seventeen-year-old Scholar girl. The Scholars, an oppressed class, had been a flourishing people, but now are ruled by the Martial Empire and are living in poverty and illiteracy. Her brother is arrested for treason against the Martial Empire, so Laia seeks out the Scholars’ secret underground movement known as the Resistance to ask them for help. 

They agree to help, but they will not help her for free, and demand that she help them in return by going undercover as a slave to the Commandant of the Blackcliff Military Academy, where the Martials are trained to fight. The other perspective is from Elias, a Martial at Blackcliff, whose mother is the Commandant herself. My favorite part of the book was the ending, where the next Emperor of the Martial Empire is chosen (that was unexpected). This book is for ages 12-17 years and is character-driven. The chapters are approximately 15 pages long each. The theme for this book could be loyalty. On a scale of one through five stars, I would rate this book 5 stars. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

- Candria

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