An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

4 Stars

“You are full, Laia. Full of life and dark and strength and spirit. You are in our dreams. You will burn, for you are an ember in the ashes.”

Wow, I really like this. I'm kind of surprised but also kind of not. It took me by surprise because it took me so long to get into, about 200 pages so, by that point I kind of just assumed I wasn't going to like it. But, as the optimist I am, I pushed on and found myself really enjoying it once I got past the hard parts. That's usually how I am with any sort of fantasy read, though.

I really actually liked Laia. She was determined and I love determination. Her narration wasn't as annoying as I find some can be. I liked that we got to see the progression on Laia's character really well. We got to watch her become and ember in the ashes.

I like that the romance side wasn't the focus (as much as I love romance), it focused a lot more on the other things but still romance was a feature. It was less a focus and more a feature. I think it was important, especially for the first book, to do some world building and set up the rest of the series before diving into the romances too heavy. And, trust me, Sabaa Tahir has set up a great ground for what I think will be a fantastic series.

I know I already touched on the world building but wow, it was freaking fantastic. It was unlike anything I've read. I can usually compare books in my head but I can't begin to think what book I'd place this next to. Not only the world building though, also the characters were really unique to each other. They weren't just different versions of the same character, they were different. It was really refreshing.

I'm really excited about this, I can't wait to get my hands on the next book. It's quite different from other series' I've read so I can't wait to see where it goes. I'm really pleased with how this turned out even when I wasn't sure to begin with.