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I love this series! It keeps me hooked from the start and it Holds you so tightly that you will experience every emotion throughout
Love, hate, anger, sadness, pity, sympathy, happiness and probably everything else in between! So prepare yourself for a ride of emotional drains

This series is set in an era where the Empire is ruled by people called the Martials, and the most deadliest weapons are the students who train at the Black Academy who graduate as Masks. But their training isn't the normal routine. It's bloody and gruel, whipping and starvation are some of the trials they face from the age of 5.
Masks are trained to be ruthless and violent. And their main role once they graduate is to maintain order by punishing those who are in the Resistance.

The Resistance is a group of Scholars who are determine to take down the empire.
Years ago the Scholars were the ones who ruled, but now they are slaves to the Martial and as punishement, it is against the law for a Scholar to learn to read or write.
Now the Scholars want to overthrow the empire and rule again. But how can they defeat an empire that have a ruthless army to defend it?

This is where we meet Laia. A young girl who has everything taken from, including her freedom. Her brother is stolen and she turns to the Resistance to get him out, but they have a price, to spy on the Commandant. The most fearless and powerful leader of the Academy
Laia is not as brave as her family, but she will try, no matter. But this missions seems to open up many secrets and doors to Laia. What they have been telling her may not be what she thought was true.

Elias is a Mask, but he is not just any Mask. He is a Mask who despises the empire. Elias is too compassionate to be at the academy and yet he is the top of the class. Despite his high ranks, Elias wants to be free from the empire. But everything changes when he is selected for the Trials, this will determine who will become the next Emperor. But will Elias be able to survive these deadly encounters ? Will he ever be free?

Laia and Elias are thrown together in unexpected ways, if they wish to survive, they'll need to make some sacrifices. Elias is suppose to hurt Laia because she is far beneath him since she is a Scholar, and Laia is suppose to despise him since he is a Mask. But will these two enemies be able to work together? will they be able to trust each other ?

There is so much I want to say about this book, but I know if I say too much, it will give too much away! You'll just have to trust me and believe that this is a book you don't want to miss. It's gruesome and bloody but also heartwarming at times too.

Highly recommend you start this series!

I read this with the Buddy Read group as part of our monthly read :)

And here is my review :) :

Actual rating: 4,5/5

“Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after. Such moments are tests of courage, of strength.”

Sometimes you pick a book and it just doesn't happen, you are not in the mood for it, there is something missing. So you just set it back with the idea that you will pick it up again another day. That's exactly what happened with An Ember in the Ashes. I can't tell you the number of times I tried to pick it and just couldn't get into it. It was not because I was not interested in it. It was just at that moment, there was something missing for me.

But this time, it was the perfect moment for me. And oh boy I do not regret it at all! I read it with the Buddy Read group as a part of our monthly read and it was such a great experience.
I really enjoyed this book and I found myself entranced, I could not put it down (or only because I had no other choice). It was such a good ride peppered with emotions: I hate some of the characters, I absolutely adored others, and sometimes I just couldn't peg some of them down. So much emotions and among them the most important one was surprise.

As soon as the opening begins you are plunged into the action, the book is very quick-paced and it doesn't let it go for a moment. An Ember in the Ashes is set in a world that is not tender, it's an horrifying world in which there are different factions: the Scholars, the Martials and among them Masks, the Tribes, etc. Every faction has a different setting in the society: Scholars are the lowest faction, they are treated as slaves and kept deliberately illiterate by the Martial Empire.

One of the main characters that we follow is Laia, a Scholar girl who lost almost every member of her family due to the Empire's actions. When her brother is arrested by the Mask, Laia decided to join the Resistance in order to free him. In return for his freeing, Laia has to spy on the Commandant, one of the most powerful woman in the Empire who is in charge of training the new Masks. During that time Laia's path will crossed that of the other main character of this novel: Elias who is one of the Mask trained in Blackcliff.

I don't want to tell you more because I don't want to spoil anything, you just have to experience it by yourself and it will be so worth it!

I will just tell you that I really like Laia. At first she is described as a rather weak girl, not as brave as the rest of her family. And she does come across as rather naive and trusting. But her character growth is one of the best one I've ever read. By the end of the story, Laia has really grown into herself and is more confident. She does not hesitate to do what is right and I love her for it!

Elias. Oh my! Elias!! I loved him from the very beginning, his chapters were the most interesting one and his character is so well done! I loved his kindness, his aspiration for freedom, his morality. I absolutely adored that he did what he thought was right even if it went against all his training. He is a Mask but he refused to become a killing monster. His character rang so true and Sabaa Tahir really wrote him so beautifully.

A special mention for the Commandant who I despise from the bottom of my heart! For me she is truly a heinous person and the worst is that she is depicted with so much realism she could easily exist in our world.

Sabaa Tahir wrote a beautiful novel and she managed to surprise me at every turn. Things I thought would happen did not and she kept me guessing until the very end. It was such an emotional ride, I lived with Laia and Elias, I was horrified at what they went through, I was sad and desperate at others times because of the atmosphere and the gruesome events depicted. I lived that book and that's one of the best thing that could happen to a reader. Trust me you will want to live through this book as well.

I could say so much more about it but I really don't want to give too much away, you just have to experience all those plot twists and surprising events.

But I highly recommend it! Give it a try, you're going to love it!

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Safety’s an illusion I know never to trust.

So how do I review this? This book that I devoured so quickly? One moment I was at Chapter 1 and the next, I was done with the book I didn't want to start! That had me wishing I had started it sooner? This book had me rooting for so many characters, most of them against each other. I still love them. This book had all its effects on me. And I couldn’t stop, or pause. I tried to, but I found myself reading it again after a few tortuous moments.

It’s narrated by Elias and Lias, one a Martial, a mask, the deadliest weapon of the Empire; the other a Scholar, a victim, a girl who lost her family to the Martials and has her brother taken away to a prison. Elias wants to escape the rules, the people, and Blackcliff that bounds him to the life of a Mask, and Laia wants nothing more than to find the rebels and free her brother. The twists and the action, the love and the confusion in this book are skillfully entwined. Everything is entangled and yet, it is all so divided. The myths and legends and the nightmare effect has its own charm too. Just read this book and have your hearts beaten, broken, hurt and healed. I loved it so much (if it’s not apparent already). The writing was awesome. I knew, at times, that someone won't die or something won't happen, but I still felt that tightness in my chest and that need to just spill those damn tears. The characters, as I already said, were very good, and the development too especially Laia's character growth. I'm so glad she isn't a badass and that like others, she also got caught and punished. She did make some stupid decisions and Helene was so annoying when she was jealous, Elias? Well, he sucked at handling girls ;) I am totally in love with him! ❤❤❤(view spoiler)[I loved Elias, Helene, Laia, Darin, Izzi, Cook, Keenan, and the friends of Elias and Helene who died in the Third Trial. I shipped Elias with Helene and Laia both, and I guess I still do, and obviously I ship Laia with both the boys, but I love Elias the most. I love him. Okay, so I have one question: Elias saw the people he killed or would kill, right? In the First Trial? Will he kill Laia and Helene? And his grandfather? He did kill his friends. I kwish Helene and Elias had kissed at least. (hide spoiler)]

My Thoughts as I Read:
Part 1 (Chapters 1-13):
Chapters 1-4:
(view spoiler)[This is so good. I am now wondering why I didn’t start it sooner. I am already lost in the characters and the story. Laia will find the rebels, and he’ll escape too, and join them perhaps. I can’t believe it’s his mother. It makes me so much more fun to read. I hate that their grandparents were killed, but at least it wasn’t slow and agonizing. I really really really hope she gets her brother, Darin, back. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 5-8:
(view spoiler)[So, I was wrong! Yay! So he’ll stay? This is so good, and Augurs are seriously immortal? Wow, I wonder why they never come in anyone’s way. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 9-13:
(view spoiler)[This is the kind of book where I don’t want to mark my thoughts or even share, all I wanna do is devour it whole, and then jump to the next book. I can’t bear it that the series is not completely published yet and that I’ll have to wait. This is pure torture. As for the story, it’s epic. What happened was the exact opposite of what I predicted. Elias stayed, and Laia came to him instead. She won’t trust him easily. I am so in love. P.S. The Commandant is such a bitch! I’m glad she wasn’t invited to the celebrations (was it?). (hide spoiler)]

Part 2 (Chapter 14-):
Chapters 14-16:
(view spoiler)[Damn, that was tough! It was obvious the Commandant wanted Elias dead, but I need to know why she has such hatred for him? Because he is a bastard? I ship him with Laia, and I can’t seem to not ship him with Halene. His trial was so tortuous, so damning. I wonder if he’d think about why he saw Laia. Keenan is good too! (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 17-21:
(view spoiler)[She’s so cruel, she scarred her for nothing. Nothing at all! I love Elias, he is so much better. I suspected that the Cook might have found out about her, but didn’t think she herself would’ve been so close to the rebels once. Did she like her father? She surely hated her mom. But I’d tell Laia to heed her advice. It’s better not to trust anyone so completely and blindly. I don’t trust Mazen much. Could he have been the traitor? It would’ve have benefitted him. And does the Commandant use those mythical creatures as spies? If so, then how can they know about the Augers’ plans? I wonder what Marcus meant how Helena ending up with him. I wonder what she doesn’t share with Elias. She does love him though no matter how many times he tries to deny it, and he is attracted to her too. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 22-23:
(view spoiler)[So, I guess the Commandant does have a deal with the Nightbringer, he must be the deadliest of all. I wish Izzi didn’t have to be involved. She’s so sweet. I wonder if Laia will trust Elias now and if she’ll tell him something. I don’t think Mazen will be much help, Elias seems like hope. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 24-25:
(view spoiler)[This was an interesting revelation. Wow, Helene can heal. And she healed him and soothed him. And she’s jealous already. He’s gonna go visit Laia now. Will he see her sneaking out? Or perhaps he won’t visit at that hour. After all, she’s just a slave. And I was thinking about the Commandant’s attitude towards her son, could it be that she despises him because of the father. We never were told his identity. Maybe he was someone important. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 26:
(view spoiler)[Oh, Elias. You messed up bad! She’s not gonna forgive him easy. I wouldn’t either. He said he almost killed himself trying to go through that treacherous path, I’d love to see him flabbergasted when the girls do it. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 27:
(view spoiler)[So am I too wrong to ship them all? I mean Laia and Elias, Elias and Helene, and Laia and Keenan? I feel for them all, depending on what scene I am reading. I don’t trust Mazen. He just wants to conquer the Academy. Could he be conspiring with someone too? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 28:
(view spoiler)[Who was she? Who was she?!?!?!?! Well, she spoke his Tribal language so perhaps she was from there. A help. Or just trouble. I loved the way he blushed, lol. And how he was comparing himself with Keenan.

He’s not bad-looking, I suppose, but he seems too grim to be any fun. Also, he’s shorter than me. Considerably shorter. Half a foot, at least. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 29:
(view spoiler)[This was good. I’m too damn excited. She will trust him more the next time. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 30:
(view spoiler)[This will not be pretty. It’s bound to go wrong. She’s gonna be so much more hurt and so much more angry at him and at Laia. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 31:
(view spoiler)[I feel like they’ll get caught. The Farrars are so dangerous and Marcus will eat them alive! (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 32:
(view spoiler)[ Laia and Helene: They’re so different. I like that Laia says things I don’t expect, that she speaks almost formally, as if she’s telling a story. I like that she defied my mother to go to the Moon Festival, whereas Helene always obeys the Commandant. Laia is the wild dance of a Tribal campfire, while Helene is the cold blue of an alchemist’s flame. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 34-34:
(view spoiler)[I knew it! She’s hurt really bad this time. I guess Helene will help. No matter how much she despises her, she won’t have Elias so mad at her. I like Helene in her own way but yes, Elias and Helene might be wrong since he himself is confused what he feels for her; whether it’s friendship or love, and then there’s the matter of release from the job later. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 35:
(view spoiler)[Had to happen. Also, I think Marcus will betray Zak. Who knows? Maybe even Zak retaliates first. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 36:
(view spoiler)[OMG, what deal? And with whom? The Augur, Cain? I feel bad though and I wish he would’ve told her in a better way, but she had to know. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 37:
(view spoiler)[Though I know Mazen has something else planned, I don’t think he was the traitor. Maybe someone else. He needs Blackcliff for some other reason as well and the only way in that I know is the tunnel Elias built to escape in the very beginning. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 38:
(view spoiler)[This was awful. I hopelessly wish this was just a test, that it wasn’t so real, That their friends are alive, that Helene is alive. This was so so so bad. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 39-40:
(view spoiler)[Okay, I literally cried. Even for Zak, he was so good. I really wished they all survived. It’s so wrong, bringing every other soldier in the game. It would’ve been less hard if it were only the four of them. Why did the Augurs want to see if he’d kill Helene? Because maybe he will have to in the future? And is Laia there where Elias now is? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 41:
(view spoiler)[Exactly what the Augurs wanted! Now Laia knows the entrance, but this night was good. I guess he told her everything because he needed it out, and Laia listened and understood and shared most of her story too. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 42:
(view spoiler)[I’m so sad, like literally. I’m glad he told her but she isn’t like him. I wish there were Helene’s point of view too. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 43:
(view spoiler)[Wow, she already knew! Shit! She just wanted to prove. She could have said that yes, he raped her and that she didn’t want to tell the other slaves. I guess the Commandant didn’t kill her before because she wanted to know what Elias was up to. The Augur saved her in a way. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 44:
(view spoiler)[What was that deal Helene made for Elias? I think he might win.

So, obviously I said that before I read the rest! Yikes! But it makes perfect sense and Marcus a permanent enemy to kill. Laia must be alive, she has to be! But this was unfair, only Elias cared for her. Only he did, so only he would have resisted. The Augurs did this purposely, maybe now he is to run away with Laia with the resistance. This might be fun. And oh, Helene. Her worst nightmare come true (hide spoiler)]

Part 3 (Chapters 55-60):
Chapter 45:
(view spoiler)[He said the same thing to Elias. An Ember in the Ashes. I like Keenan too. I hate Mazen. He wasn’t that traitor but it’s clear he just wants everything desperately. Obviously, he wouldn’t have risked so many lives for one boy. Oh, I can’t wait for her plan. What is it? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 46:
(view spoiler)[This hits right home. I love Elias the most! (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 47:
(view spoiler)[I think the Cook will die. I was rather fond of her by now. Laia will eventually find out who she was. Maybe her mother did do something wrong. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 48:
(view spoiler)[He’s gonna live, he’s gonna be fine. Then why the hell am I on the verge of crying? Damn you, Sabaa! (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 49-50
(view spoiler)[Oh, Helene… she loves him so so much. Now she has to bear with Marcus. She did it all for him, every single thing. She loves him so much. (hide spoiler)]

Awesome reviews, both of you! I'm so so glad I read this :)

Lovely review Aqsa!

Lys-A-Book wrote: "Lovely review Aqsa!"

❤❤