Right off the bat, I just want to mention that I’ve actually read An Ember in the Ashes twice, and I’m writing this review after reading the book for the second time. That being said, I have to say that while I really liked and enjoyed An Ember in the Ashes the first time that I read it, I actually enjoyed it even more the second time around. One of the things that has always stood out as being one of my favorite things about both this book and the An Ember in the Ashes series in general is the world building, and Sabaa Tahir’s execution of the world building. I’ve always felt like Tahir did a phenomenal job of creating a very vivid image of the world that the series takes place in.
When it comes to my thoughts on the two main characters, Elias and Laia, while I like them both, Elias is definitely my favorite character, and his storyline was definitely my favorite storyline in the book as well. I felt like the fact that Elias is the military academy’s best soldier, and yet he was secretly against the whole thing made him the most compelling and best character; and I also felt like it made his storyline the best storyline in the book. Plus, the fact that The Commandant is Elias’ mother, and she hates him, to the point that she even tried to kill Elias when she was pregnant with him, only to have him survive her abortion attempt definitely added an incredibly interesting element to Elias as a character, and the book as a whole.
When it comes to Laia, I think that Laia is a great character for the most part, and I thought that her storyline was also very emotionally engaging when it came to her searching for her brother, Darin, and her interactions with Elias. However, Laia and her storyline didn’t “Wow!” me and hold my attention to the same extent that Elias and his storyline did. However, I’m still looking forward to seeing where things go with Laia and her storyline as the series continues.
That being said, I have to say that when it comes to what I didn’t like about this book is the hints of romance that were present between Elias and Helene throughout the book. For the record, I’ve always had very mixed feelings about romance in YA books going all the way back to when I was a teenager, and I was actually a part of the target demographic for the YA genre in terms of my age (I’m thirty-four now), and in this case the romantic angst between Elias and Helene in this book was a major miss for me. There also seemed to be some hints of a possible romance between Elias and Laia at times throughout the book that I did enjoy, so I might be onboard with the idea of Elias and Laia being a couple if that’s where Tahir is heading. I’m just worried that there’s going to be a Laia/Elias/Helene love triangle as the series continues, and unfortunately, it looks like that’s where things are heading. (Sighs heavily)
A big part of why I didn’t like the romantic angst that existed between Elias and Helene throughout the book is due to the fact that I didn’t like Helene as an individual character very much at all. I did like the fact that Helene was portrayed as being a very talented soldier at the academy; but other than that, I constantly thought that she was a very frustrating and annoying character throughout the entire book. I’m really hoping that Tahir was able to find a way to make Helene a much more likable and less frustrating character as the series continues.
The only other complaint that I have about this book is that I felt like the overall pacing of the plot was somewhat uneven in my opinion. At times, the plot of An Ember in the Ashes felt very action-packed and engaging, and other times, I felt like the plot really slowed down and dragged to the point where I started to get bored while I was reading the book. This was especially the case when it came to the parts of the book that focused on the relationship angst between Elias and Helene. Ultimately, I felt like Tahir definitely could have done a better job of finding the right balance between the action and the personal emotional aspects of the book’s plot than she did.
All things considered, while I definitely think that there are things about An Ember in the Ashes that could have been better, namely the pacing of the plot, I still thought that this book was a fantastic start to Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes series. While I really enjoyed this book the first time that I read it back in 2017, I enjoyed it even more the second time around. Just the first book alone has excellent worldbuilding for the series, does a great job of establishing the premise of the series, and introducing all of the main characters. If I haven’t already made it perfectly clear to anybody who reads this review, Elias is definitely my favorite character, and his storyline is definitely the storyline that I’m the most excited about at the moment. I’m very excited to see where all of the various other storylines that were introduced in this book go as the series continues, though. Ultimately, reading this book a second time definitely got me incredibly pumped up and excited to FINALLY read the rest of the An Ember in the Ashes series for the very first time!
That being said, my score for An Ember in the Ashes is 8 out of 10.
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