Book Review : An Ember in the Ashes by Zabaa Tahir

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.

*****

This was the first book that I read in 2016. I bought this book early January and finished it almost a week later. This book was really good and easy to read. I was absolutely hooked by the plot and the characters and I can say that it was very well written. The chapters were short and the language was super easy to be understood for the non-native English speakers. It was written based on the POV of the two main characters; Laia and Elias. 

Laia was an ordinary orphan girl, living with her grandparents and her older brother. Her life changed when a group of soldiers raided her home, killing her grandparents and captured her brother. She was forced to seek assistance from the rebels of the Empire and was asked to be a slave in the military academy and spy for the rebels in exchange for the rebels' assistance to free her brother. Apparently her late parents were part of the rebels as well and were killed by the commandant. She met Elias, a soldier who wants nothing but his freedom. 

Frankly, I did not fancy Laia's characters very much. She was super ordinary except for her beauty that attracted most of the male characters in the book. I always get excited about books focusing on female main protagonist, but Laia's character was just- meh. But her character evolved at every turn of the page as she gets stronger and some readers might find her very likable. On the other hand, I loved reading about Elias and his POV and its not just because he wore a cool mask that makes him a hunk. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoy young adult fantasy dystopian books. Be ready to read about tortures and wars and killings and blood and light romance although the story was not really that 'dark'. This book has a mystery of its own especially about the commandant and the Augurs and you would like its version on middle eastern supernatural creatures like jinns and ifrits.

I give this book 4 stars.