REVIEW: An Ember in the Ashes

Laia is just trying to keep the remaining pieces of her family together when the Martial Empire comes calling. As Scholars, an oppressed, conquered minority who live in poverty and often slavery, Laia's people have little recourse against their tyrannical rulers. So when soldiers arrest her brother for treason, Laia turns to the only people who might be able to rescue him: the Scholar Rebellion. Unfortunately, that aid comes with a price. One that will see her sold into slavery to the commandant of the Martials' most brutal training facility: Blackcliff.

Elias is days away from graduation, a rite of passage he would do anything to escape. Fourteen years of brutality have molded him into one of the Empire's most elite soldiers: a Mask. But underneath, Elias hates all that he has become and dreads the things the Empire will force him to do. When he and his best friend Helene are called upon to compete in a series of deadly trials, he starts to realize that the only person who might truly understand him is a pretty Scholar slave girl who's just as trapped at Blackcliff as he is.

Another Half-Priced-Books buy that I'm really glad I grabbed! Ember 1 was a page-turner that sent me running to get #2 and #3 before I ever finished. While at first I found the chapter-by-chapter POV flips disorienting, I gradually grew more accustomed to them and hardly noticed them by the end.

This is a fairly simple story that is well-streamlined. Regardless, I enjoyed it, even if Laia wasn't my favorite. She has a level balance of weakness, fear, hope, and courage, but somehow I just didn't click with her. Elias, on the other hand... His chapters were definitely my favorite. Tormented by a mother who hates him, confused about his grown-up feelings for his best friend, guilt-ridden for all the things he's had to do to survive his upbringing at Blackcliff, he somehow manages to be broody without being edgy. Good on Sabaa for pulling that off!

The romance feels a bit forced and superficial to me, with Laia bouncing back and forth between a certain rebel operative and Elias (I'm on book #2 and this aspect only gets more obnoxious, but I'll save that for the next review). Laia and Elias definitely have a convincing chemistry, but every time she goes back to swooning over rebel boy, it just makes me dislike her more and then I can't bring myself to root for a real L+E hookup.

Aside from that speedbump, I really enjoyed this book! Plenty of action, internal and external conflict, character development, and interesting dialogue. I'll be reading through this series, so stay tuned for reviews for books #2 and #3. I've heard the manuscript for #4 is in editing now, so maybe by the end of this year? Fingers crossed!