“You are an ember in the ashes […]. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.”
Summary
Laia’s family has been murdered in cold blood in front of her eyes. Now, she wants to save the only person she has left. To do so she will have to become a spy in the most dangerous of places – the Empire’s military academy.
Elias is the best soldier in the academy, but he finds himself wishing for a life full of freedom. A life in which he won’t be forced to kill and torture innocent people every day. It turns out that making a choice between his desire and his duty might be even more complicated that he expected.
Writing
Sabaa Tahir’s prose is simply beautiful. There is really nothing more to say.
Characters
I love it when a book is able to show that characters who make mistakes or do questionable can still be good. Nobody in this book is perfect. It makes every character feel much more real and precious. And witnessing their development brought me nothing but pure joy.
Plot
This book throws us right into the action and the fast pace is maintained throughout the whole story. It never slows down.
My one complaint is the introduction of the magical beings in this book. It feels… wrong. It doesn’t go well with the story at all.
Overall
It’s a wonderful book with an amazing cast of characters. I honestly can’t recommend it enough.
You can find this book on Goodreads and Book Depository
This looks great!
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Really wanna read this 🙂
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I somehow missed this one – thanks for bringing it to my attention. I’ve only recently started blogging and following other bloggers and I’ve found so many good books that I otherwise would have missed. I’m looking forward to reading more. Cheers, Brian
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I found a lot of my favourite books thanks to blogging. I hope this book will turn out to be something you will enjoy 🙂
Have a nice day!
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This is on my tbr so I am glad it’s so good
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Yay! Glad you loved this book. Hope you enjoy the second one just as much!
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Thank you!
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This is one of my favourite series if all time. But what did you think about Laia and Elaias? I didn’t reallt care for them tbh. I care more for Helene. Are you planning to read the sequels anytime soon? They’re so good
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I didn’t really care for them either. Maybe because there wasn’t really a lot of interaction between them? I liked that their relationship wasn’t the main point of the story. I hope it will develop slowly over the next few books and maybe then I will care about them more 😊 I am planning on reading the sequels very soon 😄
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I have heard of this book. But I never looked into it. After reading your review, I think I want to now. Thank you!
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That makes me very happy. I hope you will like it as much as I did 😄❤️
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