An Ember in the Ashes: a book review

An Ember in the Ashes. Sabaa Tahir. 2015. Razorbill. Pages: 480. [Source: Bought]

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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 been 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.

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Rating: 5/5

I never knew that this book would become one of my absolute favourites, especially when I began to read it and found that it had been written in First Person Present. There aren't many novels written in First Person Present, and I often find it an annoying way to write because it presents the fact that, in logistics, when it's written that way, it kind of suggests that the book is being written as the events happen. And how can the main character be writing this when he's the middle of a battle or while she's being beaten by her master?

But this writing style didn't bother me while I read An Ember in the Ashes. Somehow, it actually helped.

The way Sabaa Tahir wrote her story drew me in and never let go. I couldn't put the book down! I actually felt regret every time I had to because I just had to know what happened next!

The characters were excellent. I felt I got to know Laia and Elias quite well. I grew to like them very much, and it got to the point that I was like "If you touch my son or daughter so help me—!" when it came to when Laia and Elias were punished for something. I'm not usually like that, lol.

I love the cover—I know it's not the original, which is just as stunning—but it was one of the things that drew me to the story to the point I ended up getting it and buying it. I've been aware of it for a few years, thanks to bookstagram and other book communities that I'm a part of, but I never really bothered to check it out until now. It kind of reminds me of something my photography teacher told me when I was in college: "People love faces", meaning people respond to images with faces or face-like shapes in them. It seems to be true because I was ten times more attracted to the copy with Laia and Elias on the cover than the first one with their silhouettes and the stone texture on it.

The range of characters in this book was amazing. The brutality is realistic, and even frightening. I swear I found myself holding my breath half the time, but somehow I managed to breathe or I wouldn't be writing this post, XD And despite the fact that the world of the story was based on the Roman Empire, it didn't jump out of me until after I read the synopsis on Goodreads while I marked the book as read. 

The world itself is rich and doesn't seem like a copy. It always felt like I was there, almost as if I was standing next to, fighting next to, spying next to, the characters as the plot progressed.

I love books like that.

The theme and the story were very well done. I could tell that the overall theme was about freedom and that bravery comes in more than one form. It makes me kinda a little jealous, because I fumble with themes and it's always been a mist-like concept for me and when my English teacher tried to teach me about it and have me find it in a short story he had me read I kept drawing a blank, ha ha. But that doesn't mean that Sabaa made the theme too aparent—I say that I was able to see it clearly now that I think back to it because she wove it into her story masterfully. It makes my heart beat harder because not all authors are able to that!

Unfortunately, despite all the good things I have to gush about An Ember in the Ashes, there are still some downsides to it. There was some swearing, b-words but no f-bombs (thankfully). Rape is mentioned but never happens in the story. It almost happens to Laia a couple of times, but Elias was there to keep it from happening. Laia gets beat up by one of the Masks, but that wasn't the only instance of violence in the story. A lot of people die. Sabaa has a body count to rival Tolkien in this story.

But I would read this story again, definitely. It will stay on my bookshelf forever. I'm definitely getting its sequel, A Torch Against the Night, when I get my next paycheck (I'm trying to save money, lol), and when I'm finished that I'll get the one after that...

I love it when I find a book that I like ^^

Falling for You: a book review

Falling for You. Becky Wade. 2018. Bethany House Publishers. Pages: 368. [Source: Netgalley/Bethany House Publishers Review Program]

§§§

"Hey," Willow said. "Sorry I missed your call."

"No problem. I was calling because…Well, for a reason that you're not going to be thrilled about."

"Okay. What am I not going to be thrilled about?"

"The fact that it involves Corbin."

Willow winced, then concentrated on swallowing her bite of cookie. Nora was right. She wasn't thrilled.

§§§

Rating: 5/5 ❤︎

You wouldn't believe how excited I was for this book to come out. I was extremely delighted to find out that I could request A Bradford Sisters Romance #2 to review, and didn't hesitate to say YES to reviewing it. A childish part of me had hoped that I would have finished reading this before May 1st just so I could say I finished it before it came out in stores, but I was too busy packing up my apartment since I graduated from college (woot woot~!). And it doesn't matter that I didn't finish it before the 1st, because I wanted to enjoy this and not miss a single thing about it!

I didn't connect with Willow Bradford, Nora Bradford's older sister, as strongly as I had with Nora. But that's probably just because Nora is just so much like me—bookish, creative, a major history buff, absorbing information like a sponge—while Willow is a model who is more into the finer things in life (because her income allows her to indulge). But this didn't stop me from enjoying the book!

At first, I didn't like Corbin. I didn't like Corbin since I was introduced to him near the end of True to You, when John Lawson, Nora's beau, brought him along to a family party. I had been wondering what was up between Willow and Corbin since that encounter, but I wasn't sure if book 2 would feature their story or Britt's and Zander's. It kind of makes me wonder what Britt and Zander are going to have to go through before they get together? hmm...

But as the story progressed, I got to know Corbin more, and I started to like him. I began to sympathize with him whenever he tried to make headway in their relationship. The way he breached Willow's rules did get on my nerves, though, because to me it seemed that he didn't respect boundaries, which can be dangerous in a relationship.

Thankfully, Corbin quickly won my heart, and at one point I was almost yelling because Willow had been told by Corbin's dad to stay away from him and all I wanted was for her to tell him or for him to find out somehow so he could have a serious talk with his dad.

The ending of the story was a bit bittersweet, but Willow and Corbin had completely reconciled by then which made the ending happy as well.

This instalment of showed me a great story about getting back together again without having to go through countless aggravating obstacles. It also reminded me how I need to forgive and not hold grudges for as long as I do—though those I have a grudge against never really work to help me to forgive them, so... yeah.

I would definitely read this one again, and I want to buy it. I so, so want to buy it.

My Thoughts on Belle

The year is 1769.

Britain is a colonial empire and a slave trading capital.

When I saw Belle on Netflix, I thought it looked like a rather interesting story. I don't see very many Period Dramas about those who do not have light skin.

Belle is about Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsey, the biracial illegitimate daughter of a British naval officer and an African slave. Her father lost track of her until he found her again in the slums and took her home. She only really knew him for a few hours before he had to go back to sea, and he died out there before ever coming back.

Belle is full of themes about racial inequality, about how the colour of your skin, way back then, placed you in a class of respect no matter what your social class was. If you were white, you were fine. But if you were black, or even half-black, you were dirt. Because blacks were slaves.

But Dido wasn't a slave. Her father had money, he was wealthy, and she inherited it all when he passed away.

In the beginning, the Murrays and her new aunt were a little shocked and didn't know how to really go about this since Dido was the bi-product of an extremely sinful act and she wasn't white. But what I loved was that they grew to love her in a way that she was a member of the family.

I loved how accurate the film was to the time period and the fact that Dido eventually found the love of her life. I also loved how Dido was a real person, even though she's been hidden by time. Thankfully, she sat still enough to have her picture painted, so we know what she looks like to an extent.

I found it very interesting how Belle took place around the time of the Zong massacre - where a British captain and crew threw the entire quantity of slaves off the ship and let them drown because the drinking water was running low and the slaves were "diseased". The slaves were diseased because they were packed too closely together, and the ship passed by eight ports where they could have gotten water. According to history, the captain and crew did this in hopes of claiming insurance money on the slaves, which would amount to more than what they would have gotten for sick slaves. But thankfully, it was ruled that the insurance companies pay nothing to the Zong crew and it was thought to be one of the events that eventually lead to the outlawing of slavery all-together.

I'm also glad Dido didn't choose to marry the rich guy. His family was really only seeking after her money, anyway.

It was a relatively satisfying movie, and it helped remind me what society had to go through to get to where we are today.

The conversation that stuck with me...

William Murray (Dido's great-uncle): "This is not about Miss Lindsey."
John Davinier: "Of course it is! It's about all of us! ...It's about everything. ...Everything that's important!"
William Murray: "Mr. Davinier, ... the world is a devastating place. You must protect your emotions if you wish to prevent matters of law and...love from devastating you."