An Ember in the Ashes
Sabaa Tahir, 2015
Young adult FantasyRomanceContemporary fiction
A conquered girl and a reluctant masked soldier move through an empire that turns children into weapons, where loyalty can be a death sentence. Dread runs through it, with sudden violence and a satirical edge, yet small streaks of hope keep the pages moving.
Feels like dread and hope. About death.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you want a young-adult fantasy that takes oppression and military cruelty seriously rather than softening them. Be warned that the dread and death are constant, and the empire's brutality toward children can make long stretches grim.
Why read it
It asks what loyalty costs when the system that made you is cruel, and it gives you two young people trying to keep their souls.
A page from the book
The difference between guilt that crushes you and guilt that steers you.
There are two kinds of guilt. The kind that’s a burden and the kind that gives you purpose. Let your guilt be your fuel. Let it remind you of who you want to be. Draw a line in your mind. Never cross it again. You have a soul. It’s damaged but it’s there. Don’t let them take it from you. Sabaa Tahir.Sabaa Tahir was born in Pakistan and grew up in California’s Mojave Desert, where her family ran a motel.
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Questions readers ask
- Is An Ember in the Ashes for me?
- You may like it if you want a young-adult fantasy that takes oppression and military cruelty seriously rather than softening them. Be warned that the dread and death are constant, and the empire's brutality toward children can make long stretches grim.
- What is An Ember in the Ashes like?
- Dread runs through it, with sudden violence and a satirical edge, yet small streaks of hope keep the pages moving. Feels like dread and hope. About death.
- What should I read after An Ember in the Ashes?
- If you liked An Ember in the Ashes, try The Housemaid (Freida McFadden), You Shouldn't Have Come Here (Jeneva Rose) and Verity (Colleen Hoover).
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The shortest possible answer to a question about books.
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The Housemaid · Freida McFadden
The logic of a person who thinks protection and possession are the same thing.
But not everything was meant to be free. Some things had to be kept in cages.
You Shouldn't Have Come Here · Jeneva Rose
Some people keep a darker world on hand so the real one stays bearable.
I needed for the imaginary version of my world to be darker than my real world. Otherwise, I would have wanted to leave them both.
Verity · Colleen Hoover
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