An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

     I started reading a book called An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir in December. It was a book that I had seen a lot of, but hadn't heard too much about it. It looked & sounded interesting enough so I checked it out from my library. Well I ended up not getting into it right away. So I had to renew it through the library because I wasn't finished, anywhere close to finished actually. Well Christmas came & went & I got a series that I immediately wanted to read so this book got put on the back burner, which wasn't terrible because I had barely made a dent in it. Well earlier this month I went to Barnes & Noble & got an Educator's membership card. I decided I would use some of my Christmas money to get myself some new books. This was among the ones I decided on because I couldn't recheck out the book anytime soon since I had renewed it already & there were a few people behind me that were wanting to read it. So I just bit the bullet & bought it. Well I finished my series Monday, so I decided to restart this book. It made a world of difference that I have been devouring books left & right at this moment, as apposed to a month ago when I wasn't in a book slump persay but I was very picky about what I wanted to read. I discovered that I really enjoyed this book. 
    Elias is a Martial soldier, the deadliest kind a Mask, trained the majority of his life in the elitest of "schools", Blackcliff. However while is is at the top of his class, he has never wanted to be a weapon in his empires arsenal. So before he graduates, he plans to desert. If he is caught it will be the death of him.
     Laia is a lowly Scholar, a thorn in Martial sides. Her world is turned upside down when her grandparents are murdered by a Mask & her brother is taken prisoner for being in cahoots with Scholar rebels. Her options are flee or be killed on the spot. She flees. Desperate to find a way to save her brother. As luck would have it, the rebel forces stumble upon her. Now she is on a spy mission to the most deadly of places, Blackcliff. In return for any useful information she can give them, the rebels will help release her brother from Martial custody. But Laia doesn't know the danger & torture she has signed up for when she accepted this mission. 
    Elias & Laia are from different worlds, master & slave, but they both have something to offer the other, even if it's just a friend. 
     This book is full of action, espionage, adventure, danger & a little bit of love. It was a great book... I will give it that. I can't wait for the sequel, A Torch Against the Night. However it took a long time for the plot to build & when it finally did it was practically the end of the book. I don't know... I feel as though this book would have done better to be a longer book. It was good, the plot was solid, but it took so long to build & then they hurried the ending. But I will say the characters were worthy of taking your time with them. Luckily I don't have TOO long to wait for the sequel! Seriously this was a good book that y'all should definitely read! 

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