Sign in with Facebook
Natalie Monroe's Reviews > An Ember in the Ashes
An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)
by
Nice Natalie: Let's start this civil. After you.
Cynical Natalie: Don't mind if I do. An Ember In The Ashes is cliche tripe—
Nice Natalie: But we enjoyed it!
Cynical Natalie: Pipe down and wait your turn. As I was saying, it's your generic dystopian fantasy. Evil government+class divide+forbidden romance. Its only saving grace is that it's mildly better than Red Queen, which is like saying being dipped in acid is less painful than being burnt at stake.
Nice Natalie: Are you done?
Cynical Natalie: No. What the fuck is with the rape shit?
Nice Natalie: I liked it! It adds a realist element. Slaves get raped all the time, so it's refreshing to see it's an actual threat.
Cynical Natalie: It's an actual threat in Game of Thrones.
Here, it's all posturing and no action. Accepting your premise that slaves are often raped, which I agree with, why is Laia the only one who's constantly threatened with rape? What about Izzi or Cook? What about the other female slaves? What haven't we seen concrete evidence of rape except in the case of Laia? That makes it a plot device. Elias swoops in and rescues her from Marcus, for fuck's sake.
Nice Natalie: But she doesn't fall in love with him because of that.
Cynical Natalie: You're right. She falls for him, and vice versa, because they both won the genetic lottery.
I'm not even going near this one:
Nice Natalie: Other rapes are mentioned. Remember (view spoiler)
Cynical Natalie: We don't have concrete proof. I have my own problems with her. (view spoiler)
Nice Natalie: An Ember In The Ashes is a male-dominated world. She has to be extra tough.
Cynical Natalie: You mean to the point where she twirls her mustache?
Nice Natalie: Not all villains are horrible. Marcus is pretty fleshed out.
Cynical Natalie: At the expense of world-building. Society is divided between Martials and Scholar slaves and... what, a bunch of trees and ocean?
Laia's brother hardly has any personality at all. It's a cheap dystopian trope. Take out the sibling to create angst, rage against the system, and get the plot ball moving. Forgive me if I don't shed a tear for a character I knew for twenty pages.
Nice Natalie: Uh-uh. Remember the last trial? We were devastated when Elias (view spoiler)
Cynical Natalie: Devastated is a very strong word. What about Helene? She should've died, too. It was a total cop-out.
Nice Natalie: It was a clever loophole.
Cynical Natalie: No, it was to preserve the love triangle. Love triangles. What's the point? We all know Elias and Laia will live happily ever after and produce physically perfect kids for the Empire's version of Vogue. Oh, wait, that's too much world-building.
Nice Natalie: Maybe the author will expand the map in the sequel, like in Prodigy. You don't know that.
Cynical Natalie: I do know the writing leans towards impersonal third-person rather the first-person it's written in. Thoughts are usually in italics and the characters constantly talk to themselves, like "Don't be stupid, Laia" or something. It's annoying and a disgrace to the style you've chosen.
Nice Natalie: You can complain all you want. You can't deny we enjoyed it.
Cynical Natalie: In the moment. Give it a couple months. I guarantee you won't remember anyone's names.
Nice Natalie: I cordially accept your challenge.
Cynical Natalie:
Other Nice Natalie/Cynical Nataliebrawls reviews:
The Fault In Our Stars
A Girl Like You
If I Stay
Dreams of Gods & Monsters
The Martian
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Catching Fire
All The Rage
Harry Potter & the Cursed Child
The Hammer of Thor
The Ship of the Dead
Caraval
Warcross
The Last Namsara
by
Natalie Monroe's review
bookshelves: bad-beginning-loved-the-rest, copycat, i-spy-something-pointy, mommy-why-is-the-villain-bad, not-worth-the-hype, pleasantly-surprised, typical, when-sparks-don-t-fly, guilty-pleasures, insta-love-add-water, the-earth-is-flat
May 11, 2015
bookshelves: bad-beginning-loved-the-rest, copycat, i-spy-something-pointy, mommy-why-is-the-villain-bad, not-worth-the-hype, pleasantly-surprised, typical, when-sparks-don-t-fly, guilty-pleasures, insta-love-add-water, the-earth-is-flat
Nice Natalie: Let's start this civil. After you.
Cynical Natalie: Don't mind if I do. An Ember In The Ashes is cliche tripe—
Nice Natalie: But we enjoyed it!
Cynical Natalie: Pipe down and wait your turn. As I was saying, it's your generic dystopian fantasy. Evil government+class divide+forbidden romance. Its only saving grace is that it's mildly better than Red Queen, which is like saying being dipped in acid is less painful than being burnt at stake.
Nice Natalie: Are you done?
Cynical Natalie: No. What the fuck is with the rape shit?
Nice Natalie: I liked it! It adds a realist element. Slaves get raped all the time, so it's refreshing to see it's an actual threat.
Cynical Natalie: It's an actual threat in Game of Thrones.
Here, it's all posturing and no action. Accepting your premise that slaves are often raped, which I agree with, why is Laia the only one who's constantly threatened with rape? What about Izzi or Cook? What about the other female slaves? What haven't we seen concrete evidence of rape except in the case of Laia? That makes it a plot device. Elias swoops in and rescues her from Marcus, for fuck's sake.
Nice Natalie: But she doesn't fall in love with him because of that.
Cynical Natalie: You're right. She falls for him, and vice versa, because they both won the genetic lottery.
"Instead, I'm faced with a slave-girl looking up at me through impossibly long eyelashes. A heated, visceral shock flares through me at the clarity of her dark gold eyes. For a second, I forget my name.
...Her black dress fits her like a glove, sliding over every curve in a way that makes more than one head turn. Her full lips and fine, straight nose would be the envy of most girls."
I'm not even going near this one:
"Many of the young men around me sneak glances at her. She doesn't seem to notice, which, of course, makes her all the more intriguing."
Nice Natalie: Other rapes are mentioned. Remember (view spoiler)
Cynical Natalie: We don't have concrete proof. I have my own problems with her. (view spoiler)
Nice Natalie: An Ember In The Ashes is a male-dominated world. She has to be extra tough.
Cynical Natalie: You mean to the point where she twirls her mustache?
Nice Natalie: Not all villains are horrible. Marcus is pretty fleshed out.
Cynical Natalie: At the expense of world-building. Society is divided between Martials and Scholar slaves and... what, a bunch of trees and ocean?
Laia's brother hardly has any personality at all. It's a cheap dystopian trope. Take out the sibling to create angst, rage against the system, and get the plot ball moving. Forgive me if I don't shed a tear for a character I knew for twenty pages.
Nice Natalie: Uh-uh. Remember the last trial? We were devastated when Elias (view spoiler)
Cynical Natalie: Devastated is a very strong word. What about Helene? She should've died, too. It was a total cop-out.
Nice Natalie: It was a clever loophole.
Cynical Natalie: No, it was to preserve the love triangle. Love triangles. What's the point? We all know Elias and Laia will live happily ever after and produce physically perfect kids for the Empire's version of Vogue. Oh, wait, that's too much world-building.
Nice Natalie: Maybe the author will expand the map in the sequel, like in Prodigy. You don't know that.
Cynical Natalie: I do know the writing leans towards impersonal third-person rather the first-person it's written in. Thoughts are usually in italics and the characters constantly talk to themselves, like "Don't be stupid, Laia" or something. It's annoying and a disgrace to the style you've chosen.
Nice Natalie: You can complain all you want. You can't deny we enjoyed it.
Cynical Natalie: In the moment. Give it a couple months. I guarantee you won't remember anyone's names.
Nice Natalie: I cordially accept your challenge.
Cynical Natalie:
Other Nice Natalie/Cynical Natalie
The Fault In Our Stars
A Girl Like You
If I Stay
Dreams of Gods & Monsters
The Martian
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Catching Fire
All The Rage
Harry Potter & the Cursed Child
The Hammer of Thor
The Ship of the Dead
Caraval
Warcross
The Last Namsara
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
An Ember in the Ashes.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
May 11, 2015
– Shelved as:
to-read
May 11, 2015
– Shelved
February 13, 2016
–
Started Reading
"
February 13, 2016
–
3.0%
""I wonder if he has a sister, a wife, a woman. But it wouldn't matter if he did. To him, I'm not someone's family. I'm just a thing to be subdued, used, and discarded."
I'm very uncomfortable with how some anti-rape posters say "Because she's someone's sister/mother/daughter/wife." This reminds me of it."
I'm very uncomfortable with how some anti-rape posters say "Because she's someone's sister/mother/daughter/wife." This reminds me of it."
"
"
February 22, 2016
–
32.0%
"It constantly swings between interesting and insufferable. I'm getting whiplash.
"
"
"
February 24, 2016
–
58.0%
"Moon cakes are a traditional Chinese food, guys. If the Scholars represent Ancient Greece, which they probably do based on the blurb, they should not be replacing Artemis with moon cakes."
February 24, 2016
–
72.0%
"There are so many tropes and problematic scenes. Yet I can't stop reading.
"
"
February 25, 2016
– Shelved as:
bad-beginning-loved-the-rest
February 25, 2016
– Shelved as:
copycat
February 25, 2016
– Shelved as:
i-spy-something-pointy
February 25, 2016
– Shelved as:
mommy-why-is-the-villain-bad
February 25, 2016
– Shelved as:
not-worth-the-hype
February 25, 2016
– Shelved as:
pleasantly-surprised
February 25, 2016
– Shelved as:
typical
February 25, 2016
– Shelved as:
when-sparks-don-t-fly
February 25, 2016
–
Finished Reading
March 4, 2016
– Shelved as:
guilty-pleasures
September 9, 2016
– Shelved as:
insta-love-add-water
September 17, 2017
– Shelved as:
the-earth-is-flat
Comments Showing 1-43 of 43 (43 new)
date
newest »
newest »
Sadie wrote: "finally i'm not the only one :P"*high five*
It has its moments, emphasis on moments...
Nafeeza wrote: "It has its moments, emphasis on moments..."Accurate description is accurate.
Couldn't agree more. There are so many problems with this (since I can understand Hindi and Urdu both) I can pinpoint so many inaccuracies but I still liked it. Regardless to say Sabaa has accepted my friend request may be after my review :D
Garima wrote: "Couldn't agree more. There are so many problems with this (since I can understand Hindi and Urdu both) I can pinpoint so many inaccuracies but I still liked it. Regardless to say Sabaa has accepted..."Yay!
can't wait for your review cause i felt the same :/
@Hajirah There are so many similarities. Both June and Laia's brothers provide the drive for their actions. People from different social classes fall in love despite reason. (view spoiler)@Mikaela Oh, you. <3
couldn't agree more *sighs*
BREAKING BAD!!!
And I really love this review. I don't feel like I'm ever going to read this; it's one of those books I've had on my Goodreads for so long, that I'm probs not gonna actually buy it. XD
And I really love this review. I don't feel like I'm ever going to read this; it's one of those books I've had on my Goodreads for so long, that I'm probs not gonna actually buy it. XD
I didn't finish this book (gave up after 40 pages), and this review plainly shows why I didn't. However, I really like this. Your Nice vs. Cynical rants are always fun.
Amazing snarky review! I am definitely team cynical Natalie in this one :D I read the book a while ago and supposedly liked it too at the time, but now after all the month away from the book, I can't remember what it is I liked about it, but for sure I remember what I disliked :/
@Addy Thanks, Addy! I had a good time reading it, but my brain kept tripping me up.@Mikaela I STILL NEED TO WATCH IT. HBO creates awesome shows.
Good choice. It's worth a trip to the library if you're really curious, not $12.
@Luke I almost gave up in the beginning. Every dystopian cliche is stuffed in those 40 pages. I switched to Six of Crows by Leigh Bargudo before going back.
@Nastassja It's definitely forgettable. You know what they say, the brain remembers bad memories more. :P
Natalie wrote: "@Addy Thanks, Addy! I had a good time reading it, but my brain kept tripping me up.
@Mikaela I STILL NEED TO WATCH IT. HBO creates awesome shows.
Good choice. It's worth a trip to the library if ..."
Breaking Bad's on AMC. XD They have Mad Men and Hell on Wheels and The Walking Dead. Very underrated network.
@Mikaela I STILL NEED TO WATCH IT. HBO creates awesome shows.
Good choice. It's worth a trip to the library if ..."
Breaking Bad's on AMC. XD They have Mad Men and Hell on Wheels and The Walking Dead. Very underrated network.
Mikaela wrote: "Natalie wrote: "@Addy Thanks, Addy! I had a good time reading it, but my brain kept tripping me up.@Mikaela I STILL NEED TO WATCH IT. HBO creates awesome shows.
Good choice. It's worth a trip to..."
And all this time I thought The Walking Dead was HBO. XD
Vlora wrote: "I love this hahaha"<3
Aaron wrote: "this is such a cool review XD"Thank you!
I suspected there are hints in the book that the Commandment had been raped so that's why she turns out cruel and sadistic, but I'm not entirely sure...and now you point this out...
Mizuki wrote: "I suspected there are hints in the book that the Commandment had been raped so that's why she turns out cruel and sadistic, but I'm not entirely sure...and now you point this out..."It makes sense character-wise and explains why she's eager to get rid of Elias.
I am thinking of reading this,should I?
Natalie wrote: "It makes sense character-wise and explains why she's eager to get rid of Elias. "I know, she hates Elias so badly can only mean she hates the guy who fathered him...but does it have to be rape?
@Sandstorm Depends. It's a quick read, but cliche.@Mizuki Good point. I honestly don't know. I'm just guessing. :P
I read this a while ago, but wow reading your review kinda makes me iffy about re-reading it! I want to read this series/trilogy (idk) but I didn't remember anything? Oh well. Maybe it'll be good!
Helen wrote: "I read this a while ago, but wow reading your review kinda makes me iffy about re-reading it! I want to read this series/trilogy (idk) but I didn't remember anything? Oh well. Maybe it'll be good!"Maybe! I'm intrigued enough to read A Torch In The Night.
I really enjoyed your review! Spot on!
Aleviuss wrote: "I really enjoyed your review! Spot on!"Thank you!
I didn't catch that the Commandant was raped! I'm with Mizuki on that one.
Kelechi wrote: "I didn't catch that the Commandant was raped! I'm with Mizuki on that one."There are two rape cliches in pop culture:
(1) Women can only become badass after they were raped.
(2) Women become evil bitches after there were raped.
Sorry for the interruption, Natalie! But I need to get this off my chest.
Mizuki wrote: "Kelechi wrote: "I didn't catch that the Commandant was raped! I'm with Mizuki on that one."There are two rape cliches in pop culture:
(1) Women can only become badass after they were raped.
(2..."
Ughhh I was thinking she hated the father yes, but I didn´t realize that it could be because he raped her. I guess that would explain some of what she says to Laia.
I would hate it if that was the case, though. i agree with you - it´s an unnecessary aggravating trope.
Kelechi wrote: "Ughhh I was thinking she hated the father yes, but I didn´t realize that it could be because he raped her. I guess that would explain some of what she says to Laia.I only guessed that the Commandant hated the guy who fathered Elias because she hated Elias so very much, then Natalie suggested that in the storyline hints at the Commandant becoming so mean and evil after she was (possibly) raped in the past. In this book, the possibility of the Commandant being a raped victim is never confirmed. I don't know what happens in the sequel.
Well....as to the chance that it was her father who had raped her....I frankly don't believe the author and her publisher have the gut to go so far, but who knows? Still, I don't think her father being the rapist would make too much sense...after all both father and daughter live in the same city and I find it hard to believe the Commandant could tolerate her father (in case he is the rapist) to live that close to her for all these years without doing away with him out of revenge. It wouldn't have fit her character, I guess?
I would hate it if that was the case, though. i agree with you - it´s an unnecessary aggravating trope.."
Yeah, I would hate it if the Commandant is later confirmed to be a rape victim and THAT is the reason of her evilness. *pukes*
Mizuki wrote: "Kelechi wrote: "Ughhh I was thinking she hated the father yes, but I didn´t realize that it could be because he raped her. I guess that would explain some of what she says to Laia.I only guessed ..."
Oh, I meant Elias's father, not her own!
But yeah, I agree otherwise.
My honest reasoning for her hating Elias's father was that she felt weak for falling for a Tribesman and so projected her self-loathing onto Elias and his father.
I'm going to go with Nice Natalie on this one but Cynical Natalie put up a good fight.
Medea wrote: "I'm going to go with Nice Natalie on this one but Cynical Natalie put up a good fight."You've made Nice Natalie's day.
Thank you! I couldn’t even finish it because of how many times the word rape was used in each chapter.
This is EXACTLY how I felt about this book but couldn't put it into words. We're there problems? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Also yes.
I've tried to start this book so many times...
Taschima wrote: "I've tried to start this book so many times..."It's not that good to be honest. XD
i felt every word of this review
Natalie wrote: It’s not that good to be honest. XDI completely agree. Yes I enjoyed it to an extent but it was kinda trash for all the reasons u stated above
Right? I prefer "Because she is someone/a person."