Book Review: An Ember in the Ashes

I've been really looking forward to diving into An Ember in the Ashes. After reading the overwhelming praise for the book I purchased it and immediately put it in my rotation to read. The one concern I had going into An Ember in the Ashes was that it was put in the Young Adult category. Outside of Brandon Sanderson's Reckoner trilogy I haven't been the biggest fan of many recent Young Adult books. And sadly my biggest complaints on An Ember in the Ashes are that it feels constrained by the shackles of the genre. 

An Ember in the Ashes follows two characters told from each of there perspectives. First you have Laia who becomes a slave early on in the book and Elias a lifelong soldier who's about to graduate from this military academy. The two who seemingly have no reason to ever meet or interact begin to come closer and closer to each other through some interesting plot twist. As you might have guessed by the genre there does become a very love/hate romantic interest that sadly is the least interesting of the story.

In fact what I believe makes An Ember in the Ashes interesting is everything going on in the world. I found the plights of both Elias and Laia to be weak. I was far more interested to learn about the world, the battle between the scholars and the ruling soldiers and how the world was run. I also found the lives of both Elias and Laia's parents to be extremely interesting. Without spoiling anything both of their parents have prime roles in the shape of the world in which they both exist.

In the end I enjoyed my read of An Ember in the Ashes but I think it falls into to many familiar young adult tropes that hold it back. The love story is weak. The plights of both of the main characters aren't all that compelling. There are even a couple moments of cringe worthy dialogue that would only happen in a book aimed at this audience. Which is a shame because a more wide reaching novel could have easily been the book of the year. This world is dense and full of great stories to be had I just didn't love the one it told. A good book that could have easily been excellent. 

“Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after. Such moments are tests of courage, of strength.”