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BookClub: Me, Myself & I *
Month: September, 2021
Theme: Pick a Sequel From a Series You've Already Started
* BookClub Me, Myself & I is just a "book club" where I pick up a prompt each month and I have to "force" myself to read a book that fits that prompt.

This is the second book in the Ember In The Ashes series, following immediately after the events of An Ember in the Ashes .

This review contains spoilers for those who have not read the first book, but it does not contain spoilers for the second.

The story begins, like I said, right where we left off at the end of the first book: Laia and Elias running away. After the things in the Fourth Trial go south, Elias and Laia have to flee the city of Serra. They are both determined to break into Kauf, the Empire’s securest and most dangerous prison, to save Darin, Laia’s brother. For Elias, this is the chance of freedom he had been aching for but things take a turn for the worse when, in the face-to-face battle with his mother, the Commandant, he sees himself in the crossroad destined only to fail.

Laia and Elias face multiple trials and tribulations, including death and betrayal. Meanwhile, Helene, the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike, has to bind to Marcus�, the new Emperor, will. Sent on a mentally and physically torturous mission, she must find and kill the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape.

The writing, as always, was amazing. I felt completely emerged in the story and Sabaa Tahir’s ability to bring her fantastical world to life is one of the best things in this entire series. Whether we know much of the Roman Empire’s history, the author completely emerges in the story and the cruelty of the Martial Empire and the fantastical world that she created. The author not only centres us in the scene visually but also emotionally � which I personally consider a must in these genres of books.

We see Laia struggle between Elias and Kennan and, after the plot twist, we see how she dealt with the betrayal that came to her way. I must admit that her feelings and emotions might have gotten in the way of her seeing the real intentions of a certain character but, regardless, she dealt with it afterwards like a champ. More often than not, Laia makes mistakes in the decisions that she makes and that is gratifying to see because the author did not write her as this flawless character that is good at warfare from the beginning. The reader can totally see the character growth from the first book to the second but there is little character development for Laia throughout the course of this one; in fact, I’d say she actually recedes.

Elias� story will always be my favourite. His own struggle in accepting his fate and, nevertheless, finding the strength to fight until the end is one of his best qualities and it totally jumped out in the second book. The [second] plot twist showed how much Elias� dedication to the cause and to the fight truly is. There isn’t a major character development in Elias, but I’d say there is an augmentation of his already acquired traits and growth regarding those traits.

Helene was never my favourite character. In fact, I didn’t care much for her in the first book and I wasn’t very interested in her story. Although I did feel a bit forced to read her corresponding chapters at times, her story and her personal journey is and is going to be one of the most interesting in the series. Her trials and tribulations aren’t kind to her at all and her character development and growth is definitely the biggest in the entire book. This book was truly focused on Helene’s character growth.

My only issues with this book were the plot twists. I must that, even though the plot twists were nothing shocking [for me, personally], I think they were really good but I hope they weren’t added for the shock value but because there is an actual place for them in the story ahead. Plot twists for the shock value aren’t my favourite thing because the authors often add them to shock the reader, the make the reader suffer or some bullshit like that.

Due to the plot twists, I actually put the book aside for a few weeks because I was actually mad at it. I was mad that the plot twists might have been added for shock value and that they might ruin the story or some character’s story for me in the future.

However, I will hold my peace about this until the third and fourth book.

I hope the plot twist regarding Elias is not going to make me regret reading this series, though. Elias is one of my favourite characters and I want him not only to live afterwards but to thrive in life and in happiness.

Overall, it was an amazing sequel to the first book. I’ve seen a lot of people dislike this book or say that it is their least favourite in the entire series but I didn’t find it particularly bad. Aside the plot twists � which, again, I will hold my peace on them depending on much they ruin the story and characters in the future for me -, I really enjoyed reading this book.



Reviews of books from the 2021 ‘Me, Myself & I� bookclub:
� DaVinci Code
� The Midnight Library
� Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland + Through The Looking Glass and What Alice Found There
� Dead Poets Society
� A Woman Is No Man
� Firekeeper’s Daughter
� Sold
� Thousand Splendid Suns
� The Ex Hex
� Legendborn
� The Bear and The Nightingale