Re-read: up-graded to 4 stars

On a much faster and more enjoyable re-read i have to say that i am starting to see the huge apeal that so many people saw in the story right away.

Tahir knows how to write fantastic stories with great meaning and intention.

BUT
I still think that the main characters lack something.
Lala is basically as interesting to me as a wet paper towel lying on the street.
And Elias... well i just think that he could have used a bit more of an actual character as well!

Don't get me wrong, there is some characterization going on.

But not really the much. its very trope-y in many ways

see spoiler-y thoughts and rambles here --->

we have the "i do everything to save (add appropriate term here -which in this case is) brother" main girl, who of course will be completely mislead and used. Which is just a bit boring and while Tahir does do this trope okay, i still missed an actual character in Laia. She was either a complete coward or all of a sudden this shining people saving fighter after she finally uncovered that she really should learn not to trust the first person that promises her something that they clearly can not and do not want to deliver!

So that was still very frustration to me.

And Elias was really not much better. He was to me the typical "i am a big fighter, born and breed, but i hate it sooooo much" main boy who is just... could we have gotten a better reason that a bad mother and not wanting to be a killer for why he wants to escape? Because if that was it, why wait so long? If the graduation ceremony happens every year, and it gets a bit wild and chaotic why not just leave in an different year? Why wait for all those years until he finally actually leaves and then still doesn't because apparently a guy that can see the future and into minds tells him not to? Yeah that just doesn't really sit well with me especially since we never got any real explanation for any of that...

Why Elias? Why does he believe the guy, since he said quite a few times before that he personally thinks that those guys are nuts and have no real power? so why all of a sudden believe them? Just because they know how is plan to escape? I am sorry but how he was described before that i could have meet the guy once and know that he would want to try to escape simply because of the way he was behaving! He was very, very obvious! It would have been more surprising if nobody would dhal noticed that he wanted to escape!

So yes, clearly i still have main character problems!

But the rest was better.

I did enjoy the other characters quite a bit. I really liked "cook" and "kitchen girl", i liked Helene.

I enjoyed the overall story build up -even if it was very predictable and if some small changes would have been made, the overall thing would not have been as predictable and foreseeable. So that was bit... of a let down, sadly.

I also enjoyed the trails this go around more for some reason, don't ask me way.

I really enjoyed the ending this time around. I don't know why, but for some reason i really liked how the ending went about

i mean the actual ending, not where Laia lets other people put together the explosion stuff so that she can get Elias out, but the moment between Elias and Helene seconds before the book actually ends. that moment really got to me this time and i really enjoyed it!

and i am actually really excited now to start [b:A Torch Against the Night|25558608|A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes, #2)|Sabaa Tahir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1463675717l/25558608._SY75_.jpg|45355236] !

I really enjoyed the very quotable saying Tahir wrote into the book! I loved that she includes the title and how it connects with not only one of the main characters but actually both! Which i don't remember noticing the first read through so that was nice to see! I always love when authors include the book title in the actual story, don't ask me way!

And while this book is certainly not my favorite YA fantasy, it defiantly got better, became even very good to me during this re-read! A book i know i would recommend to someone that enjoys this genre of books!

So yeay, for re-reading a book without the hyped up thoughts and feelings going into it and actually enjoying the book more the second time around because i've gone into it with much more realistic expectations!





Original Review: 3 stars
Okay I am not completely objective with this book. Because it took me FOREVER to read.
I mean i started this in may 2015!!
And i finally finished it on January 31st because i sat down and forced myself to finish this book to finally have it done.

And so i might not necessary have to say that i am not the biggest fan out there. Simply because it took me forever and ever and ever to get it read. And who doesn't hate that?


But that is not necessarily because it is bad, it was just not my style in more then one way.


The writing was nice, the characters okay, the overall story pretty good -just nothing special or "suck you into this world" way and the plot idea was good in itself.

The problem was that for me was mostly that all those just listed things -the writing, the characters and the actual story and plot- did not work together.


I did not like Laia and could care less about Elias -and i mean that in the way that i sometimes maybe just wished that he was finally just killed to end that miserable existence of literature!
So really the people that told the story and their stories? I could have cared less if they would have fallen over dead and that would have been more then fine for me. So yeah... not necessary the best way to read a story or get invested in a story.


And it is sad because i did like the idea behind this book. I love the roman empire, i would love to find a fantastically written fantasy version of that. But this book was just not it. So i loved the idea, so much more then the actual book.


I also hated - HATED- the big "plot twist"

of how the rebels had a traitor that was in contact with the headmistress/evil person and how the rebels did did exactly what the bad guys wanted them to do? How clique is that and boring and overdone, or is that just me?

because this big twist was foreseeable right from the start when one of the characters are introduced that has something to do with this big twist. And that is just... really that is the big climax moment of this story that i struggled and bored myself through? And then the twist is something as stupid as that? I could have thrown the book against a wall, or let it go up in flames. If i wouldn't cry if a book would ever be treated that way around me. So yeah... not going to happen just because this book made those kind of feelings come up in me.

I also just wanted to say that this book could have been about half the lengths and not need another book to get to the actual point of the story and still tell everything that was told. And i kind of hate when a book spends over 440 pages basically rounding around the point and never, ever going or even getting near it.


Can i also say that I found the tasks/ trails extremely boring?
And those where parts of the book that i either started to slump or skimp read more of it because it was just... yeah i am sorry but some people should not try to write action scenes or being someone that tries to write something that is supposed to be full of action and adventure and just overall extremely exiting. Those moments where just not good for me. At all.


I do have to say that the writing was nice. It was okay. And if the story itself would have been better for me I would have really enjoyed this book because the writing was nice enough to let me see that. So i can see why people love this book because of that. I just don't see how they can be as exited about the actual story because well yeah...


I will say that i am going to read the second book. Because i want to see how this story is going to end and if the author manages to actually pull out an ending that is good. Or not.
I do hope that it will actually be the last book in this series and not go even more overboard and go on even longer.

As i said I already feel that this story could have been an actual standalone and could have been so much better if it would have actually done what the book was supposed to be about, instead of just having the story be stretched out for no reason what so ever.

You know, getting Laias brother out of prison and maybe even killing not only the old emperor but also this slimy new one and actually freeing Elias from the devilish hands of his mother. Or just killing her for good measures because why the heck not? If someone deserves to be killed and have their head put up on a spike that woman clearly is high on the nomination list!

All in all this book was okay.
Nothing world chancing at all and rather boring in big parts.
As this review shows there were many moments that i just didn't understand or see the reason why they were in the book, or just saw them as pushing pages that were completely unnecessary.


I do really hope that the other one will be better. Or at least actually be about what the summary says it will be about. Or hey even be about what this book summary promised the story to be about! Or maybe just have an actual plot -a start, a middle and an ENDING!- that would be awesome.



If you are looking for a boring fight scene heavy and rather murderous fantasy story that has torture scenes that are rather graphic and is just overall brutal and don't mind if the book seems to be trampling on the same spot for seemingly forever?
Try this.