Book 2 of the Ember In the Ashes series
Note: This may include spoilers to previous books in series
Summary
Laia and Elias are now running for their lives from the dreaded Martial Empire. They are now officially fugitives and are to be hunted by the newly proclaimed Blood Shrike (commander of the empire's army), Helene Aquilla. On top of that, they must find a way to break Laia's brother, Darin, out of the fortified Kauf prison in order to give the Scholar rebels a fighting chance against the empire... things just keep piling on for these unlikely allies.
Elias battles with his guilt over killing the people he feels didn't deserve to lose their lives. Every moment he fears hurting others that he cares about. His only solution? Distance himself from Laia, and help her complete her goal of saving Darin. Deep down, Elias knows that he's just a ticking time bomb. In more ways than one.
Laia is completely driven in her goal to get Darin and flee to the neighboring country to help the Scholars overpower the Empire. She can't help that she's distracted by her growing affection for Elias, her mysterious guide that seems to care about her for reasons she has yet to understand. She wishes that he would let her in and keep him company in his lonely, darkness-filled mind.
Helene Aquilla deals with her own form of hell. She is tasked with hunting down a fugitive who so happens to be her best friend. This empire seems bound and determined to break her soul and spirit. Every step she takes feels more and more taxing, especially when she has the Commandant (a horrific, violent woman that is somehow Elias' mother) breathing down her neck, threatening everything dear to her. How will she choose? Will she choose her family that is currently under threat from the new emperor and the Commandant or will she choose to preserve her best friend's life and allow him to escape?
These three tell a story of treacherous journies they travel and sacrifices that are made. They each face their own burdens and either overcome them alone or with the help of each other. All of them have something on the line. It's just the question of whether or not they'll lose everything.
Opinion
Scale of 1-10:
8
I actually did enjoy this book. The only reason I didn't give it 9 like I did the first book, is because I felt it took longer to get me hooked in the story. I feel like everything that could've gone wrong in the first half of this book did. While I don't mind stories with twists and turns, don't get me wrong there are still some good ones in this story, I feel like the unfortunate things happening to the characters were just kind of overdone a tad. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book after getting past the first half. The second part really redeemed it in my eyes.
One thing I loved IMMENSELY was reading from Helene's POV. I wasn't a huge fan of her when reading the first book, but now she's probably one of my favorites. I don't know what it is but the people that were related to her side of the story were also equally lovable. There's this character that's part of her story that I thought I would hate but I ended up really enjoying his character growth! It's weird that you can see his growth through someone else's perspective and still get the full impact of it. Anyway, while there are many book sequels that add on a new POV and I don't enjoy it, this was one perspective that I sincerely adored and I'm excited to reread the third book and get refreshed on what happens with Helene. Oh and the other characters too!
If you liked the first book, then this one is worth the read for a continuation of the plot. It's not as good in my opinion, but still a quality story-line. I don't regret reading it at all!
Age Rating
14+
This has the same stuff as the last book. Some sexual content, quite a bit of mild language, and some stronger language too. There is definitely a lot of violence.
Language:
The words said in this book are "damn", "hell", "piss", "b***h", and "bastard". The most repeated curse words in the book are "damn" and "hell", which isn't as bad as I would've thought. The other words are repeated only a few times throughout.
Sexual Content:
This is another thing that's pretty much the same as the last book. There are references to sex and a couple of intense kissing scenes. The first one that happens, it heavily implies that the characters have sex. They don't go past kissing and heavy petting but readers will know what happens after that. The second one doesn't last as long and isn't as intense. Other than those things, that's about it.
Violence:
This one is the kicker in this book. This is a major theme of the story. The characters battle with all the killing and the people that Elias has killed weighs heavily on his conscious throughout the story. There's a lot of talk about blood being spurted and/or being everywhere. Some characters get stabbed or their throats slashed and there's quite a bit of emotional turmoil from the characters that accompany some of the deaths.
Here's the link to the book on Goodreads:
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