Review: An Ember in the Ashes (Sneak Peak) by Sabaa Tahir

An Ember in the Ashes (Sneak Peak) by Sabaa Tahir
Published: March 23rd Penguin Young Readers Group

I will tell you the same thing I tell every slave.

The resistance has tried to penetrate this school countless times. I have discovered it every time.

If you are working with he resistance, if you contact them, if you think of contacting them, I will know.

Laia is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.

Elias is the academy’s finest soldier— and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.

When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself.

"The field of battle is my temple. I mentally chant a saying my grandfather taught me the day he met me, when I was six. He insists it sharpens the mind the way a whetstone sharpens a blade. The swordpoint is my priest. The dance of death is my prayer. The killing blow is my release."

Thank you Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me with a sneak peak for review.

Legend meets The Winner's Curse in a breath-taking novel. Or at least, that's what I have gathered from the sneak peak. Honestly, I'm surprised with how much I loved this shortened version of An Ember in the Ashes. I'd never imagined to rate a sneak peak five stars, but my unbelief doesn't stop there. It was so action-packed I could barely wrap my head around it. This was only the beginning of a story about the clash in an ancient Rome-like empire, yet it didn't hold author Sabaa Tahir back from anything. There was action. There was such a heart-wrenching scene. There were wonderful characters I now care for.

There's no questioning Tahir's talent, as I could gather so many different aspects of the book, just by reading one chapter. Despite the fact that the world belongs to the fantasy genre and thus requires a lot of world building, it drew me in very quickly and didn't let me go. Without having to deal with info dumps, there's a lot of information brought to the reader in a smart and insightful way, combined with some excellent and just gorgeous writing. In my case, it only left me hungry for more.

In a nutshell, I absolutely loved loved loved the sneak peak of An Ember In The Ashes. For now I can only cross my fingers and hope for the rest of the book to be this good.  After all, if my hopes turn into reality, there is no denying my excitement.