YA Book Review: An Ember in the Ashes

(This post was originally published on BreakPoint.org. Read it at http://www.doingtherightthing.com/features-columns/youth-reads/entry/40/27942.)

“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.” For 17-year-old Laia, heroine of An Ember in the Ashes, that moment comes when Martial soldiers raid her home in the Scholars’ Quarter. Even under the rule of the ruthless Martial Empire, she had managed to get by with the support of her grandparents and older brother, Darin. But when the soldiers raid, getting by isn’t enough. “Getting by” leaves her brother imprisoned on charges of treason. “Getting by” can’t keep her grandparents from being killed. Instead of fighting back, Laia runs in fear. Afterward, she can hardly live with the guilt that comes from knowing that she didn’t do enough to help them. Desperate to save her only living family member, Laia strikes a deal with leaders of the Resistance. In exchange for their help freeing Darin, she promises to serve as their spy at Blackcliff, the leading military academy in the Empire. There, she will live as the servant of one of the Empire’s cruelest Martials, the commander of Blackcliff. She will work to reverse the evil that came upon her in that one definitive moment.

While at Blackcliff, Laia crosses paths with Elias. A soon-to-be graduate of the academy, Elias is nonetheless repulsed by the violence of the Empire’s soldiers. He’ll do almost anything to escape his future as one of them. But before he can try, the Empire’s holy men select Elias to take part in a series of trials that will lead to the selection of the next Emperor.

Trapped in the guilt from their pasts and the fear of the future, both Elias and Laia struggle to overcome the odds, do the right thing, and ultimately find freedom for themselves and the people they love. But first they must discover what it means for the soul to be truly free.

Along with a satisfactorily gripping plot, this theme of freedom is the best thing that Sabaa Tahir’s new Young Adult novel has going for it. Laia and Elias’s search for freedom reflects a struggle that every human individual faces: the struggle to define life as something worthwhile and good. To keep from losing their souls, these characters attempt to justify themselves and remedy the damage of their pasts through their own acts—by being “good enough.”

Unfortunately, although the story correctly acknowledges the soul’s need for freedom, it fails to present an adequate source of hope for that freedom. Being “good enough” just won’t cut it. Although Laia and Elias may be able to remedy the evil of their pasts through virtuous acts, nothing can reverse what they’ve done. Realistically, the hope that they have in themselves is too weak to hold them up.

Even though the book gives a poor representation of true freedom, this central theme can still serve to raise some crucial questions about what holds us captive as individuals. The story repeatedly reminds readers that—whether it be guilt, fear, or some dark moment from our past—those things shouldn’t control us, a message that resonates especially with those who have freedom in Christ.

It must be said, though, that this theme is likely to be overlooked by many readers, buried as it is in YA stereotypes. If you’ve read The Hunger Games, Divergent, and/or The Maze Runner, you’ll be in familiar territory with An Ember in the Ashes. It’s yet another story about troubled teens taking a stand against the established order, complete with love triangle (this time it’s actually a sort of love square). It’s written in that gripping first-person present voice that manages to be both snappy and simplistic. And—surprise!—it ends on a cliffhanger, leaving readers to expect a sequel.

The setting, although unique, is a confusing mashup, with the features of a dystopian society, ancient Rome, and a fantasy world all at once. Even though the element of fantasy sets it apart from other YA novels in the Hunger Games class, the intriguing representation of spirituality that the fantasy brings comes across as largely underdeveloped. This makes the mysterious prophet-like characters and the random characters with “magical powers” seem to just serve as the author’s escape route for hard-to-explain plot elements.

The book has some content issues that reserve it for teens at the older end of the scale, including some foul language and occasionally graphic descriptions of violence and gore. Talk of whores, brothels, and rape also contribute to a PG-13 rating. Although the book contains no sex scenes, some things are implied, and often the elements of love in the book start to look more like lust.

I can’t deny that An Ember in the Ashes makes for an enjoyable read, but the writing is so simplistic and the plot elements so clichéd that I really can’t call it worthwhile reading. Like many YA novels before it, the book makes a better screenplay than it does a work of literature. It would make a fun movie that would be worth spending two hours on. If you’re looking for something worth reading, though, I would recommend a truly meaty book over this cotton-candy read.