After the death of his brother, his actions start to haunt him. In this book, we really get to see Marcus’ characterization as Emperor. I knew that I didn’t trust him, but when he revealed that he was the Nightbringer, I was so upset for Laia that she fell into his trap and gave up her armband. It had been a few years since I’d read this book, so I forgot about Keenan’s betrayal until I was rereading it. Laia, Helene, and Elias were all characters I rooted for, and I have hated the Commandant since she first appeared, which is a sign of a great villain. Sabaa Tahir does an amazing job of easing you into the world and not throwing everything at you at once. I love the trials, I love watching Laia’s characterization throughout the span of the book, and I love how all of the characters and the world is introduced. Of all the books in the series, right now this is my favorite one. This book was, and still is, one of my all-time favorites. I’m going to break it down book by book, and there will be spoilers for each book, so be aware of that before reading on!

I recently reread An Ember in the Ashes and A Torch Against the Night, so that I could finally read A Reaper at the Gates. I wanted to talk about my thought process while rereading these books, and my thoughts about the series so far. This post is going to be a little different than my typical reviews.

An ember in ashes series