Sylah is so amazing, so talented, that she never loses a match, and miraculously avoids ever bleeding, too. I was baffled - what would happen if she bled? But don't worry, guys. Even though we're told time and time again that she is an Ember, and therefore has red blood, she competes in fighting matches while she's living in the Duster quarter. My misgivings started with Sylah's first chapters. She comes off as selfish (and not in the way that makes a character interesting, but in the way that makes them aggravating), and in spite of the flaws she's given, some aspects of her are almost too perfect. By all rights, Sylah should've been a fantastic character, but strangely enough, I actually found her a little irritating at first.
By background alone she's interesting, but added into the mix is the fact that she's a drug addict who has stumbled off her "chosen one" path after tragedy. She's one of the Stolen, a group of Ember children who were taken by the Sandstorm, a revolutionary group of Dusters who are hoping to seize control of the empire. The first character we're introduced to is Sylah. The amount of information we're given just over the first handful of chapters is simply staggering, and unfortunately, not done in a way that feels cohesive or natural. Sadly, this turned out to be the case, although the last 30% was actually rather brilliant. The first few pages were interesting, but I had a sinking feeling that, perhaps, this was not going to be the book for me. It sounded like a fresh spin on some old, tired fantasy tropes, and what excited me the most was that the entire cast is primarily Black (and brown as well) and on the LGBTQ spectrum. You may recall that this was on my list of most anticipated for 2022. When Sylah and Anoor have no choice but to join forces, they both start to realize that everything they think they know is not the whole truth, and with the help of Hassa, a whip-smart Ghosting spy, they are ready to strike down the old order and start the new. Across the city, Anoor lives a life of luxury as the daughter of a high-ranking Ember, but not all is as it seems. Sylah's mission of rebellion and revolution has been thrown off-course, though, when she watched her family murdered before her eyes six years ago. In the world that Sylah knows, the red-blooded - called Embers - rule with an iron fist, subjugating Dusters, with blue blood, and Ghostings, with clear, under the belief that they are superior to all others. Sylah has been raised as a weapon against the Empire since childhood. Content Warning: violence, death (including that of a child), murder, torture, racism, colonization, child abuse (physical, mental and emotional), fatphobia, addiction.
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