In my opinion, An Ember in the Ashes is an amazing book. First of all, it was remarkable how the book had two protagonist who had only one feeling in common, cross paths and end up meaning a lot to each other. Elias was a noblemen; Laia was a Scholar. They never publicly expressed their thoughts on the Empire; yet fate brought them to each other. Generally, in stories, protagonists always receive their happy endings. That's not the case in An Ember in the Ashes. In this book, Elias and Laia work through their daily struggles, never receiving one happy ending. I remember reading this book and nearly crying, because bad things tend to happen to these two! Nonetheless, they conquer their challenges, and even when they face defeat, they remember their values and goals and lives and keep going, striving to be better. At the end of this story, Laia and Elias have escaped from the Empire, but they still have many obstacles in front of them. Lastly, I adore how beautifully every character in this story has been developed. Of course, Laia and Elias have beautiful histories, but they are the protagnoists. For example, the Commandmant is an evil character; yet her history makes me hate her a little less. Even the story's biggest villain has faced great challenges. Sabaa Tahir has developed each character's story, even if they are viewed as evil, or are not as important in the plot.