Iridescent Blog Tour: Review of Ember by Carol Oates

I am so excited to be participating in the blog tour for Iridiscent, hosted by AToMR Blog Tours! Today I have for you a review of the first book in this series, Ember. Be sure to check out the rest of the tour here!

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Ember by Carol Oates

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Genres: Urban Fantasy

Release Date: July 19th, 2012

Source: Received from publisher

 

 

 

 

Synopsis:

When Candra Ember wakes up in hospital after a dangerous encounter with a red-haired woman, she is shocked to discover that seeing a winged boy wasn’t her imagination. Candra is exposed to a world of rivalry and sacrifice she never knew existed, and the aftermath of a war to save humanity thousands of years ago. Soon she finds herself relentlessly stalked by Sebastian, a beautiful and arrogant Watcher Angel and romantically pursued by his darkly seductive rival, Draven. Ultimately, dubious about her own goodness, Candra’s very existence compromises a tentative peace in the city of Acheron.

My Review:

Ember, with it’s gorgeous and simplistic cover drew me in immediately when I picked it up. With a fantastic main character, addicting plot, and a great ending, I really did enjoy this book. However, I wasn’t really fond of some aspects of this book. But I am still happy that I ended up liking this one!

Candra, our main character, was a bit iffy for me at first. I thought she didn’t have enough depth, and that she was flat. But I was proved wrong as I read the book. Usually, I can tell if I’m going to like the main character within the first 20-30 pages, and I thought that I wouldn’t like Candra at all. But I found myself really falling for her stubbornness and belief to do the right thing. She did have her flaws, but that just made me like her even more. I also loved seeing some character growth with Candra as we progressed through the story. She made mistakes, but learned from them, which just made her an even stronger character. Candra was definitely a character I fell in love with by the end of the book.

The plot of Ember was really gripping, which is something I liked. It wasn’t necessarilly that there was a lot of action, it was that I kept reading to find out what happens next. There were some good plot twists in this one that got me hooked. And I think the ending was really fantastically done. It was unpredictable, and quite clever actually. It’s hard for me to be surprised in books these days, but this book did manage to shock me at the end!

However, there were a few things I didn’t really like about this book. For one, the romance. I’m not the biggest romance fan out there, but if it’s done well, I find myself enjoying the romance in books. But unfortunately, I couldn’t bring myself to like the romance at all in this book. For one, it just went back and forth over and over again, which I understand is realistic, but it just happened too many times. I also wasn’t fond of the fact that the guy Candra liked, Sebastian, was basically her stalker. Shouldn’t this be a concern for anybody, especially Candra? But instead of being freaked out and doing something about her stalker, Candra falls in love with him. I just wish the romance wouldn’t have been as obvious and in your face as it was. It was definitely my least favorite aspect of the story.

Overall, I ended up enjoying Ember. Candra really grew on me as a character, and the plot kept me hooked while I was reading. And while I wasn’t a fan of the romance, I would still recommend this one to people looking for an urban fantasy book with a lovable protagonist. I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series!

Thank you to the publishers for allowing me a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts!

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You can find out more about Ember on Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, and the author’s website.