Molly E. Lee

Ember of Night

Ashley Harris

I thought this book was amazing. It does have some strong themes so I would say more aimed towards the higher age groups of YA. I had a hard time putting this book down.

Shereen Evans

***Trigger Warning: thoughts of suicide, child abuse, alcoholism, violence***

I'd like to say that I picked this book up because of the cover and I didn't know anything about it going in. This book had me wanting to know more to the story. I loved the story and the characters. Harley and Draven had me smiling at their relationship. There are quite a few of twists and turns that you can sometimes see coming. If you were hoping to have a good ending you will be disappointed as it leaves off on a Cliff Hanger!!

Pauline J

Has a strong start esp the Prologue.

BEFORE YOU GO INTO THIS—trigger warnings will include thoughts of suicide, child abuse, alcoholism, violence. Thankfully, these are all covered at the beginning of the book through the Author’s note.

There’s TONSSS of action in here so it’s unlikely you’ll get bored. parts of the story was up and down for me—I found myself skimming/zoning out in some areas but that’s probably just me.

OBVIOUSSSLLYYY we’re all in love with Draven. There’s this irresistible push and pull with him and Harley, the female MC.

While I enjoyed the book, I wasn’t 100% drawn in.

There’s also a lot of good twists in here!! Some, I saw coming & the book totally confirmed it but there are others that just come left field 😂 (not a bad thing)

Ends in a cliffhanger, so beware 🤪

I am a weed. Unloved by my abusive, alcoholic dad. Unwanted by my classmates. Unnoticed by everyone else. But I’d suffer anything to give my kid sister a better life—the minute I turn eighteen, I’m getting us the hell out of here. And some hot stranger telling me I am the key to stopping a war between Heaven and Hell isn’t going to change that. Let the world crumble and burn, for all I care. Draven is relentless, though. And very much a liar. Every time his sexy lips are moving, I can see it—in the dip of his head, the grit of his jaw—even if my heart begs me to ignore the signs. So what does he want? I need to figure it out fast, because now everyone is gunning for me. And damn if I don’t want to show them what happens when you let weeds thrive in the cracks of the pavement... We can grow powerful enough to shatter the whole foundation.

Aundreya Rich

"Even the darkness has value to those who seek its shelter." 

Wow! 

Ember of Night comes in with a POW as we navigate the days leading to Harley's eighteenth birthday. The day she can finally leave her abusive home and take guardianship of her younger sister... or maybe all hell will break loose... literally.


YA fantasy is full of good vs evil stories where we buy in for the love triangle (cough cough every vampire book on your shelf)

 but what Molly E. Lee does differently is she created a world filled with grey characters. Bad angels? Good demons? Demons that look like alligators? Sorcerers? Good people with bad morals? Bad people with good morals? HOW DO YOU CHOOSE A TEAM!?!?


The only way I know how is to follow the hottie with striking eyes... cue Draven. Tan skin, golden eyes, and alot of secrets. But who is this young man whose afraid of a little "connection" and human contact? The one who tries but cannot stay away.


 "I had a suspicion you were hot for me Harley, but I didn't think I could make you burn." 

Trigger warnings: abuse, thoughts of suicide, gore, language

Read if you like:
- YA JLA series 
- Cassandra Clare's world with a bit of a bigger PUNCH
-angels and demons
-a heroine who could literally kick your butt
- a bit of mystery
-urban setting
-young adult books more on the new adult side
-a new series you will be addicted to!
-anime! yes I said anime....

Any author who starts a book out with a HOT dance scene is a new fave in my book. 


Why I gave it 4 Stars:
-being the first book with a lot of mystery, it ends in a little cliffhanger and I just wanted MORE. More moments, maybe even more love triangle? I know bookstagram strike me down 😂. Overall I really enjoyed it 
Rating:
Story-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (loved it)
characters- young and learning
romance- strangers to lustfully charged individuals
steam- wooooweeeeee that's some steamy canoodling 
song- Can You Hold me by NF & Britt Nicole

Thank you Entangled Teen for my copy of Ember of Night. Counting down to book 2

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I bought this book for this reread! Support your authors! All opinions are my own!

Book: Ember of Night

Author: Molly E. Lee

Book Series: Ember of Night Book 1

Rating: 5/5

Recommended For...: young adult readers, fantasy, urban fantasy, angels, demons

Publication Date: May 4, 2021

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 16+ (Language, Violence, Child abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Romance, Panic attacks, Religion slightly, Illusions to self harm, Illusions to attempted sexual assault)

Explanation of CWs: There are curse words used throughout the book. Child abuse is shown, as is lots of violence and gore. Suicidal thoughts are mentioned. There is some sexual content, but most of the romance is fade to black. Mentions of panic attacks and one episode of it. Religion is the backbone of this book, but isn’t brought up a lot. The way things are described in the book gives it the appearance of self-harm and attempted sexual assault, but they aren’t (but can be read that way by others).

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Pages: 386

Synopsis: I’ve never been a stranger to the darkness. But when darkness comes knocking and looks that good, who wouldn’t invite him in?

Draven is mysterious, evasive, and hot as sin. The only thing more infuriating than how much he won’t say is how obnoxious he is every time he does open his mouth. But when a group of strangers attacks me and he fights back, causing them to vanish into a cloud of black dust, I know Draven is more than he seems.

He finally shows me there’s a veil separating the world I know from a world of demons living all around us. Turns out, good and evil are just words. Some of the demons don’t fall into either category. And I’m realizing just how easily I fit in among the ancient warlocks, the divine soldiers, and the twisted supernaturals...

There’s so much more to me. To my past. And to what I am truly capable of than I ever thought possible. So when all signs point to me having the ability to unleash Hell on earth? I’ll have to decide if I want to do the world a solid and save it, or give it one hell of a makeover.

Review: I really loved my reread of this book! I had more fun with it the second time than I did the first and I loved a lot of the little things that I didn’t see the first time I read through it. The triggers of this book are in the front of the book and I loved that. The book is realistic to family issues and with court (a lot of things that most authors miss in their contemporary books! Like it’s kidnapping if you take your sibling and any court would side eye you for that!). I enjoyed the character development and world building. The book also did well with the plot and it kept me going.

The only issue I had with this reread is that the pacing lagged in the middle of the book, but it picked back up again towards the end. I also still have issue with the book using the age difference it did for the main couple. It gives me a creeper vibe.

Verdict: It was good!


danielle bush

I really liked our main character Harley.. She has been beat down, physically and emotionally by her father her entire life.. The only reason she has to keep going is her little sister Ray.. She is looking forward to her eighteenth birthday when she can move out of her house for good, and take her sister with her.. After she meets this mysterious guy named Draven.. and a bunch of weird guy start attacking her, Harley realizes that something strange is going on.. 
I really liked Harleys journey in this book. While she is a kick butt big sister, and can take care of herself. She doesn't believe in herself at all.. Throughout the story she begins to realize that she has other people she can count on, and she is better than she believes.. 
Some parts of this story did get a bit crazy, especially the big reveal at the end.. but that didn't make me like the story any less.. 
Im definitely excited to see what happens in the next book.

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Ember of Night

Author: Molly E. Lee

Book Series: Ember of Night Book 1

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: ya readers, paranormal, fantasy, romance, demons

Genre: YA Fantasy Romance

Publication Date: May 4, 2021

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Pages: 400

Recommended Age: 16+ (Violence, Physical child abuse, Sexual content, Language, Gore, Suicidal ideation, Alcoholism)


Synopsis: I am a weed.

Unloved by my abusive, alcoholic dad. Unwanted by my classmates. Unnoticed by everyone else.

But I’d suffer anything to give my kid sister a better life—the minute I turn eighteen, I’m getting us the hell out of here. And some hot stranger telling me I am the key to stopping a war between Heaven and Hell isn’t going to change that.

Let the world crumble and burn, for all I care.

Draven is relentless, though. And very much a liar. Every time his sexy lips are moving, I can see it—in the dip of his head, the grit of his jaw—even if my heart begs me to ignore the signs.

So what does he want?

I need to figure it out fast, because now everyone is gunning for me. And damn if I don’t want to show them what happens when you let weeds thrive in the cracks of the pavement…

We can grow powerful enough to shatter the whole foundation.

Review: For the most part this was an okay book. The book was fairly unique and I liked the plot of it. The book also did well pacing wise and for the most part is was fairly evenly paced and very few bits were slower.

However, I have significant problems with this book. I don't think a book should be dependent on the blurb to help the reader know what's going on, but the book just jumps into the story and it almost expects the reader have some sort of backstory info. The book, especially the beginning, was highly confusing and I felt like the character development was lacking in all of the characters. I also thought the world building was lacking as well.

Verdict: It's good just romance heavy and not well drafted.

Nikki Sojkowski

**I was given an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

To preface, this book is far outside my comfort zone. I was actually kind of shocked that this was put in the hands of a YA reviewer. While this is definitely an NA book that was perhaps miscategorized, this was an amazing NA book that I was pleasantly surprised by. Ember of Night is a gritty, 16+, paranormal, "chose one" book that was a wild ride. Very well-written deceptions and betrayals await Lee's readers. The last page all on its own added a whole star to this book for me!

My one gripe was that there were a lot of fighting scenes that could have been removed or merged. In the middle of the book Harley gets attacked by demons, gets attacked by more demons, gets attacked by even more demons and nothing about those scenes or the brief spaces between them advances the plot in any way. It unfortunately made the middle a little monotonous and this pacing issue could have been easily fixed with making the demon attacks separate waves in one fight, or having Harley getting breaks where we actually learn new information before she gets attacked again. While the middle was a bit murky, the beginning and the end were really strong (oh my god that ENDING).

I know it's always great to have some warnings for edgier content so below is some more information on whether this awesome book is the right book for you!

CW for the book: familial physical abuse, graphic gore (non-human), lots of swearing, sex-adjacent activities

Jolie

I am going to start this review with a warning. There are graphic scenes of child abuse in Ember of Night. Not only did it trigger me, but I was shaking mad at every adult in the book (including Harley’s boss). How many black eyes and burn marks can you see before thinking, “Well, maybe something is going on, and I should get involved.” Shame on them (and yes, I was invested emotionally at this point). Because of how graphic the abuse got (in one scene, Harley’s father beats her unconscious), I highly recommend that older teens read this book.

Before you all go, “Oh wow, graphic abuse, yeah, not for me,” I do want to add that the author did mention the abuse in her author’s note, AND she gave resources out if you/someone you know is being abused. So a huge kudos to her for not only the warning but for making those resources available at the beginning of the book.

Harley was my hero for the entire book. Understandably, she had almost no self-esteem, and there were times where she wanted to commit suicide. But, she had a lifeline. She had her 7-year-old sister, Ray, to protect and take care of.

Harley dealt with the supernatural part of the book better than I would have. I mean, she was attacked by three different types of demons, found out that her martial arts instructor was a demon, and learned what Draven was all within an afternoon. I would have been in a corner, sobbing my eyes out and rocking back and forth. But not Harley. She went out and kicked ass (all while making sure that Ray was safe).

I loved Draven too. He was hot and broody. He had an instant connection with Harley that he tried to ignore. I mean, he was supposed to find out if she was the Key (it is explained in the book) and then kill her if she was. He wasn’t supposed to develop feelings for her or protect her from the demons trying to get at her. His backstory was even more tragic than Harley’s. He wasn’t abused like she was, exactly. Instead, he was an outcast because of his unique abilities.

Harley and Draven’s romance was sweet. They were not looking to fall in love with each other. There were sparks whenever they were together. I expected them to admit their feelings sooner but was pleasantly surprised when it happened later rather than sooner.

There is sexual content in the book. Harley and Draven do get together in Ember of Night. The author does a great job of leading up to them having sex with some heavy petting scenes before ending the chapter. It wasn’t graphic, but it was implied.

The main storyline was well written. The author did a fantastic job of keeping me guessing at what Draven was going to do when Harley grew into her powers. A massive twist in that plotline (involving Harley’s father) took me 100% by surprise. I had to put down my book and take a minute to process it, and it was that big of a surprise.

Several more minor storylines were well written and were successfully merged into the main storyline by the end of the book. These secondary storylines fleshed out certain characters and explained why certain people did things in the book.

The author did a fantastic job of creating a complex and diverse world where demons and angels intermingled with humans. I couldn’t get enough of the different races of demons or angels.

The end of Ember of Night was a shock. Not only because of the big battle scene, which was truly magnificent, but with what was revealed.

My only complaint about the ending was it was a cliffhanger. I hate cliffhangers!!!

I enjoyed reading Ember of Night. It was a well-written book that kept me glued to the pages.

I would recommend Ember of Night to anyone over the age of 16. There are graphic child abuse scenes. There is implied sex. There are scenes of heavy petting. There is violence, and there is language.

Cori McCarthy

First of all, I want to thank Entangled Teen for sending me an ARC of this book! This was definitely a wild ride, and I am definitely excited to see where this series goes! 

Harley is an amazing protagonist. She is a determined, feisty, lovable character who would do anything for the people she loves. The side characters are so easy to fall in love with in this story! Especially Harleys little sister! My favorite aspect of this book is the bond between Harley and her little sister. A bond that is purely unbreakable, and two sister who would do anything for each other. 

This book is perfect if your looking for a fast-paced, intriguing plot line, and characters to root for! Trust me, this is a series you will not want to miss out on! So many twist and turns, I was glued from the very first sentence to the very last. I will be counting down the days until I get my hands on the next book! 

Final rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Ember of Night

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