Monday 12 October 2020

REVIEW - ENSNARED -THE TOMB BY ELLA BURNS


 

Title: Ensnared
Series: The Tomb
Author: Ella Burns
Genre: Dark Dystopian, Post Apocalyptic
Release Date: 18th September 2020

BLURB from Goodreads
What happens when you take a woman disguised like a man and throw her in one of the most hostile prisons in the world?

**Warning: If you haven't read The Tomb: Exposed this blurb may contain spoilers!**

Ana

Well, the jig is up, and I was discovered. Instead of the inmates turning on me, I’m now Boss-Bitch of The Tomb.
Wasn’t expecting that one.
Everything seems to be going great for us, the inmates respect and fear me and I don’t have to disguise myself for the first time in a decade. Even Ax seems to be doing better since I took over. Everything was going great, until the day our shipment from the outside didn’t show up.
The drugs ran out and we’re running low on food when the decrepit prison speakers crackle for the first time in years.
Are the guards coming back into The Tomb after all this time? And if they find out I’m a woman, what then?

Ax

I never thought I’d have a woman of my own, much less one I am proud to stand beside. She’s a ruthless Goddess, more than worthy to rule the savages of The Tomb. My addiction and the demons coursing through my veins have quieted and I’ve smiled more than ever before in my life.
When the guards threaten Ana, years of suppressed rage over my mama’s death come boiling back. I don’t know if this time she’ll be able to pull me back.
Will I be able to let go of the past in time to save Ana, or will I succumb to the fire once and for all?


PURCHASE LINKS

REVIEW
I love how all the covers for this series have the theme running through them. The strong image of the muscly, tattooed back of Axle, the main male character in the books.

Right at the beginning of this book there is a section about “the Split” which explains that it was a deadly virus that attacked and killed women. Men watched helplessly as their mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters died. Obviously, this made women a rarer, much more in demand commodity to be fought over. It caused a war that eventually ends in 2021. Two groups emerge from the war, The Watch and The Order. The world is renamed New Europe and anyone against this new regime is thrown into prison.
Next in this book we are told the story of what happened to Axle and his mother when they first arrived at The Tomb. It gives much more insight into the character of Axle and how he became such firm friends with Ethan too, who also lost his mother in a similar way.
Though Ax looks strong and unbeatable on the outside we know from reading the books so far that when it comes to Ana he has a much softer side as well as suppressing the hurt of losing his mother when he was so young. It is also revealed in this book exactly how he learnt his mother would not be coming back to him as promised. Its not the only revelation in the book, it turns out Axle has been keeping a rather large secret that many of the men in The Tomb would quite well kill to know! The fact that Axle has kept this secret and never used his knowledge of it gives an even deeper insight into his character. Until Ana came along and they find themselves in their current situation with the guards returning to the Tomb Axle seemed resigned to his fate of living out his life in the Tomb. After all he arrived as a very young child with his mother and hasn’t really known anything about the outside world. Is it possible Axle could be a little fearful of what is outside the Tomb. Is he worried he will not know how to protect what is his on the outside? Inside the Tomb he can fight and beat whoever challenges him, he has a contact outside that sends in supplies regularly so he doesn’t need or want to be on the outside himself.

The challenge that Ana and Axle face in Ensnared is that the usually on time delivery of supplies is late, not just a few days like has occasionally happened before. Its over a week late and those inside the Tomb are getting very restless. Even Ethan is looking anxious and feeling restless, no supply delivery also means no visit from Sammi, the Nun. The drug addicts are going into withdrawal, the tension inside the Tomb is building and as Ana is the Boss it is her that has to be seen to be dealing with everything. Ana has to display her toughness and the fact she isn’t afraid of a fight on more than one occasion in this book.

It soon becomes apparent that those outside the Tomb with the power over it have discovered somehow that Ana is in the Tomb. The guard who Axle hates, the one that took his own mother all those years ago now wants his woman! He wants to take Ana away from Axle. However, Ax is older now and he won’t go down without a fight! Maybe he wasn’t old enough to fight for his mother but he will fight for Ana. The guard in charge is called Richard, though Ax insists on calling him Dick much to the head guard’s annoyance. I think it’s the one jibe, or blow that Ax can get at the man who took his mother away from him. Dick delivers an ultimatum, hand the woman over or else suffer the consequences. At first Ana remains in charge of those in the Tomb but it becomes apparent there are those who would betray her in return for the smallest reward or favour from the guards. When the inevitable happens, Ana finds herself reunited with Sammi in a cell. Sammi is the prostitute that visited Axle at the prison as part of the supplies deal. Their first meeting didn’t go well at all and it is apparent that to begin with Ana looks down on Sammi and the things she has done to survive. Though as the two women confide their fears and past histories with each other they become much closer and end up banding together.

I loved the different terms of endearment used in this book, in fact the series so far. I quite enjoyed looking up the individual meanings, such as, fiametta ~ little flame, lijep ~ beautiful and tesoro ~ treasure. It clearly shows a softer, kind of romantic side to Axle and just makes you love his character even more! We are also introduced to a new character that hasn’t been mentioned before. His name is Crow and he is the only one to have ever successfully escaped from The Tomb, though he did have a little inside help. Crow has never forgotten who helped him and turns up in Ensnared at just the right time and place. It’s kind of hinted at that he will be featuring a little more in the series, so I am looking forward to learning more about him and discovering how he will become involved with my favourite characters.

I almost forgot that twice in this book a younger inmate called Ciaran tries to speak to Ana and Axle about something but each time he ends up pushed to the side with a promise of talking to him later. I can’t help but wonder what important information it is that Ciaran has to tell them? Hopefully that will be revealed in the next book?
My immediate thoughts upon finishing the book were that Ensnared was another amazing dark instalment in this brilliant series. I can't decide who I love the most Axle or Ethan? And Ana & Sammi sure make a great team that should not be underestimated at all! Who is Crow? And what is his full story? Seriously looking forward to bk3......

To sum up this book answers to many questions that arose in the previous book but also has you asking so many more! I am certainly looking forward to reading more about Axle, Ethan, Ana and Sammi and what happens to them next!



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