I read this as a sequel to The Sea Wreck Stranger', unfortunately I found Ebony Hill a bit stagnant in places so skimmed parts that dealt with the rebels fighting. The general story line leads on from where Ness and Dev (the man she saved and was exiled with from Dunnett) sail away from Dunnett and land at Vidya, another post apolcolyptic island that Dev comes from.

Ness's new home, the city of Vidya, is in ruins; the air is unsafe, and the buildings scarred by fire. Towers loom empty and hollow. The community of Vidya is bravely building a new society and Ness yearns to find a place where she might belong.

Sent to work on the home farms, Ness becomes caught up in surprise attacks and ongoing land battles. Working tirelessly in the medic room at Ebony Hill, she helps mend the wounded and worse, and suffers much hardship. Questioning the treatment of prisoners and witnessing the realities of war challenges Ness's commitment to this brave new society. Will she find a place for herself here?
'No matter how much you might want to leave a place, if it's where you were raised it holds a piece of you it doesn't easily give up.' Ness constantly wonders what lies across the sea at Dunnett, the island that shunned her and where she left behind the only family that she knew. ( )