A Torch Against the Night

5/5 stars. “But you, Helene Aquilla, are no swift-burning spark. You are a torch against the night - if you dare to let yourself burn.” Epic. Intense. Whirlwind. (Just a few words to describe A Torch Against the Night) [b:An Ember in the Ashes|27774758|An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)|Sabaa Tahir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1519425615l/27774758.SY75.jpg|39113604] was one of my favorite reads of 2015. I was blown away at the story and characters, and I practically read the entire thing in one sitting. I'd been awaiting the release of this book all year, but then people started getting ARCs and posting their reviews. And I started getting really nervous. I understand their reviews now, this book was nowhere as amazing as the first book. But don't let what I said fool you, this book still didn't disappoint. It deserves all 5 stars I'm giving it. I was hesitant to begin at first. It had been ten months since I read Ember and my memories were a little hazy. I quickly watched a book talk or two, and read a synopsis that I found online, and jumped right back into the world. Though I was hesitant, I was hooked from the first chapter. I wasn't lost in the world, but instead found myself frantically turning every page. When I told myself I would read 50 pages before going to sleep, I would read 100. I dragged the poor book with me everywhere. If you haven't read Ember then I warn you: though I'm not going into much details, this is where there may be spoilers. Laia. I started caring less for Laia in this book. In Ember she was so brave, yet that trait seemed to practically vanish for me. It took 3/4th of the book for her to start actually doing something. I felt as if her actions and desires were putting everyone at risk. I almost took away a half a star from my rating because of her, but she redeemed herself a little in the end. Elias. He made stupid decisions in the book, I'll admit that, but none of them really seemed to put thousands of people at risk. Elias was still the person I fell in love with in book one. Strong, enduring, caring, kind. I didn't find his character faltering from who he is. Every time the book mentioned that he was slowly dying, part of me was slowly dying too. Helene. I just want to take a moment and talk about her. I didn't think much about her in the first book, but I can't say the same now. Her POV was added in this book, and I loved it. I didn't realize how badass she is until now. There has been so much in her life going against her and she doesn't even think twice about it. She just takes everyone's expectations and burn them to a crisp. Her struggles in this book were the best plot point. It's taking this young girl, still impulsive and caring, placing her in a position of power (where no one respects her) and telling her to hunt her best friend. When this series comes to a close, I want her to overtake everyone and become Empress. She deserves it. I can ramble on for longer, but that's enough for today. In conclusion, I loved this book. I loved the action, the violence, most of the characters. I can't wait for the next book (because, luckily, this series isn't a duology like previously stated). I am longing for more of this world. There is so much potential for the rest of this series, and I have so much faith that it's going to turn out epic.

Upsides: Just as good and fast paced as the first. Few questionable audio voices, but overall a very enjoyable listen. Actually gasped out loud at one of the plot twists, usually I see these coming and didn't here! The downsides as I see them: Even more personally violent than the first. Characters have family killed in front of them, etc. And the thread is lost on why the Scholars/Empire are fighting in first place, although their motivations aren't super necessary to a fast moving plot.

This book in many ways was so much better than the first. The world was vastly expanded beyond the walls of Blackcliff and we really go to know these characters and follow them on this journey for/against the Empire.

One aspect I really enjoy about Sabaa Tahir's writing and storytelling is how complete each book feels. I'm left with questions about the fate of the characters but I'm also content with the end. With the end of this book, I'm completely satisfied. That being said there are two more books which I cannot wait for. However, I'm more anticipating seeing these characters again rather than having a burning question about the plot (hopefully that makes sense).

Sabaa continues the dramatic escape and rescue plan from An Ember in the Ashes. At the end of that book, we are basically running away, so book 2 was essential. At the end of this book, there is a bit of a button up. A reader could walk away. I already have book 3 - compelled to keep reading because I'm interested in the magic/mythology of the world and the characters.

This world holds a lot of promise even with the very simplistic splits of peoples.

A few things are too good to be true here, but I like that we got to keep moving forward.

And...when a character has some herbs to prevent pregnancy (no details for spoilers), well, I could not believe that because of the conditions of the character (likely first time) and conditions (remote/away from familiar places/running).

I struggled with this one. Overwrought and melodramatic, it struggles with its own earnestness. it loses to much of the fun that makes YA enjoyable to read.

I am not the biggest YA reader, and I do find that it tends towards some tropes that can get frustrating. One of my least favourites is love triangles, and this one seems to try layering love triangles onto love triangles. It doesn't work. The characters end up extremely annoying. The earnestness becomes overwrought and ultimately falls flat on its face. The basic world set up here is one of the most interesting aspects, but it gets lost within the unimpressive romance that has been layered on top. I like the romanesque fantasy - it is rare enough to give a wonderfully fresh feeling. But this is written as more of character piece. The main characters are annoying. The villains frustratingly one-dimensional. The lack of motivation in a lot of the characters makes the whole story feel distant.

A definite drop in quality from the first and I can only hope the series improves in its last two entries. Definitely a troubled second album...

I had started this book about 5 years ago and got stuck somewhere in the middle. I started the audiobook today from where I was back then. I knew much of the story still but I now realise why I stopped back then. There is no humour at all. This is like the most horrible terrible universe full of torture, rape, slaves, pain, betrayal and heartbreak. And there is literally zero comic relief. I am miserable enough as it is thank you. I really just didn't enjoy reading this for that exact reason.  I also don't really like the characters and the amount of romance. It really just isn't for me. 

I did like the first book of this series a lot. Though I read it years ago so I have no idea if it would still hold up to my tastes or standards now. 

As I thought after finishing An Ember in the Ashes, I couldn't read any other book till I binged this series and so I started this sequel immediately. And just like the first book, this was almost a single sitting read because I couldn't put it down at all.

I felt the pacing of the book slowed down a little this time; not that it's any less tense or intense, just more of a slow journey. The twists and turns are also much more pronounced, and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop all the time. And as I was reading quite fast, I didn't stop to think of what was coming, so every reveal was very surprising and I really enjoyed the experience. The world is still pretty bleak and hopeless, and I can't even imagine what more horrors are in store in the next book.

This time, I really can't choose whom I liked more. Laia is as determined as ever to get her brother out of the prison, but seeing her fight and suffer and see the destruction of her loved ones and lose confidence in herself, but also finding her strength once more, was great to read about and I admired her so much. Elias is more tortured than ever, but I totally did not see the turn his story took and I'm quite perplexed with what's gonna happen next with him. Everyone seems to take advantage of his empathy but I hope it'll always prove to be his strength. Helene on the other hand is put to every test possible and I'm amazed at her will power and loyalty that she still holds on. She is fighting on all sides while trying to keep herself safe and sane, and after what happened towards the end, I'm even more curious to see how she changes and what destruction she will cause to her enemies.

In the end, this was as engaging as the previous book and I'm so glad I got to read the books back to back. And right now, I'm rushing to pick up the next one because I can't wait.

I am struggling to get through this. People are dying left and right, there is no shock value to it anymore. When the Commandant ‘dramatically' kills a whole bunch of people right in front of Helene, when Elias is forced to witness the prison warden torture some random kid, it's not shocking, it's only a couple of examples in a long line of brutality from the Empire's forces. In the first book of this trilogy Lila's grandparents are casually murdered in front of her, and the violence continues unabated, to the point that I am increasing the speed of my audiobook to just get through it, and hopefully get back to the narrative. It's like Game of Thrones levels of violence.

This one is not for me.

The narration is excellent, though the accents chosen for different characters was perplexing.

“A Torch Against the Night” by Sabaa Tahir is a total heartbreaker. I accidentally spoiled myself with fanart, but that didn't make the emotional punches any less powerful. Helene's journey, which had me torn in the first book, now has me rooting for her with all my heart. Elias, my poor baby, deserves the freedom he yearns for after everything he's been through and I hope gets it in the end.

Now, Laia... I love her, but girl, why so naive at times? Letting a certain someone (Keenan, I knew something was off about that scoundrel) manipulate her had me shouting at the pages. It's 3 a.m., I should be sleeping, but nope, I'm diving into the third book right away. Tahir's storytelling is relentless, and I can't resist finding out what happens next.

Those of you who follow my reviews closely will know that I fell in love with Sabaa Tahir's wonderful An Ember In The Ashes just a few short weeks ago. I hadn't expected to love it as much as I did and it just so happened that my wonderful library had both books available and both were sitting on my TBR pile at home so it made sense to delve straight back into the series and read A Torch Against The Night just a few weeks after I finished the first in the series. This meant I'll be ready to dive straight into the next book in the series, A Reaper At The Gates, when it is released in a few weeks time. (I cannot tell you how much the anticipation for that is killing me right now!)

A Torch Against the Night is a direct continuation of Elias and Laia's story from An Ember In The Ashes, picking up just moments after the ending of the first books narrative and keeping the action and intensity levels high from the very first lines of Chapter 1. Our duo is trying to escape Briarcliff, the training school for soldiers of the Empire, so they can get to Laia's brother who is being held in Kauf prison. They have made a promise to each other to get there and escape the tyranny of the world in which they live and to try and make a difference to the future they foresee.

Told in alternating chapters again we have narrative from both Elias and Laia's perspectives as we had in An Ember In The Ashes so that feels really familiar and is sure to please fans of the series. What we have added into the mix here is the point of view from Helene, Elias's best friend and now Blood Shrike of the Empire who is charged with hunting down Elias and Laia and bringing them back to the Empire for execution. This makes a really interesting addition as she was such a strong character in the first book and now she is facing a real dilemma as she has to fulfill her role as the Emperors head killing soldier and assassin but the person she is being asked to hunt is someone she cares for deeply and whose motives she is beginning to understand. Her chapters are perhaps the highlight of this book.

In Elias and Laia's chapters we are following their journey to Kauf, the adversities they are facing along the way, the people who are helping them and the growing relationship they have together. In Helen's we get the broader perspective, she is giving us the backstory about what's happening in the Empire, the shifting political world and the regime of the new Emperor Marcus whose unhinged personality means she walks a knifes edge which very quickly begins to threaten her own family and drives her to do things she never thought she would have to. Whilst there is lots going on for Elias and Laia it's with Helene that I felt the most character development. We see her beginning to question her blind loyalty to the Empire, watch her begin to understand the choices Elias has made and yet still not be able to break free of the regime which has her doing it's bidding. Her chapters are a joy.

The ending of this book was a really interesting one because it's left us in a situation I was not anticipating where we are not quite sure how things are going to play out in A Reaper At The Gates. We have all the players now on the stage (or page) and lots of storylines to play out. I am excited to see what's in store for Helene as we move forward and how Laia and Elias are now going to be able to try and stop the political dictatorship that threatens their world.

Cannot wait to read book 3 in a few weeks time, I have a feeling it's going to be a wild ride.

This was so gooooooooood!!
I really loved seeing Helene POV as well (although it did take me a little while to get used to her), her storyline brought so much to the table and eventually the plot of the next book and I'm just so excited for it!!
I really wish there was more Laia and Elias team-up in this book, because I'm not sure how that's going to happen going forward and I really just want more of it. But it's exciting and I'm excited and I really wish I could binge the rest of the series but only one more book is out and I do not own it.
Also; AVITAS ENDED UP BEING SUCH A FAVORITE, WHO WOULD'VE EVER THOUGHT. LITERALLY EVER.
And damn, I totally wish Tas would have stayed with Elias, I just wanted them to be a family so bad.

I read the first book in this series and loved it. An Ember in the Ashes received a five star review from me. In that review I highlighted my love for Elias' difficulties reconsiling his upbringing and his nature, but I wasn't overly impressed with Laia and I found the way Elias spoke about his two female friends boring and repetative.

In this book, a lot of the high stakes action lost its edge due to the many leagues between the characters and those who inspired the fear. Over the course of this book Elias and Laia are pursued by the Commandant and Helene separately, and in that they never seem close enough for us to really worry about. It leaves a lot more of the character interactions as the star of the show in the second book, and I find them lacking in both the first and second book. I even found Elias a bit dreary in this book.

While I flew through the book, it wasn't doing anything special for me. I feel like the plot of this book could have been condensed into 300 pages and added to another book in the series. All in all, a disappointing read after how much I enjoyed the first book and I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to the third book now.

I think it's safe to assume that I will binge this series over the next few days. I am absolutely blown away! I feel like in fantasy sometimes there is a second book slump, but no slump here! This book was just as action packed as An Ember in the Ashes! I can't rave enough about how immersive Sabaa Tahir's writing is. Reading this series is experiencing this series. I've felt just a spectrum of emotions since starting this book. We continue to follow Laia, Elias, and Helene with multi-POV which I love. Elias's POV was my favorite in An Ember in the Ashes, but I really loved getting inside Helene's head a bit in this book. Both of their stories are filled with such inner turmoil and conflict, and @sabaatahir writes this beautifully. I really enjoyed that this book was very “mission” driven. I loved that there was a big goal that really kept the pages turning. There is a bit of a glimpse into the potential for a romantic relationship, but it is the slowest burn ever. There is a “one horse” moment which is always super fun. This book is filled with twists and turns, tragedy, sacrifice, betrayals, struggles... everything! I think this series is much darker than the YA fantasy series that I've read in the past, and I'm really enjoying the complexity that brings. The main characters all have such depth and a complexity that I haven't read in a really long time. Will I be downloading A Reaper at the Gates immediately? Absolutely! This is a YA fantasy series, 16+ for violence and themes.

Really solid sequel to ‘an ember in the ashes', glad it picked right up where the last one ended. I would've given five stars but truthfully I didn't feel connected to the characters (i.e. I felt very dispassionate), maybe because of the consistent pov changes I never had enough time to be fully immersed in the characters' minds? I felt the same for the first book too, so maybe it's just the way they're written that leaves me unaffected. Either way, the plot is good and keeps the story flowing smoothly and it's worth the read.

I did see Keenan being a bad guy coming from the jump, which is a little disappointing. I generally enjoy when the 'secret' villains are more subtle. As a fan of romance in general, and fantasy romance especially, I'm glad that it's a slow slow burn between Laia and Elis, too often the relationship feels so rushed (as it did with Laia and Keenan) that it makes me lose all investment with the story. Which is why I'm glad Keenan was a baddie, 'cause otherwise the whole plotline with them would've felt too ridiculously short even though it was over the course of months. also RIP Izzi, I wish it was Helene instead, 'cause boy did I disliked her chapters the most.

This book is so brutal! Definitely darker than its predecessor. I have so many thoughts that i will have trouble to convey because so much happens in this story. It was super immersive and the characters go through a lot of development. But among all the complex characters; Helene was the most remarkable to me, her loyalty and the difficult choices she has to make put her into a new kind of hell. I'm definitely rooting for her in the next books and i'm excited to see where things are going and how the story will be expanded.

This author hates her characters and does everything she can to make you hate them too.

The plot is interesting and the setting amazing, but the resolution of every thread is frustratingly underwhelming. There is a great promise in the set up and no satisfaction at the end. Like biting into chocolate and tasting sauerkraut. It's the misery of A Game of Thrones minus the cushioning of wit and catharsis.

The main characters are stupidly hasty and impulsive when they should be patient and infuriatingly inert and indecisive when they should act. There is no one worthy of respect in this book.

It only escapes the 1 star because of the great world building.