A Torch Against the Night: 2 (Ember in the Ashes)

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Picking up where 'An Ember in the Ashes' left off, 'A Torch Against the Night' proved to be every bit as suspenseful and action-packed as the first book.

What I Didn't Like:Although I did love the lore introduced in this book, I will admit that this fantasy element did at times seem a little forced. For Laia, the damsel in distress, escaping the Commandant with Elias was just the beginning: not only does she have to orchestrate the perfect plan to rescue her brother, but she must also overcome her fear of violence, of the Martials and be smarter than her enemies. A morally conflicted 20 something year old sucked into a life that was not his choosing seems like a good start for a character, add a touch of family problems and loyal best friends and you have a he perfect combination. I appreciated this element, however if you prefer a more laid-back sort of pace, then you might not. A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT takes readers into the heart of the Empire as Laia and Elias fight their way north to liberate Laia's brother from the horrors of Kauf Prison.

It's what you do after you fail that determines whether you are a leader or a waste of perfectly good air. The last third of the book was extremely fast-paced and engaging, and really helped to drive the story and provided some interesting twists and turns, some that were expected, and some that were definitely not.

This was particularly true of the beginning of the book during the introduction of the Soul Catcher. From the plot to the writing, to the world-building and to the characters, everything was so incredibly thought out and Sabaa Tahir takes us on one hell of a journey :D I loved having POV's from Laia, Elias, and Helene. I had heard a few mixed reviews for this follow-up novel before its release, so I postponed reading it, however, having now finished, its safe to say I actually found this book to be pretty enjoyable. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review stated the novel "has a darker tone and even higher stakes than its predecessor, setting the stage for a thrilling conclusion.This book is told from the same perspectives as the 1st, Laia and Elias’, but since they’re off on their own journey, we also have Helene’s perspective to let us see into the Empire. Granted, the protagonists did escape a rather messy situation last time round, but the chase dragged on for far longer than I wanted it to. My only disappointment is that the second book focused so much on the character development of Helene, Elias, and Laia, that we could not learn enough about the villain’s backstories. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.

There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, listening to thunderous indie rock, and playing guitar and piano badly. I cannot wait to see how this colder, broken, hollowed Helene is going to enact her revenge and show the world her wrath.And I can guarantee that's what is probably going to happen in the third novel, because wheels have been finally been put into motion.

Thankfully that was the case for me again with this novel and I, once more, ended up adoring this even more than the first book in the series. For all ebook purchases, you will be prompted to create an account or login with your existing HarperCollins username and password. I think being quite honest, minus the characters, this book had a very red rising, hunger games, and Red queen with a touch of ancient Persia mixed with the Roman Empire.Overall I don't think I will continue this series, even though so many people seems to love it, I was most definitely not one of them.