A Torch Against the Night

Reread June 2018: This is my reread update since it has been a while since I first read this, and I wanted to refresh myself now that the third book is coming out. Let me say that time has not aged this book at all. It is just as fun as it was the first time around. Another sign that I really liked this book was that I kept thinking about these characters when I was not even near the book. That shows the vividness of each of these characters. I stick by my rating last time, and I can't wait for the third book to come out!

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Well, I'm glad I read this book when I did. Of late, my reading of books this month hasn't resulted in what one would call an awesome reading experience. With two books being put on my Could Not Finish shelf, and only one getting a four out of five, I thought this month was going to be a dud. Then I saw that I could rent A Torch Against the Night and I had hopes. For those of you who don't know, this novel's predecessor An Ember in the Ashes was my favorite book of 2015, so I was really excited to see what this novel was going to do. Did it improve on the faults of the previous book, and give me things I wanted to see? Yes, yes it did, and it was awesome!

I think my biggest complaint with the first book was how the magic system works, and who the bad guy was. Let me say, without spoiling anything, that that has been greatly expanded upon here, and it something that takes up a majority of the book. It is well deserved, and appreciated.

The characters all get expanded upon here, and are, if it's possible, even more awesome than in the previous books. One standout is Helene Aquilla, who receives tons of character development through her POV. We see her battle not only against impossible decisions and villains of the book, but also against her own internal emotions in a very satisfying way. Elias and Laia are also awesome in this novel, with both of them facing impossible choices and tasks ahead of them. Along with their character development, we also are introduced to Elias' family from his time with the local tribes people. This adds a ton of depth to him, and allows for us to explore an interesting culture.

And the plot was excellent too, in terms of how heart pounding awesome it was! I loved this plot and it worked well for me. One thing I did see mentioned in other reviews is that this plot tends to deviate from the ‘main' plot somewhat for no real reason...only until the end when it is brought up again, which I suppose could annoy some people, but I think was just fine for me. Then there was the villains in this. We have, of course, Elias' mother, who runs Blackcliff Military Academy, Marcus, the new Emperor, and a Prison Warden. All of them plan to make our main characters lives a living hell, and they do just that. This plot was very well done and an excellent read. I also really enjoyed listening to this on audio, with the narrator's doing an excellent job.

In short, I have to say that the high expectations I had for this book were well received and this author has done well with this series, so far. I will most definitely be reading the next book, and it's publication date cannot come fast enough. I give this book a five out of five.

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.