A Torch Against the Night

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...