A Torch Against the Night (An Ember In The Ashes Book 2) Kindle Edition

I give it a 3.6 and no roundin' upI really wanted to like this series. I sat outside on the rocker and tore through it. Tahir can write entertainment. It's a fast read and I want to know more and more. Everything just goes so fast and I can't help but want to see what happens. She got me there.However, the descriptions and character development can be so lackluster. Almost dull with no life. Like how many times do I need to read "like smoke and fire" or "tastes like wind and ice"' or more very unimaginative descriptions. That goes for the whole series. She has good ideas and the tropes would be even better to read if she just fleshed them out. Weeks would pass in the book and I feel like nothing would change. I just couldn't connect with the characters. I wasn't rooting for anything. I was just a reading machine.I rushed to buy the sequel but I ain't paying for the 3rd book until its released on paperback because I feel like this series is a cash grab. The four hundred pages could be condensed to 100. I like meat on the bones. I like to see the world being built, people being built, places being built and not everything so fast!!My fav characters have to be Harper and Helene in this book. I am seriously reading to see where their relationship goes because that was unpredictable.Anyway, it wasn't much different from the first. Passable really. Reminds me why I quit YA a little bit ago.

This book already has a ton of reviews, so aside from saying you should read it, I want to tell you something I really enjoy about this series, aside from the characters, the plot, the mythology, etc., and it's this: I absolutely LOVE that the characters in this book TALK to one another. They're open about what's going on. They keep the people they care about informed of things that come up. They don't keep vital plot information from each other just to drag out the suspense, or cause unnecessary conflict that could have been avoided with a simple conversation. This happens in so many books, and it's so annoying when it does, so I really enjoy the fact that Sabaa Tahir's characters don't do this. It's refreshing. The first time I noticed it, I wanted to jump up and down and scream in joy because finally, FINALLY, we have rational characters going through crazy things and deciding to be open about the crazy things happening to them instead of hiding it for some stupid reason, like they're not all in this together. So, yes, you should read this book, because the story is compelling and the characters interesting, but mostly you should read it to find out how freaking awesome it is to see characters not hiding stuff so the author can drag out the story to five hundred pages.

Picking up immediately after the explosive events of EMBER IN THE ASHES, Sabaa Tahir's TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT follows the tense flight of Elias and Laia as they race to free Laia's brother from the notorious Kauf prison. Helene is hot on their trail as time runs out, loyalties are questioned, and dark forces come to light in this entertaining and heartbreaking adventure.I knew it was coming, I knew that Tahir is an evil author and tortures her characters, but this book still broke me. Like the first book, TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT is a fast paced, bloody, and political tale. However, there's far more magic and mysticism in this one, which is an aspect I particularly enjoyed as our three favorite characters discover and learn to hone their magical skills. Magic is secondary to the emotion and self-discovery enveloping Elias, Laia, and Helene as they're forced to make decisions that never quite turn out the way they hope (i.e. everything is always a disaster and it's amazing).I rated it 4/5 stars because I felt the first half of the book dragged a little. I didn't find the "cat and mouse" chasing and hiding very compelling. Some of decisions by the characters were unclear and frustrating. However, this might just be me nitpicking and comparing it to the wonder that was EMBER IN THE ASHES. Once you hit that 50% mark, the story delves into the compelling chaos that is Tahir's forte.Pick it up, read it, yell at it, love it, and be pulled even further into this fantastic series. I can't wait to see what happens next, but will wait a little because of the fact book 4 doesn't even have a release date and that's *terrifying*.

Ahhhhh !!! Elias and Laia are just too much! Elias continues to woo me LOLWe pick up right where book 1 ends. Tons of action and we now get Helene's POV too to keep us in the loop of what's going on in the Empire.As Elias and Laia journey away from Serra "on the way to Kauf they begin to know each other and Laia now has to make sure neither dies on the way. Along the way, Laia begins to see things about her that she wasn't aware of. With Elias's encouragement, she also starts to become sure of herself. Laia is both naive (in more ways than just sexy times ;) ) and sure of herself at this point. There's A LOT she doesn't know but the fire she has to save her people and her brother just burns brighter. The more I see of Elias the more I fall more in love!! Laia does too, of course. However, those feelings were more complicated than my own, but who cares about me!They didn't really have a plan or anything, just the final destination. But along the way, they deviate from their path and made some interesting friends/allies, that helped them towards Kauf. As they try to adjust to the hurdles and this is where things start going down the drain and it's so hard to get through.Helene lets me down sooooooo bad! Again, where is that strong emotionless Mask we're supposed to get? I understand that she's trying to keep people safe but all her stupidity and self-doubt actually caused more harm than if she would've rebelled.Sad sad times indeed. MUST. KEEP. READING.

It is so very hard for me to review this book. I absolutely loved An Ember in the Ashes and fell in love with Elias and Laia within a couple of chapters. The higher powers surrounding them who already knew of the future sending them on a complicated path of self-discovery, torture and worse.Then this book comes along and made me excited, worried, then a little bored in the middle there, but then I was torn apart and heartbroken. A Torch Against the Night follows three POVs; Laia, Elias and Helene. Laia a talented Scholar girl who has such strength and bravery in her heart that Elias, The Mask, can't help but care for her and admire her...perhaps love her a little. Helene, A Mask and now the Emporer's Blood Shrike told a heartbreaking story of hunting down the man she loves deeply to kill him to save her family and gain respect from the entire Empire.Elias swore to Laia they would travel to Kauf prison and break her brother free after discovering that her brother holds a secret that could save the Scholars from genocide at the hands of the Empire. They are hated for their weaknesses, but have a deep strength none of the Empire understand. They travel together, care for each other and offer each other strength. They compliment each other perfectly. Then there is Keenan, a Resistance fighter who Laia cares for, maybe loves a little but his love weakens her, makes her feel silly and foolish. His protectiveness hides her away from the strength that Elias gave her. Two different loves, one strong the other suffocating.But love, or the love stories here, never really has a time and place in this book, as with the last one. It is hinted at, it is used to offer strengths in times of hardships...or to further a plot point. But there is always so much more going on for it to be the focus. The characters face horrors, tortures, death, the manipulation of creatures far more powerful than themselves. They discover a loss of control on their personal destinies.My reasoning for not giving it a glowing 5 stars is this: I admit to skim reading a little in the middle. I adore the characters but they can sometimes remain within their own heads a little too much. My personal opinion is that the characters can not seem to settle on their feelings. I openly ship Elias and Laia so her hesitations with Keenan bugged me. Elias is such a strong character but far too hesitant with Laia and that bugged me (especially knowing what he knew about himself and her accepting it was going to happen and still wanted to remain close to him) I am unsure how Elias' new 'occupation' will allow for a growing love story between him and Laia so I feel I have lost a little hope and heart there. Though I will try to trust the author with this one. I understand a fantasy is not always about the romance but these two speak so loudly to me. I have my fingers crossed something will work.Overall its a great book with fantastically well rounded characters that develop within themselves as the story progresses. The villains are fantastic. The Heroes are worth caring about. I look forward to book 3

This is the second book in the An Ember in the Ashes series. This is a YA fantasy, set in a land with magical creatures, ruled by the Martials, with the Scholars seen as the lower caste. Following on from the first book, Laia and Elias have escaped Blackcliff Academy, and are journeying on to Kauf prison, to rescue Laia’s brother. Meanwhile, Helene has become the Blood Shrike to the Emperor, and must follow orders – including killing Elias… I was hooked on this! The writing style was still distinguished across the separate character perspectives, and is as fluid as ever. The plot was enchanting – family, strength, friendships, love and fantasy combine to make a compelling story, against the backdrop of civil unrest. There were so many secrets that were unveiled, and my mouth was open in shock. The characters showed so much depth as they changed and I’m very excited to read the next book in the series.

Picking up where An Ember in the Ashes left off, this book follows Laia and Elias as they flee the Emperor, the Commandant and well, pretty much everyone. Things appear pretty grim for them, and sufficed to say, this theme continues throughout the book.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.The book opens with a suitably sinister undertone, which I loved (what can I say, I like things a little creepy). This really helps to raise the tension at the beginning and each chapter/point of view (POV) ends with a disquieting moment, or important revelation which serves to drive the pace of the story and encourages you to read further. I appreciated this element, however if you prefer a more laid-back sort of pace, then you might not. However, I am partial to a lot of action and suspense in books, so its safe to say I was hooked.The story has 3 POVs - Elias, Laia, and Helene. I really, really, enjoyed reading the parts from Helene's perspective. She is my favourite character and I loved being able to explore her relationships, particularly with her family, more and gaining insight into her personal thoughts and motivations. This is also allowed a further understanding of her feelings towards Elias, which was much appreciated. I was intrigued by her interactions with Marcus and the Commandant, although they are of course suitably sinister and frequently violent.Laia's perspective is without a doubt the most boring; while her character was relatively satisfactory and sometimes enjoyable throughout the first book, she is at times unbearable during this novel. This detracted away from some of my enjoyment of the book as at times she needs to put things into perspective and honestly someone needs to give her a good shake. Helene Aquilla, she ain't. That girl can handle a lot. Laia - not so much.I am definitely a fan of a Helene/Elias relationship and I absolutely do not ship, nor believe Laia and Elias as a couple. Did this decrease my overall enjoyment of the novel? Not quite, but it is something to bear in mind. The character POVs and storyline lead heavily towards a Laia/Elias pairing, but I am certainly not buying it, and Laia, in my opinion should probably remain a single pringle. This leads me on to her and Keenan's relationship (and his character as a whole) which I can barely tolerate. I have never felt an affinity toward Keenan, and therefore I struggled to read passages in which he featured for the first two thirds of the book. He reminds me of Jack in Bridget Jones' Baby, a film I watched recently - very try hard, and a bit of a douche, who (to me) has relatively little reason to be there (at least for most of the book). He does get significantly more character development toward the end however I was less impressed and more relieved.In terms of new characters, I really liked Shaeva and Afya, they are both such interesting character and although they play fundamentally different roles throughout this book, they were welcome additions and helped to breath fresh life into the story.Tahir definitely has a real way with words, and the writing flows beautifully; it's really easy to picture the scenes and feel immersed in the story. The Empire came alive and I especially enjoyed the descriptions of The Forest. That's not to say this novel is perfect - it isn't - but it is told well, making it an enjoyable read.This book has a lot of interesting themes regarding death, loyalty and sacrifice. There's some very intriguing passages concerning the more mythical creatures (jinn, efrit, etc.), and the bridge between life and death or the beyond - termed 'the waiting place' in this book. This land is governed by the soul catcher and I found her segments really thought provoking and captivating, particularly as she seems to be neither kind nor callous, she merely just exists, and there's a lot of her backstory that has yet to be unraveled. Her interactions with one main character in particular constituted some of my favourite parts of the book.Just a quick mention to the actual physical copy of the book - oh my god, I am dead. It is stunning. The beautiful orange/gold embossed cover spine is so stunning and really eye-catching. Yes, cover art isn't everything, but I can appreciate a good one when I see it.One negative is that the book does suffer slightly (at least toward the first two thirds) from 'middle book syndrome' in that it is largely unclear as to why the main characters are doing what they are doing. I imagine if the main characters were to actually discuss this properly it would go something like this:Laia - Okay Elias, I know we're like, wanted by the whole Empire and your pal Helene is totally gonna have to track you down and, you know, kill you, but could we make a very quick detour from fleeing for our lives and go rescue my brother from a completely impenetrable prison?Elias - I'm sorry what?Laia - PleeeeeaseElias - Okay, well, I'm sure you have a good reason for risking both our lives (and countless others) for this mission right?Laia - Well, there are rumors that he can make fancy weapons...Elias - What? Weapons? I have weapons?!Laia - Yeah but these are super fancyElias - Oh er, okay, cool, I guess, because we totally need those right now... for all the fighters we don't have...But you get my point, I know we're supposed to believe/accept that breaking Laia's brother out of prison is of immediate importance, but I'm frankly skeptical. We don't really get to see a lot of Darin throughout the book so I'm hoping reasoning and motivations will be explored a bit more in the next book.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 last section is without a doubt the strongest of the book and really rounded out the plot nicely, leaving lots of potential for the next novel, and I'm hopeful for lots of further development for the main 3 characters in the next installment.

Really enjoyed this book, possibly even more than the first one! Think the world-building was better and liked how we were shown more of Helene's story and character. I wasn't sure about the Soul Catcher storyline with Elias or the twist with Keenan and I am still not completely sold on the masks and how they are actually supposed to work. I also would have liked much more romance and passion! However, I think the writing was very strong and I was swept up again in their whole world, the political machinations, the awful genocide taking place and the hardships they endure. I also liked the way the relationship between Harper and Helene developed (was quite chuffed with myself that I guessed his interest in her from the start). Will definitely be reading the next one.

I enjoyed this book but not as much as the first one in the series (An Ember in the Ashes). Its been a while since I read the first book and I couldn't quite remember what had happened. I definitely think you need to read the first book before this one or it won't make all that much sense.If I could I would give 3.5 stars but as I can't I've rounded it up!Looking forward to the next one.