A Torch Against the Night Review

A Torch Against the Night is the sequel to An Ember in the Ashes, which was originally supposed to be a stand alone. An Ember in the Ashes didn't end like a stand alone in my opinion, which was why I was so excited to hear that there was going to be a second book! If you haven't read the first book, you probably shouldn't read this review, just a warning for possible spoilers! And if you haven't read it then you really should cause it's amazing!

A Torch Against the Night takes up right where An Ember in the Ashes left off, with Laia and Elias on the run from the Empire. Their mission is to free Laia's brother from prison, as he has knowledge that can help the Scholars rebel against the Martials. Helene's new duty as the Blood Shrike is to hunt them down and execute them.

This book didn't stand up to the first one in my opinion, it was still good but the journey to the prison is the majority of the book and when this happens, often times the only plot going on is romance between characters. It was a much slower book so it felt like the romance took the spotlight. I'm really picky about my romances and when I want a romance focused book I'll usually read a contemporary realistic fiction. Now I could tell that Sabaa Tahir doesn't mean for the romance to be the only important part of this story, but when I fell in love with the character development and struggles in An Ember in the Ashes, this book just wasn't as good.

There wasn't as much action with Elias and Laia, so it gave me the chance to fall in love with Helene's story. I sort of wished there would be less Elias and Laia chapters so I could read more of Helene. Without giving away any spoilers, I'll just say that learning about the kind of person she is and following her trials was more of what I was hoping for.

The end of the book definitely picked up the pace and had so much more action, thus I am still eagerly anticipating the next book. While I preferred the first book, I am still hooked on this series and highly suggest it to everybody!

A Torch Against the Night comes out August 30th!