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riainthesky's review against another edition
2.0
Well, that was difficult.
Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes was a marvellous debut - fast paced, with intriguing characters and an exciting, if somewhat predictable, plot. The novel was getting rave reviews everywhere and as the back of this book tells, part of twelve end of year lists in 2015.
I suppose it was only to be expected that the sequel would find it hard to top the fire of it’s predecessor.
A Torch Against The Night is everything An Ember in the Ashes thankfully was not. The pace is inconsistent - starting painfully slow and rushing towards the end. The characters, Elias and Laia are infuriating to the point where I seriously considered DNF’ing the book just so I wouldn’t have to read about them obsessing about each other in the middle of a revolution. Both these characters have absolutely zero sense of priority (or maybe it’s me and I’m not a romantic 🤷🏼♀️). This gets worse when Keenan comes into the picture - I swear when he showed up, I wondered why I wasn’t setting the book aside. If there’s one trope in literature that I’ve had enough of, it’s love triangles - and this one was irritating and unnecessary!
The only character I could tolerate was Helene - and really, she seemed to be the one protagonist who actually had something to struggle against, actually had choices to make and things to do. Helene Aquilla is a strong female character. Laia of Serra is not. And may I just say how tired I am of the “fire” in her eyes? She has no fire at all that I could see and this one point kept being repeated over and over.
The plot. The first half of the book is a meandering, unfocused mess but thankfully, it gets much better when Elias and Laia are separated and we don’t have hear about their “desires” for each other. The last 100 pages or so saved the book for me so I’ll at least want to read the next one, but by itself A Torch Against The Night was nothing like An Ember in the Ashes and therein lies its weakness.
Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes was a marvellous debut - fast paced, with intriguing characters and an exciting, if somewhat predictable, plot. The novel was getting rave reviews everywhere and as the back of this book tells, part of twelve end of year lists in 2015.
I suppose it was only to be expected that the sequel would find it hard to top the fire of it’s predecessor.
A Torch Against The Night is everything An Ember in the Ashes thankfully was not. The pace is inconsistent - starting painfully slow and rushing towards the end. The characters, Elias and Laia are infuriating to the point where I seriously considered DNF’ing the book just so I wouldn’t have to read about them obsessing about each other in the middle of a revolution. Both these characters have absolutely zero sense of priority (or maybe it’s me and I’m not a romantic 🤷🏼♀️). This gets worse when Keenan comes into the picture - I swear when he showed up, I wondered why I wasn’t setting the book aside. If there’s one trope in literature that I’ve had enough of, it’s love triangles - and this one was irritating and unnecessary!
The only character I could tolerate was Helene - and really, she seemed to be the one protagonist who actually had something to struggle against, actually had choices to make and things to do. Helene Aquilla is a strong female character. Laia of Serra is not. And may I just say how tired I am of the “fire” in her eyes? She has no fire at all that I could see and this one point kept being repeated over and over.
The plot. The first half of the book is a meandering, unfocused mess but thankfully, it gets much better when Elias and Laia are separated and we don’t have hear about their “desires” for each other. The last 100 pages or so saved the book for me so I’ll at least want to read the next one, but by itself A Torch Against The Night was nothing like An Ember in the Ashes and therein lies its weakness.
shriyaw23's review against another edition
5.0
So many things were elucidated in this book that my mind is still reeling from it. Every little thing you felt in the first book is shown to have a reason behind it, and while I was a bit reluctant to Laia and Elias in the first book, their relationship is just really well developed. We see every character we saw in the last book, and meet some very interesting new ones. Each character is complex in their own way, I don't think anyone but the nameless martials are introduced as flat characters. Even Marcus seems to undergo further development. Overall, this was a really great read that clarified every nebulous detail about the last book, I loved it.
maddie_starr03's review against another edition
4.0
I wouldn’t say it was as good as the first book, (let’s be real, sequels seldom are) but it was definitely an intriguing and enjoyable read. I’m definitely still hooked into this story, and I can’t wait to read the next two books. The plot twists in this book were 10/10.
arvimar's review against another edition
4.0
Este libro me ha gustado menos que el primero, y es porque me da la sensacion de que han pasado menos cosas. Ademas, aunque los personajes individualmente me gustan, a la relacion entre Laia y Elias no le veo mucho sentido, y creo que su tensión con Helene es mucho mejor (aunque no creo que pase nada con ellos dos). Lo que menos sentido tenia era Keenan y Laia, hasta el punto de que me incomodaba leer sobre ellos, pero como eso ya ha tenido su resolución y le da un poco de sentido a la cosa pues no me quejo.
alysnow427's review against another edition
3.0
My struggle with most YA series, including this one now, is that the first book is so phenomenal, and then they lose me by the end of the second :/ They all seem the same, hitting all similar plot points.
delaneywoods's review against another edition
3.0
honestly i think part of the reason i didn’t love this as much is because i took so long to read it so i started to forget things. i do think that the pacing was kind of slow but i was happy with how things ended and i was still mostly entertained throughout. i also still really like laia and elias as main characters
rabid_faerie's review against another edition
5.0
Love this series! So beautifully written; fast-paced with great character development- characters you root for, and characters you LOVE to hate. Hope she can keep up the momentum for what is slated to be 4 books.
khrysweetie's review against another edition
4.0
A nail-biting, jarring continuation of the first book with and shocking ending. This book, like the first, was a very good read.
I love the mix of action, mystery, mysticism and fantasy with a hint of a love story.
I look forward to how it all unfolds but I'm not anticipating an all round happy ending; life is not that way and I appreciate books like that.
I still have my suspicions about Cook.
I love the mix of action, mystery, mysticism and fantasy with a hint of a love story.
I look forward to how it all unfolds but I'm not anticipating an all round happy ending; life is not that way and I appreciate books like that.
I still have my suspicions about Cook.
whimsical_pixel's review against another edition
5.0
For once I think that the audiobook version might be the best way to read this book. The narrators are so so good and they act the story perfectly. I’m sad I waited so long to continue the series.... going immediately to the third one !!
candaceonline's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I would like to meet Sabaa Tahir one day. My first question will be “HOW DARE YOU?” A Torch Against the Night is an excellent follow-up to An Ember in the Ashes. It picks up immediately after the Fourth Trial. Elias and Laia are on the run, being hunted by the Commandant. They are making their way to Kauf prison, hoping that Darin is still alive and that they can rescue him. When Helene, in her new role as Blood Shrike, is made to hunt Elias, she finds there is more going on in the Empire than anyone knows of. Tahir creates these characters that you come to love and wish nothing but the best for, and then she hurts them. She hurts them deeply and a lot. I wanted to scream at this book at times. It made me cry, and sit with my mouth hanging open in shock. There is one betrayal that I never saw coming. I am so glad that I can start the 3rd book immediately. I don’t care if this book isn’t perfect. I loved it. I think it is even better than the first book. It has me in a chokehold. This author may be going on my list of favorites. 5/5 stars.
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