A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir (2016)

*This is the second book in An Ember in the Ashes series by Sabaa Tahir.

After a treacherous escape from Blackcliff, Elias and Laia are on the run, not just for their life, but for every life that is not a Mask. Their goal is still the same: travel the thousands of miles to Kauf prison, where Laia brother, Darin, who has knowledge on how to make the only type of metal that can go against the Mask’s armor. Darin is their only hope to take down the Empire, which is now lead by the ruthless and heartless Marcus. By his side is the Commander, Elias’s mother, who is not just on the hunt for Elias, but to exterminate all Scholars. However, the Commandment is not the only one on the hunt for Elias. As the new Blood Shrike, Helene, Elias former best friend, has been assigned to hunt and kill Elias. If she doesn’t, her family is on the line. However, no one will know the inner battle Elias is facing, especially Laia, who is in her own. Together, Laia and Elias must save the Empire, but also save themselves.

I bought this book the day it came out since I loved An Ember in the Ashes so much. And I super enjoyed A Torch Against the Night, but not like the first. To put it simple, A Torch Against the Night was like An Ember in the Ashes, but on steroids. While the first one set up a base for the storyline, the book was full on action and suspense. To start off, this book delves so much more into fantasy than the first, especially with Elias, which I was not expecting. Laia also developed her power, and it took a huge role in the story. I still think the fantasy could’ve had better explaining, but nonetheless it was entertaining.  However, the book does a really good job of building the “real-life” world. Elias and Laia traveled around the whole empire, and in every place there was a culture that helped shape the world. Also, this book covered about four months, which was a lot longer than the one month period of the first. With the four months, I was able to observe more patterns in characters, as well as how they act in a bunch of different circumstances.

A Torch Against the Night introduces a handful of characters, including Harper, Afya, Tas, and Elias’s whole tribe. There were about ten more besides that bunch, and sometimes it was confusing keeping track of all the new characters. My favorite was definitely Harper, who went through similar changes as Elias did in the first book. I feel like he evolved a lot, and was finally able to see the truth of the Empire. Harper’s Blood Shrike, Helene, became a spotlight throughout the story. Helene went through this whole thinking process on whether doing what she’s told and being safe is better than following her conscious but being unsafe, which I think a lot of people can relate to. Between the two main characters, Elias and Laia, the focus was a lot more on Elias, which I think worked really well. Laia still had her voice heard, but I think Elias played more of a part during this part of their story, and therefore needed more of a part. Still, I think the most intriguing character was Keenen. I’m not going to say much, but Sabaa Tahir pulled off the plot twist of a lifetime with Keenen.

There was also some romance in here, but I liked that it took a backseat. But, because it was not as prevalent, sometimes it was hard to understand why the characters were attracted to each other. In that aspect, I was really confused with Laia, because she never seemed like she was fully in the romance, but was there for convenience.

Overall, this was a great book. My only real complaint was that it was hard to get into at first, but besides that, it’s flawless.

4 Stars