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.

Notwithstanding the above, A Torch Against the Night was an engaging story featuring diverse characters and war, where civilizations collided and villains had the upper hand, ravaging and destroying. I just hope that A Reaper at the Gates will meet the standards of the first book, and resurrect my somehow shaken faith in these characters and their respective quests!That night there is a party celebrating graduation at Quin Veturius’ house. Quin gifts Elias a pair of rare Teluman scims. Elias then meets with Helene and they both realizes they are each keeping secrets from each other for the first time. Meanwhile, the story also follows the character of Helene Aquilla, who was Elias's best friend and has now been charged by the new Emperor--her old enemy Marcus--to hunt Elias down. With help from her friends Faris and Dex--Helene begins the difficult task. Along the way, the Commandant Keris Veturia--now Emperor Marcus's lieutenant--makes things more difficult by assigning a man named Avitas Harper to go along with Helene.

Helene Aquilla, however, was incredible. I didn't think it was possible to love her more than I did in Ember, but I was so wrong. She grows a lot in this installment, through emotional hardships that plague her at every step. Her whole journey is a turning point, the stepping stone for her maturity. The question of duty vs. heart remains deeply rooted into her persona and heartbreak shapes her anew in an astounding, almost terrifying image. I cannot wait to see how this colder, broken, hollowed Helene is going to enact her revenge and show the world her wrath. After all, the title of this book is an omen to the fire in Helene Aquilla. Moreover, introduction of more intriguing characters like Mamie (you define strength), the Warden (hate him with all my book collection), Tas (boy, my precious, I want to adopt you so bad!), Afya (the one who made honor so honourable), Helene's parents and sisters (love you, Livia and I don't like you, Hannah). Failure doesn't define you. It's what you do after you fail that determines whether you are a leader or a waste of perfectly good air.” Laia really grows into a spark of hope in this sequel. Her emotions and character really touched me and I found myself rooting for her even more than I was before. Helene is busy with politics and her own problems, but Avitas Harper starts coming more into view in her story. Do Elias and Laia end up together?

Donoghue, Steve (August 30, 2016). " 'A Torch Against the Night' runs deeper than 'An Ember in the Ashes' ". The Christian Science Monitor . Retrieved July 11, 2021. Elias is haunted by images of Helene, Laia, and Keris. However, because he has joined with Mauth, who has taken his memories, he does not know who they are or why he sees their faces. While Mauth has made most of Elias' memory fade, he has left some memories. One is what happened when first became Soul Catcher and what happened because he did not give up his humanity and emotions. Elias has spent the last few months passing on the ghosts of the Waiting Place and building a cabin for himself to replace Shaeva's that the efrits burned down. He has also turned the now-empty jinn grove into his personal training space. When his thoughts grow unruly and he feels emotions rising, he exercises. He remembers being told that, "when your mind does not hear year, train your body. Your mind will follow." [3] The next morning is graduation. Elias and his friends end up getting into a fight with Marcus and his cronies after Marcus kisses Helene without her permission. The Commandant interrupts the fight, and everyone goes to the school’s amphitheater for the graduation ceremony. After the students are declared graduates, the Augurs make an unexpected appearance. Cain declares the current dynasty will fail and it is time for the prophesized Warrior Emperor to be chosen through the Trials. Elias is chosen to be one of four Aspirants, along with Marcus, Helene, and Zak. We FINALLY got Helene chapters! (hoorahhhh!), I absolutely love strong female characters and Helene is everything! I loved how she figured how to handle certain situations and when it comes to disrespect she has none of it! I liked her friendship with Harper, and even though she is Blood Shrike she listens to the people who know best. I am SO intrigued to find out what is to come of her! Another one of the most intriguing characters of the whole book is Marcus. I loved his cunningness and his... cleverness, I suppose, even if he's not one of the good guys. It was one of those instances where you can just clap to the performance, but be glad he's just fictional.

First-time novelist Tahir has written an ambitious sword-and-sand adventure story that is notable for its suspense and scope.”— Booklist Read a full summary of A Torch Against the Night by I'm a little undecided on how I feel about A Torch Against the Night. I really liked it but at the same time I wasn't blown away by it...? I guess to put it simply, it was good but nowhere near as good as An Ember in the Ashes. Or maybe I was just expecting too much. I'm not too sure.

Without doubt, A Torch Against the Night is a revelation and revolution. Given the political climate right now, this story is more relevant than ever. Izzi and Gibran met when the group fled from Nur. Gibran flirted frequently with her and the two ended up being very close, doing chores spending lots of time together. Izzi revealed to Laia that "It's nice to be admired... by someone who means well. It's nice to be thought beautiful." Izzi died in Gibran's arms. oh, YAY! i was deemed cool enough to snag an arc of this after all! and while i was not in the top-tier of cool kids who got the accompanying power bracelet:Regardless, there is a sort of redundancy in both Elias and Helene's POVs as they both battle their own demons. Which is the only flaw of this book, in my opinion. All along the way, Laia and Elias face the agents of their enemies--Emperor Marcus, the Commandant, and even supernatural creatures who are hunting Laia for reasons she doesn't yet understand. This time around, Laia makes a lot of mistakes. Disastrous one after disastrous one. But I liked that instead of drowning in guilt, she turned a critical eye against her actions and learned from them. Betrayals change her. New allies shape her. And love strengthens her. But while it’s true that Elias and Laia are inexcusably static, the third main character, Helene, gave me more food for thought. She is deeply torn between her due loyalty to her family and the Empire and the strong relationship that binds her to Elias, and from the very beginning she resolves to act according to the obligations of the first. Since she’s but a human being, she questions her decision again and again. I totally agree with the author’s choice to give Helene doubts about her doing, since seeing how strong Helene’s attachment to Elias and her loyalty to the Empire were, any other path for her would have felt like a bit out-of-character. The thing is that Tahir does not know how to give a character its due depth. Helene is complex only on the surface: deep down, she’s flat as paper, just like the others. She is the only interesting character of this book, and I could not care for her less than what she does. An Ember in the Ashes is one of my favorite YA fantasy debuts; Sabaa Tahir’s world was mesmerizing yet brutal, and it was so easy to lose myself in the bloody story of an Empire inspired by Greek and Roman culture. Sadly, in A Torch Against the Night I didn’t manage to fully grasp that flare of magic I was confident I’d find.