A Torch Against the Night (Ember Quartet, #2)

by Sabaa Tahir

[lessthelonely]

4.5/5 stars.

OK, so here's a double review for once, since I don't want to wait to read the rest of the series before reviewing it all, since I know I'll take a long while to read the 3rd book. If you want to know, I first read An Ember in The Ashes in 2021, at the beginning of the year, around April. I only got A Torch Against The Night this last Christmas. Justification: I read it physically and I'd like to complete the collection physically, and with my Kindle, I was very much entertained with books.

Anyways, I'm sorry to say you won't have a full-fledged review of An Ember In The Ashes, but you should know I gave it 5/5 stars, which I'm going to keep because I don't think you can ever change what the truth was when I read that book: I loved it and I gave it 5 stars. My one complaint with it is the lack of LGBTQ+ presentation, which is more nitpicking, in my opinion, than anything else. 

Other than that, I remember I had to get used to the way the author writes emotion - it's very much visual and ethereal, almost like a dream sequence and since I had never read anything like it before, there was a clear adaptation period for me. After that, I was doing the thing I usually do which is just devouring the book. Back then, my reading speed was slower than it is now, but I do remember I finished the book quickly and told myself I could wait for Book 2. And wait I did!

This is the gist of it, but here's my edited Goodreads review if you want to hear my thoughts from back then: 

OK... Fine, I think it was time to give a book 5 stars.

I started reading this book in the middle of watching "Damages". The first few pages were interesting enough, but they didn't really grab me that much for me not to want to keep watching the third season. But then, at some point in the early pages, stuff just picked up and kept going all the way up!

I believe it was after the ending of Part I? Might be completely wrong. This book understands character, this book understands plot and most importantly, it understands writing! The vivid descriptions of emotion (though, sometimes, the sort of "magical realism" with fantastic creatures seemed too much in the beginning), the thought process of the characters, their motives... It's all perfectly clear!

To be honest, it wasn't a book that wowed me with plot twists - I was more enthralled in the characters' dynamics, but I do have a little qualm with this book: the disposable love interests for the main characters. I find no joy in having characters that appear to exist solely to hinder the main couple's inevitable romance. And this isn't an argument from shipping, though I do ship the main couple, but from the fact that it's HEAVILY OBVIOUS what the main ship is. It's in the book's back, though indirectly! Laid out in perfectly understandable terms for whoever reads it.

Outside of that, this is an instant favorite for me. 5 stars. Gotta save up to buy the next one.

I do have a lot of things I definitely want to bring up about Book 2, though I think this is on-par with book 1 if not a bit better: this book is very much in love with its romance. That's what I meant in the Goodreads review you just read: there is a character introduced for the sole purpose of creating a love triangle. Did I enjoy how this character stopped being considered a valid option? Yes. And I also think it was beneficial to show how Laia interacted with said character as opposed to interacting with Elias - it was very on the nose, which isn't to say it's bad! I just think that even in that, the target audience for this book would read those segments and have the point fly right above their heads.

Romance in this book is sort of like Jane The Virgin in the sense that it uses a love triangle to show emotion. But one of the strongest parts (though also flawed) of that show was that the show treated both Michael and Rafael with the same respect: none of them were perfect. Here, Keenan is clearly the bad choice and though I appreciate the respect for my boy Elias, I also think anyone who was more invested in Laia ending up with Keenan might find this... in poor taste. After all, the idea of a straight love triangle is definitely that the girl can end up with either guy... This is also why love triangles are, inherently, a losing trope: you write a love triangle because you want to make it seem like either way is possible... but then authors always unwillingly reveal the resolution of it.

That's why I sort of don't like the back and forth between Elias and Keenan - it's painfully obvious Elias is the end goal, but I will give it to the author: making a point to show how Keenan isn't right was a good call. It made for a more entertaining read.

But Laia and Elias are almost like subplots in this book, not going to lie. Or, at least, I was way more invested in Helene, which I think was the point. The fact that there's this big twist delivered in the beginning actually made me fume because it involved something I definitely didn't want to happen. And though I did know the plot was going to make it technically meaningless outside of practicality, it still got a reaction out of me. You hate every single antagonist and feel for every single protagonist, and I also really love that there are little very much useful reminders of stuff I forgot after reading Book 1 one year ago: for example, stuff about Helene and the Trials.

Helene has great development here. I sure hope she gets past some flaws she has. I do think she's walking towards a self-sacrifice ending, which I'm not all that mad about.

Other than that, this book has action, great worldbuilding, and fantasy, plot twists that actually made my eyes go wide and is on par with book 1! So, there you go! Read both of these!

ATTENTION: The following is only regarding Book 2, A Torch Against The Night. Book 1 is 5/5 stars!