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

While I appreciated the writing style this book is very hard to get through. I felt like there was never anything in it that I got joy out of reading. It's obviously good to have conflict within a story, but the reader also needs a break every now and then. This book was always catastrophe after death after murder after something else horrible. It was a book full of sad, angry, devastating emotions. I generally only prefer those sort of stories if it's based on real life events and I'm learning something. It seems unnecessary to do in a fictional world about fictional characters. Put some life in it! I had to force myself to finish it and it was taxing.

The second installment in this series was amazing! There were a lot of twists and turns that kept me turning the pages. I finished the book a few nights ago and still can't stop thinking about the characters and how it ended!!

WOW! What a roller coaster of emotions. This book grabs you right from the start and doesn’t let up with the action.

Spoilers Ahead!!

So at the beginning of the story, Elias and Laia are attacked by the commandant. My only problem with this scene is that Laia didn’t kill her, and neither did Elias! We’ve hated her character since the very beginning! Why would they leave her alive? It’s a terrible idea. Also, towards the end, we find that the red-haired dude is actually the main antagonist. This would’ve been a GREAT shock factor if only Elias wouldn’t have figured it out and basically spoon-fed it to us before we had the chance to gasp. I don’t quite understand the whole Soul-Catcher deal. It felt a little like dues ex machina when Elias was died before he could save Laia and the people and he asks the soul catcher for one more hour and she’s like “okay sure.” Why? Because the entire plan wouldn’t work unless he was alive!
It only gets worse because he ends up in a sort of limbo between catching souls and being alive to fight this war between the empire and the scholars. Whatever the case, Laia and Elias’s voices were virtually indistinguishable from each other from the start. All in all, it was a refreshing read, and I’m totally getting the next book when it comes out!

Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire. Laia is determined to break into Kauf, the Empire's more secure and dangerous prison, to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholar's survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom. But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies; the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and most heartbreaking of all, Helene, Elias's former friend and the Empire's newest Blood Strike. Bound to Marcus's will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own; one that might destroy her, find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped his escape and kill them both.

If you follow my reviews, you will know that I only recently read An Ember In The Ashes but I absolutely loved everything about it. You can read my review here. And I was so happy that I only had to wait 2 month for the sequel. Anyway, I will keep this spoiler free, while trying to express my love for this book. The sequel picks up right where the first book left off and is fairly fast paced through most of the book. The book is told from 3 first person perspectives that alternate every chapter; Laia, Elias and Helene. I really liked the way the author did this because at times we got perspectives from three completely separate locations. And because we are seeing things from Helene's perspective, we are also seeing what is going on into the Black Guard and what is happening with Marcus first hand. Elias and Laia are still my favorite characters in this book; I love them both and I love them together. I felt like we got to know both of them on a deeper level during this book as they sometimes opened up a bit more to each other, as well as other individuals throughout the book. We also learn some new information about Elias and Laia as individuals and of their background and family. I also really love all of the female characters in these books because they are all such strong and independent women, even when they are put in impossible situations.

Marcus is exactly the type of ruler I thought he would be; he shows zero mercy to anyone. The Commandant, who I thought who fairly evil in the first book, is even worse in this book. And then there is the Warden of Kauf prison who is on a who new level of creepy and sadistic. We meet some new characters, such as a charming young Scholar boy named Tas in Kauf prison, as well as a large number of tribesmen from the tribe that raised Elias and some of their allies. We also see some of the loved characters from the first book, such as Izzi and Keenan in this book as well. Okay, well I love Izzi, I don't really love Keenan. I think that there is really only one big plot twist in this book and let me tell you I did not have the slightest clue about it. I thought the author was headed one way and I was very wrong. There were a few other surprises or smaller plot twists/events towards the end of the book that I also was not expecting. And once again, Tahir's world building is amazing and I love the Ancient Rome feel to the worlds in these books. It's amazing. The ending wasn't exactly what I expected, but it also didn't end in a major cliffhanger, which made me quite happy. It did end in a way that made me very excited for the next book in this series, which I really hope will be released next year. Overall, I loved this book and I don't have a single complaint! If you have yet to read this series, I highly recommend you do! Happy reading!

I'm sooooo conflicted. The story was brilliant. The tension was gripping. The writing is gorgeous and vivid. The world is dark, cruel, and haunting with promising glimmers of hope and compassion twinkling from the shadows. Blood runs thick in the streets. Literally. Sabaa Tahir ensures her readers feel the horror and inhumanity with every twist of a word and with every turn of the story. God, I love her writing and this story.

But I'm struggling with Laia's "strength" as it is often described throughout the novel. I see self-centered stubbornness, not strength. I LOVE flawed characters. Elias and Helene are beautifully flawed and complex. But with Laia, it's different. She wants what she wants and she wants it now, without any real consequences to her characterization. And, she was untouchable. I won't elaborate how and why to prevent spoilers. She held traces of this characterization issue in book one, but the story flowed far more naturally. It seemed to fit. Not so much in book two, which felt more scattered because of it. So unfortunate :-(

Please, Laia ... I'm begging you. Be more than a plot device in book three! PLEASE. You are the daughter of The Lioness. You are magic. You hold the heart and respect of the most wanted man in the Empire.

But Elias and Helene? LOVED their point-of-views. I thought my heart would expire from all the trauma those two put me through. Keenan and Harper? Oh. My. Goodness. The shock. The pure, heart-stopping, shock. My heart will need time to recover, as you can tell.

I wanted desperately to give this book 5 stars. 4 stars it is!

Definitely recommended :D

Book three, I NEED YOU!

This book was everything I wanted as a sequel. All my hopes, wants and fears were delivered into a beautiful creation. I adored it all the twists and subtle hints you can puzzle over. Read this series guys! I'm about to re read it all again in fact. I can't wait for more

I love love love this series!!! I have been super addicted since I read the first one. Anytime I get, in between classes, at work, etc. I was always finding ways to read it. This really left me on a cliff hanger and I cannot wait until the 3rd comes out. I'm extremly happy that there is more to come. It's a must read!!

I really love these books - beautiful writing and engaging plot.
While the first book was a page turner that had been staying up late, this was easier to put down and then revisit. It didn't have the urgency. Still a great read and highly recommended.

Picking up right after An Ember in the Ashes leaves off, Tahir wastes now time thrusting readers right back into the thick of the action, danger, and deception that make up Laia, Elias and Helene's world. Told from alternating points of views between Laia, Elias, and Helene, this story is rich in politics, the theme of choice, and the consequences that come from those choices, and how those consequences effect each of the characters.

Tahir's writing is phenomenal. The world building is richly detailed, and it's incredibly easy to visualize, as it's greatly expanded upon in this book. I absolutely love the way Tahir captures her reader's attention. From her in-depth character developments, introductions to new characters to the story, unsuspecting twists, and betrayals, make for a book that was hard to put down. She has mastered the art of multiple point of view story telling, which is no easy feat. Each point of view was easily identified, and each chapter leaves you hooked, needing to know more.

I love it when an author makes you feel like you understand each of their characters, both good and bad. You understand their choices, and feel like you get them. Tahir does that in this book. Because of it, I was that much more emotionally invested in the the story, and the characters. Whether it was because I loved the characters, or despised them, I felt something toward each other characters, and understood their motivations. I will say, it was so much easier to despise the not so lovable characters. They are horrid characters.

Character wise, I absolutely love Helene. She is a force to be reckoned with, and a character who really surprised me in terms of how much I really enjoyed getting to know her more. I loved feeling like I understood her. She is a character who I couldn't help but root for. Helene is the one that I felt who grew the most. There's so many layers to her character. I greatly admire the strength she has. Her strength is what allows her to act her part in the world she forced into. It allows her to grow into a character who's capable of so much more than she thought she could be, and do. She battles a lot with who she once was, who is she now, and who she's forced to be. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Helene will do next, as the series continues.

The character I had a hard time with was Laia. She's drastically different than she was in the first. I get it. There's a lot that's happened, and I understand how that would chance someone. However, some of her actions didn't seem like the Laia that I had once admired. She wasn't as immovable as she once was either. I couldn't help but feel bad for Elias. He was forced into a making a decision he didn't realize had the dire consequence it did. For the sake of spoilers, I'll just leave it at that. I am anxious to see what happens with him next.

Overall, this is another thrilling, action packed, installment in a series I love. There's the right element of something for everyone. From rich characters, and world building, to romance, deceit, plot twits, and plenty of danger to action packed scenes. This book definitely didn't fall into the second book syndrome. I can not wait read the next book in this series. I need more answers! I'd definitely recommend picking this one up!

4.5 stars

A Torch Against the Night is astonishingly even better than the masterpiece that is An Ember in the Ashes. The book picks up shortly after the events of the first book. Laia and Elias are trying to navigate their way out of the city to rescue Laia's brother, Darin, who may be the one person that can help bring down the Empire. However, the might of the Empire has been sent to hunt them down and they quickly run into trouble when Elias has to face his mother, the Commandant, in a fight that has long-lasting implications for Elias.

In this book, we get the story told from one more point-of-view besides Laia and Elias. We finally get to see Helene's side of the story because while Laia and Elias evades the Empire, Helene, the Blood Shrike, remains under Emperor Marcus' orders and her loyalty to the Empire is tested. The Gens voice their disdain for a Plebeian, Marcus, being their Emperor, and the Scholars are being hunted down to quell their revolution.

This book is ambitious. There are so many moving parts and I am absolutely amazed at how beautifully Sabaa Tahir manages to keep the story contained and moving at such an intense pace. There's rarely a lull in action and the entire book is such a page-turner. This story is just as brutal as An Ember in the Ashes, if not more. Death is a constant companion in times of war, and this book does not let you forget it.

We get to see some wonderful character growth in Laia and Elias. Laia is no longer the girl who ran from the Mask that came and killed her grandparents and took away her brother. She fights to stand up for herself and learns to live with the decisions she makes. Elias has been haunted by what he's done from his time at Blackcliff and mourns for his comrades he's lost from the Third Trial. He slowly comes to terms with what he's done and the debt he feels he must give to repay it. Helene is alone without her best friend, and the boy she loved, Elias. She heads an army, but not unchallenged. She must deal with a spy, dissent among the ranks at her youth and her gender, the looming threat Marcus has over her family, and being forced to hunt down, and kill, Elias.

It was great to be able to learn more about the Empire and take a road-trip, if you can call it that, and see the world beyond Blackcliff's walls. I love that characters from the first book have expanded roles, and shocking revelations, in this story. The addition of Harper Avitas, a spy to the Commandant, and member of Helene's Black Guard is definitely one of my favorite new characters. I can't wait to see more of Harper in later books.

It's difficult to say whose story is the most devastating. A Torch Against the Night is definitely one of the darkest YA books I've ever read. There are some terribly heartbreaking scenes and really no levity at all to counter the darkness in this series. I can only imagine how much anguish the next two books will bring. I love this series and I can't wait to see what new horrors book three will have when it gets published in 2018!

Wow, I loved this book! When I first started reading, I was enjoying the story. I really liked Ember in the Ashes so of course I was looking forward to the sequel. And for the first 70%, it was good but it didn’t blow me away. I already had it in my head that I was going to rate it 4 stars, just like the first book. The plot seemed to be what I expected- Laia and Elias escape Blackcliff, Laia and Elias head to Kauf to break out Laia’s brother Darin, Helene deals with her new status as Blood Shrike and struggles with her loyalty to the empire and her love for Elias, and the Commendant is as evil as ever. However as I read further into the story, it really started to pick up and the last 30% blew me away. There were multiple plot twists that I could have never predicted and Tahir took her character development to a new level. This book is brutal, heart wrenching, devastating and absolutely perfect. This book will rip your heart out and leave you wanting more.

The story is told again through alternating points of view. We have chapters from Laia and Elias, as well as Helene in this book. Helene’s point of view was a welcome and necessary addition to the book. As these three were often in different locations, it was helpful to get the bigger picture. In terms of the characters, well the characters were wonderful. If you didn’t already love Elias Veturius you absolutely will now. Elias is just so good despite his upbringing. His violent past haunts him, yet he must rely on his abilities as a Mask to survive.

Helene Aquilla shines in this novel. Sabaa Tahir, what a beautifully complex, broken and terrifying character you have created. She is constantly struggling with her loyalty to the Empire and her love for Elias and her family. She wants to do the right thing, but she isn’t sure what the right decision is. As Blood Shrike, she must hunt down and kill Elias. The idea repulses her, but is one life worth the entire fate of the Empire? I loved reading Helene’s story. Its not always a happy one- she goes through considerable heartbreak and grief and the future looks bleak. Helene is quickly becoming one of my favorite book characters. The title also seems to be a tribute to Helene:

” ‘But you, Helene Aquilla, are no swift-burning spark. You are a torch against the night- if you dare to let yourself burn ‘”

Page 267

Helene’s story also introduces us to a new character, Avitas Harper. Oh, I really hope we get to see more of Avitas Harper. I have a feeling he has a lot more depth to him than we saw in this book and I am excited to see his character explored in the next book.

I adored Laia throughout the story and I was surprised to see so much hate for Laia in other reviews. Sure, she sometimes makes the wrong decision, but Laia’s singular goal continues to be to get Darin out of prison. Laia’s unwavering loyalty and determination was the reason I loved her so much in the first place. Laia is still the same fierce, no-nonsense girl we met in Ember in the Ashes so I was confused when I read other reviews saying she was weaker and didn’t take charge. There was also a development about Laia’s character that will be very interesting to explore in the next book. I also wanted to say that I still ship Laia and Elias so much. While the book isn’t necessarily romance-centered, it has its moments and those moments are adorable.

This book was better than the first. Tahir never shies away from exploring raw human emotions and bloody, brutal scenes. I remember at one point I thought, “She’s not going to go through with this is she?” …and yes, she did. This book is amazing and I cannot praise it highly enough. There are still so many aspects of the book I want to discuss so I think I will have another spoiler discussion post soon, so keep your eye out for that. I hope you all enjoy this book as much as I did!

It's true, guys. Five stars. Five bleeding, burning stars.

Another 5 star rating for the year. I don't give these out easily but with Tahir's sequel to An Ember in the Ashes which I loved to pieces, I knew the sequel had to be great--it just had to be, and what's brilliant is that it didn't disappoint me!

This book kept me up past my bedtime. I read at work when I was supposed to be working. I savored the last 100 pages. I savored the final chapter even more. All the characters I loved and even ones I didn't think I would are back and if this book doesn't give you a reason to follow Tahir throughout her writing career, look again. Tahir holds nothing back. There's blood, death, violence, manipulation, but edging its way in all the dark places is light and hope and love.

A Torch Against the Night was everything I wanted it to be. It picks up right after the first book left off. Laia and Elias are on the run, escaping Blackcliff in hopes to save Laia's brother, Darin, from a slow death in one of the deadliest prisons in the Empire, Kauf Prison, where he's been imprisoned for supposedly harboring the prints to weapons that could give the enslaved Scholars a chance at fighting back at the Empire. But the newly crowned Emperor Marcus, his second-in-command and Elias's best friend the Blood Shrike Helene Aquilla, and Elias's own mother known as the Commandment all seek Elias and Laia. And Helene's first mission as Blood Shrike is to find Elias and kill him.

Here's what I love the most about this book: two fantastic, strong, contrasting female characters: Laia and Helene. They grew up in completely different worlds and the world Helene thought she knew so well is crumbling at her feet while Laia seeks to bring freedom to her people to topple the Empire. My heart hurt for both of them: for Laia being betrayed by someone she loved, by Helene fighting for her life and that of her family all while fighting the war within herself about Elias. The best (or worst?) part is that I can't even hate Elias. He is good. There is goodness in him and he wants to see that in everyone, wants to take everyone's responsibilities and make them his own but that's also his tragic flaw.

I wanted to see more of the Augurs in this and while they appear VERY rarely, it isn't enough to satiate me. I don't know whose side they are on and it confounds me. I'm immensely curious about the Commandment, struggling to comprehend why she is the way that she is especially (view spoiler). I love that we learn more about Elias's upbringing. Mamie Rila is one of my favorite characters in the books so to come across the various Tribes, to have that sneak peek into Elias's life before he was taken, he clings so hard to that life and it breaks my heart.

There's nothing I really dislike about this book. Laia felt weak in the beginning of the book but she grew into herself and after what happened with Keenan, I expected her to falter a bit but she held strong and true. She's been that way throughout the first book, too--strong where I myself would crumble and that's all the more why I admire her. We also see there's underlying magic working it's way throughout the Empire and I'm thrilled to see how that plays out in books 3 and 4 of the series.

Now the problem will be actually waiting for the other books. *cries*

No spoilers in this review of A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir. I give it 4.25 stars! Oh, Sabaa...You shocked me several times! I even gasped aloud once. The surprises weren’t foreshadowed very heavily until right before the reveals, but they still felt fairly well-earned and rewarding. These shocks alone raised my rating from 4.0 to 4.25 stars.

I often find that initial books in a four-book series are a little slow. And I felt An Ember in the Ashes was no exception. Maybe part of the problem was also that I had very high expectations when I picked it up a few months ago. It was almost universally loved and highly rated, so I expected to love it. Instead, I just liked it. It was a bit of a slow start for me.

Torch achieves much more in the way of character development, mythology revelation, and political intrigue. There are so many characters and so much going on that maybe it takes two books to move past introductions and start digging deeper. Tahir showed us exactly where we were headed at the end of Ember, with Elias and Laia embarking on a journey to rescue her brother from Kauf Prison.

Tahir's heavy leaning on the supernatural and mythological elements as well as the political intrigue first introduced in Ember surprised me. I assumed these elements would be accomplished in the latter books in the series, but so much develops in Torch against the backdrop of the main characters’ journey to Kauf.

I was surprised by the brutality in parts of the book. It was hard to read at times. Yet it’s an accurate portrayal of what happens in certain parts of the world and what has happened during certain times in history. Plus, Torch drives home the point we all know well: people can bear more than they ever thought possible and are often remarkably resilient.

Tahir provides an added perspective in this book: Helene’s. I really enjoyed being inside her head. At first, I was disappointed because she seemed to have lost a little of her edge from book one. But overall, I was glad to learn more about this character.

I enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it! I’m excited to see what’s next for Laia, Elias, and Helene! I also recommend the audio version of the book. Each of the three parts is read quite well.

Check out our other reviews as well as our full book recaps by Googling "Book Series Recaps."

This book begins right where AEITA left off. There is no opportunity to ease back into the brutality of this world- it is just as stark and bleak as the last book. This was something I enjoyed (but you know, hated what it did to my baby Elias), because it’s not often that you see such uncensored violence in YA. It’s not too gory, but it definitely feels very real. The world-building is complex and elegant. I love how it’s based off ancient Rome but it doesn’t involve the mythology like one would expect to see. The Empire is an entity all its own.

This is furthered by Tahir’s excellent imagery. She can paint images, sights, smells, sounds, and feelings with her words. The way she phrases her descriptions are extremely powerful. There were a lot of simple scenes that gave me goosebumps, and had they been written by a lesser author they would have been mundane. Tahir knows how to enrapture readers and make them feel as one with her characters.

The characters, were of course excellent, although Laia did start to annoy me. She was missing the spark that I loved from her in the first book. She was dependent on other characters, always subconsciously waiting for their approval of her actions and emotions. Overall, she was a bit of a weak character to me (but there is justification for this, see the spoiler section). Elias was brave and compassionate and amazing as always, but if you love him as much as I do then you are in for some serious pain in this book. Like, a lot of pain.

I was also pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Helene. in AEITA, I was a bit annoyed by her jealousy and her relationship with Elias, but I think this reveals more of her true character and how strong she really is. Tahir adds a lot of depth to her that made her much more realistic and enjoyable as a character (I have one complaint, and this will be in the spoiler section as well).

The aspect that brought this from five to four stars for me was the plot. Like AEITA, it took a couple hundred pages for me to really get into it. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t boring or slow, but I wasn’t in frantic page-flipping mode. However, I turned into major page-flipping monster when 300 hit. Because oh. my. god.

The feels.

The pain.

Me the whole time

The last couple hundred pages were insane, action-filled, heartbreaking, and beautiful. Imagine the last hundred pages of ACOTAR, and then times it by a thousand. That’s how much this book escalated. Everything started happening at the same time and people died and betrayed and… I may have hyperventilated the entire time while I was reading it.

(One more quick note: the use of “skies” as a curse-what do you guys think of it? I was personally a little annoyed. It didn’t sound like much of a cursing-type word, and I thought it was a bit overused. It sounded a little too censored, like saying “oh fudge” instead of “oh you-know-what”. I was a little tired of seeing, “skies, *insert name here*” every few pages. Especially Helene. Bleeding skies, Helene, think of something more creative to say.)

Overall, this did not disappoint. I highly recommend to anyone who loved AEITA. This book doesn’t show any signs of the second-book syndrome, and was just as good (if not better) than the first one. The feels were almost overwhelming. Do not expect to leave this book without scarring your heart. With this and EoS coming out Tuesday, I will literally be a hollow shell by the end of next week.

I loved An Ember in the Ashes – it introduced us to the brutal world of the Empire and the wonderfully real characters of Elias, Laia and Helene. With A Torch Against the Night, Sabaa Tahir has managed that difficult thing – to write a sequel that is as good as, if not better, than the original.

The story picks up immediately after the end of the first book and we’re thrust back into the action, with Laia and Elias fleeing for their lives. Events happen at breakneck speed basically from start to end. Forces threaten Laia and Elias’ escape, but Laia never loses sight of her goal to save her brother from the infamous Kauf prison. Elias continues to do everything he can to help her, while Helene as the new Blood Shrike is forced to hunt her former friend down.

My one complaint about the first book was that Laia seemed to come across as a bit of a damsel in distress – however, that really changes in this book and she really comes into her own as a character. Laia plays a crucial role in her and Elias’ continued survival and she really grows as a character in this book. Elias continues to be loyal and strong, and he really gets put through the ringer in this book. Helene struggles with her loyalty to the Empire and her new role as the Blood Shrike – her internal struggle makes her one of the most interesting characters.

The first book introduced us to a savage and interesting setting, with some awesome world building. The sequel really expands on the characters, and through them drives the story forward. The writing continues to be excellent and the story captivating – I can’t wait for the next book!

This book will keep you reading until the wee hours of the morning. It is beyond exciting and full of action, adventure, and even a little romance. The story starts off exactly where the first ended, with Laia and Elias in the catacombs trying to escape Blackiffe. The POV switches from Laia, Elias and now Helene. As Elias and Laia embark on their mission to rescue Darin, they face many unexpected setbacks that test not only their physical strengths but their grit and selflessness. Helene will just completely blow your mind. She is forced to make impossible choices and endure physical torture and mental games that will have you shaking your head in disgust. Yet, despite it all, she barrels forward, not crying over what happened, only what CAN be. She's a beast of spirit and strength.

I docked a star because I feel like Laias character was not consistent. In the first book she takes HUGE strides not to kill people (ex: the bombs being in vacated areas), but in this book she's telling Elias that he needs to kill people (instead of just incapacitating them), one minute she is strong and fierce and the next she is full of anxiety and self doubt. I am aware of the effect that Keenan may have had, but the irregularities were still bothersome. Also, Cook, I'm just not even sure what happened there, I won't drop any spoilers, but her character had me scratching my head. Finally, the plot twists were a little transparent, still exciting, you knew the what, just not the when.

Overall, despite my earlier comments, this book is fantastic. It has a lot of internal and external conflict and because the author tends to end chapters in suspense, you will be on the edge of your seat throughout. The world building is drastically expanded as is the backstory in this second book. Finally, the writing itself is excellent. There's no distracting writing errors or poor transitions between character views. A great read and well worth your time. Looking forward to the sequel!

There is something so utterly beautiful when someone writes a perfect book. When the elements of the story are so perfectly constructed that you cannot help but be completely swept away. First of all the plot is very well paced. There were never too slow or too fast moments. The Romance was heated and enthralling. There was deep and heavy heartbreak and light and soaring joy. There was a secret revealed toward the end of the story that was totally out of left field surprising. The characters accomplish their mission in the end but it's not in the way you would expect. Each of the characters is so full of life, intelligence, and personality. I couldn't help but think while reading this that this is the kind of thought and command all authors seek to have over their stories when they set out to write them. No issues here. Just an expertly done story.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ember in the Ashes, and immediately placed my preorder for this second book right after I had finished the first. I had forgotten about the preorder until the book was delivered to my Kindle a few days ago. I immediately dropped everything else I was reading, and started this one.

After about 5 hours of reading through a course of a few days, I'm sad I blew through this one so quickly.

For myself, I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first one. However, this is usually a personal trend, as I liked the both the first Hunger Games and the first Red Rising trilogy the most. The first book of the series is always able to provide the most appeal to me, as it's the first time we're being introduced to these fantasy worlds. My favorite themes in the first book centered around the trials and the friendship bonds among the Masks. I enjoyed reading about how the characters helped one another, and the deep history they've had in the past years.

However, in this new story, none of those themes were present. Most of the book is centered around the escape of Elias and Laia and their mission to save Laia's brother. The plot progresses through the people they encounter on the way, and the feelings they have for each other that they try to suppress throughout the book. At some points it started feeling repetitive for me.

The one thing I did like better about this book was that some chapters were told from Helene's point of view. This was a fresh perspective as it wasn't something we got in the first book. Helene is one of my favorite characters in the way that she's constantly struggling between her feelings and her loyalty to the nation. In this story we are able to learn more about her family and understand the internal struggles she continues to go through. For me, her chapters were often the highlights in the book, as her storyline is less predictable than Elias and Laia's.

Overall, I would definitely still recommend fans of the first book to read this one. However, I'd advice going in with lower expectations and simply enjoy being back with the familiar characters and finding how the story progresses.