A Torch Against the Night is the second book in the An Ember in the Ashes series. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2016, and I'm actually pretty let-down.
I'm going to keep this review shorter and spoiler free since I know so many people are looking forward to this. *unpopular opinion time*
A Torch Against the Night follows the same people as it did in book one, and adds some other POVS into the mix this time around. However, no matter whose POV, I felt so disconnected from them. I know Elias and Laia are the main characters, but I don't care for either of them anymore. I really enjoyed both of their characters in Ember, but in this novel I felt like I no longer knew them. Elias character wasn't as much of a bother to me as Laia was. I remember loving their characters so much in the first, and I don't know what happened between now and then, but in my opinion it felt like I was reading about entirely new people. Another character I was looking forward to really getting into this novel was Helene... again another disappointment. I think I was thinking we were going to get this super strong female, who might end up outshining Laia, but again she just didn't shine like I expected. I was probably the most excited to get back to the "romance" that was present in the first... but yall, if you're excited about it you will probably end up like me, disappointed. It was ALL over the place. I don't know what this book is trying to set up, or not set up... the relationship aspect really might be what brought my rating down. Just a hot mess.
When it comes to the plot I was beyond bored! Nothing happened... At least not anything you couldn't figure out. The twist, turns, and surprises were all lacking something. I was able to predict everything before it happened. Also had a very hard time wanting to get to the end of this. I was dragging my feet, and forcing myself to make it to the end. I was hoping something, anything, would change my mind. I can't emphasize how exhausting this was for me to read. I felt 400 pages was WAY too many!
A Torch Against the Night definitely suffers from second book syndrome. I also fear that this will end up being a book that people rate purely off of hype. I think we're going to be a lot more 5 stars than I personal think it is. There's no doubt that Sabaa is an amazing story teller, I just don't think this is a series for me, and don't plan on continuing it.
2.5-3/10 Stars
-Angela
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