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

Product Information

The last person I’m going to talk about here is Darin, I can’t even explain my thoughts about Darin because he’s just that brother figure! He’s been through it, captured, tortured, freed and then starts to rebuild his life. There’s just something so pure about Darin, the way he acts with Laia, and then his relationship with Elias. Darin takes no shit, people treat him differently because he’s a Scholar and he’s just like nope, and speaks up and defends himself. We FINALLY, FINALLY got answers, do you know how long I have waited to hear what Elias said to Laia, and we finally got it! Things/phrases are reiterated throughout from past books and what the Augurs have said, it’s kind of driven into you and like certain phrases that just make me feel happy but sad at the same time. Prepare for the jaw-dropping finale of Sabaa Tahir's beloved New York Times bestselling An Ember in the Ashes fantasy series, and discover: Who will survive the storm?

A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir - Goodreads Editions of A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir - Goodreads

Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory--or to an unimaginable doom. Until A Sky Beyond the Storm, despite several shortcomings, the plot kept me anchored to the series: It was interesting, fast-paced, eventful, full of twists, and often felt like an emotional roller coaster ride. There was never a dull moment. So, one would not expect it to change at the final book. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happens with this one. The main twists introduced here are not at all in harmony with rest of the series, making everything too complicated, and the result was -at least for me- one of the most unsatisfying endings I've ever come across. Helene is given three men to aid in her search. Two are friends but one, Harper, is a spy for the Commandant. She searches fruitlessly but finally gets a tip from Cook.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. Whatever the subtle romance or spark that was there before, it all turned into something cheesy so much so that I just couldn't bear it. God, why?! Like in Reaper, we follow three different first-person perspectives: Helene (Blood Shrike), Elias (Soul Catcher), and Laia (Laia). All I can say is... what happened to my babies?? I am very confused with the world building if this world and the whole Jin concept isn’t explained properly. There were characters who deserved better. what was that Rehmat thing? it came out of nowhere.

A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes) A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes)

I hate Elias's character arc with everything I have. In case you haven't read the series, he makes a deal with the jinn to become the Soul Catcher and transport souls to the next world by talking them through their troubles. He's basically a god-tier therapist. And he just lost everything that made me ship him and Laia. He's so angsty all of a sudden, and not in a good way. "Do I love Laia? No, I'm the Soul Catcher and must stay emotionless. But I love Laia! But... no?" It got old really fast. Because I am a weapon that has been whetted, a weapon that has been sharpened and honed. My mind is sharper now, but it is also softer. More forgiving. More understanding. More thankful. And what I mean by that is I've learned so much from the villains in this story. Sometimes, as a reader, it gets difficult to understand the antagonist. Sometimes you just want to watch them to die a slow, painful death for ever hurting your characters. Sometimes you want to brandish the scim yourself. But there is a reason villains exist, and that reason is not to make life hell for the main characters. The truth is that villains are humans too. They are people. They have dreams, and desires, and hopes, and wishes, and fears, and loves, too. And this book really teaches you that. It really forces you to look inside yourself, to find the softest part, to find the part that truly understands the evil in this world, and that no one is ever truly evil. Because evil people never think they're evil. They think they are doing the right thing. They think they are bettering humanity, and that makes me wonder, how could we ever blame someone, a person who has felt love and fear and hate, for doing something if that's what they think is right? How could we ever deem them evil if that is what they have been taught all their lives, if that's how they lash out with their pain? NO. I hated this. I hated it so much that I almost threw my device in frustration. (was reading the e-book) Shelva, the previous Soul Catcher had to wait thousands of years before she passed the role onto Ellais. And Mira can get it so easily? Just like that? The main problem, though, is that the POVs were interchangeable and indistinguishable. Sometimes I would forget whose perspective I was reading. Helene, my poor little angry cinnamon roll, felt like Laia. Elias was as moody as Laia. Laia was good with weapons like Elias and Helene. Most of the romance is about Laia and Elais and how much they lOvE each other but I wanted more Harper- Helene content. And I didn’t get it, which left me shattered.Sadly, this one is disappointing as hell! All that momentum that was built up in the first three books disappeared and never revived again. Ah, no, my love.' He gathers me close. 'You cannot go first. I could not make sense of the world if you did.'