Review: A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

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 most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ 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 Shrike.

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 him escape…and kill them both.

A Torch Against the Night picked up right where Ember left off, with Laia and Elias fleeing the aftermath of the Fourth Trial, trying to escape the city with their lives and the army on their backs. Helene is doing all she can to keep her cool and not lose her sh** as Elias’s closest friend and confidant, now also the Empire’s highest ranking officer - Blood Shrike - where does her loyalty lie?

I have mixed feelings about Torch. I was more than ready to learn what happened to Laia, Elias, and Helene after the crazing ending to An Ember in the Ashes. While reading Ember, I fell in love with these characters and how strong each of them were in their own ways. In Torch, Laia was my least favorite character of the trio this time around. She slowly began to crawl under my skin and annoy me with almost every chapter. For someone who was so smart in the first book, and so feisty, she began to get whiny and let people take advantage of her. She missed the obvious quite a bit and it bothered me. I know this all had its purpose, but I couldn’t let it go.

Helene on the other hand... Oh Helene. I’m slowly starting to get the feeling that she is in fact, not Laia or Elias, the center of this series. She is the keystone that will hold this whole world together. My affection for her only grew with this novel and for that, I thank Sabaa Tahir. Helene Aquilla does everything she can to uphold her honor, her loyalty, her love, and her destiny. She refuses to go down without a fight and does everything within her power to protect those she loves while still remaining loyal to the Empire.

Elias’s story took an interesting and unexpected turn. I don’t want to spoil anything but I thought he stayed true to his nature. He made a promise and intended to keep it, by any means necessary.


3.75 stars - A Torch Against the Night left me with more questions than answers. I fully intend to read the next two books to get those answers because I need more Helene and I need to see Laia pick herself up. What happens with the Scholars? What happens to Elias? And Helene? And Laia’s brother? Also, this whole dark, magical element that’s been introduced, and how does it factor in? So many questions!