Blodeuedd's Monday 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. 

My thoughts:

Two days later, as always...I also want to make this short cos I am 2 reviews behind...

It was good, but nope, not AS good as the first one. That one was darker, and even if this one was dark, it felt...YA dark (that is not a good thing.)

Elias was a ghost of himself and did not do a lot. Sure I wanted him to live, but at the same time meh.

I think I did not really care for Laia in book 1? I can not remember, but here I sure did not. What a forgettable boring girl. She is no heroine in my eyes.  And that whole guy thing, *eyeroll*

Helen, hmm, I do not really want a happy ending for her, because she is killing a lot in this book. I get that she is second to the Emperor now, but sheesh, that guy is insane. Stop killing people. I hope you die, even if you are the most interesting person in the book. Also she was so, oh Elias!

The whole book is about them getting to that prison. It did not have the same edge. It bordered on ok at times.

But I will read more, I want to know what happens. And even if it was good I was disappointed. Nothing was the same as book 1. Not the characters, not the story, not the world.

Cover
boring

Hardcover, 452 pages
Published August 30th 2016 by Razorbill
An Ember in the Ashes #2
Fantasy YA
Library

Book Review: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Author: Sabaa Tahir
Titles: An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1)
Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance, & Sci-Fi
Pages: 446
First Published: April 2015
Where I Got It: Borrowed from library

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself. 

No. No.....noooooooooooo! WHY? WHY? I tried....I tried so hard to like this! I know I am in the minority when it comes to the opinion on this. There are so many amazing reviews in regards to this book. But alas this did not settle well with me and I am seriously bummed.

The first 200 pages had me hooked and I was entertained. However, things fell apart pretty quickly and it was certainly a struggle to keep reading forward. 

Laia was annoying as all Hell. 

Elias wasn't bad. His POV was the most intriguing even though his crush on Helene and Laia was clear as day. 

Bleh to love triangle...nah....love squares. It wasn't as bad as I thought and it didn't take over the story. *wipes sweat from brow* So I was certainly glad for that, but bleh especially over Laia. She was so meak and boring. Yes, I do love characters that are full of faults and are weak, but she was SO full of faults and SO weak I was SO bored with her. 

Yes, yes, the terror of pretending to be a slave for the evil Commandant and the threat of rape at every corner was certainly scary. I did worry for her well-being, because rape and murder is what I wish on a boring character.

I will be honest...I barely remember the ending. It passed in a blear. 

The best part of the book, for me, was the world-building. It was a fun and unique world based off Ancient Rome. 

In the end, I am bummed. The beginning was really good and the world-building was amazing. Now the characters were meh. Elias and Helene were not bad, but the other bleh. I really, really wanted to like this, but sadly this was not for me. Out of five stars, I stamp this with 2.