Book: A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

 ★★★★/★★★★★

 “So long as you fight the darkness, you stand in the light.” 

Past midnight some time last week I started reading this book and finished around 4 in the morning having mixed feelings and everything. Don't get me wrong, I loved it but I think not as much as An Ember in the Ashes. I guess I was so blown away by AEitA that I set expectations in ATAtN only to find myself a little disappointed. Maybe I was expecting something else but regardless, ATAtN is a very enjoyable book!

 A Torch Against the Night picks up where Am Ember in the Ashes has left off with Elias and Laia running away from Blackcliff after Laia saved Elias from his execution. They agreed on helping each other—Laia will save Elias and in exchange Elias will help Laia break into Kauf prison to save her brother Darin. With the soldiers, Helene—the new Blood Shrike, and the Commandant out to hunt them, Laia and Elias must flee the city of Serra, trusting each other and the new and old friends they meet along the way. 

“There’s hope in life,” he says. “A brave girl once told me that. If something happens to me, don’t fear. You’ll find a way.”

The second book in the series is as action-packed, thrilling and dark as the first. We see Laia and Elias fighting for their lives and using every way they can just to escape the people hunting them down. Worse, Helene, being the new Blood Shrike, has to join the hunt because the new Emperor, Marcus, wants Elias dead. But worst, the Commandant, as merciless as ever, is able to track down Elias and Laia as soon as they thought they're free. And if you find AEitA violent then this book is way way brutal with lots and lots of deaths it's a nightmare!

Tahir did a great job in the world-building as well as with the pacing. This book is very intense that I found myself so engrossed and the slow pacing helps in building the thrill and tension of what will happen next. The plot is well-constructed though at times I found myself wishing it didn't go that way. Lol. It's also told in three different POVs (Laia's, Elias's and Helene's) and I really liked reading from Helene's POV.

“Most people,” Cain says, “are nothing but glimmers in the great darkness of time. But you, Helene Aquilla, are no swift-burning spark. You are a torch against the night—if you dare to let yourself burn.”

We also see a lot of character development in this book. Laia matured a lot in this book by becoming braver and making bolder decisions. And though she's nowhere near Helene's prowess, she comes to discover her own abilities that somehow help her in facing their battles. Her unfailing determination to save Darin is what keeps her going and the thought of seeing her brother again keeps the fire inside her burning. Elias, on the other hand, is still that selfless, loyal and courageous man we met in Ember! But in here, he goes through an agonizing phase which causes him to slip off back and forth to the other-world. And being righteous and all, he honors the promise he made to Laia that even though it might kill him, he's still willing to help her break Darin out of Kauf. Helene is becoming my favorite more and more. My heart broke for her because now that she's the Blood Shrike, she's ordered to hunt down Elias—her best friend, her love. And as if it's not torture enough, Marcus threatens to kill her family if she disobeys him. Torn between her family and Elias, my heart was aching for Helene all throughout.

But I love him. How do I kill the man I love?

Aside from Laia and Elias trying to break into Kauf to save Darin, there are also other things happening inside the book. The Commandant, if anything, becomes more and more evil by suppressing the Scholars after they revolted. She turns into a crazy blood-thirsty evil by killing every Scholar she gets her hands on. She's so cruel and heartless that I can't wait to see how she dies! Grr. Emperor Marcus, on the other hand, wants to strengthen his power by making alliance with Helene's father but of course not without threatening Helene's family first. He needs Helene to be loyal to him because he knew he'll need her to take down the evil bitch. We also get to meet Elias's adoptive family who helps Elias and Laia along the way and there's also Afya Aya-Nur, the woman who gave Elias a favor coin when she thought Elias was going to be the Emperor. Then there's the Soul Catcher, Shaeva, who pulls Elias into her realm. A lot of things are actually happening inside the book and each character is dealing with their own stuff; Laia—practicing her newly discovered ability, worrying about Darin, dealing with her feelings, Elias—trying to stay awake, planning how to break into Kauf, dealing with his guilt because of the Third Trial, and Helene—having a difficult time thinking of ways how to save her family and Elias, trying to prevent a war, dealing with her own feelings. This book is just so beautifully messy and so insane I loved it!

Now let's get to the romance. I hate to admit it but I actually liked Keenan with Laia. I never doubted him because he seems to really care about Laia and he's loyal but, but, but!! I wasn't a big fan of him in Ember but when he reappeared in this book I started to grow fond of him. And you know what I hate more? It's the fact that there was a certain point that I've come to accept him to be Laia's happy ever after considering Elias's condition. How foolish of me! Sorry Elias! Anyway, I'm just happy Keenan is out of the picture now. But Elias, oh, Elias! My heart still aches for him. Actually, my heart was aching for him the entire time just like with Helene because what he's been through is pure torture—knowing that he's slowly slipping away and can't do anything about it. And it doesn't help that he pushes away everyone because he's convinced that anyone who gets close to him dies. He pushes Laia away and doesn't let himself feel anything towards her.

I stare across the fire and into her dark golden eyes, the way I've tried not to for days. When I do, I remember why I haven't looked: the fire in her, the fervent determinations—it speaks to something at my very core, something caged and desperate to be free.

But Laia, being assertive that she is, won't let him blame himself for the death of the people around him. She will show him that it's okay to feel guilty but that he shouldn't let it consume him. And eventually Elias comes to accept that it's okay not to be responsible for everyone. That it's not his responsibility to keep everyone safe.

“Don’t lock yourself away from those who care about you because you think you’ll hurt them or—or they’ll hurt you. What point is there in being human if you don’t let yourself feel anything?”

Another thing that really saddened me is when Elias and Helene meet again and Elias said his goodbye to Helene one last time. (I might've cried on that one) Knowing they used to be best friends—and each other's first love, it was really heartbreaking to see them killing each other. Even in Ember I was hurting for these two because they were best friends but they had to fight each other.  

“I'm going to let go of you,” I say. “If you try to take me down, so be it. But before I do, I want to say something, because we both know I'm not long for this world, and I'd hate myself if I never told you.” Confusion flashes across her face, and I barrel on before she starts asking questions. “I miss you.” I hope she hears what I'm truly saying. I love you. I'm sorry. I wish I could fix it. “I'll always miss you. Even when I'm a ghost.”

Laia and Elias are bound to be together. I was sure of that. With everything they've been through they just deserve to be together. I loved them both since page one of Ember and until the last page of Torch I was rooting for the both of them. All the torture, all the pain, all the soldiers who hunt them down, and all the other forces—human or otherworldly—they've faced be damned just as long as in the end they finish their mission together. And they did.

Overall I really enjoyed this book! With all the twists and turns, you just can't help but finish this book in one sitting. But as much as I wanted to give this book 5 stars, there are a couple of things I have issues with. For one, like I said, a lot of things are happening inside the book all at once. I'm not saying it's a bad thing but for me it just didn't work. Like Elias being pulled into Shaeva's realm and dealing with lost souls while on the other side he's traveling with Laia and then fighting his way into Kauf. I also felt like some of the turns just appeared out of nowhere and though they have backgrounds, I just didn't quite expect them to turn that way. And then what happened to Elias really frustrated me because really? After all that he's just going to be the Soul Catcher? But then there are still book 3 and 4 so let's just see about that. 

“You are my temple,” I murmur as I kneel beside her. “You are my priest. You are my prayer. You are my release.”

I highly recommend this book to everyone so read it, you guys! :)

Book: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

★★★★★/★★★★★

“There are two kinds of guilt. The kind that's a burden and the kind that gives you purpose. Let your guilt be your fuel. Let it remind you of who you want to be. Draw a line in your mind. Never cross it again. You have a soul. It's damaged but it's there. Don't let them take it from you.”

First of all, I want to say that I have my new favorite series. 

Second, Laia is a strong and brave girl.

Third, Elias is a good person.
Fourth, Commandant is a wicked, heartless woman.

Lastly, I applaud Sabaa Tahir for writing this wonderful book.

An Ember in the Ashes is one heartbreaking and powerful book. It captivated me the moment I started reading it and now that I finished it, I can no longer wait for the next book!

The story is told alternately by Laia and Elias, a slave and a Mask in Blackcliff.
Laia is a strong-willed, brave girl who will do everything, even to be a slave to the heartless Commandant of Blakcliff, just so she could help break her brother, Darin, out of prison. Elias, on the other hand, is one of the best Masks at Blackcliff where power, loyalty and brutality rule everything. It's the one place he doesn't really want to be in but doesn't have a choice since he was chosen to be there. He's been inside Blackcliff almost all his life, training and planning his escape one day. These two characters will show us how to fight, to be brave, to stand for what we believe in, to fail but stand again and to never stop having hope. Because as long as there's life, there's hope.

This book made me realize how lucky I am to be living in a world like this and not inside a world like Blackcliff. Because I really don't know how I could survive like Laia or Elias or anyone in the book if I were them. But then I realized that there are actually places in this world like Blackcliff where people suffer and die on the hands of brutal and heartless people. It's sad to think that there are really people who abuse their power and enjoy the pain of others.

Heartbreaking it may be, this book is one hell of a book. I can't imagine how Sabaa Tahir managed to write a book as good as this. It's definitely a must-read!

Veturius smiles that knife's-edge smile. "Look at us," he says. "Scholar slave and Mask, each trying to persuade the other they're not evil. The Augurs do have sense of humor, don't they?" 

January Reading List #1

November 9 by Collen Hoover (November 10, 2015)

 Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

 

Goodreads

After You by Jojo Moyes (September 29, 2015)

 11 hours, 6 minutes.

How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?

Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.

Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. . . .

For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.

Goodreads 

Love Letters To The Dead by Ava Dellaira (April 1, 2014)
It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person.

Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to the dead—to people like Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, Amelia Earhart, and Amy Winehouse—though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating the choppy waters of new friendships, learning to live with her splintering family, falling in love for the first time, and, most important, trying to grieve for May. But how do you mourn for someone you haven't forgiven?

It's not until Laurel has written the truth about what happened to herself that she can finally accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was—lovely and amazing and deeply flawed—can she truly start to discover her own path.

Goodreads

An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (April 28, 2015)

 Laia is a slave.

Elias is a soldier.

Neither is free.

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.

Goodreads 

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord (March 31, 2015)

 Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

Goodreads