Spoiler-filled Gush: A Torch Against the Night (by Sabaa Tahir)

I have a lot of things to discuss about this book (because I loved it) so this is my spoiler-filled gush about it. As always, I urge you to only read this gush if you have read A Torch Against the Night, since you will most definitely be spoiled for it if you haven’t. So if you have yet to read it, I have a spoil-free review up that you can check out right here. I gave the book a 4.75 out of 5 stars.

As for those of you who have read it, time to discuss!

Last warning: THE NEXT SECTION WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!

An Ember in the Ashes (by Sabaa Tahir)

I’m so glad I finally got around to reading this book!

An Ember in the Ashes is a YA fantasy set in a world that is based on the Roman Empire. The plot is pretty hard to explain, given the complexity of it, but I’ll try.

The world is essentially split between Scholars and soldiers (although they aren’t referred to as “soldiers” I don’t think, and there’s also other “types” of people i.e: tribespeople or something like that; I’m still pretty confused on all of this). Anyways, the story follows two perspectives, Laia and Elias. Laia is a Scholar. Elias is a Mask (I won’t try to explain this one, but Masks are basically hardcore soldier people).

Ok, I’m going to stop trying to explain the story now. Just know that it’s action-packed, and although it definitely is a fantasy, it’s also sort of a dystopia (corrupt government, rebellion, the works). The fantastical elements are just kind of sprinkled throughout it, but they aren’t really a main focus.

I thought the first half of this book was a bit slow, but that was because it’s setting up the world, plot, and characters. I actually really appreciated that the author took the time to build a foundation, particularly with the characters, before diving in.

Speaking of characters, I happened to really like both main ones, although I preferred Elias. I wasn’t the biggest Laia fan at first (although I never disliked her), but she really grew on me.

I felt that the book was very atmospheric, if you know what I mean. I could really see the world and the whole thing gave me ancient-war-movie vibes (i.e: The movie Troy). I actually think this book would make a great movie because of how cool the set would be.

I’ve heard a lot of people bash on the romance in this book, but I happened to enjoy it. There’s a sort of love square thing going on (i.e: Laia and Elias, Laia and Love Interest, Elias and Love Interest). And I acknowledge that this is a very YA thing to have in a book, given how unrealistic it is for both main characters to have two possible love interests. But I’ll be honest and say I enjoy “romantic drama” in books, no matter how much crap it gets from other readers. And honestly, the romance in this book, especially from Elias’ perspective, actually made a lot of sense. It wasn’t too prevalent throughout the book either, taking a backseat to the main plot.

I’m excited for the direction this story is going, and I can’t wait to read more in the next book (which I believe just recently came out).

Rate: 4.5 out of 5 stars