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

An Amazon Best Book of September 2016: With sequels there’s always an underlying worry that the second book won’t live up to its predecessor, but Sabaa Tahir’s A Torch Against the Night not only meets expectations—it surpasses them. Tahir returns to Elias and Laia’s quest to rescue Laia’s brother from an impenetrable prison while eluding the Emperor and Commandant. Helen, now the Blood Shrike, is under the Emperor’s orders to kill them, and it’s clear that she still knows her former best friend as well as ever. The stakes are higher in this novel and the suspense just keeps building from new directions. The characters’ internal conflict is almost painful to read, but that’s part of what makes the story so intense. How can you kill someone you love? And how do you watch someone you love die trying to save you? Packed with cliff hangers, A Torch Against the Night ends with the same feeling as the first: a burning desire to read the next book. Right. This. Minute. --Seira Wilson, The Amazon Book Review