A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

GoodReads Summary:
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.
Review:
Okay, I just honestly am not sure where to begin or what to say. Also, I’m a fair bit into book three while writing this, so I’m going to do my best to keep them separate.
I’m honestly a bit over it. I think that’s because half the book Elias and Laia weren’t even together. If Elias had just stayed none of the bad shit would have happened with Laia and those who have read this know who. I’m so mad that he left. I am just mad at him in general. He’s a huge idiot. I liked the forest that he finds that I can’t remember the name of right this minute. I thought it was a very interesting place and the girl he meets there challenged him. I really enjoyed the interactions between them.
Now, Laia. I honestly liked her with Keenan until I found out the truth. Despite that, I find myself annoyed with Laia. She’s on the way to rescue her brother and manages to find herself in a stupid love triangle, like why Laia, why. I did enjoy the relationships she created with the Tribes people and I’m interested to see what direction that will go in the next book. I also am very intrigued by her mysterious ability and am wondering where it came from and why that was not explained. Maybe we’re left to assume it’s the same as where Helene’s came from?
Helene’s parts of this book were so sad. I felt so bad for her. She does not deserve any of the things she has to do or see in this book. I really hope there is some good for her somewhere in the rest of this series because it’s clear that she wants to be a good person, but she’s being controlled by a monster and has to play the games of those around her, no matter how horrible.
Overall, I didn’t love this, but I still plan to continue the series. I liked the characters. The story was interesting. Things were slow here and there, but that’s with most fantasy books.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

GoodReads Summary:
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.
Review:
I have sadly been slacking on keeping up with series. The third book in this series came out last year and despite owning it, I still haven’t read it. So I’m rereading the first two books.
I forgot how much I enjoyed this series. Laia and Elias and Helene. They must be protected at all costs. I’m a sucker for the friends forever to lovers trope so part of me wants Helene and Elias to love each other forever. But also unlikely lovers is a good one too. I already know where things will go in the romance department though so it was hard not to root for the couple that I know will come together. I liked that the romance wasn’t really a huge part of the story though.
This book focused more on the inner conflict of each character. Helene is hiding an oath she made. This oath and Elias’ behavior leads the two to grow apart from one another. This made me sad because I loved their friendship. But I understood from Elias and his thoughts. He hated where he was and everything his training stood for. I totally agree with him. But, I understood why he stayed.
Then there’s Laia who just wants to save her brother. I loved the sibling motivation. I can’t wait to see her and her brother together again. I love Laia because she’s out into a situation she’s utterly unprepared for, but she manages and somehow succeeds.
This story was so interesting because of the politics and I’m excited to continue my reread of the second book and then finally manage to get to the third.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

ABC Book Challenge |E|

Hello, Bookworms!

This week we will be talking about books with the letter E. For those of you that are new here – here’s the deal, each week we post about books beginning with a specific letter of the alphabet starting with A and ending once we’ve gone all the way to Z. We’re going to mention one or sometimes a few books that were super memorable with the letter of the week and also books that are still living on our TBR lists. So without further ado.

Read last week’s post here.

This week’s letter is – E.

Most Memorable Books 

Amanda

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas – This book was absolutely incredible. The way that it ended was just mindblowing and heartbreaking at the same time. I might even say it was my favorite of the series, but I could change my mind when I do my reread this fall in anticipation of the final book.

Earth’s End by Elise Kova – Book three in a five book series that I read as a boxed set on my Kindle. This whole series was incredible and probably one of my top ten new reads of the year (you’ll see it pop up all over with the other book tags and bookish lists I post.)

Antonia

Every Last Breath by Jennifer L. Armentrout – I’ve loved her books ever since I picked up Obsidian on a whim. This one is the last book in The Dark Elements series. It has a really well done angels vs. demons theme and the most swoon-worthy bad boy.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini – This was one of the first books I really obsessed over. The end of the series was so bittersweet and a little devastating but I’ll always have such pleasant memories of this book. (No one even think about mentioning the movie.)

 

Books Still on Our TBR Lists

Amanda

(An) Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – I’ve read this book before but I honestly don’t remember anything about it. The third book came out recently so the whole series is on my TBR list with the first two books as a reread.

(The) Emerald Sea by Richelle Mead – The third and final book in the Glittering Court Trilogy and I am beyond ready and excited to see what’s going to happen in this series conclusion.

Antonia

Everneath by Brodi Ashton – I just got all three books in this series and am really excited to see how the Orpheus/ Eurydice myth ties into it.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon – I saw the movie trailer and thought it was interesting before I ever knew it was a book. After Amanda’s review of it, I knew it had to go on my TBR list.

 

This is what we’ve come up with for this weeks letter! Do you have any memorable books that start with the letter E? What about books that you haven’t managed to read yet? Feel free to answer in the comments and thanks for reading!

ABC Book Challenge |A|

Hi, bookworms! We saw this challenge on a few different blogs and thought it looked like a fun, regular post that we could add to our ever going list of weekly posts. So here’s how it works –  each week we’re going to post a letter of the alphabet (starting with A obviously) and we’re going to list our most memorable books and books still hanging out on our TBR list associated with the corresponding letter.

This week’s post we’re going to start with the letter – A.

Most Memorable Books

Amanda:

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – One of my all-time favorite series and all of the books work for the letter A. I reviewed the whole series, you can find my review for this first book here.

The Atlantis Gene by A.G. Riddle – I read this incredible series around Christmas time and I still think about them all the time. It was such a detailed and well thought out story.

Antonia:

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green – This is one of my favorites of his (that’s a lie, they’re pretty much all tied). It’s so funny and quirky and I just love Colin so much.

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman – One of my all-time favorite series, with such a bittersweet ending. This is the first book that ever made me cry hysterically.

Books Still On My TBR 

Amanda:

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – The third book in this series came out recently, so I’m planning to reread the whole series.

Antonia:

Apollyon by Jennifer L. Armentrout – This is part of The Covenant series which I’ve been wanting to finish reading for a few years now.

These are our picks for the letter A! What books with the letter A are most memorable for you? Which ones haven’t managed to get from your TBR list to your ‘read’ pile?

Thanks for reading!

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Bookish Worlds

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.Each week we’re given a new prompt for a top ten list of all things bookish. This week’s topic is top ten bookish worlds I’d want to (or wouldn’t want to) live in. I like both of these, so this week I’m going to do five that I would want to live in and five that I wouldn’t want to live in. Here’s my top ten for this week!

Bookish worlds I would like to live in –

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – Yes I know that they just went through a huge war and a ton of people died, but now all is hopefully well and I’d love to live here. I would love to get to visit all the different seasonal courts and the solar courts. I would also enjoy helping (or trying to) create a better world with the fae and the humans. Plus, who wouldn’t want to live in a world with Rhysand, Cassian and Aziel?

Harry Potter by J.K Rowling – Would I be a twenty something year old bookworm if I hadn’t read Harry Potter and fantasized about getting my letter and attending Hogwarts?

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch – This is a world similar to ACOTAR with the different seasonal territories that I would love to visit. But in this book universe they have magical abilities instead of being Fae. So who wouldn’t want to have magic and be able to visit whatever season you wanted?

Zodiac by Romina Russell – One word: Space. I love outer space and most space themed books are ones that I’ll buy as soon as I know they take place among the stars. This book universe sounds so cool. The different zodiac planets with the different personalities, I just love everything about this series.

Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld – Superheros are yet another autobuy topic. So this book, while it’s set in a regular realistic world, it has kids with super powers. Yes, please?

Bookish worlds I would not want to live in –

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas – While I love these books and I love  the characters and the story, I wouldn’t want to live in this world. A world that’s on the brink of war and treats most of the people horribly. No thank you.

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – Living in this super oppressive world? No way. I wouldn’t survive in this book universe for very long and if I did, I would be very miserable.

Moon Chosen by P.C. Cast – I love this story and all of the characters in it. But I definitely wouldn’t want to live in this ruined futuristic world.

The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead – This book universe seems how I imagine England in the 1800s. I’ve always said that I would live in that time period, but only if I was a woman of wealth. The same goes for this world except I still don’t think I’d want to live there because well, electricity and running water and the internet and all of the modern day amenities I probably couldn’t live without.

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima – This book universe is one that I wouldn’t want to live in for one reason that I could use for so many other series that I considered putting here. I wouldn’t want to live in a world that was in the middle of fighting a war. Even though by the end of the series the war is over, there’s always going to be another war in these kinds of worlds even if that story doesn’t get written. Yes, I would love to see this world and meet the characters that I love, but I wouldn’t want to have to constantly worry about the next battle to be fought.

This week’s topic was so fun I considered doing one post with worlds I would want to live in and a different post with worlds I wouldn’t want to live in, but I just did five of each here. What bookish world would you or wouldn’t you want to live in and why?

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.