Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) by Sabaa Tahir

                                                        🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Synopsis:
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.

Torch Against the Night picks up right where An Ember in the Ashes left off.  Elias and Laia are attempting to flee the city and journey to Kauf prison. I have to say that I didn't like this as much as the first book. The author added another point of view in the book which was Helena (Blood Shrike). I had no desire to be in Helena's head even though it helped me to understand what Marcus and the Commandant were planning and the actions that they were taking to accomplish them. I wasn't as invested in her or what was happening with her so I found her portions of the book to be boring. 
I didn't see the twist in the story coming. It seemed like there were hints leading me to believe that a certain character may not have been who I thought but I didn't expect what was actually going on.I feel as if Sabaa Tahir was torturing one character in the story in particular and it broke my heart. I'm guessing that what happened to that character will play a large part in the next book. 
I wanted to see more battles in this book but it did not happen. I attribute this to the author weakening a certain character to the point that he wasn't much help in a fight. I think that my issue may be that I liked the plot of An Ember in the Ashes better. I really enjoyed the trials that happened in the first book which obviously could not take place again in this one. I really enjoyed that aspect as well as the foretelling from Cain. He was in this book but to a far lesser extent and he seemed a bit bloodthirsty instead of rebellious and helpful. There wasn't a lot of character growth in this book either. I feel like the depth of change that the main characters achieved by the end of the first book just plateaued.