The Laughing Listener
Format: Hard Copy
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Ohhhhhhh man. THIS book. It took me months to finish this. MONTHS. After falling deeply in love with An Ember in the Ashes, I immediately started on the second one, hungry for more Elias and Laia. Once I got through the first several chapters, however, I thought I knew exactly where this book was headed and I was not of fan. Some hardcore procrastination happened in a flimsy effort to prolong my time with my two favorite characters.

All I can say is, BOY WAS I WRONG. That’s what I get for thinking I know everything. By the time I reached the last page, I was kicking myself for putting this off for as long as I did. I will never doubt Sabaa Tahir again.

THE GOOD
Both the beginning and ending of this book DEFINITELY kept me on my toes. So much happens in such a short period of time! At least it felt that way. Read one page and you’ve already gone through two fight scenes and an angsty almost-kiss. But what really kept me going were the great characters. I LOVE LAIA AND ELIAS SO MUCH!! Laia somehow manages to be both strong and vulnerable in the best way and there’s a humility about her that gives me all the feels. And Elias has had some serious bad luck, but uses his remorse as a motivator to be a better person. He has such a big heart and I’m so glad I can count him among my fictional husbands. Plus, the new characters we see in this book are great! Afya Ara-Nur IS MY GIRL and I love her sassy honesty. YAS QUEEN.

Plus, there’s a WHOPPER of a twist at the end that I did not see coming at all. I had a few suspicions on what was going to happen, which is how I ended up reading this book for four months, but I was definitely not even close. I was reading in bed when the big reveal happened and I looked something like this…

THE UGLY
Can you believe Laia and Ian?? OMG. WHAT WAS THAT??? Ummmmm that awkward moment when you realize you slept with the Nightbringer??????????

Also, Helene bothered me this time around. Am I alone in this?

She annoyed me a little during An Ember in the Ashes, but I really fought against it last time. I love that she’s so smart, cunning, and can really pack a punch. It’s refreshing to see a female character that can hold her own in a world dominated by alpha males. But then she would go off on rants about how amazing the Empire is or how scholars deserve to be treated terribly and my strong girl-power vibes would be ruined. At the end I really felt for her though, because Elias strings her along the ENTIRE book and then ditches her at the last second, leaving her with skeevy Marcus. Yuck.

In the beginning of A Torch Against the Night I still felt horrible for Helene because Marcus and the Commandant are just THE WORST and no one should have to go kill their best friend. By the end, however, I was completely frustrated. She’s been around Marcus and the Commandant almost her ENTIRE LIFE. Why is she so surprised when they do terrible things?? THEY’RE DESPICABLE PEOPLE. Obviously they’re going to betray you and not listen to anything you say! When Marcus kills her family, I saw it coming for miles. It was so frustrating because I feel like it could have been avoided if she had just stopped long enough to think of another plan.

FINAL WORD
Was this sequel as good at the first? No, I don’t think so, but it was still an amazing book and I highly recommend this series! Can’t wait to get my hands on A Reaper at the Gates!!!!