A Torch Against the Night is the sequel to An ember in the ashes. In An ember in the ashes, we meet Laia and Elias. Laia is a scholar who goes undercover as a slave into a ruthless military academy in exchange for help saving her brother who has been imprisoned. Elias is the best student in the academy and secretly wants to get out. My favorite quotes from the sequel are:

1. “When the fear takes over, use the only thing more powerful, more indestructive, to fight it: your spirit. Your heart.” (p.17)

2. “There’s hope in life,” he says. “A brave girl once told me that. If something happens to me, don’t fear. You’ll find a way.” (p.22)

3. “He vowed to play fair. But I didn’t.” (p.82)

4. “This is what it means to have faith, to believe in something greater than yourself.” (p.96)

5. “Most successful missions are just a series of barely averted disasters.” (p.104)

6. “Pop used to say that standing by someone during their darkest times creates a bond. A sense of obligation that is less a weight and more a gift.I feel tied to Elias now. I do not want him to shut me out” (p.105)

7. “Your emotions make you human,” Elias says. “Even the unpleasant ones have a purpose. Don’t lock them away. If you ignore them, they just get louder and angrier.” (p.108)

8. “So long as you fight the darkness, you stand in the light.” (p.158)

9. “Loving you is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.” (p.178)

10. “You are my temple,” I murmur as I kneel beside her. “You are my priest. You are my prayer. You are my release.” (p.195)

11. “Go on, half-wit. Underestimate me.” (p.238)

12. “Most people,” Cain says, “are nothing but glimmers in the great darkness of time. But you, Helene Aquilla, are no swift-burning spark. You are a torch against the night-if you dare to let yourself burn.” (p.267)

13. “Don’t lock yourself away from those who care about you because you think you’ll hurt them or-or they’ll hurt you. What point is there in being human if you don’t let yourself anything?”  (p.294)

14. “Fear gives him power,” I say. “Like feeding oil to a lamp. It makes him burn brighter. It makes him strong.” (p.297)

15. “Failure doesn’t define you. It’s what you do after you fail that determines whether you are a leader or a waste of perfectly good air.”(p.387)