Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

28 reviews

alexijai98's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The last 50 pages kept me from giving this 5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Slavery, War, Death, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Torture, Colonisation, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

risten's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, Racism, Violence, Child death, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Torture, Classism, War, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal death, Vomit, Excrement, and Misogyny

c_l_ara's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Torture, Violence, Genocide, War, Racism, Slavery, Child death, Confinement, Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Physical abuse

joylehua_95's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This series has been great so far. I really enjoy the themes of morality, friendship, and loyalty. I also love the rawness of the story in how the Empire is this oppressive entity. Some members of the empire, even though they benefit from the power, are still victims of the system. The societal themes in this book are great talking points, and there are many parallels to current day/ past conflicts with oppressor/oppressed groups. 

Elias is my favorite character. He is selfless and brave, but this can also be a hindrance to his growth. He feels he hurts the ones he loves, so he feels he needs to isolate. When really, it's his love and general humanity that is his strong point.  I love Laia, I feel she has grown into herself. She has become brave, sure of herself. She is no longer the girl that ran away. 

I am not fully entrenched in Helene's story yet; I have not fully connected with her in this book. However, I feel for her character, though, because, unlike Elias, she is deep in the grasp of the Empire. She sacrificed herself, her freedom for Elias and the greater good of the Empire.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Genocide

sahramahtab's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"A Torch Against the Night" by Sabaa Tahir is a total heartbreaker. I accidentally spoiled myself with fanart, but that didn't make the emotional punches any less powerful. Helene's journey, which had me torn in the first book, now has me rooting for her with all my heart. Elias, my poor baby, deserves the freedom he yearns for after everything he's been through and I hope gets it in the end.

Now, Laia... I love her, but girl, why so naive at times? Letting a certain someone

(Keenan, I knew something was off about that scoundrel)

manipulate her had me shouting at the pages. It's 3 a.m., I should be sleeping, but nope, I'm diving into the third book right away. Tahir's storytelling is relentless, and I can't resist finding out what happens next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

anarmandameg's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Violence, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Genocide, Medical content, Racism, Slavery, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, War, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Xenophobia

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Torture, Blood, Violence, and Confinement

Moderate: Slavery, Child abuse, Hate crime, Child death, Genocide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Blood, Death of parent, Confinement, Murder, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Terminal illness, Torture, Grief, Cursing, Genocide, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Gore, Police brutality, and Slavery

Minor: Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Classism, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

bzliz's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book builds greatly on the foundation laid in its predecessor by adding Helene’s point of view. Its addition allows readers to see vastly different slices of the world and 2-3 plot lines that bump together occasionally but lead to crucial information that I’m sure will be necessary in the next book.

There’s an interesting theme of isolation between our three leads- Laia with Keenan, Elias with the Soul Catcher, and Helene’s loss- and how they face this isolation and forge ahead shows how special they are. This is also a spot I find frustrating as a reader because I’m certain these characters will all have to trust each other eventually to defeat the final evil but they don’t right now so they lack the full picture that they’d have if they worked together.

Sabaa Tahir excels in creating complex characters that thrive in murky gray morality and I absolutely love it. I was concerned about Helene’s story being consumed by lovesick feelings but I’m thrilled she’s coming in to her own. Elias’s journey is fascinating- he does everything in his power even as he’s dying to fulfill his vow to Laia (obligatory: Ladies, don’t settle. If he wanted to, he would.) and it leads to a big twist I know will be crucial and probably necessary as the series builds. And I already didn’t care for Keenan (he has big Gale energy) but there’s no way I could have predicted his deeply layered secrets. 

I appreciate the well balanced push-pull between the different forces at play. It can be frustrating when you read something where the villains never slip up and are always one step ahead. Even as the Commandant builds her secret plans, Helene manages to foil some, which is a huge accomplishment when you consider the Commandant’s unearthly ally. Laia and Elias also discover a weakness in the Nightbringer despite the power imbalance between them. These successes make the world grim but not entirely bleak. 

Content warnings: this world is brutal and survives on groups enacting violence upon each other. I’d recommend you stay away from the series if you can’t stand true cruelty. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Torture, Violence, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Slavery, and Genocide

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent