Maybe it's because I read this after finishing Crooked Kingdom (which exceeded my expectations)... but A Torch Against the Night just didn't blow me away as I hoped it would. I mean, I loved that the fast-paced, page-turning action, but I just didn't love Laia and Elias as much as I did in the first book. 
 Helene, however, was the highlight of this book. I couldn't put the book down whenever her narrative came up. 
 "'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.'" 
 The crazy evil cold-blooded King Joffrey Emperor Marcus had given Helene her a task that made my heart break for her. 
 "I must track Elias. Catch him. Torture him. Kill him." 
 Kill her best friend? No, Helene! You mustn't! 
 "But I love him. How do I kill the man I love?" 
 Aaaaaahhh, poor Helene! Should you betray your Empire and your family? Or childhood friend? I'm not sure what I would do if I were placed in your shoes... 
 "I close my eyes and allow myself one moment to imagine a different world. In that world, Elias is a Tribal boy, and I am a jurist's daughter. We meet in a market, and our love isn't tainted by Blackcliff or by all the things he hates about himself. I hold myself in that world, just for a second." 
 *sobs*