Why don't I like this series more? 3.5/5 stars 
 This review was originally posted on my book blog. 
 My experience of book 1 of this series - An Ember in the Ashes - was fine. Just fine, nothing more. The story failed to grab me until the final few chapters and I wasn't sure why. 
 Thankfully, I did enjoy A Torch Against the Night more than book 1. As opposed to the first book, in this latest installment the characters literally and figuratively went somewhere while on a journey across country and this gave the plot some much needed oomph (highly technical term there). We also got an extra character viewpoint, which was refreshing. 
 Unfortunately, my main, rather large problem remains: I don't give two hoots about any of the characters. That's not to say I don't like them, I like the main three characters fine, I just don't particularly care what happens to them. 
 And this is a great shame. This series is well-written and the plot is starting to take on a solid shape. I can see that if you cared about the characters you would be easily hooked and the story would be gripping, so I'm sad I'm still not fully onboard this particular fiction train. 
 Overall: Fans of YA fantasy fiction should check this series out. I'm sorry that it continues to fall a little flat for me