I finished Torchfire with tears dried into my hoodie and a full-body ache that only comes from loving characters too much and watching them be broken open, again and again. There’s no other way to say it: this book gutted me. And I loved every second of it. Second books in trilogies often feel like bridgework - necessary scaffolding to get us to the Big Finale. Not here. Torchfire is the house on fire, the wind blowing the embers, the ground trembling beneath your feet. Moira Buffini doesn't "build" a middle novel. She detonates it. From the first page, I was gone. Gone with Lark and her raw determination. Gone with Rye and his impossible hope. Gone with Nightingale, trapped in a golden cage with a monstrous, silk-gloved captor. Every perspective feels lived-in, deeply real, like your own breath syncs with theirs. There’s trauma here, yes. And betrayal. And grief that blooms like bruises. But also resilience, so human and searing you want to stand up and cheer. This book doesn’t slow down to hold your hand, and thank God for that. Buffini trusts her readers. She gives you pain and poetry in equal measure. She gives you girls who fall in love and boys who flinch from their fathers’ legacy. She gives you queer awakenings and the weight of bodies deemed disposable. She gives you villains who smile like saints, and heroes who barely recognize themselves in the mirror. It’s heavy, yes. But it’s not bleak. Torchfire is about fighting anyway. And then there’s Swan. Volatile. Gorgeous. Deranged. The kind of villain who makes your stomach knot with fascination and dread. Buffini writes her with such precision that you don’t know whether to pity her or pray someone stops her. Maybe both. Is this a YA book? Technically. But it’s more honest than most adult fiction I’ve read this year. Buffini doesn’t just ask who we are. She asks who we become when the world tells us what we’re worth - and we decide not to listen. By the end, I was breathless. Furious that I couldn’t turn the page into book three. Certain that I’ll be rereading this entire series the moment it’s complete. If Songlight lit the match, Torchfire is the inferno. This book doesn’t let you walk away untouched. Nor should it.

The Torch trilogy continues to burn brighter with every book, and I am absolutely hooked. I loved the first instalment, and this one might just top it: more intense, more expansive, and even more emotionally resonant. This is a mighty fine dystopian YA fantasy. Buffini has created a world where songlight, a kind of telepathic power, is either your greatest weapon or your downfall. The stakes are higher than ever: Elsa is on the run, desperate for safety; Nightingale is being forced to use her powers against her will; Piper is climbing the Airmen ranks, caught in a brutal machine and Rye stumbles upon a revolutionary airship that could change everything. There were some great plot twists and turns; I did not see them coming, and they kept me totally gripped. While the four protagonists are scattered, their shared hope for peace binds them. But peace between Ayland and Brightland is slipping through their fingers. And now, with the return of the Sealanders, elite Torches from beyond, the future of their world teeters on the edge. Buffini blends character-driven storytelling with high-stakes action and rich, poetic worldbuilding. Unputdownable

There is a lot going on in this dystopian fantasy. A lot of characters and plot lines, which are disparate but connected. Read book one before this one if you can, as otherwise you may miss the continued tangled plot. The world created by the author is not a pleasant place to be for many of the characters. Woman are subjugated to men’s whimsy, and the worse for it. Those with songlight, telepathy, are persecuted, killed or forced into hunting others like themselves. Some of the cast are just trying to survive, some though are waiting for rebellion against all this cruelty. We also learn more about the surrounding countries, who might have a part to play in overthrowing the despot in charge. However some of them are no better at all. Who will have the strength to stand up for truth and right, and for the protection of those in need? Sometimes the story got a bit bogged down, but would then liven up as peril stocks the characters. Thank you to Faber and Faber Ltd and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

I do read YA, though I am well past that time in my life. There is much to learn and think and feel about when some exceptional writers who have targeted towards the market are exploring deep issues in a way which renders them accessible but not impositional or dogmatic. So…..I keenly explored the first volume of Buffini’s Torch trilogy, Songlight, which I enthusiastically 5 starred, because all which really identified it as for that target market was the age of the protagonists. Now, this one satisfied me less, though the depth of themes is wonderful. It was the charge up of cliff edge event after cliff edge event, the kind of filmic ramp up of battles, escape from extreme danger action after action, plus the similar will he/will she/will they charged spaces of teenage awakening and present sexuality which were wearying to a reader not of that demographic. This one seems more obviously gearing to the movie/Netflix series which will no doubt be on the horizon and a money spinner. So, I do feel somewhat mean at my lowered rating. I think if you were 11 or 12+ this will be a thoroughly sensational and immersive read. I’m not sure how much it would still appeal to a late teens audience, especially those who are more sophisticated readers. When I think back to my own teens – where ‘YA’ did not exist, and one was allowed unsupervised access to the adult library by the age of 12, although access to the children’s library was still possible, if wanted – I suspect lack of such ‘YA’ orientation led to the consumption of more challenging fare, without feeling it was too difficult. Certainly, I remember by that age, reading John Wyndham (a profound, acknowledged and conscious influence on Buffini – especially ‘The Chrysalids’ which she cites in this book, and is even responsible for the homage naming of her newest ‘Torch’. Petra. Wyndham was never an author marketed towards young readers, though he was certainly an author which early secondary school pupils were devouring, as much as older adults. I went back to re-read The Chrysalids, and was absolutely struck by Wyndham’s economy, brevity, clarity and depth. Themes explored in that book are within this. I do wish Buffini had been somewhat sparer in the constant ramping up of tension. It had the curious effect of making me skip and speed read, as being a tad too repetitive There is everything to recommend though, for the younger secondary school reader, and also for the inclusion of themes around LGBTQ, sensitively handled. I received this as an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley