Kirkus calls TORCHFIRE, the sequel to SONGLIGHT by Moira Buffini, “Heartbreaking, heartening, wondrous” in starred review

TORCHFIRE (STARRED REVIEW)
Author: Moira Buffini
Review Issue Date: August 1, 2025
Online Publish Date: July 3, 2025
Publisher: Storytide/HarperCollins
Pages: 452
Publication Date: September 23, 2025
Section: Teen
Series: Torch Trilogy
Volume: 2

The war between the Aylish and the Brightlings continues in this sequel to Songlight (2024).

Knowledge of the earlier volume is a must as readers are immediately plunged back into the action. Peace talks in Northaven have gone horribly wrong. Fleeing the carnage, Elsa, her mother, Heron, and Kingfisher head into the dense Brightland forest. Unbeknownst to Elsa, her love, Rye Tern, has escaped from a Chrysalid House; the metal headband blocking his ability to communicate using songlight is still attached. Meanwhile, Piper, Elsa’s estranged brother, is questioning his loyalties, but he continues to work for Lord Kite, Brightlinghelm’s new leader, whom Queen of Propaganda Sister Swan also serves. Elsa’s friend Nightingale, who’s a prisoner of Sister Swan, tries to convince Swan to use her influence over the Brightlings to further peace with the Aylish, while she secretly communicates with Elsa through songlight. Diary entries from 17-year-old Petra of Sealand, a remote island with a technologically advanced society, appear throughout; she’s traveling on the airship Celestis as part of a surveillance mission, seeking new land where her people can expand. This volume, which sets events up for the trilogy closer, deftly explores a range of human differences against the backdrop of a lush, immersive world populated by characters who are diverse in appearance and culture. The whiplash of experiencing heartache and hope in rapid succession leads to thought-provoking questions, and a revelation that has unforeseen consequences will leave readers eager for the next volume.

 Heartbreaking, heartening, wondrous. (Dystopian. 14-18)