#Review - A ​Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir #YA #Fantasy

Series: An Ember in the Ashes (#4)
Format: Hardcover, 528 pages
Release Date: December 1, 2020
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

Prepare for the jaw-dropping finale of Sabaa Tahir’s beloved New York Times bestselling An Ember in the Ashes fantasy series, and discover: Who will survive the storm?

Picking up just a few months after A Reaper at the Gates left off…

The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning.

By his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress, and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family.

Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory—or to an unimaginable doom.

And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life—and love—he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save—or destroy—all that he knows.

 

“Emifal firdaant. May death claim me first.”

 

A Sky Beyond the Storm, by author Sabaa Tahir, is the fourth and final installment in the authors An Ember in the Ashes series. Picking up just a few months after A Reaper at the Gates left off, the story once again revolves around three key characters: Laia of Serra, Elias Veturis aka The Soul Catcher, and Helene, the Blood Shrike, who has become allies with Laia. The events of this book happen a few months after the previous books with the jinn, led by the Nightbringer, siding with Keris Veturia to conquer the empire and the outlying nations.

It's up to Laia to save her people, Helene to protect the empire and make sure the right ruler is in charge, Elias to decide whether he'll be part of the war or choose to forget and be the soul catcher. The clear winner of this story is Helene. There's no equal to how far she's come and the realization that she was used a pawn for most of her life. Now it is her time to step out of the shadow. She lost many things, faced many things and things get even darker with more loss and heartbreak.

But she always finds hope in something either it is her love interest or her nephew. Helene and Harper are perfect for each other. Believe it or not, Keris is my second favorite. Yes, I just hated her for what she's done in this story. She's the perfect villain, therefore, her ending surprised me in how it played out. Interesting how the author plays on the fact that it was never one, it was always 3 who will stop the Nightbringer. Blood Strike, Laia, and Soul Collector. If one falls, they all fail. If one dies, they all die.

Laia, heir of Lioness, has an old magic within her that she believes will allow her to stop the Nightbringer as long as she can find the Scythe she's holding on the cover of this book. It seems the Scythe might be the only thing able to kill her nemesis who she once fell in love with. Helene Aguilla, the Hope of the Empire, is trying to keep her nephew safe so he can become the next Emperor while keeping her emotions in check over her feelings for Harper. Meanwhile, Elias, the Soul Catcher, has to choose between loving the girl his heart wants, or ignoring his heart and the dangers that are slowly creeping into his supposed safe space.

Elias's track was so slow and repetitive. His relationship between him and Mauth has never made any sense, not when he could have joined with Laia and Helene much earlier in the story. Laia has seen so much evil in her short life that she's become someone we don't recognize from the first installment. Good and bad things happen to Laia in this book. Both are shocking to say the least. I think the one thing that does bother me is how many important secondary characters end up being killed off.

Perhaps the message is that war is senseless and violent, and it has no regard for who it takes, even if you have fallen in love with the characters. We have read about the suffering of the Scholars and Tribespeople, but we can now include the Martials as well thanks to Keris. This series matured and became darker with each book. It truly mirrored the path the key characters were forced to walk. But even in the darkness, the characters found small slivers of light to keep from losing their minds.

Although I am not a fan of the length of this story, it could have been 100-200 pages shorter, this story is both heartwarming and bittersweet at the same time.

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#Review - A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir #YALit #Fantasy

Series: AN EMBER IN THE ASHES (#3)
Format: Hardcover, 480 pages
Release Date: June 12, 2018
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy 

The highly anticipated third book in #1 New York Times bestselling author Sabaa Tahir’s EMBER QUARTET.

Beyond the Martial Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.

Helene Aquilla, the Blood Shrike, is desperate to protect her sister’s life and the lives of everyone in the Empire. But she knows that danger lurks on all sides: Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable and violent, while Keris Veturia, the ruthless Commandant, capitalizes on the Emperor’s volatility to grow her own power—regardless of the carnage she leaves in her path.

Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. But in the hunt to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would help her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she’d have to fight.

And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. But in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that demands his complete surrender—even if that means abandoning the woman he loves.

A Reaper at the Gates is the third installment in author Sabaa Tahir's An Ember in the Ashes series. A Reaper at the Gates continues the story of Laia of Serra, Helene (The Blood Shrike), and Elias Veturius that left us pretty much hanging at the end of A Torch Against the Night. There is a fourth character who readers will meet right out of the gate, but since this character is familiar to readers especially after he betrayed Laia, let's just summarize what happens in this book. 

Helene is intent on helping Markus kill Commandant Keris which in turn will help protect her sister Livia from being murdered by Markus. Her first step in doing that is to find Elias, who everyone believes dead, but Helene knows he's not. If she can prove he's alive that's one step in showing how incompetent Keri is. But, everything seems to be harder than she imagined, especially since Keri continues to push her narrative and her master plan by working with the Nightbringer. 

Elias isn't with Laia. He is in the Waiting Place struggling to adapt to his new Soul Catcher status. While Shaeva is trying to teach him what she can, he's wanting to be back with Laia more than anything else. Elias is surrounded by not only ghosts, but also jinn who have the ability to control your mind if you allow them to. They can also exploit any weakness. Elias hasn't fully accepted his role as of yet, nor his connection with Mauth who is the source of all the world's fey powers. His connection to Laia is holding him back, which could be a bad thing since his failure could end up with the world ending. 

Meanwhile, Laia is trying to do what she can to help the Scholars, tribesmen, and also stop the Nightbringer from freeing the jinn. Laia is still reeling from the betrayal that was Keenan, but she moves past her old feelings remarkably well. Though the anger of said betrayal is still there. Having broken her brother out of prison at the expense of the man she loves, Laia is now forced to live with the consequences of her journey to liberate her brother. This means living up to her own reputation as a leader and learning to make difficult choices in a difficult war. 

I will say one thing. This book definitely raises the bar on the level of action and suspense. One can't help to wonder what will come next since the author tosses our favorites into so many brutal and unyielding situations, and then pushes the envelope on our emotions so we are left drained by the time we reach the end of the story. I am going to follow the leader in this review. I think Helene and Laia's POV's are much more entertaining than Elias. While Elias deals with his issues, Laia and Helene are pretty much attempting to save their worlds from being taken over by Keris, the Nightbringer, and whole slew of new possibilities which I am hoping we don't have to wait another 2 years to see the outcome. 

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#Thursday Review - A Torch Against The Night by Sabaa Tahir (Young Adult, Fantasy) @sabaatahir @RazorbillBooks

Series: An Ember in the Ashes, # 2
Format: Hardcover, 452 pages
Release Date: August 30, 2016
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.

A Torch Against the Night is the second, but not final installment in author Sabaa Tahir's An Ember in the Ashes series. Apparently there will be two more books in the series coming in 2018, and 2019. Torch picks up immediately after the events of Ember, while also alternating narratives between Laia, Elias, and Helene who gets a bigger piece of the pie this time around. I am all for admitting that I enjoyed Ember, and was hoping that I could get my hands on a copy of this book. Thankfully, my local library loves me so much they ordered it and viola!

As Torch picks up, Laia and Elias are fighting their way out of Serra after Laia rescued Elias from certain death and also destroyed Blackcliff Military Academy, the bane of every Scholars existence. The same Scholars who are being slaughter en mass. Laia and Elias have come to an agreement where he will help her travel to Kauf Prison where her brother Darin has been sent to be interrogated. But, nothing is easy when you have Elias's own mother the Commandant after him, and scheming with the Nightbringer behind the new Emperor's back. Did anyone guess who the Nightbringer was before the big reveal? ::raises hand::

The relationship between Elias and Laia grows this time around. There is more than even I had hoped for. For Laia, she's grown from the first time we've seen her. Her new abilities are also very interesting as well as puzzling since we have now gone through two stories without the author explaining what Laia really is, and how she came into her abilities. I also give her a whole lot of credit for not just writing off her brother even when the chips are down, and Helene's forces are slowly luring them in. I also respect Elias for not breaking his word even when he was facing a dire situation.

Meanwhile, Helene is finding out what happens to those who have upset the balance of the Martial's Empire. Helene's story is much darker than that of Elias or Laia's and for good reason. She is the Emperor's Blood Shrike having given her oath to do whatever he tells her. She is given an order by Marcus to hunt Elias down, and bring him back to be executed publicly. Elias is a stain on the new Emperor's regime, and nothing will stand in his way of getting his revenge. Helene also has more to lose this time around especially since she still doesn't truly hate Elias, nor Laia. 

"Most people 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." 

I think the most interesting storyline in this book happens between Elias and the Soul Catcher. There is so much to say about these scenes, that I'm hoping that I don't spoil anything by blabbing about it. Don't get me wrong, the Kauf prison scenes are darker, and more vivid because of the way Elias faces his own mortality, but having a character like Soul Catcher actually was more intriguing than Helene's struggle to find and bring in Elias. Yes, I still love Helene, and I can't wait to see if she and Cook will become allies. I'm also curious as to how Elias will get out of the choice he made.

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#Monday Review - An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (Young Adult, Fantasy

Series: An Ember in the Ashes # 1
Format: Ebook, 464 pages
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

An Ember in the Ashes is the first installment in author Sabaa Tahir's An Ember in the Ashes series. This is a story that alternatives between two main characters. Laia, a 17-year old Scholar girl, and Elias, the son of one of the most dangerous female commanders in the Empire. Let's talk about the comparisons to the Roman Empire for a moment. I am actually on board with this idea. This is a world where there were once Scholars who ruled but were overthrown and now they are not allowed to hoard food, or teach their kids to read. They are in all essence, slaves. As we are made aware of very quickly, Laia has lost almost everything precious to her thanks to the Empire.

"You are full, Laia. Full of life and dark and strength and spirit. You are in our dreams. You will dream, for you are an ember in the ashes." 

Then, she loses her brother Darin to a Mask raid on their home and he is taken away and charged with Treason. Laia now has a clear goal ahead of her; find the resistance who has their own code called Izzat, and hope that they can help her find a way to break Darin out of his prison before he too is lost to her. Laia's encounter with the resistance isn't all happy happy joy joy. It's fraught with some danger, and arrogance, and let's be truthful, they see an opportunity to use a girl who has nothing left and nobody to save her. Especially her parents who were largely responsible for the Resistance when they were alive. The resistance sends her into the den of the worst murderer in the Empire; the Commandant of Blackcliff Military Academy where they hope that Laia can find some useful information. But, Laia finds her own strength instead. She finds support from the most unlikely of places. She finds a connection to a rebel, and she discovers that not all Masks are evil and destructive when she meets Elias.

"This life is not always what we think it will be," Cain says. "You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it." 

Speaking of Elias Veturius, he is at the top of his class in Blackcliff. He is soon to be graduating after spending 14 years at the school. But, he isn't all that excited, and makes plans to escape right after graduation. Elias's own mother is one of the more interesting villains we will meet in this story. Not only does she hate her own son, but she schemes like nobody's business. Elias only real and true friend in the entire school may be Helene Aquilla. After the dreaded and all seeing Augurs show up at the school and throws Elias's plans into disarray, Elias is chosen to be one of the four who will compete for the title of the next Emperor as well as his Blood Shrike. This is a competition that is bloody, and tests the four competitors in every way possible. But, will Elias give up his dream of escaping after meeting Laia? Or, will he become the man his own mother won't recognize.

Now, let's talk about Helene. I dare say that I am looking forward to the next book since it appears that she will play an even larger role. That is if you really trust the synopsis. Helene is the only female mask in the entire school. She keeps telling everyone, including Elias, that everyone underestimates her. So, yes, I understand her choices in the end. I understand that she had to put her life in the hands of someone so awful, so wrong, and so evil, (Yes, I am speaking about YOU, Marcus) that to do otherwise would have left her in a bad way. Let's also talk about the constant threats of rape against Helene, and the other female slaves. Can we for one damn minute please for the love of the Goddess stop this insanity? You can write an entertaining book without any rape scene. You can talk about a character being raped, but let's not actually write a scene into the book. Thanks!

Why the curious rating you ask? First, let's ignore the fact that I am truly curious as to why all fingers are being pointed at Laia for being ignorant, or stupid in choosing to trust people she just met. Let's ask reviewers why they are shocked by the Rebellions reaction to her being hurt so often. Then, let's ask the question we've all wanted to ask. What would YOU do if your only remaining family member was taken away from you? What lengths would you go through in order to ensure he wasn't permanently eliminated? How much abuse, and strife, and heartbreak will you be willing to accept if it meant saving your own flesh and blood? Damned if I would have made the deal she made with Elias, but we'll see how it works out in the sequel.

In the end, An Ember in the Ashes is a story that is filled with action, suspense, adventure, betrayals, heartache, and political shenanigans. I really enjoyed this story except for the strange twisted intermingle shenanigans 

between Laia, Elias, Helene, and another character named Keenan. I actually have no qualms about what either main character chooses to do in order to survive. I loved the environment of the school. I even liked the challenge which forced each competitor do dig deep in order not to be failed out of the competition. I am not sure where my feelings are when it comes to Cain and his Augurs. Hopefully that will be sorted out by the author.

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