Categories | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
Author | Sabaa Tahir |
Publisher | Razorbill; Reprint edition (December 7, 2021) |
Language | English |
Paperback | 544 pages |
Item Weight | 1.35 pounds |
Dimensions |
5.94 x 1.38 x 9 inches |
I. Book introduction
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.
Editorial Reviews
“Tahir’s exquisite storytelling doesn’t miss a beat… This series is an epic hero’s journey, with love, adventure, and magic woven throughout. Recommended for every young adult collection.” —SLJ
Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of December 2020: In A Sky Beyond the Storm, Sabaa Tahir so expertly draws the reader into the lives and thoughts of her characters that their every emotion—anger, pain, love, longing—races through your heart with each turn of the page. A breathtaking conclusion to this incredibly rich and rewarding fantasy series. —Seira Wilson, Amazon Book Review
From School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up—In this novel that picks up just months after A Reaper at the Gate leaves off, the Jinn have been freed from imprisonment and serve their one and only leader, the Nightbringer, who is waging war against the Scholars to seek vengeance for his kind. The Jinn have joined with Keris Veturia, and the war for the Empire rages on, with death and destruction to anyone who stands in her way. Helene Aquilla, the Blood Shrike, and Laia of Serra have joined forces to try to save the Empire and protect Helene’s infant nephew and his mother, the Emperor and the Empress Regent, respectively, from assassination. All while Elias Veturius—now the Soul Catcher—grapples with his identity. He has long since forgotten who he was before taking his vow as Soul Catcher, the Banu Al-Mauth; passing the souls of the dead and protecting the waiting place are all he knows. But an encounter with Cain the Augur restores his memories of a long-forgotten life and relationships, and now he must reconcile his own humanity and his love for Laia of Serra. A new prophecy is bestowed upon the three main characters, Elias, Helene, and Laia, their fates entwined. The long-awaited final installment of Tahir’s “An Ember in the Ashes” series wraps up many previously unfulfilled plot threads, bringing joy and heartache. Tahir’s exquisite storytelling doesn’t miss a beat, and she weaves in the memories and experiences from the three previous novels—reminding readers of the characters’ complicated backstories and moments that may have been forgotten. In this diverse fantasy world, characters have various skin tones. VERDICT This series is an epic hero’s journey, with love, adventure, and magic woven throughout. Recommended for every young adult collection.—Erica Coonelly, Monroe Township M.S., NJ –This text refers to the hardcover edition.
About Sabaa Tahir
– Sabaa Tahir is a Pakistani-American young adult novelist best known for her New York Times-bestselling An Ember in the Ashes and its sequels.
– Two of her novels, An Ember in the Ashes and A Torch Against the Night, were listed among Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time in 2020. In 2022, her novel All My Rage won the 2022 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award.
– Sabaa Tahir grew up in California’s Mojave Desert at her family’s eighteen-room motel. Her parents emigrated from Pakistan to the United Kingdom before moving their family to the United States. She attended UCLA, during which time she interned at The Washington Post. After graduation, she took a job there as a copy editor. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother’s comic book stash, and playing guitar badly. She began writing An Ember in the Ashes while working nights as a newspaper editor. She likes thunderous indie rock, garish socks, and all things nerd. Sabaa currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.
– For more information, please visit Sabaa at SabaaTahir.com or on Twitter @SabaaTahir.
II. [Reviews] A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir
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1. ASHLEE Review A Sky Beyond the Storm
Well, this is it folks. I give the Ember Quartet recognition for being one of the first series to truly get me interested in fantasy as a genre. It is a sweeping epic, told through many eyes. It is no stranger to tragedy, but is also steeped with many joys.
This story is so dear to my heart, I put off starting this final chapter until I knew I could devote myself to the story. I had a sense that it would tear at my emotions, and boy did it. But I am not sad. No, I am fulfilled and complete.
Sabaa has given us a true gem of a tale. From An Ember in the Ashes, this story grew and evolved with it’s characters. As Laia, Elias and Helene became battle hardened, shed their innocence and felt the pain of loss, this series matured and became darker with them. It truly mirrored the path they walked. But in the darkness the characters and story found small slivers of light to bask in, until they were finally able to lift the shroud of darkness cast over The Empire and reveal the gleaming star that is A Sky Beyond the Storm.
My heart is sundered over the trials and loss throughout this series, but as Laia of Serra has shown me, it’s possible to experience heartbreak and understand there is still love and good to be experienced.
Most of all, I want you to know … I’m still going to lay in bed at night thinking of how hard I ship Helene and Harper.
But also … Musa? 🤷🏻♀️😉
2. OLIVIA Review A Sky Beyond the Storm
A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir – Absolutely brilliant in every way. Soul-crushing, but brilliant.
I’ve finally finished this series, and I have more emotions than I know what to do with. This is undoubtedly my favorite book in the series, even though (because?) it broke my heart the most. Sabaa Tahir is not afraid to rip my heart out, stomp on it, and then glue it back together. I respect that but also hate it. (Nothing against Sabaa. She’s great. But also, how dare she??)
I read Reaper back in 2018, and looked up a recap of that book before starting this one. It’s a sign of Tahir’s skill that as soon as I started reading, I fell back into the world as if it hadn’t been three years since I did so last. I was sucked into the story immediately, and terrified for all of the characters.
Unexpected things I loved: Helene, Helene and Harper’s relationship, Laia and Helene’s friendship. The theme here is that, despite sometimes wishing her chapters didn’t interrupt me reading about Laia and Elias, the girl really grew on me. I have so much respect for her, even if, at times, I was internally shrieking because she was being so dense regarding her love life. Also, her and Laia bonding over how much men suck was the quality content I didn’t know I needed in my life. Such a small thing, but a great one.
I knew I loved Laia and Elias, but in between Reaper and Sky, I forgot just how much. They caused me SO MUCH PAIN as I was reading this freaking book, I don’t know how to express it all. The romantic tension between these two and Elias’ tendency to nope out of literally every conversation because he couldn’t handle his own feelings… oh my god. I mean, that specific part of Elias did make me giggle occasionally, but for the most part, I was just internally screeching. When she brought him a mango. When he helped her with her hair. SO MUCH SCREECHING. So help my hopeless romantic heart.
Characters aside, the plot was also brilliant. No one ever caught a break. I never knew what was about to happen. Nothing ever felt repetitive, and there were certainly no easy victories. I think Tahir took the story with the jinn in a very clever direction, one I personally didn’t expect. The war certainly didn’t go the way I expected. I was getting closer and closer to the end, and more and more stressed because of how few pages were left and how much was still wrong. I love books that scare me that way. I’m only being a little bit sarcastic. 🙂
As for the ending… So much heartbreak. So much pain. But a surprise came in and sort of saved the day, a little bit, so not everything was awful. The last couple of chapters actually had quite a few happy moments, including for Laia and Elias, and if not for the fact that it was after 2 in the morning and I share a small apartment with my family and didn’t want to wake anyone up, who knows how loudly I would’ve squealed. Internally, I was squealing very loudly. The last couple of pages fixed my broken heart with their Elaia content. I’m choosing to focus on that more than… other things.
This review is a mess because I finished the book at nearly 3 in the morning and now it’s 4 a.m. and I’m also a mess. But it’s definitely honest, and even though I seriously did ramble, it got my point across. I loved this book so much, despite the emotional turmoil I experienced while reading. Like I said, it’s my favorite in the series, followed by Torch, then Reaper, then Ember. I think. It’s been a hot minute since I read the first three, but anyway. The whole series is spectacular, and I can’t wait to read more from Sabaa Tahir. 🖤
Representation
- protagonist, love interest, and side characters of color
Content Warning: blood/gore, body horror, violence, death/murder, war, genocide, grief, sexism, mentions of parent/family death and slavery
3. MELISSA DINGUS Review A Sky Beyond the Storm
A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir – Sad to see it end
The final battle. The war that brings enemies together and makes them allies. The Blood Shrike, Laia of Serra and The Soul Catcher must bring down Keris Veturia and the Nightbringer to save the empire.
I don’t even know where to start. This whole series was a delightful rollercoaster of emotions. The characters have grown up so much throughout the series and the author made me, the reader, feel like I was on the journey with them. This is one series that I will greatly miss.
This final chapter in the lives of Laia, Helene (Blood Shrike) and Elias (The Soul Catcher) is packed with surprises, hope, devastation, and joy. I cried and laughed throughout the book. The deaths were the hardest for me. Many times while reading a book I may question why a character had to die. This was not a question I had with this book. Each death had a meaning and strengthened the other characters. I also like how the author did not spare the main characters. All of them suffered tremendous pain and injury during the battle.
As I turned the last page I did it with a tear in my eye. A tear of sadness and happiness. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending and relieved. There is still so much story left with this group of characters, in my opinion. There are no unanswered questions, just a want of more. This author is truly a great storyteller and I can’t wait to see what she does next. I highly recommend this series to everyone.
4. MONICA KHAN Review A Sky Beyond the Storm
Initial Thoughts
As mentioned in my review of Reaper, I finished book 3 and waited approximately 30 minutes for the release of book 4. If I had waited 18 months, I’d have lost my mind.
Some Things I Liked
Emifal Firdaant. I can’t even tell you how much I cried when I read this. I won’t say much more because it’s a little spoiler-y but, every time this came up, I cried.
HARPER. Didn’t think I could fall in love with a fictional character any more than I fell for him in Reaper, but Sabaa Tahir did it again. Harper was everything I wanted for Helene and he was the most incredible side character. I especially loved the Musa moment with Harper and Elias. It was very Rowan from TOG.
Closure. This book gave me what I wanted. An ending that I was satisfied with but long for more of. I’d keep reading about these characters any day of the week, but I loved the way everything tied up. It wasn’t neat, it wasn’t perfect, but it was right.
My forever buddy reader @lianne_the_bibliophile pointed out something to me that I just absolutely loved:
- An Ember in the Ashes = Laia
- A Torch Against the Night = Helene
- A Reaper at the Gates = Elias
- A Sky Beyond the Storm was the conclusion they all deserved. Sabaa Tahir did these incredible characters justice with this ending.
Favorite Quotes
“You are a torch against the night – if you dare to let yourself burn.”
“Emifal Firdaant.”
Series Value
I would reread this series a million times over. I’m obsessed. What’s more, I would read any and all sequels, spinoffs, side stories, novellas, whatever, that Sabaa Tahir wants to write in this world or about these characters.
Final Thoughts
I don’t think I’ve cried this much while reading a book since I read Kingdom of Ash last year. Sabaa Tahir tore my heart out, stomped on it, put it back, and left a smiley face bandaid over it. This was by far the best series I read all year. I have a feeling no series will top this for a long while.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommendations for Further Reading
Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen – if you enjoyed the legion and Roman inspiration in this series as well as the multiple POVs, try this series. Book 3 as well as a prequel novella are set to come out early in 2021.
Caraval by Stephanie Garber – this seems like a crazy recommendation but hear me out. The lush righting and heartbreaking moments I lived for in Ember are all over the Caraval series. If you enjoyed the drama and twists, try this series.
5. SUMAYYA SIDDIQUI Review A Sky Beyond the Storm
A Sky Beyond the Storm – A book representing pain and hurt but also not and happiness.
Words cannot describe how phenomenal this book is. Sabaa’s way of telling stories and her choice of words is so captivating. There was not a moment of the book in which I was bored. Neither this book or the ones before. I found myself feeling sorrow for all the characters, even those who were bad. I found myself feeling compassion for all the hurt the characters went through, and crying at points where a beloved would die. It felt so real. Despite this masterpiece being a fantasy novel, everything about it felt so real and meaningful, the pain that the characters go through is a reflection of today’s world and the hurt that children of war face. It’s a representation of what is happening now, and it’s so important that Sabaa emphasized on it in the book.
Despite the pain and suffering that took place. Live played such a huge part, and Sabaa’s take on love and it’s importance in the world was so beautiful. Again, it was SO REAL. The role of live wasn’t only for a happy ending, but also for ones strength and support, and willpower for one to go on and be who they are meant to be. This message was such a sincere and purposeful one, it brought me to tears.
I seriously commend her for making this masterpiece. It’s absolutely a book worth reading for the lessons that are taught and the love that it gives. I recommend it to anyone and everyone. It will most definitely not disappoint. 🙂
6. YUMIKO Review A Sky Beyond the Storm
This review contains no spoilers.
There is anguish. There is grief. There is sorrow.
And then there is joy, and happiness, and family, and love. Sometimes it is so hard to separate the two warring sides in your head, of good versus evil. Sometimes it is so hard to see the good when your heart only knows the loss and the pain. That’s how it was for me with A Sky Beyond the Storm. I wanted so badly to let this book shatter my entire soul (which it did). But I also had to remember the beautiful parts, no matter how much it broke me and tore my soul apart.
Buckle your seatbelts, friends. This review will be very, very long.
I wanted so badly to crumple in despair and throw this book against the wall and rage and rage and rage until I was numb and my throat was begging me to shut the hell up. But there was something beneath that emotion when I finished, some small, quiet thing inside me that insisted it breathe: happiness. I finished this book, and although those three characters died and completely shattered my entire being, there was hope afterward. Hope on that last page, hope even from the first page of An Ember in the Ashes. And it is hidden, and it is sacred, and sometimes it is so hard to spot because the circumstances seem so bleak and desolate that you can’t even bring yourself to. But it is there. It is always there, maybe a kernel, maybe a flicker, maybe an ember. But I swear to you, it is always there, just waiting for you to set it aflame. That’s what Sky taught me, and it is a lesson that will live inside me forever.
To all you Sky readers out there, I know. I know exactly how you feel. And I’m here. I’m here for you. If y’all ever want to talk, I’m here.
There is something here in the heart of this book that has molded, shaped, and altered my insides. That has unlocked my view of life, that has made me better understand humans, life, love, good, and evil. And as I am writing this review, I am going to try and discover what it was.
Everything about this book, from its name, to its words, to its characters will disturb you. It will shock you. It will drag you out of your comfort zone, will snag you by the reins of your heart and will tug at your strings insistently, demanding every single emotion from the space between the stars, all the way to the stones beneath your feet. It will force you to feel every drop of love, of remorse, of passion, of sorrow, of anger. “This book will disturb the comfortable, and it will comfort the disturbed.” It will hold you so tight you won’t remember what loneliness felt like. It will rattle you so hard you won’t know what to do with your mortal life for the next few days, the next few weeks. This book will absolutely, positively destroy you. Inch by inch. Slowly, quietly, so gently that you won’t even notice it. Not until your heart is a wrangled mess on the floor. Not until you’re forced to pick up the pieces yourself. Not until you reach the last page and it is too late, far too late to put the book down and pretend you never encountered it.
This book ripped me to shreds. It tore me limb from limb, vessel from vessel, thoroughly. It demanded I shut up and take the pain like a woman, like Helene, or Laia, or Afya, or Livvy, or Mamie Rila, or Mirra, or as any woman in this series would. This book showed not an ounce of mercy, not an ounce of regret. But in a way, I am glad. Because Sabaa Tahir portrays life. She portrays life the way it truly is, not as she wishes it to be or as we, her readers, wish it to be. Sometimes life is not always kind, and sometimes we forget that. Sometimes we forget that not everyone is full and bursting to the brim with happiness. Sometimes people ache for it. Sometimes people search their whole lives for it, chasing it, and never obtain it. Sometimes their whole lives pass and they have never tasted it. And we have to be grateful for those fleeting times, those brief moments of joy.
If there is anything I have learned since the day that wretched Mask killed my grandparents and arrested Darin, it is that you must love while you can. For tomorrow, all that you love might be ash. -Laia of Serra
We have to remember the people that fought and died in these wars, the people who fought for a dream they would never get to see. I think that is what Sabaa Tahir’s message is. That we must fight for those moments of happiness because we never know how long they will last. We never know when our time will be up.
I swear this book is powerful enough to spark a revolution. There are truths and there are lies. And then there is this book, which contains both, but that teaches us enough lessons that it barely feels like fiction anymore. It feels more like a memory.
This book took everything out of me. It took everything in me to get to the last page. It took a lot of convincing to make me understand that this series is truly over. That I will never read another new word, that I will never know how Helene moves on from her losses, that I will never know what color eyes Elias and Laia’s children will have, that I will never know whatever came of the rest of these beautiful characters. And if I ever decide to put myself through this again (which I know I most certainly will, since this is my favorite series of all time), I will never read another new word, another new phrase. And my heart can’t bear it. I can’t move on. It’s really, truly over. I couldn’t stand the emotions that kept pouring out of me reading these raw, aching words. But I realized that no matter how many times I reread this series, even when I start memorizing every single line of each and every book, it will still yield the same pain, the same love, the same heartbreak. I will always feel something for these characters; I will never, ever let them go. They will always be with me.
Do I remember what life was like before this book? No, I don’t. Do I want to go back to return to the life I had before this, to turn back 24 hours, to have picked up a different book that would not have hurt me in this way, that would not have wounded me so badly, that would not have changed something deep inside me? … No. I don’t.
Because I am a weapon that has been whetted, a weapon that has been sharpened and honed. My mind is sharper now, but it is also softer. More forgiving. More understanding. More thankful. And what I mean by that is I’ve learned so much from the villains in this story. Sometimes, as a reader, it gets difficult to understand the antagonist. Sometimes you just want to watch them to die a slow, painful death for ever hurting your characters. Sometimes you want to brandish the scim yourself. But there is a reason villains exist, and that reason is not to make life hell for the main characters. The truth is that villains are humans too. They are people. They have dreams, and desires, and hopes, and wishes, and fears, and loves, too. And this book really teaches you that. It really forces you to look inside yourself, to find the softest part, to find the part that truly understands the evil in this world, and that no one is ever truly evil. Because evil people never think they’re evil. They think they are doing the right thing. They think they are bettering humanity, and that makes me wonder, how could we ever blame someone, a person who has felt love and fear and hate, for doing something if that’s what they think is right? How could we ever deem them evil if that is what they have been taught all their lives, if that’s how they lash out with their pain?
I couldn’t help it. When I finished Sky, I couldn’t help loving Keris Veturia. So many people hate her and wish her dead, and maybe I did, too, for a little while. But after Sky, I realized that she is a result. She got hurt so much, and her mother was taken from her, and Keris was forced to listen to her own being tortured to death. And from that flame, from that burning, rigid fire, Keris retaliated. She locked up her heart, sealed it with the strongest, toughest glue, hid it behind layers and layers of armor and pretended it didn’t exist. Used it so rarely that sometimes she forgot it was there. That is a result. That is what happens when you have been hurt so badly and you are not strong enough to fight. For how powerful and tough Keris is, she was not strong enough. She gave in to her pain; she allowed it to rule over her. Thus, she lost every battle worth fighting. And at the end of Sky, when we finally realize why Keris is the way she is, understanding is gifted to us, is instilled inside us. Sabaa Tahir grants us an invaluable gift, one of empathy.
I’ve learned so much from Sky. I’ve learned the true power of love, of friendship, of friendship that turns into family. I’ve learned of hope, I’ve learned not to turn away from it, not to scoff at it and dismiss it with a wave of the hand. I’ve learned of holding on and how you can never let go, you can never stop fighting, you can never give up on the people you love, because if it was them, they would never stop fighting for you.
What is inside this book? Life. Love. Friendship. Loyalty. Pain. Death. Grief. But also so much more. So much that I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to talk about, because it just hurts so much, and the wound is still fresh and still bleeding and I need a break. I need to step away from this for awhile and gather my head.
When you think of Helene Aquilla, and all she has been through, all she has lost, I think to myself that it is unfair. It is unfair that someone as beautiful, as noble, as worthy of love and happiness and a good life had to endure one of such pain and sadness and loss. She did not deserve it. But then when I have these thoughts, I think back to these words:
“Love doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints. It takes and it takes and it takes and we keep loving anyway.” (I really need to stop quoting Hamilton in my reviews. I think it’s becoming problematic.)
I know a lot of readers are suffering from the amount of death in this book, especially the ones of three very important characters. I understand. But I also understand why those deaths were necessary, and it isn’t just because Sabaa Tahir is evil (although a lot of us beg to differ, and rightfully so). War is not a living thing. It has no conscience. It doesn’t understand what it’s doing is wrong. It doesn’t understand the cost. Sabaa is showing us that in war, we cannot choose who dies and who lives on. We can only choose our decisions. We can either choose to stop fighting and unite, or we can keep killing, keep hurting. From Sky, you learn to understand that for every person you kill, you are ridding a child of their parent, a lover of their beloved, a friend of their family. We are all human and we are all loved. We can’t take lives. We can’t just rip people out of each other’s arms. We should understand each other more. We should reach out to each other more. We should be there for each other. Sky just makes me wonder, why are we so damn disunited? How can we bridge the gap? Must there always be a villain in each story? Or can we just learn to protect each other, no matter if we are Scholars or Martials or Tribespeople? No matter if we are Black or Asian or Caucasian or Latinx? Must there always be one group fighting against another?
There is strength that is sometimes found in even the weakest of humans. There is something slumbering inside all of us, I think, a beast that awakens, that opens one eye, when we read about characters as strong and as brave and resilient as Helene Aquilla, as Laia of Serra, as Elias Veturius, as Avitas Harper, as Mirra of Serra, as Darin of Serra, as Musa, as Livia Aquilla. There is strength, and there is pride, and there is joy, but most of all, there is something ethereal inside each of us that awakens when we read about characters like these. Why? Because there is something inside us that is reflected on these pages, something we recognize in the characters that reminds us of ourselves. We always think we are weak, or scared, or afraid. We always think we are incapable of enduring the things Helene Aquilla has dealt, or of doing the things Laia of Serra has done, or being as strong in both body and mind as Elias Veturius is.
But how do you think Sabaa Tahir was able to create such resilient characters? Fiction is truth, and is derived from truth. Nothing is ever created; it is remade. Sabaa Tahir has encountered a soul as fiery as Laia’s, as tough as Helene’s, as good and as beautiful as Elias’, as soft as Harper’s, as enduring as Musa’s and Livia’s, as determined as Quin’s. These people exist, and they are stories that live inside us. They are stories that will always be there, just around the corner of our minds to pull strength from. They will never go away. As long as we remember this story.
There will never come another series that changes me as this one did. I haven’t lived the rest of my days out but I know. There will never be another like this. Not for me.
I have 253 characters left for this review, but I am not ready to shut up about this book. I still have so much to say. If there is one thing I know I will always remember about this book, it is that I will take Laia’s courage, I will take Helene’s intelligence and endurance, I will take Elias’ strength and forgiveness. I will take Avitas’ soft, good, kind soul, I will take Livvy’s beautiful heart, I will take Tas’ innocence, I will take Darin’s stubbornness, I will take Afya’s loyalty, I will take Mamie Rila’s loyalty, I will take Mirra’s toughness, I will take Quin’s determination, I will take the Nightbringer’s love.
And from all of these things that I take, I will be remade. I will become a better person. I will have learned not to take advantage of my people and my moments and the time I have left. I will have learned to stay silent and listen to people before I speak my mind and I will always keep believing in other people. And I do my best to spread love and kindness everywhere I go.
I feel like this review is sort of sad, so I want to end it on a positive note. If you still don’t believe how good this book is, just know that I neglected food, water, sleep, and family while I rushed to finish this book. I snapped at my brother to shut up like ten times when he was blabbering nonsense. I ate nothing. (You know it’s a big deal when I neglect food. Because I am greedy and I can never get enough.) I drank no water. I left my AP essay an hour before it was due (because we all know that’s not the priority here). From 10:23 am to 4:33 pm, the only thing I worried about was finishing this book. And if that’s still not enough to convince you to read this series, I am so so sorry for you.
Because you’d be missing out on an entire universe.
7. LUCY TONKS Review A Sky Beyond the Storm
“You are broken. But it is broken things that are the sharpest. The deadliest. It is broken things that are the most unexpected, and the most underestimated”
I did, indeed, need tissues. I don’t think a book has made me cry this much. Ever. This was such a beautiful conclusion to such an amazing series! I couldn’t wish for anything better. I am so sad that this was the last book, and I cannot believe that this series is over. We went through so many things with this characters, and their adventure and everything they suffer to get to this point is finally over. This review will probably be the first half non-spoilery and the other half full of spoilers, but don’t worry if you haven’t read this book yet, I’ll warn you when I start going into spoilers.
The plot was better than I expected. I was never bored and I was always saying in my mind one more chapter because I wanted to know what will happen next, I wanted to know how this book this series is going to end. And that end did not disappoint me. I was going through a rollercoaster of emotions in the last, I wanna say, fifty pages. The stakes where so high and I was so worried for the characters.
I loved following this characters along their journey. I suffer along with them, I laughed along with them, I felt happy along with them. Whatever was happening I was experiencing it along with them.
The cast of characters has been, since the beginning of this series, excellent. Helene is my favourite character, although I really did not like her in the first book, she warmed up to me in the sequels until I reliased she was my favourite character. I love Laia and Elias. I love Harper. Even the Nightbringer is a character I like. Sabaa Tahir created him, in such a way, that as much as you hate the way he is sometimes, you still undertand him, you still empathize with him. You empathize will all the characters in this book in the end and that shows how well written they are. It shows how much taught and emotions Sabba Tahir put in them so they would fell human, no matter if they are the heroes or the villains.
In the end, this book was everything I wished for and more. Sabba Tahir, I admire your talent. I admire you for this masterpiece that you have created. Thank you! Now onto spoilers!
*Spoilers Ahead*
So I predicted Harper’s death, although I’m not mad about this. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sad that he died, but I’m not mad that I predicted it. Sabaa Tahir put some foreshadowing in the beginning and through out the book with all the Emifal Firdaant. From the moment it was mentioned to Helene, I was sure that either Harper or Livia will die. In the end both of them died. And I’m so heartbroken for Helene, she didn’t deserve so much suffering, she deserved to be happy.
At the end of the book, I didn’t start crying when Harper died or when Darin died or when I thought Elias was going to die, as you might thing. The moment the tears started to roll down my face was when Mirra offered to take Elias place as the Soul Catcher. That’s when I started bawling. And I continued to cry when Helene looked at Harper’s body and I stopped when Helene was made Empress, but then I started crying again at the end of the chapter and continued to cry in the next chapter when Elias talked to Harper’s and Darin’s ghosts. Those scenes all broke my heart. I am so heartbroken because of the end, but at the same time so satisfied, if that makes sense. I feel like if Sabaa Tahir excluded Harper’s death or Darin’s the book wouldn’t have been quite as good, it just wouldn’t have been possible. Although I wish Laia and Helene wouldn’t have gone through so much suffering, I do feel like those two deaths were necessary for this ending, it just had to be this way.
I cannot believe that Sabaa actually made me care, although that might be too big of a word, about the Commandant. I don’t think care is the right word, but I actually felt something positive towards her! That doesn’t change how many horrible things she has done and the fact that I still hate her. Like she killed Harper, I would never forgive her for that, but still I understood why she became like that. Instead of what Laia and Helene did, instead of fighting all those feelings that came with suffering, she let them consume her, she let them guide her life.
I think that’s it for my review, I love this book with my whole hear. This is a favourite series of mine now and I will for sure read anything that Sabaa writes in the future. I’m so excited to see what she writes next!
8. MISH Review A Sky Beyond the Storm
“What a small thing it seems, to walk with the one you love. To look forward to a day with them. I marvel at the simplicity of this moment. And I thank the skies for the miracle of it.”
Finishing this series was so heartwarming and bittersweet and also heartbreaking all at once. when i first read an ember in the ashes three years ago, it reignited my love for reading and was one of the books that really back into reading again. i absolutely fell in love with the world, laia, elias and everything else. needless to say, it’s one of the series closest to my heart, along with it’s flaws.
My favourite is still and will always be the first book. there was just something so compelling about the way it was written. the characters that i initially fell in love with were so different in this one. elias will still be my fave even though his character arc kinda broke me 🙂 would confirm that i’ll still let him step on me and thank him for it. and the way every book just slowly got more sad and dark, bye😔😭 while reading a sky beyond the storm, i shed teARSSS (which i rarely do tbh) and what i can say is, the end scene was all i ever wanted :’) laia becoming a tribe’s kehanni when she said in the first book that she wanted to be that since she was a child??? thAT was everything uGHHGHGHSJFKS. when i read that it was the moon festival boYY i was about to tear up because we came such a long way from the first moon festival. aaand just realized i won’t ever be able to write a critical and coherent review with all my thoughts about this so imma just rate it and goooo 👉🏾
My messy emo thoughts right after finishing:
I truly have no idea what i did to deserve this series. my heart was broken into pieces and then put together and i’m being SO dramatic here but idk what i’m going to do rn. forever going to love sabaa tahir ofc because this kind of changed me as a person and i’m going to go now because it’s 3am and i might just start rambling/crying so yeah :’)
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Waiting for this to save/ completely change the face of my 2020 for the better
9. CHAITY Review A Sky Beyond the Storm
SKIES,THIS WAS A BLEEDING ROLLERCOASTER RIDE !!!
“Would that we all knew the cracked terrain of each other’s broken hearts. Perhaps then, we would not be so cruel to those who walk this lonely world with us.”
Sabaa Tahir indeed ‘worked her tail off’ on this book .Was I heartbroken again? Sadly yes. But did this book disappoint me? No. Is this my new favourite? Hell yeah.
The tale,my friends, was finally told.
This book is everything I have been looking for in the first three books of this series(my most favourite book from this series is the first one. No competition). Some stuffs, however, the author used was not my favourite. I did not like the way, the ‘main plot’ of this book appeared (Waiting place and all that). I loved the characters more the plot. Hell, I do not remember a time when I wasn’t in love with Elias-laia or was not fascinated by Nightbringer.Yeah,Nightbringer has my heart.I loved Elias in this book more than the previous ones. Laia was her amazing self.I disliked Helene less.
The ending was perfection. Also, this author can break hearts.
“I wish I could live a thousand lives so I could fall in love with you a thousand times”
Oh. Emotions .
And before I get more emotional, I want to say,Sabaa Tahir is one of my favourite authors. An ember in the ashes is my favourite series. Laia and Elias are my favourite fictional characters. In spite of all the chaos, the world Sabaa built is somewhere I would love to live.This series has been such a huge part of my bookish adventures. I’ve learnt so many things from Laia, Elias, Darin, Musa And Helene that at this point i’m not sure what to say now that this series has finally came to an end. But ‘nothing ever ends’ Elias and Laia will always be loved. I will keep rereading the series. I’m grateful to have met all those amazing characters.
You, Sabaa Tahir, shattered my heart into pieces. And, I love you for that (with my broken heart)
Don’t judge. I’m an emotional mess right now.
I’m still confused about so many stuffs. I can’t wait to see what sabaa Tahir creates next.
PRE-REVIEW:
Elias might be a Soul-Catcher but Sabaa Tahir is a Heart-Breaker.
FINAL REACTION!
Not sure if I’ll take that(what I said in my pre-review) back.
10. ASHI Review A Sky Beyond the Storm
“I am unmade. I am b-broken.”
“You are broken. But it is the broken things that are the sharpest. The deadliest. It is the broken things that are the most unexpected and the most underestimated.”
*sobs*
*sobs some more*
*composes myself briefly*
What. In. The. Ten. Hells. Was. This???
After reading the Ember quartet, one thing has become very clear to me. Authors are evil. They revel in torturing poor readers like me. And Sabaa Tahir is The Commandant of authors. Yes, she’s that evil. And that amazing.
I’m a very emotional person, but the pain I felt in this book, just makes me wish I could somehow numb the emotions of my heart temporarily. I can’t believe it’s only been a month since I started this series. It was such a phenomenal, unforgettable, and heartbreaking journey, and one I am unlikely to experience ever
again. Laia, Elias, Helene, and Harper have made their way into my heart, and I will never forget them. I’m so sad that I have to part with them so soon. Helene and Harper had the best slow burn I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, and I will forever ship them. Laia and Elias also grew on me. In the first book, their relationship was similar to insta love, which is a big no. But later on, they did have a lot of chemistry, and you can see that they really care for each other.
The ending was really bittersweet. I’m also very content with the endings that each of the characters got. While this book was very emotionally heavy, there were also plenty of light hearted moments, and I’m still marveling over how Sabaa Tahir could’ve done something like that with such perfect balance. One second I was laughing at Elias’ jealousy, and then the next I was crying over a death.
We also find out what Elias whispered to Laia when he left for Kauf. It wasn’t something extraordinary, but it was still very satisfying. The deaths, in particular one of them, absolutely destroyed me. I felt that the beginning was a little slow, especially Elias’ parts, but the pace really picked up in the middle, and made it physically impossible to put down the book.
In short: A perfect conclusion to a perfect series, that will most likely leave you emotionally distraught.
Laia of Serra, I shall remember your bravery and indomitable spirit.
Elias Veturius, I shall remember your kindness and courage to do what’s right.
Helene Aquilla, I shall remember your unwavering loyalty and your fierce determination.
Thank you, Sabaa Tahir, for writing the stories of Laia, Elias, and Helene, which I shall cherish forever.
“Defeat in your mind is defeat on the battlefield.”
“Life is sacred, Laia of Serra. Even the life of a jinn. It is forgetting that fact that leads to war in the first place.”
“I realize I have not thought this through at all. Because no one in her right mind would wear armor to seduce the person she’s been pining after for months.
“There are some things that do not die. No matter how many blades we put into them.”
“What a small thing it seems, to walk with the one you love. To look forward to a day with them. I marvel at the simplicity of this moment. And I thank the skies for it.”
III. [Quote] A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir
The best book quotes from A Sky Beyond the Storm
“Emifal firdaant. May death claim me first.”
“I wish I could live a thousand lives so I could fall in love with you a thousand times”
“You are broken. But it is broken things that are the sharpest. The deadliest. It is broken things that are the most unexpected, and the most underestimated”
“Would that we all knew the cracked terrain of each other’s broken hearts. Perhaps then, we would not be so cruel to those who walk this lonely world with us.”
“You got there first my love, I envy you so, for how will I endure without you?”
“How much pain exists in the world because we cannot get past what has been done to us, because we insist on inflicting pain right back?”
“Emifal Firdaant,’ I say to him.
‘You’ve said that before. What does it mean?’
I cannot quite look at him when I say it. ‘May death claim me first.’
‘Ah, no, my love.’ He gathers me close. ‘You cannot go first. I could not make sense of the world if you did.’
With that, he closes his eyes, but I cannot sleep. I stare up at the peak of the tent and listen to the rain drum down on the canvas. Emifal Firdaant, I beg the skies. Emifal Firdaant.”“You are lucky enough to love someone who loves you back. He is alive and breathing and in the same vicinity as you. By the skies, do something about it. For however long you have. For whatever time you get. Because if you don’t, I swear that you’ll regret it for all your years”
“It should have been him dancing with you”
“Thank you, Soul Catcher.”
“Elias,” he says after a moment, the slightest bit of warmth entering those cold gray eyes. “From you I prefer Elias.”“Part of me wants desperately to shove my memories of him into the same dark room where my parents and sister live. The room that houses all my pain. But that room should not exist anymore. My family deserves to be remembered. Mourned. Often, and with love. And so does Harper.”
“Can I kick him?” my brother asks. “I’m going to kick him.”
“He saved your life Darin.”
“A small kick,” he argues. “It wouldn’t even hurt him. Look at him, skies. It would probably break MY foot.”
“NO.”
“Fine.” Once past Elias, my brother turns around and mimes a kick, grinning.”“I wish I could live a thousand lives so I could fall in love with you a thousand times. But if all we get is this one, and I share it with you, then I will never want for anything…”
“Your mistakes only define the rest of your life if you let them. Don’t let them.”
“We are doomed, you and I. To offer more love than we will ever be given.”
“You have suffered. You have created suffering. You have killed. But you have also paid. With your life, twice over now, and with your heart, with your mind. You have guided thousands of lost souls. You have saved thousands of lives. You have done good in this world. Which will define you? The good? Or the suffering?”
“I have defied him and survived him again and again. He has tried to hurt me. But I will not allow myself to be hurt. He has tried to break me but I will not be dictated to by a man so afraid to fight the jinn that he must criticise a woman to make himself feel bigger.”
“Nightbringer was the name humans gave him. Along with the King of No Name. But before that, he had another name.
“Meherya,” I say. “Beloved.”
He howls then, an echoing cry that breaks something inside me. But still, he hides away, for he is not the Beloved anymore either. He has turned his back on his duty and humanity. On Mauth.
But in truth, humanity turned against him first. And Mauth, who should have loved the Meherya best, did nothing when his son and all that he cherished were destroyed. The Nightbringer gave Mauth everything—and Mauth repaid him with a thousand years of torment…
“Nirbara,” I whisper. “Forsaken.”
He turns.
“Forsaken by humans and by Mauth,” I say, and the maelstrom grows more violent with each word. “Forsaken by the Scholars, who you sought only to help and who stole all that you loved. Forsaken by Rehmat, who left you alone with all your pain.”“And while family can cause pain and make mistakes, it is never a burden. Never.”
“We must understand the creatures, fey or human, who populate our tales. Respect them. Love them, despite the villainous things they do. We must see them. Else how will our stories echo in the hearts of those who hear them? How will the stories survive beyond one telling?”
“We are, all of us, just visitors in each other’s lives.”
“I’m here because it’s been months since you kissed me, but I think about that moment so often it feels like it happened yesterday. And because when I saw you go down in the battle, I thought I’d– I’d tear apart the world if anything happened to you.”
“Or perhaps she’s simply beautiful, and looking at her feels like sunlight flowing into a room lost to the darkness for too long.”
“What a small thing it seems, to walk with the one you love. To look forward to a day with them. I marvel at the simplicity of this moment. And I thank the skies for the miracle of it.”
“But sometimes, there is no reason. Sometimes you kill and hate killing but you are a soldier through and through so you keep killing. Your friends die. Your lovers die. And what you have at the end of your life is not the surety that you did it for some grand reason, but the hard knowledge that something was taken from you and you also gave it away. And you know you will carry that weight with you always.
‘You got there first, my love. I envy you so. For how will I endure without you?”“I’ve known him all my life, Harper. But when I was crawling through that tunnel, when I knew he was fighting and dying for me, all I could think was that I was so thankful it wasn’t you up there. Because if it had been, we’d have died together.”
“Sometimes, there is no reason. Sometimes you kill and you hate killing but you are a soldier through and through so you keep killing. Your friends die. Your lovers die. And what you have at the end of your life is not the surety that you did it for some grand reason, but the hard knowledge that something was taken from you and you also gave it away. And you know you will carry that weight with you always. For it is a regret that only death can relieve.”
“It is not all that I wanted. But it is not nothing either.”
“For the Beloved who woke with the dawning of the world is no more. And for a single, anguished moment, the earth itself mourns him.”
“Ah, no, my love.” He gathers me close. “You cannot go first. I could not make sense of the world if you did.”
“For me, Elias, desire is not simple. It is not shelter. It is not warmth. It is a fire that offers no light, only heat, ruinous and consuming. The longer you deny it, the hotter it burns. You forget shelter. You forget warmth. There is only that which you want and cannot have, and the desolation that follows.”
“But it must be me. And in that moment, it hits me that with Livia gone, and until Zacharias comes of age, it will always be me. For a thousand things I don’t wish to do.”
“No matter how rich and varied the lives of humans, they were falling stars in my world. They flared bright and brief, and then they burned out.”
“I’m not alone.’ Laia buries her face in her mother’s hair. ‘I thought I was all that was left of us.”
“I wish I could live a thousand lives so I could fall in love with you a thousand times.”
“Of my own mother and her quiet love, which bathed me like the rays of the sun for as long as she lived.”
“The task seemed like a gift. For after a few minutes of watching them, I was half in love already.”
“I thought I served a great cause: protecting the Empire. But all I did was protect people who were never in any danger.”
Book excerpts: A Sky Beyond the Storm By Sabaa Tahir
PART I: WAKING
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