A Sky Beyond the Storm: An Ember in the Ashes Novel: 4

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She is busy trying to win the war and outmaneuver Keris Veturia who has always been her enemy. But in this book, their opposition becomes more and more pronounced. The Nightbringer There are so many unanswered questions about the jinn. How did they even come to existence? How many jinn are there? What are all their abilities? How is it that Rehmat was able to live inside Laia? 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. by Amani Salahudeen 2 years ago A Sky Beyond the Storm wrapped up Sabaa Tahir’s Ember in the Ashes quartet with tons of twists and surprises. Here are the 5 biggest moments. Warning: The following takes includes major spoilers for the final book in Sabaa Tahir’s Ember in the Ashes series. Proceed at your own risk! The main problem, though, is that the POVs were interchangeable and indistinguishable. Sometimes I would forget whose perspective I was reading. Helene, my poor little angry cinnamon roll, felt like Laia. Elias was as moody as Laia. Laia was good with weapons like Elias and Helene.

How do I even conclude this review, these books are literally ingrained in to me, like in every which way, I am so so so thankful to Sabaa for writing this series, because it genuinely means so much to me. I’ve made so many friends because of this book and got closer to other friends as well. For the final book in a series it exceeded all of my expectations, it’s absolutely heartbreaking and devastating, but I still loved every single moment of it. 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. You are the strongest person here. The strongest in the camp. Stronger than me. *, the Blood Shrike, the Soul Catcher, Afya. You are the daughter of the Lioness. The Granddaughter of Nan and Pop. You are Lis’s sister and mine.”

Success!

Five years of blood, sweat, tears, and cliffhangers later, the journey has finally come to an end...

At 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.Elias was in the first book, An Ember in the Ashes, an enemy of Laia because he was a Martial and she was a Scholar, but they’ve grown past that in the more recent books. Outside of the end, this as usual has the same addictive prose as the previous books and a crapton of political intrigue. After Reaper, they're in a pretty bleak space. However, this story offers an ember of hope that builds with the tension.

Lia of Serra, the one who faced the Martials and watched her family die right in front of her eyes. The one who went to the rebels for support, and became a slave for The Commandment, tolerating each and every insult and every scar. The one who ran away, faking her death and freed her brother from prison. The one who became an inspiration for everyone, as she was brave, kind, and she had no one, but she was still strong. Have you forgotten that the Shrike is a woman Mettias?… Do not bore us with old prejudices. You are a better man than that.” Like in Reaper, we follow three different first-person perspectives: Helene (Blood Shrike), Elias (Soul Catcher), and Laia (Laia). All I can say is... what happened to my babies?? We have a title AND a cover and I feel so emotional. My favourite series will be coming to an end, I feel worried for all of the characters that I love.

You’re in!

I noticed another recurring theme throughout the book--the overwhelming number of overused YA tropes that were sprinkled in. No, not sprinkled. More like dumped. On top of that, there’s a war going on and no time for love. Helene believes in duty before anything else and mostly tries to avoid Harper. Therefore, her feelings for him to stay focused on the war. Helene Aquilla I felt his death was only for emotional impact, and yes I cried because of his death. Because Helene has been through too much already. She’s lost every single person she’s ever loved. And I hate how this was done to her. Again. 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. She is now besties with Helene, and they hated each other in the first three books. All I can say is, why? What happened to her character? The main reason I liked her character a bit was because she was a plain, ordinary girl who was still strong. This just ruined everything.

We know Helene Aquilla as the Blood Shrike, but in A Sky beyond the Storm, she becomes Empress of the Martial Empire. A commander who has tasted the bitter fruit of war is the only one worthy of waging it. For he understands the cost." The world was unique for a YA book, but I think it had a lot more potential that was not delivered. It left me yearning for more, and that’s not good as this was the end of the series.

Helene even helps Laia’s brother Darin without being asked, simply because she knows how important he is to her. When she tells him “I gave you an escort because otherwise, your sister will have my head,” readers can tell in this moment Helene is also slightly amused and there’s a spark of admiration for Laia. Laia of Serra now has the Blood Shrike as an ally (and possibly a friend). Everyone is preparing for the final war against Keris and The Nightbringer. Elias is still Soul Catcher, charged with ferrying the souls of the dead to whatever comes next. His relationship with Laia seems in tatters. As for Helene, she is a leader in exile, plotting to retake her home. Much like this novel’s predecessors, A Torch Against the Nightand A Reaper at the Gates, the character who has emerged as this series’ true hero is Helene Aquilla, Blood Shrike of the Empire, who suffers tremendous losses throughout the story, but still keeps standing, because it’s what she’s been trained to do, and it’s who she is. Her determination to fight for her people, to free them from the threat of Keris Veturia’s vicious rule, and to protect her nephew’s legacy give her the most defined arc in the entire series and make her the easiest character to both root for and love. And now let’s go over that mess of an ending, because seriously I read it twice to try and understand what it was but it still left me confused. (In spoiler tags)