Reviews with content warning for Violence - A Reaper at the Gates

On one hand, I hate how STRESSFUL this series is. No one can be happy here. The realities and atrocities of war are here and constant. A particular double woman-child sacrifice was tough to read, but it showed how some people will do anything for power and the all-consuming nature of unstoppable violence. Some of the characters are even forced to seek help from foes or other vile humans.

And yet I can’t put this series down. I have come to enjoy these characters (Harper, Helene, Elias, etc) a lot though Laia can be irrational, often. But her heart is in the right place. I want more of Darin now that he FINALLY got his junk together. While Elias was seriously slacking at his job for 3/4s of the book, his new struggle with humanity and stoicness has my interest.

These novels are thick, but each one has been an easy reading experience. This dark, violent, and tragic mess of a story is enthralling. Everything's not perfect, but I want to read more.

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southernreach's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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chlomonte's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

my favourite book so far of the ember quartet. helene's chapters are my favourite to read n i loved all of the politicking and war, unpop opinion but i really don't care for the romantic relationships 😭 i know the yearning was meant to cause me pain but i just preferred the other aspects of the plot. the twist with cook had me gobsmacked good job miss tahir. lots of very emotional moments n i hope to see more of laia & helene bonding in the final book love my main ladies sm. eek such a good dark war torn high fantasy series

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coolbeancat's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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jules_reads_books's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Definitely my fave of the series so far! Full review to come

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shahdhazem's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I've finished this 3 days ago and I have been in shock quite literally. The plot is going in a very complex way and I'm just going insane. There's lots of things that I don't understand and it's just very very intense.

can we please all come to the fact that I haven't even recovered from the shock that cook is the lioness and then she's f*king dead I didn't even get to cry for her just from the overall shock!!

. Laia had a very strong character development she's literally just a very good written heroine. And as always sabaa is literally torturing everyone in the book EVEN THE SIDE CHARACTERS NO ONE SURVIVES HER EVIL!! Lastly I won't even comment on the writing stlyle or plot the whole series is just a masterpiece I can't bring myself to say anything more.

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nazz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

I think I need to think about the rating for this one. I think I'll give it 4.75 because... the pacing is so fast, in each chapter something happens. That lovely- except in my case where I am binging the series. MY HEAD. I love how character focused it is, but there are also moments that I kinda wish would just slow down.

That being said, this is such a good action packed book. My favorite story line of the book was definitely everything that had to do with mother

finding out everything the Cook went through, and then seeing her stand for her last remaining daughter... and then Helene's sister giving birth in the middle of the war. Keris and her lack of emotion for Elias, despite having a lovely mother growing up- I loved it all.

Format: Ebook from Libby

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lilia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

4.5

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