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khloereads86's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.25
I thought this was a really good ending to the series! I wish that we had actually seen a little more of the Elias/Laia interactions throughout the series because I feel like they didn’t actually get to spend a lot of time together before they fell in love and were separated. I absolutely loved Helene and Avitas and I so wish we got more of them. His death hit me the hardest cause he might not have been perfect but he was so sweet to Helene. I hope she finds happiness because her character arc was incredible and I feel so bad for her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Blood, Classism, Death, Slavery, Violence, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Torture, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content and Sexism
fromjuliereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
I AM BROKEN.
This is possibly my favourite series ending and definitely rivals Reaper for my favourite in this series... it was just so well done. I felt ALL the emotions reading this finale.
While this series is very plot driven, you just get so attached to the characters through the books until you are a crying mess over things happening in the finale to characters you love. Not entirely surprising though since Sabaa is a wizard of words. Her writing just always has me at the edge of my seat and I had such a hard time putting this book down to sleep or work...
I love that even though there were moments to show the humanity or suffering of the characters that we hated, there was no real redemption for them. For any of them. They were all real people, some who did absolutely awful and horrendous, unforgivable things. And others who made mistakes, did awful things to survive but ultimately did good in the world, too.
While this might not be a favourite series of mine, it is definitely one that will stick with me for the characters, the writing, and the little lessons that I picked up throughout it.
This is possibly my favourite series ending and definitely rivals Reaper for my favourite in this series... it was just so well done. I felt ALL the emotions reading this finale.
While this series is very plot driven, you just get so attached to the characters through the books until you are a crying mess over things happening in the finale to characters you love. Not entirely surprising though since Sabaa is a wizard of words. Her writing just always has me at the edge of my seat and I had such a hard time putting this book down to sleep or work...
I love that even though there were moments to show the humanity or suffering of the characters that we hated, there was no real redemption for them. For any of them. They were all real people, some who did absolutely awful and horrendous, unforgivable things. And others who made mistakes, did awful things to survive but ultimately did good in the world, too.
While this might not be a favourite series of mine, it is definitely one that will stick with me for the characters, the writing, and the little lessons that I picked up throughout it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, War, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
alyssasaurus's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, and War
jackiepreston's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual content
chlomonte's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
5.0
starting the new year off with an absolute banger of a book. i loved every page, a stellar ending to one of my now favourite series
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Violence, and War
mypatronusisajedi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Murder, and War
Moderate: Sexual content and Violence
giannelli21's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and War
aargot1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Gore, War, Violence, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Blood
Minor: Abandonment and Colonisation
kilic's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
plumpaperbacks's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
5.0
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…I can’t believe both Harper and Darin are dead! That’s so cruel. That’s evil. My poor girls. Helene lost her boyfriend, Laia lost her brother… I’m honestly not sure who broke my heart more. Thank every deity out there that, miraculously, Laia’s mom was alive and took over the role of Soul Catcher so that Laia at least had Elias. If she lost her brother AND they weren’t endgame, it was extremely likely that I would’ve thrown the book across the room. 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. I’m happy for Helene too, and I think something might eventually happen with her and Musa?? But I was 90% focused on my ship, and wow, did Sabaa deliver. My heart was about to explode when Elias gave Laia the engraved armlet, especially since he got all flustered at the end. It was ADORABLE.
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
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…
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 Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Genocide, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Torture, and Grief
Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, and Slavery
Laia’s parents are already dead, but they/their deaths are referenced semi-frequently, as is slavery. As far as I noticed, it was only discussed as something that happened to a race of people prior to this book and that shouldn’t happen again, not actually anything that happened on-page.