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theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, War, Violence, Child death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Torture, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Confinement, Body horror, Grief, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, and Cursing
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Genocide, Slavery, Vomit, Sexual harassment, and Emotional abuse
yliana's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
this series is everything. idk what it is about sabaa tahir's writing but it just pulls you right into the story. laia is struggling so much right now and i loved seeing how different people in her life supported her in different ways. honestly, i really hated blood shrike when i finished the second book but now, not so much. she's a very complicated person and i hate a lot of what she's done in the past and in this book but there's also a very present human side of her that really shines in this book.
that's definitely something i really appreciate about this series. the way that tahir writes these characters makes it really hard for you to fully hate them (except for marcus, he's a piece of shit). i also think the fallout of genocide was also handled very well. laia's lines about hating war and not seeing the point of it even when the people being decimated are the same people who tortured, abused, and sought to kill her people felt very real. absolutely no one wins in a war. everyone will lose someone important to them and that will spur on the need for revenge. it makes it so hard to stop violence because so few people are able to let go of their need to take what was taken from them. but then it also makes it hard to hate the "enemy" when you see how the violence affects them. every character in this series has to come to terms with this and it's so interesting and real to see how they each handle it so differently.
sabaa tahir is such an amazing writer. i truly love this series.
that's definitely something i really appreciate about this series. the way that tahir writes these characters makes it really hard for you to fully hate them (except for marcus, he's a piece of shit). i also think the fallout of genocide was also handled very well. laia's lines about hating war and not seeing the point of it even when the people being decimated are the same people who tortured, abused, and sought to kill her people felt very real. absolutely no one wins in a war. everyone will lose someone important to them and that will spur on the need for revenge. it makes it so hard to stop violence because so few people are able to let go of their need to take what was taken from them. but then it also makes it hard to hate the "enemy" when you see how the violence affects them. every character in this series has to come to terms with this and it's so interesting and real to see how they each handle it so differently.
sabaa tahir is such an amazing writer. i truly love this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Physical abuse, Grief, Genocide, Death, Child death, Torture, Murder, and Medical content
Moderate: Xenophobia and Classism
bzliz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Every time I finish one of her books, I am blown away by Sabaa Tahir’s storytelling. She is a master at weaving together seriously intricate plots all involving different complex characters with varying degrees of overlap. Her twists don’t feel cheap and many truly caught me by surprise. A warning: this series has seriously intense world building and at times it can be a struggle to keep up with names and places.
In this book, Laia is on a quest to stop the Nightbringer and saving those most at risk of destruction along the way. Elias is melding into his role as Soul Catcher, helping Laia when he can but finding it harder and harder to ignore the pull of his duties. Helene is still duty bound to do the Emperor’s bidding and combating the ambitions of Keris Veturia. Every time I think I’ve seen all the layers of these characters and their motivations, Tahir drops another bomb and I realize she’d been laying hints to it all along.
The only reason I’m not giving this five stars is because the complexity of the story makes my dumb brain work too hard to try to keep straight characters and places since we’re bouncing around so much.
Content warnings:
Most are self explanatory and make sense if you’ve already read the previous two books.
Pregnancy (on page):The Empress Livia becomes pregnant after marrying Marcus. She is an even bigger target for assassination while carrying the heir and Keri’s Veturia manages to poison her. She survives and goes on to successfully deliver the baby (on page) but there are some complications and Helene must use her healing power to keep her sister alive.
Domestic abuse (on & off page): Marcus really sucks and constantly abuses Livia even as she is pregnant. He does this to keep Helene compliant with his orders.
In this book, Laia is on a quest to stop the Nightbringer and saving those most at risk of destruction along the way. Elias is melding into his role as Soul Catcher, helping Laia when he can but finding it harder and harder to ignore the pull of his duties. Helene is still duty bound to do the Emperor’s bidding and combating the ambitions of Keris Veturia. Every time I think I’ve seen all the layers of these characters and their motivations, Tahir drops another bomb and I realize she’d been laying hints to it all along.
The only reason I’m not giving this five stars is because the complexity of the story makes my dumb brain work too hard to try to keep straight characters and places since we’re bouncing around so much.
Content warnings:
Most are self explanatory and make sense if you’ve already read the previous two books.
Pregnancy (on page):
Domestic abuse (on & off page):
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Moderate: Slavery
esconce's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
4.5
Not my favorite book of the whole series, and sometimes felt like the pacing was off.. BUT I loved the characters so much that it really doesn’t matter that much. It’s definitely a good book and makes the series feel a lot closer to being completed. I love that Helene and Harpers relationship is growing and just over all good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Cursing, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Classism, Murder, and Stalking
Moderate: Sexism, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, and Mental illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Trafficking
redhothabanero's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
This book wasn't as heart pounding as the first two were. Although it's still enthralling and a fantastic read. I really love all of Helene's chapters. I did not see the Cook twist coming. Can't wait to find out how this all ends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Slavery, and Confinement
Minor: Torture
leaflit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Slavery, War, Blood, Murder, Torture, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Child death, Grief, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Physical abuse
madamenovelist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Vomit, Torture, Racism, Grief, Genocide, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Misogyny, Medical trauma, War, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Death of parent, Death, Physical abuse, Body horror, Classism, Blood, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Rape, Violence, Domestic abuse, Cursing, and Confinement
taliatalksbooks's review against another edition
challenging
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? N/A
4.5
A Reaper at The Gates by Sabaa Tahir defies middle book syndrome and packs just as big of a punch for our main characters as it’s two proceeding novels. If you don’t know by now, this series has quickly become one of my all time favorites. Between its incredible character development, interesting setting, and complex plot, there isn’t really anything I can spot that Tahir skips out on, save for maybe a little compassion. I love how this story doesn’t hold back, and I’m warning you now: If you don’t have your copy of A Sky Beyond The Storm, you better order it now. There’s no way you’re going to want to finish this book without the fourth one to dive into immediately. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It’s an absolute must-read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Death
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Because of some small critiques here and there, I gave A Reaper at the Gates 4.5 stars and not full five stars. Still, it’s an amazing book with an interesting plot and great characters.
We again follow Elias, Laia and Helene in this book. Elias became the soul catcher and now has to balance this new hard task with his want to protect Laia. Laia herself tries to find allies in the battle against the empire and especially Keris. I was again most interested in Helene’s story who has to stop Keris from taking over the empire but also protect her sister from Marcus; Livia’s need for protection increases in the course of the story since she becomes pregnant with the new imperator .
This book was a bit slower than its predecessor, even with the constant time pressure, because Laia’s and Elias’ plot felt a bit aimless at some points. I had also had two other small problems with the story: Firstly, it was a bit hard to keep track of the different nations/tribes and their interests introduced here. Secondly, some aspects of the story were not clearly enough explained, like the reason why Elias suddenly was able to control the magic .
The ending of this book though shows how amazingly the series was plotted from the beginning. We get to know that the cook is Laia’s mom and that she was forced to kill her daughter and her husband which was such a dramatic reveal . Then, all three characters are at the same place since the capital of the empire is attacked: Helene is defending the city, Laia is trying to get the ring from her, and Elias wants to collect the escaped ghosts. The way Laia gets Helene’s ring was so creative, but the ring is sadly fake. It’s so disturbing as well how Keris perfectly planned everything and how she was able to kill Marcus . The most powerful moment of the story though was when Laia left her mother behind to save Helene; this moment gave me goosebumps .
I still like most of the cast since many of them have so much depth. Helene became maybe one of my favorite characters of all time. At the beginning, it was so sad how heartless she became because of all the terrible things happening to her but it’s only understandable, just like her hatred towards Laia. But also, she became so strong which can be seen especially when she survived the attempted assassination . I ship her so much with Harper, but I somehow doubt that they’ll get a happy ending together. What I appreciate as well is the fact that romance is not the focus of the story.
After the ending of A Reaper at the Gates, I can’t wait to find out how this series will end and how our characters will be able to win against the demons of the outside world – and the ones inside of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, War, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Slavery
eve_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Overall Thoughts:
⁕ The pacing of this book redeemed the slower second installment that was A Torch Against the Night. I put off reading this one because I was worried that it would also be full of slow, quest-based traveling, but it was not! The action once again picked up and I could not put the book down!
⁕ Helene/The Blood Shrike is given a spot in the limelight and I am absolutely obsessed with and attached to her character. No longer is she the lovesick schoolmate of Elias, but a woman and warrior caught between family, duty, and justice. I absolutely ATE up her arc and I can't wait for more.
⁕ SPOILER: Even though this might go against popular opinion, I dislike the decision to make Cook Laia's long thought dead mother. It is such a rushed revelation at the end of the novel, and there is no prior hint or clue ever given as to her true identity. It didn't feel like the mind blowing plot twist I think it was intended as.
To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online/
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads
⁕ The pacing of this book redeemed the slower second installment that was A Torch Against the Night. I put off reading this one because I was worried that it would also be full of slow, quest-based traveling, but it was not! The action once again picked up and I could not put the book down!
⁕ Helene/The Blood Shrike is given a spot in the limelight and I am absolutely obsessed with and attached to her character. No longer is she the lovesick schoolmate of Elias, but a woman and warrior caught between family, duty, and justice. I absolutely ATE up her arc and I can't wait for more.
To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online/
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Torture, Death, Violence, War, Death of parent, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Forced institutionalization