silkreads 's review for:

A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir

5.0

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"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."

i can’t believe it. after months of reading this series, suffering with these characters and growing to love them as my own children, it is done.

and truly, it couldn't have been more right.

this series is mind-blowing on many grounds, starting from my soul-deep attachment to each and every character to how immersive the whole experience was. among sabaa tahir's numerous talents as a writer, i feel, is how real the flesh of her stories feel. i can imagine this world and these characters as clear as day in my mind. i can picture this world existing, and these characters breathing. it really, honestly leaves me wonder-struck, how she managed to spin us such a story. it fills my mind with awe and my heart with enrapturement that she shared her vision with us. because it is breathtaking.

i have never felt such emotions reading a series before, and i have never been so captured by the plot of a story. and now, at least, i won't say that i never cried reading a book in school. i genuinely had to clench my jaw to keep from making inhumane noises during my stolen bits of reading time in class.

laia, elias and helene. my three broken heroes. they each occupy a different chamber of my heart and will for many years to come, i imagine. i didn't always like helene, but she's proven herself and has won my admiration like no other. elias continues to live in my heart, as he always has. and laia has managed to turn the tables so that i have no choice but to love her and root for her.

"emifal firdaant - may death claim me first."

my ranking of the books are, i think, like this:
1) a torch against the night
2) an ember in the ashes
3) a sky beyond the storm
4) a reaper at the gates

✦4.5 stars