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A review by drridareads
A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir
4.0
Our stories have purpose. Souls. Our stories breathe, Laia of Serra. The stories we tell have power, of course. But the stories that go untold have just as much power, if not more. I will sing you such a story—a story that was long untold. The story of a name and its meaning. Of how that name matters more than any other single word in existence. But I must prepare myself, for such stories are dragons drawn from a deep well in a dark place. Does one summon a dragon? No. One may only invite it and hope it emerges.
Sabaa Tahir: need people to torture their souls indirectly
Me:
Writing and Plot
I love the way Tahir writes . And the only way to describe it is as a long beautiful but tragic song maybe an opera show (I obviously don't know for sure I've never watched one but I imagine it to be as dramatic as her books). But no words I say can do justice to the world she's created so just go ahead and read for yourself.
In this book we got more into the magical element of it. Mauth has a bigger role. And we have faqirs (DAMN I LOVE THIS WOMAN AND HER REFERENCES FROM OUR CULTURE). We learn some background stories. We have some new characters. And the stakes are just getting higher.
I love her Villains ; I'm going to talk about them before talking about the main characters because without them these books wouldn't have been the same.
Marcus Farrar:
“My brave bird.” Marcus smiles at her, and I want to rip his throat out. “You know I like it better when you scream.”
He's a monster through and through; he was only ever humane around his brother and with his brother his humanity too died.
Nightbringer:
You are our Meherya. Your heart is made to love. To give. Not to take. That is why you are king of the jinn.
Finally we learn the backstory of the Nightbrinnger and the jinn and their hatred towards everyone. Is he really the villain we made him up to be. I think he's more of an Anti Hero and I want more of him and the jinn. In my ramblings of the first book I talk of how I think names are important in this series and now knowing his name is like calling Voldemort by his name instead of you know who but you know less dangerous.
Keris Veturia:
I really feel like the Commandant is the worst and most dangerous of them all. I really feel like her only moment of weakness was when she fell for Elias' dad that's it. It is very wise to fear her. I'm excited to learn her backstory though when and how did she become this monster.
Main Characters
Helene Aquilla
My song is not one of peace. It is one of failure and pain. My song is one of battle and blood, death and power. It is not the song of Helene Aquilla. It is the song of the Blood Shrike.
She has become one of my most favourite characters of all time. In my ramblings of the first book I talk of how I think names are important in this series and I loved the transition from her chapter names being Helene (in the previous book) to Blood Shrike now. I love how Sabaa shows us how broken our character is after everything she's lost. I love her friendships forming with the Cook. I love how she's finally learning some politics and is leading.
Laia of Serra:
“Everyone believes that nothing concerns them until the monsters are knocking on their doors!” She winces at my shriek, but I do not care. “Until they are burning down your homes and destroying your lives and killing your families!”
I'm liking her more. I do thinks she's sort of impulsive though. But she's becoming fierce and she's fighting for what she believes.
Elias:
Duty must reign over all else. Love cannot live here.
Elias' role in this book is basically to come to accept that he is now the Soul Catcher not Elias. Which means no more Laia.. His struggle was tragic to watch.
Minor Characters:
Cook:
Curse this world for what it does to the mothers, for what it does to the daughters. Curse it for making us strong through loss and pain, our hearts torn from our chests again and again. Curse it for forcing us to endure.
HOLY COW I WAS RIGHT.
Musa:
Not sure how I feel about this one ye he's fun though.
Darin:
If I have a complain about this book it's how little we got to see of this guy. It's just not fair after everything we've been through with the first 2 books.
Harper:
We need to see more of him. He's amazing.
Afya:
This sassy lady is so much fun.
Livia:
So brave. So patient. I can't imagine what she feels like
Ships
Elias and Laia:
“This isn’t the end for us, Laia of Serra.” I cannot give up what we could have. I don’t care what bleeding vow I made. “Do you hear me? This is not our end.”
“You’ve never been a liar.” She dashes her hands against the wetness in her eyes. “Don’t start now.”
Me:
Helene and Harper:
“Your face couldn’t be anything but beautiful, Blood Shrike. With or without the mask.”
My blush rises, and this time there is no mask to hide it. I don’t know what to do with my hands. My hair must look a mess. I must look a mess. Doesn’t matter. It’s just Harper.
But it’s not just Harper anymore, is it?
Me:
I want to scream at Helene to stop being stubborn and already get together with him. They both deserve this and so much more
Complains
I gave the previous 2 books 5 stars but I'm going to give this one 4:
1. Darin: seriously everything that happens in the first 2 books is to get this guy back and safe. And now when he finally is we barely get to see him. Seems a little anti climatic.
2. This book was a little too much. So much was happening together. We have Adisa, the ghosts escaping, the faqirs, the conspiracies and battles between the blood shrike and the commandant. Remember the simpler days when it was just about the scholar resistance against the cruel Martials. This was a little too much too fast for my tiny brain to comprehend in time.
4 stars!
I cannot wait for the final book to come out and Tahir to destroy my soul all over again. Exciting!
________________
Books should come with a warning "May Destroy Your Soul. Proceed with caution".
Sabaa Tahir: need people to torture their souls indirectly
Me:
Writing and Plot
I love the way Tahir writes . And the only way to describe it is as a long beautiful but tragic song maybe an opera show (I obviously don't know for sure I've never watched one but I imagine it to be as dramatic as her books). But no words I say can do justice to the world she's created so just go ahead and read for yourself.
In this book we got more into the magical element of it. Mauth has a bigger role. And we have faqirs (DAMN I LOVE THIS WOMAN AND HER REFERENCES FROM OUR CULTURE). We learn some background stories. We have some new characters. And the stakes are just getting higher.
I love her Villains ; I'm going to talk about them before talking about the main characters because without them these books wouldn't have been the same.
Marcus Farrar:
“My brave bird.” Marcus smiles at her, and I want to rip his throat out. “You know I like it better when you scream.”
He's a monster through and through; he was only ever humane around his brother and with his brother his humanity too died.
Spoiler
But then we see him in his final moments and not exactly redemption because he definitely does not deserve that but he could've ordered Helene to heal him instead he asks for a merciful killing blow and we know monsters were only ever human. In my head this made more senseNightbringer:
You are our Meherya. Your heart is made to love. To give. Not to take. That is why you are king of the jinn.
Finally we learn the backstory of the Nightbrinnger and the jinn and their hatred towards everyone. Is he really the villain we made him up to be. I think he's more of an Anti Hero and I want more of him and the jinn. In my ramblings of the first book I talk of how I think names are important in this series and now knowing his name is like calling Voldemort by his name instead of you know who but you know less dangerous.
Keris Veturia:
I really feel like the Commandant is the worst and most dangerous of them all. I really feel like her only moment of weakness was when she fell for Elias' dad that's it. It is very wise to fear her. I'm excited to learn her backstory though when and how did she become this monster.
Main Characters
Helene Aquilla
My song is not one of peace. It is one of failure and pain. My song is one of battle and blood, death and power. It is not the song of Helene Aquilla. It is the song of the Blood Shrike.
She has become one of my most favourite characters of all time. In my ramblings of the first book I talk of how I think names are important in this series and I loved the transition from her chapter names being Helene (in the previous book) to Blood Shrike now. I love how Sabaa shows us how broken our character is after everything she's lost. I love her friendships forming with the Cook. I love how she's finally learning some politics and is leading.
Laia of Serra:
“Everyone believes that nothing concerns them until the monsters are knocking on their doors!” She winces at my shriek, but I do not care. “Until they are burning down your homes and destroying your lives and killing your families!”
I'm liking her more. I do thinks she's sort of impulsive though. But she's becoming fierce and she's fighting for what she believes.
Elias:
Duty must reign over all else. Love cannot live here.
Elias' role in this book is basically to come to accept that he is now the Soul Catcher not Elias. Which means no more Laia.. His struggle was tragic to watch.
Minor Characters:
Cook:
Curse this world for what it does to the mothers, for what it does to the daughters. Curse it for making us strong through loss and pain, our hearts torn from our chests again and again. Curse it for forcing us to endure.
HOLY COW I WAS RIGHT.
Musa:
Not sure how I feel about this one ye he's fun though.
Darin:
If I have a complain about this book it's how little we got to see of this guy. It's just not fair after everything we've been through with the first 2 books.
Harper:
We need to see more of him. He's amazing.
Afya:
This sassy lady is so much fun.
Livia:
So brave. So patient. I can't imagine what she feels like
Ships
Elias and Laia:
“This isn’t the end for us, Laia of Serra.” I cannot give up what we could have. I don’t care what bleeding vow I made. “Do you hear me? This is not our end.”
“You’ve never been a liar.” She dashes her hands against the wetness in her eyes. “Don’t start now.”
Me:
Helene and Harper:
“Your face couldn’t be anything but beautiful, Blood Shrike. With or without the mask.”
My blush rises, and this time there is no mask to hide it. I don’t know what to do with my hands. My hair must look a mess. I must look a mess. Doesn’t matter. It’s just Harper.
But it’s not just Harper anymore, is it?
Me:
I want to scream at Helene to stop being stubborn and already get together with him. They both deserve this and so much more
Complains
I gave the previous 2 books 5 stars but I'm going to give this one 4:
1. Darin: seriously everything that happens in the first 2 books is to get this guy back and safe. And now when he finally is we barely get to see him. Seems a little anti climatic.
2. This book was a little too much. So much was happening together. We have Adisa, the ghosts escaping, the faqirs, the conspiracies and battles between the blood shrike and the commandant. Remember the simpler days when it was just about the scholar resistance against the cruel Martials. This was a little too much too fast for my tiny brain to comprehend in time.
4 stars!
I cannot wait for the final book to come out and Tahir to destroy my soul all over again. Exciting!
________________
Books should come with a warning "May Destroy Your Soul. Proceed with caution".