A review by crimsoncor
A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir

3.0

Pretty much all the same problems as with the other books. Lets talk about Elias for a moment.

Spoiler

He's got to become the guy who ushers the spirits into the next world. Cool. He agrees to do this. And then spends most of the book doing the exact opposite of what he needs to do to actual fulfill his promise. And then, predictably, everything goes to shit because he isn't doing what he needs to do. And you'd expect that this might be a moment when he has some character growth and realizes what he needs to do. But no. He doesn't learn anything. The moment he is faced with his failure and has to turn down helping Laia, is is because Mauth takes him over. Clearly he didn't learn anything, it is all motivated by plot. If he had actually made that decision, great. But he doesn't. It is so meaningless.

. But hey, Helene is kinda cool in this book and Musa is a great character (yeah, he's a trope, but a super fun side character). It could be worse. I just wish it was so much better.