slimsbooks 's review for:

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir

5.0

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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So I’m about to cry. I think I was about to cry for the last at most 40% of this book. These characters and these themes and the plot are so maturely developed for a YA series. This is the type of work that inspires me out of a creative slump. The themes of generational trauma in mother daughter relationships, the theme of sacrifice. HELENE AS A CHARACTER she is so easy to hate, love, and understand all at the same time. She made me so angry but in a “you know better than this” kind of way. It kinda makes me misty eyed a little bit. She makes me so angry but sometimes proud. Idk she’s just a really really well developed character. AND OMG MY BOY ELIAS💔 yeah yall that hurt…I have a knot in my chest rn 😞 when he looked at Laia after she ran to him cried in his arms asking for help and he said NO😞 then when his last chapter didn’t use his name anymore that about did it for me. AND LAIA 💜 I’m so so proud of her and her character development. Y’all don’t understand that’s my home girl. She really stood ten toes down in this book and her voice grew so much bigger than where she started. This is my second favorite book of the series. As sad as the ending was, it was poetic and beautiful and I am very inspired. 👏🏾