Review--A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir

 

Prepare for the jaw-dropping finale to the beloved New York Times bestselling series.

The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning.

By his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family.

Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory—or to an unimaginable doom.

And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life—and love—he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save—or destroy—all that he knows.

 

 

Well it took me ages, but I finally finished Sabaa Tahir’s finale to the An Ember in the Ashes quartet, A Sky Beyond the Storm. This is it you guys, the big finale, and what a rush it’s been! This series has been nothing but epic and we’ve known since the beginning Sabaa doesn’t pull any punches and she hits us hard in this last stand!

The world that we know it is in chaos. War is coming, it’s inevitable. Laia and Helene have teamed up to try to take down the Commandant and the jinn. Laia has her sights set on the Nightbringer for all the pain he’s caused. Meanwhile Elias has become the Soul Catcher and has lost the part of him that was Elias. You can see him there sometimes, it’s like that part that is the Soul Catcher is trying to keep him buried while the part that is Elias is trying to fight back.

I’ve realized when it takes me longer to read a book, bad things happen, like my memory recall for reviews. Yes I was taking notes, but I was also struggling a bit to get back into the series with the two plus year gap between reads. I had my recap notes but that can only go so far when the time between books is longer than a year. But though this review may be pitiful, I did enjoy the story and was able to get back into the flow of things easily, I just couldn’t remember all the struggles that came before.

The story basically has war coming and Laia and Helene are apart for most of the book. When Laia crosses paths with the Soul Catcher she is determined to bring Elias back to himself and we watch this happen while Helene is fighting to keep her nephew and sister safe from Keris’ numerous assassinations attempts. She wants her nephew to be emperor someday and will do everything she can to protect him.

Like before, we get many points of view in this book. It’s mostly just Laia, Helene, and the Soul Catcher. I love that Sabaa does this! It’s so fun to get to see these characters’ thoughts. We’ve watched them all grow for so long that you’re desperate to see them all reach their happy ending. But as we know, Sabaa isn’t one for happy endings all around. I will say that I was surprised by who was caught in the bloodshed. I guess I was expecting more tears than what I had! So I guess that’s a plus? Lol. Don’t get me wrong, the deaths that we had killed a piece of me too and each one you can’t help but think how can this get worse? And Sabba will show just how much worse it can get. I did predict one death spot on, but the aftermath was something I did not see coming!

This book was also very emotional, I mean despite the deaths happening left and right, these main characters all go through a lot of ordeals, some happy, a lot not so happy and Sabba writes all these moments so beautifully. Every heartbreak was well written, all the happy moments were so endearing. While the story may not go in the directions a reader will like, you have to admit Sabaa is a master storyteller.

There were some romantic interludes between certain characters. I won’t name names, but you can get the idea of who’s who! These were always stolen moments, since there was so much chaos going on in this epic finale. It’s the stolen moments that are always more special and you can’t help but swoon for the characters in finding a bit of happiness amidst all the danger.

The ending itself was surprising in some sense. I’d say I expected the majority of it, though I had one twist in my head happening and Sabaa went in another direction. Granted, I’m happier for Sabba’s choice as mine seemed darker in a sense. Lol. Needless to say it seemed like Sabba gave us a bit of a reprieve after everything she put us through in this series. It was an epic end to an epic series to say the least! If you’re looking for a unique fantasy series filled with adventure, story, heart, action, turmoil, and anything else you could imagine, you’ll find that and more in the An Ember in the Ashes quartet!

 

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars