Book Review: A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir (Spoilers for An Ember in the Ashes and A Torch Against the Night)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing another book review, this one for A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir, the third book in the An Ember in the Ashes quartet. 

Since this is the third book in a series, there will be spoilers for the first two books. This review for A Reaper at the Gates is spoiler-free, however, there will be spoilers for both An Ember in the Ashes and A Torch Against the Night (both of which I've reviewed). 

If you haven't read this series and are interested, I wouldn't recommend reading this review. 

Disclaimer: Major spoilers for A Torch Against the Night follow! You have been warned! 

With that disclaimer aside, let's get into the review!

A Reaper at the Gates was an interesting read. The cliffhanger at the end of A Torch Against the Night is even larger than the one for An Ember in the Ashes. 

The third installment picks up not long after the previous one, so let's recap! Elias has been cured of poison, but he's now the Soul Catcher. Darin has been rescued from Kauf Prison, courtesy of Elias, Tas, and the previous Soul Catcher, Shaeva. Helene has accepted her role as Blood Shrike, making it known that she is no longer Helene Aquilla. At the very end of the novel, Darin has woken from his coma.

When I initially started reading this series, I was under the impression that it was a trilogy. I was convinced that this was the last book, but about 5-7  months before the fourth book was released, I found out that it was meant to be a quartet. I was both excited and disappointed. I was excited because I wasn't ready for the series to end, but I was disappointed because I thought I was really close to finishing the series.

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It seems as if the writing for these books just gets better and better (which doesn't always happen). The characters also get more and more interesting. The chapter format in this novel follows the same people as in A Torch Against the Night (Laia, Elias, and Helene), but the main difference is that Helene's chapters are named differently. What I mean by that is Helene's chapters aren't titled Helene anymore. They are now titled "The Blood Shrike," symbolizing the transformation she had at the end of the previous installment in this series. 

To be honest, I think my favorite POV is probably Elias', though I love Laia's as well. It really just depends on who I like more the day I was reading or whose chapter was more interesting at that moment in time. There were times where I wanted to read the next chapter in Helene's POV, but it didn't happen often. 

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In my review for A Torch Against the Night (linked here: Book Review: A Torch Against the Night (opens in new window)), I talked about how I don't connect with Helene as much as Laia and Elias. This is still true, but I did like Helene a bit more in this installment. She still isn't my favorite, but I found her more likeable and tolerable in this one than the first two.

I really liked reading Darin and Laia's interactions and being able to experience their relationship more. It made the novel and series more enjoyable. It was also incredibly enjoyable to read more about Elias and Laia's relationship. Their relationship isn't the same as it was before due to Elias having more responsibilities as the Soul Catcher. 

It was fascinating to read about the struggles Elias had adjusting and shifting from his old life to his new one. It seemed very realistic. It goes back to a sense of identity and who someone is as a person, and it was interesting.

Helene's POV was also interesting. She still isn't the most likeable character in this series, but she's definitely grown from the first book. Her arc is obviously not completed during this book, but I really enjoyed the arc she had in this third book.

I think the main thing that gets me about Helene is her seemingly unending loyalty to the Martial Empire. The Martial Empire is corrupt and bloodthirsty. They're power hungry and the punishment for defiance is death, so I've never understood how almost blindingly loyal Helene could be to them. 

She's an interesting character to read about, but I don't understand her personality or motives. They make sense for her character and in the context of the story, but they don't make sense to me from a logical standpoint. 

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Overall, I gave A Reaper at the Gates a five star rating on Goodreads. This is still on my list of favorite books. While this is a five star book, I think this may be my least favorite of the four books in the quartet. I still enjoyed it (obviously), but I like the other three more.

That's it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it! 

See you Thursday,

 

Lexi K🖌