A Sky Beyond the Storm

“You're tough and smart. You're a survivor, Laia. You always have been.”

please I love this book and this series so much, now I want an elaia novella

This was a spectacular finale but I'm gonna need some time to gather my thoughts and write a review.

It took me foreeeever to read this, in part because of life happening but also becasue this was beautifully written (honestly, her writing has always been good but it's so clearly elevated over the series) BRUTALITY. This series was always about the atrocities and human costs of war, but the body count in this one and the stacks of suffering are especially hard to read right now after a full pandemic year counted in tragedies of every kind. As promised by the title, Tahir does end the series on a hopeful note, and the journeys feels earned for her characters, but prepare yourself going in to it or if you're just starting the series. Light it is not.

I have made the decision to DNF this book and leave the series unfinished. I started this book because while I really did not enjoy book 3, I loved the first two books and I care about the characters. But as I continued with this final book, it became more and more apparent that I just did not care to finish reading. Sabaa Tahir is a fantastic writer but this series was expanded way too many times which for me, lead to books that seem unrealistic and out of character.

For me, I was completely happy with how book 2 ended and was content with that being the end of Elias and Laia's story. I am excited to see what Sabaa writes next and hopefully, she will have a set number of books for any series and not have to deal with attempting to write a series where the number of books was expanded 2 times.

WHY DID EVERYONE DIE AT THE END?!!???‼️‼️
anyways yes this book is chefs kiss

one minor thing that i didn't like, way too dragged out sometimes. i don't think i needed to be 530 pages, but maybe that's just me idkskkfkks

Read for Emberalong

I loved this book so much and the ending was honestly really amazing. When I first read it seemed like an obvious 5 star read but after the Emberalong liveshow (spoilery) I realized it had a couple flaws. A couple things seemed too convinent, but I can't imagine this story ending another way.

Possibly Spoilery Review:

The final leg in the An Ember in the Ashes journey has finished, and let me tell you guys, I was not at all prepared for the way this series would end. This book continues to follow our three main characters: Elias, Laia, and Helene and their journey to fight for the greater good. @Sabaa Tahir is a genius and you can't convince me otherwise. This book was the culmination of an amazing series set in an amazing world that is rich in culture, character development, and plot. This series isn't leaving my mind or my heart anytime soon. The depth that the author writes with is beautiful and thought provoking, and I was emotional from the dedication down to the last page. I have said it in every review that I have done of this series, but I will say it again: to read these books is to experience them. Our three main characters come together to fight a common enemy, and their journey to get there is full of tragedy and unexpected twists and turns. So many character arcs that I won't get into because spoilers. I just loved this series so much, and it will now sit up there next to my favorites of this genre. This is a young adult fantasy, 16+ for violence and themes.

“A Sky Beyond the Storm” by Sabaa Tahir marks the bittersweet end of a beautiful series, leaving me with a lingering sense of sadness. Accidentally spoiling myself through fanart didn't diminish the impact of the heart-wrenching moments, each one still carrying its painful weight.

While I cherished every second with the characters, I yearned for more happy endings for those we grew to love. The final book, although a gripping conclusion, left me wishing for additional Elias and Laia moments instead of Elias grappling with those trying to aid him.

Sabaa Tahir's skillful writing captivated me throughout the series, and even as this chapter closes, I eagerly anticipate discovering more of her work in the future. The Ember Quartet will undoubtedly hold a special place in my literary heart.

This was a fast paced and intense read. I had a hard time putting it down.
I have to leave it content warning for violence, death and sexual content.

MY BABY HELENE IS AN EMPRESS NOW HER POWERRR

The finale of this quartet have kept me spellbound for 500 pages. It was dazzlingly entertaining, and like the previous installments, it was as action-packed as heart-wrenching.

The characters are beautifully layered and complex. Elias, Helene, Laia, Avitas and Musa captured my heart. And I can't recall an antagonist i've sympathized with as much as i did with The Nightbringer. The author has an ability to execute powerful and emotional scenes and this book had myriad of them.

It's not quite often to love every single book in a series but this one is an exception. The world is carefully and meticulously built. The plot is very Incredible with brilliant and rich narratives.

Definitely an all-time favorite. I will have trouble finding an amazing series as this one.

I don't think I've ever been more disappointed in a series than I have been finishing this one.

After rating the first book 5 stars, naturally I bought the rest of the series to binge....and absolutely wish I hasn't bothered.

The first book was so good, the second still good but less so then I've actively disliked books 3 and 4.

I didn't like the direction it went, I didn't like how much the characters changed, I didn't like how far the story in the second half of the series was from the first half and I hated, HATED, Elias's chapters. I just didn't get his entire story arc.

1 star is for Helene because she is great and will remain so. 1 star is for the beautiful covers.

Such a massive disappointment.

This is one of those books that you will read over and over again, envious of someone reading it for the first time. A world is created in which you immerse yourself completely. It has been so well thought out and nothing was described too extensively. The Waiting Place in particular is brilliant, I think it's a nice version of what happens after someone dies. The dynamics between the characters are just right, the friendships and bonds come across as very believable. Sometimes the story slowed down a bit, but by building up to the exciting final battle, the Nightbringer's intensely sad story was even more impressive in the end.

When you are so invested in a story, you have to pause a moment when someone dies. At times I had to put the book down for a while, what a misery. It's also what makes it a great book, nobody's spared from the catastrophes of war.

After the first book, Hel quickly became my favorite character. With everything she endured, she just kept going. She is so strong and loyal, and when her tribulations just didn't stop, I felt for her. She lost everything and everyone, and still fought on. Loyal to the end, indeed.

I am glad I finished. Not a good timing for me, too much war, pain, suffering and dying ...

Wonderful conclusion to an amazing series!

A Sky Beyond the Storm is everything you could want in a series finale. It delivers the perfect balance of closure and heart-pounding action, while still throwing in twists, turns, and unexpected reveals that keep you on edge until the very last page. The stakes are incredibly high, and the characters go through absolute hell, leaving you emotionally reeling as you experience their triumphs and losses right alongside them.

The emotional depth of the characters is more powerful than ever. Every struggle, every sacrifice feels earned, and their growth throughout the series culminates beautifully here. The plot doesn’t let up, and even in the darkest moments, there’s hope, love, and resilience that shine through.

It’s rare for a finale to satisfy every expectation, but this book does just that. It ties up loose ends while maintaining the intensity that made the series so gripping. If you’ve followed Laia, Elias, and Helene on their journey, A Sky Beyond the Storm will give you everything you need and more—just be prepared to feel every emotion along the way!

Currently suffer book hangover.
I'm torn between giving it 4 or 5 stars, because the conclusion didn't satisfy me. I hate that I loved the series so much but the ending left me heartbroken (badly). What is it with the author these days and torturing their characters (and the readers).
I read the first & second installment back in 2018, so I only have so little memory about events happen in the series. It feels like the story took different direction in the third & fourth installment. I'm not rooting for Laia or Elias anymore, but Helene, now The Blood Shrike. The POV jump between the three of them but I only care so much on Helene's story this time.
So many happens I can't make it brief, I'm too heartbroken. Perhaps later I would make decent review, after I get through this painful book hangover. Do read the series, it's definitely worth your time. And prepare your heart my friends, don't say I didn't warn you.
Now excuse me, I want to crawl into a cave & cry for days. Family, please don't need me.

A fabulous end to one of my favorite series of all time. I really need to wait a few years and just read the whole thing in one go instead of reading one, waiting forever, referring to my notes and then reading the latest installment. I really feel Tahir has amazing writing chops and can't wait to see what they do next!

It wasn't a bad book. But not great either. However, as the last book of this series it did exceptionally well. The betrayals and the love felt heartfelt. And the characters seemed unlikely alive. The only problem was that the drive behind the characters wasn't convincing enough.
It's definitely a recommended read. The entire series is great, and something every fiction and young adult fiction fan must read.

There was a time when I thought that An Ember in the Ashes was one of the best series on the YA fantasy market, now I'm not so sure.

This began with my love for An Ember in the Ashes. I loved the setting, with its Roman inspired system of government and military tradition. I liked the plot, as Laia works to help the resistance against the Commandant. I also love Elias and Helene working in the Trials together. I also liked the second book, as the tension is ratcheted up even further. Then came the third novel. It wasn't bad or anything, it was just that I expected more from Tahir. The plot lines were fine, with the notable exception of Elias' because he spent a majority of the novel just running around trying to figure out what to do to become Soul Catcher. With the fourth installment, I was ready to see that Tahir had gotten past her stumble of a third book and was ready for a grand finale of a series. Did I get that? Yes, but not in the way I'd like.

Beginning with the positives, the writing is as great as ever in this book, with some excellent similes and metaphors told through each of our character's eyes. I also like how the tension is well written. Whatever problems I had, I did keep reading, and that is a nod to Tahir's strength as a writer.

I also liked how each character had something fun to do in this novel. Helene has to watch over her sister and the Emperor as she battles with the tribe's people to get back the Empire from the Commandant. Laia is working with her to take down the Nightbringer. Elias is trying to get back into feeling human again, as he finds that being Soul Catcher detaches himself from those he loves the most, but he also sees that there are fewer and fewer souls to pass on, and he doesn't know why. All of these plot lines are interesting and offer up many opportunities for lots of action, which is written as well as ever. I also liked that there was a lot of death in this book, with some main characters taking a hit. Clearly, Tahir went to the George R.R. Martin school of writing, because she is not afraid to kill off important characters, no matter what the reader thinks. This, I like, especially when there is alot of fighting and battles raging.

This is also the strongest book in the series for themes. There are plenty of themes having to do with love and loss. As well as how to deal with grief, both in the moment, and how to use that grief for positive change. This makes for an interesting book to explore in a reading group.

Yet, there were many problems in this book that I simply refused to see in the last instalment or chose to ignore, but showed up here in full force.

The first is the romance of the book. It is filled with the usual YA tropes we see in the genre, such as Will-They-Won't-They scenes, two people who refuse to declare their love because reasons, then everyone getting paired up at the end...because reasons. I'm not saying that this wasn't in the other books, but it was just that Tahir was so good at hiding them that I thought she could do alot better than this.

Then there is Laia as a character. She began this series as such an excellent POV, as she tried to sneak around the Commandant's home looking for information for the resistance. Now, she is basically a Mary Sue in the worst way. In this book she manages to get powers, as she now has the help of a magical spirit who will help her to fight the Nightbringer. Look, I'm all for strong female characters, but this just feels like a last minute rewrite into the story. For most of the series, I admired Laia simply because she didn't have any serious powers. She wasn't the best fighter, nor was she the most powerful, but she chose to fight anyway. Her story showed that it wasn't your skill or your special abilities that gave you the will to fight, but your own determination to see things through to the end. Now, though, she just seems too similar to Elias and Helene for my liking.

This leads me to the magic system for this book. Where in the first novel, we had what I thought was going to be a grounded series, now we have one that uses magic all the time, and not necessarily for the better. The magic system seems to have no rules whatsoever, seeming to rely on the combination of luck and plot conveniences. Why can the Commandant travel thousands of miles to kill someone when she hasn't done this before? Magic. Why can't Laia use her invisibility to hide a group of people as they are being chased, when it worked all the rest of the time? Magic. Why does Elias have the ability to windwalk, but only that ability for most of the story? Magic. It feels like magic is to be used based on whatever Tahir needs at this moment, so fans of Sanderson and McCellan can look elsewhere in terms of a magic system defined by rules, as there isn't any here.

Finally we have the main villain of this story: the Nightbringer. I don't like him. Now only is he the ultimate villain, in that he wants to take over everything, but he does not hold a candle to the Commandant, the villain from the first book.

Firstly, there is the Nightbringer's plan. At first, we thought that he just wanted the Scholars to suffer at the hands of the Empire, and so that is why the Commandant was allied with him, but now we discover in this novel that his plan is to simply destroy the whole world, and everyone in it, including the Nightbringer's allies. This plan never made sense to me in any context, as I never saw this as a decent goal. Why would you take over the world, only to destroy it? To paraphrase the Kingpin from the Marvel universe: The destruction of the world is bad for business.

Then there is the Nightbringer himself. When it comes to his presence, I just don't buy it. He never had the charisma that the Commandant had, and this made him boring to read most of the story. And notice when I talked about the Commandant, I said, had. This is because the woman who had such force and presence in the first three books, with her ability to be both ruthless to people personally, and an excellent military tactician, is now reduced to a plot device here. Then there is her backstory, which is perhaps the most tact on thing in this book. It literally comes in the last 50 pages, out of nowhere, and in no way excuses all the terrible things she has done. In some ways, I would have preferred that we didn't know what caused the Commandant to be this way. It would have made her more mysterious and fun as a villain. Instead we got the safe, and, frankly, more boring option that I'm sure the fans asked for, and Tahir decided to deliver.

In the end, I just don't think that I like where this series ended up in book four compared to book one. Maybe if you like this change, then I can see people loving this series, but for me, I just hated the amount of plot conveniences that Tahir displayed in this book, along with the sheer amount of YA-isms that were in full force in this novel. I will follow Tahir more, and I am eager to see where she goes next as a writer, but I hope her conclusion to a series improves over this one, as she can do so much better than this. I give it a two out of five.

:(