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adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder
Moderate: Violence, Blood, War
Minor: Death of parent, Classism
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, War
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Iām usually disappointed by finales but that is not the case for this one. This book utterly destroyed me and I craved every second of it. I simply adored it! The conclusion we got felt well earned and devastating. I personally think the final perfectly summed up the series. I think the stakes felt high enough which I sometimes think endings lack. All I know is this series will forever sit in my feelings and I am excited to get into the follow up series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, War
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Grief, War
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Sexual content
This is a series that should be read through together back to back to back. I hadn't done a reread before tackling Sky, and I wish I had had the time (though I am looking forward to a future reread down the line).
Tahir frustrated me at times by switching narrators/plot lines just when it was getting really good, but I understand that choice. The book also wraps up cleanly (though not pleasantly - girlfriend is in the George RR Martin camp of killing characters), and I felt it resolved a lot of issues (though I think on my reread I'll be fully satisfied when I fully remember all the minor details Tahir weaves together). I would still like more about Keris (I'd love a "Fairest" style book from her perspective) but she is meant to be an enigma.
Overall, I'd recommend this series (especially since it's now completed) but recommend each book be taken down in quick succession so you can appreciate all the small details Tahir builds upon and weaves together.
In 2024 on the reread - Sabaa is amazing, this series is amazing, and it's even better on the reread.
Tahir frustrated me at times by switching narrators/plot lines just when it was getting really good, but I understand that choice. The book also wraps up cleanly (though not pleasantly - girlfriend is in the George RR Martin camp of killing characters), and I felt it resolved a lot of issues (though I think on my reread I'll be fully satisfied when I fully remember all the minor details Tahir weaves together). I would still like more about Keris (I'd love a "Fairest" style book from her perspective) but she is meant to be an enigma.
Overall, I'd recommend this series (especially since it's now completed) but recommend each book be taken down in quick succession so you can appreciate all the small details Tahir builds upon and weaves together.
In 2024 on the reread - Sabaa is amazing, this series is amazing, and it's even better on the reread.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, War
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, War
Moderate: Slavery, Grief
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A good ending to the story, though it did feel quite slow in the middle and then very rushed in the final battle. Plus some of the motivations seemed new and questionable, which makes me wonder whether the author planned it from the start or kind of made it up a little bit as she got to this book. There's also one death I won't forgive her for š¢
Also as I've listened to the whole series on audiobook I was very frustrated by the narrator for Elias being different in this book, and got annoyed every time they pronounced something differently (read: wrongly!) or when they did a voice for another character wrong. So that took me out of the world a little bit, but I still enjoyed this book.
Also as I've listened to the whole series on audiobook I was very frustrated by the narrator for Elias being different in this book, and got annoyed every time they pronounced something differently (read: wrongly!) or when they did a voice for another character wrong. So that took me out of the world a little bit, but I still enjoyed this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
and with that series comes to an end. I've been with this series for over a year now and as someone getting back into fantasy, this honestly helped with exploring the genre even more. I wanted to see how things end with the characters and w/o getting into spoilers im just glad that my predictions were wrong š.
i will say tho that i do prefer the first half of the series more than the second. the story was a lot easier to follow and we saw a lot of world building even in the second book which was nice. This book really sets up the ending and whats next in the ember universe (i.e. heir). if i had to rank the books it would torch>ember>sky>reaper. Overall i think this is a solid especially if were new to fantasy. im going to start heir soon since its my most anticipated release of this year but maybe after a couple of books š
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Sexual content
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
#justiceforhelene
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, War
Moderate: Genocide, Grief
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love this series, but this one was actually my least favorite. I think that is mostly because the entire series has led up to a huge, dramatic conclusion and it felt like the conflict resolved much too easily for the tension I have experienced throughout the rest of this series. There were still plenty of gut-wrenching twists and a lot of depth to this book, but I think the climax felt a little flat for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Classism
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Genocide, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Police brutality
Minor: Sexual content