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A review by banannatoast
A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
There are a number of things I don’t love about this book, but this deep into a series I’m so attached that I still quite enjoyed myself.
The writing in this is great. The language is so emphatic and evocative. It borders on pretentious occasionally but I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t exactly the type of shit I like. Admittedly it felt a little heavy handed at times with all the flowery talk about how the villains are just like us, since it was their traumatic childhoods that made them the way they are, blah blah blah. Like, okay, but some people are traumatized and still manage not to commit genocide so forgive me if I’m not really vibing with the forgiveness motif.
My biggest pet peeve in this book is the resolution. After all the build up and the (great) fight scenes and the loss, the resolution just beingLaia having a heart-to-heart with the Nightbringer ?!?!? Are you kidding? Four whole books for that corny shit?
On the other hand, each of the main characters individual arc is quite satisfying. I think all three have great development, and I like who they end up being in the end. The side characters feel a little underdeveloped sometimes, which might be a good thing consideringthey kept getting brutally murdered , but perhaps some of the cast wasn’t really needed in the first place if they were just going to be props for Helene’s good guy arc, idk.
Anyway this was definitely the last book in a series. I dunno, there’s something that feels unsatisfying about it, but it does conclude what it needs to. It’s just like the happy ever after just happened without being earned. And don’t try to tell me that it was earned just cause everyone suffered. That’s not how that works. Like the happy ending wasn’t brought about by the autonomous choices of the characters or something, it’s weird. I had a good time in the middle part I think
The writing in this is great. The language is so emphatic and evocative. It borders on pretentious occasionally but I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t exactly the type of shit I like. Admittedly it felt a little heavy handed at times with all the flowery talk about how the villains are just like us, since it was their traumatic childhoods that made them the way they are, blah blah blah. Like, okay, but some people are traumatized and still manage not to commit genocide so forgive me if I’m not really vibing with the forgiveness motif.
My biggest pet peeve in this book is the resolution. After all the build up and the (great) fight scenes and the loss, the resolution just being
On the other hand, each of the main characters individual arc is quite satisfying. I think all three have great development, and I like who they end up being in the end. The side characters feel a little underdeveloped sometimes, which might be a good thing considering
Anyway this was definitely the last book in a series. I dunno, there’s something that feels unsatisfying about it, but it does conclude what it needs to. It’s just like the happy ever after just happened without being earned. And don’t try to tell me that it was earned just cause everyone suffered. That’s not how that works. Like the happy ending wasn’t brought about by the autonomous choices of the characters or something, it’s weird. I had a good time in the middle part I think
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief
Moderate: Genocide