Sabaa Tahir is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the An Ember in the Ashes series, which has been translated into over thirty-five languages. She grew up in California's Mojave Desert at her family's eighteen-room motel. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother's comic book stash, and playing guitar badly. She began writing An Ember in the Ashes while working nights as a newspaper editor. She likes thunderous indie rock, garish socks, and all things nerd. Sabaa currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. You can find Sabaa at her website SabaaTahir.com or on Instagram and Twitter @SabaaTahir. You can find more of my reviews of Sabaa's work here.
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 Veuria 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.
Laia is the girl who started it all, and I'm so glad we get to see this quartet all the way to its end with her. She has become stronger, determined, courageous all throughout the course of these books. It's crazy to think that she was the same girl who withstood Keris's torment in An Ember in the Ashes, and who survived despite all the odds. In this finale, Laia faces yet another prophecy, and a potential enemy within herself. I truly think Laia became the vessel that held all the questions that this story was trying to ask: how will we survive a storm? how can we find happiness in destruction? is happiness possible for survivors? She was also the one who led us to all of these answers. In that sense, the way Laia's story closed was uplifting, but not without its tragedies. Laia's (and everyone else's, for that matter) story reaches a happy ending, even if it's not in the way that we expect.
The way Elias's story pivoted to that of the Soul Catcher's after A Torch Against the Night was a real turning point in the quartet. It was really hard to think of Elias as the Soul Catcher, but all to evident that that's what he'd become. In this last installment, the Soul Catcher has a lot of soul finding to do, and he is helped along by those he battles beside. The ending of his story is phenomenal. All of his loose-ends are tied up. It's almost as if Sabaa Tahir was planning for the Soul Catcher's story to follow exactly this path, that's how complete the character arc and plot felt as it pertained to his character.
Just because the Blood Shrike isn't on the cover of the last installment doesn't mean her presence is diminished or lesser in the slightest. In fact, her role in this finale cannot be underestimated. Not only is she the Blood Shrike and the face of the Empire under Zacharias, but she is the character who, quite possibly, suffers the most. Helene has become an incredible character to track throughout the books, and she really finds out who she is here, after losing an integral part of her identity. That is not easy, so being able to persevere, to find happiness within the darkness, and to prevail in the face of loss is incredible. The way Helene's story ended was shocking, heartbreaking, and a very full-circle type thing.
The most fantastic part of this finale is the way that Sabaa Tahir humanized all of her villains--and yes, I mean all. Every single villain that you didn't think you would ever be able to empathize with gets a backstory. This is singlehandedly the most impressive part of this book (and series overall) because it's what makes this book so full of heart and soul. It's indescribable how it made me feel, for all of the characters, good and bad and grey. Sabaa Tahir's skill in this cannot be looked over. It took her heart and soul to write this last installment, and you can feel it all with each sentence. My jaw dropped three separate times, and I teared up twice. I don't usually express that much emotion when reading. I just know that this story is going to haunt me, inspire me, motivate me, and stick with me for the rest of my life. Thank you Sabaa for writing this quartet! I think I agree with all readers when I say that it has changed me, for the better.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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