Book: A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir
Read From: 13th February - 27th February 2022
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Summary (An Ember in the Ashes): Laia is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason and her family slain, Laia must go undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from those who claim they can free her brother. The academy’s finest soldier Elias is secretly its most unwilling. But before he can act on the desertion he plans, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Emperor. When Laia and Elias’s paths collide, they find that their destinies are inescapably intertwined...
I’m so sad I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first two books in the series. I think my enjoyment is definitely reflected in how long it took me to read this, in comparison to books 1 and 2 which took me only 3 days each. You know the multiple POV books where one of the perspectives is far more interesting than the others? I definitely felt that way about this one - I found myself really looking forward to Helene’s POV and I didn’t really care about Elias and Laia.
With Elias in particular, it felt as though nothing really happened during his chapters and without saying too much as to spoil previous books, the back and forth nature of going to and from the Waiting Place began to get a little bit repetitive. Whilst Laia and Helene’s POV’s started to pick up towards the end of the book, I felt like the majority of it was slowly building up tension for the explosive ending. I did really enjoy being back with these characters but I think my enjoyment could have been tainted by the absolutely outstanding book I was reading alongside this (House of Sky and Breath), which is definitely no one’s fault but my own.
I finished the second book with high hopes for further exploration into the magic system in this book but at the moment it seems to be focusing mainly on the existence of mythical and fantastical beings rather than what they can do and their abilities. Whilst I do think the focus will be shifted in the final book, I can’t say I’m in any rush to pick it up and continue my binge-read. This book definitely left me with a lot more questions than answers and for a third book in the series I would have expected at least SOME things to have been explained by this point.
I didn’t massively dislike this book but it’s definitely not my favourite in the series and I think it’s only solidified the fact that I can’t see myself rereading this series. I’m not 100% convinced I will read the final book, I feel as though I should just for the sake of completion, but it didn’t come in the paperback box set so that’s definitely impacted my motivation to pick it up. If I did have it, I would have read it but I suppose time will tell as to whether I get around to buying it. Saying that though, I would definitely recommend this series. Whilst this third book wasn’t necessarily for me, I had such an amazing reading experience with the first two books and I can fully appreciate why this is a popular series!