Beyond the Martial Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.
Helene Aquilla, the Blood Shrike, is desperate to protect her sister's life and the lives of everyone in the Empire. Yet danger lurks on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable and violent, while Keris Venturia, the ruthless Commandant, capitalizes on the Emperor's volatility to grow her own power-- regardless of the carnage she leaves in her path.
Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows that the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. During thh hunt to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would help her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she'd have to fight.
And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. However, in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that demands his complete surrender-- even if it means abandoning the woman he loves.
Loved
- The depth of the characters. One aspect of this story that separates it from other YA fiction is that each of the characters is very complex, torn and multi-dimensional. Each character, down to the secondary characters, has demons that overwhelm and even inhibit him/her, and each must constantly fight to overcome horrors from the past, deep-rooted fears, and heart-wrenching battles between duty and love. Just when we readers feel comfortable with a character, he/she develops, changes, and surprises us. These characters are fascinating because they have to choose over and over where their loyalty lies, what and who is most important, and how they will react to the twists and decisions given them. We get to watch these characters grow so much through their disastrous mistakes, impulsive decisions, and misplaced loyalties. Each character has developed so much throughout the series and each is a very different character than we met in the first chapters of the first book. I can't wait to see where these characters' paths take them and who they decide to be in the end.
- The writing. Sabaa Tahir is a masterful storyteller. She weaves tiny details throughout the story that go unnoticed until she reveals a truth you can't believe you missed since it was in your face the whole time. Tahir has the ability to give us just enough clues to start making connections, but they are subtle enough that each twist in the plot is shocking and unexpected. I feel like authors are so rushed and pressured from their publishers these days that many books feel patched together and unpolished, but it's obvious reading this series that Tahir knew exactly what she was doing from the beginning. Her engaging and lyrical prose align perfectly in a layered of tapestry of subtle clues and details to create gorgeous storytelling throughout the series.
- The villains. I talked about this in my other reviews of this series, but Tahir just writes the best villains because they are so human. Even the jinn lord- the immortal bringer of horror and destruction- is hauntingly human in his ability to love and his awareness that what he is doing is wrong. These villains are so well-written because they do atrocious things, but we still can't bring ourselves to completely hate them because they have a little goodness hidden deep within them. From the Commandant, who loved a baby son once, to Marcus, who is haunted by the brother he loves- these villains become more twisted, yet more relatable the more we know about them, which gives another layer of depth and dimension to the series.
- The prophecies. This book was unique in that there were several prophecies given that are fulfilled by the end of the story. I'm always excited when we get prophecies in fantasy worlds because they add a framework of mystery, anticipation, and revelation once they're fulfilled. Of course, these prophecies did not turn out as expected and were the perfect setup for awesome plot twists and jaw-dropping reveals.
Didn't Love
- This book is my least favorite out of the series so far, but I still loved it. After A Torch Against the Night, I was so excited for this third book and was so pumped after some of the huge twists. However, it took me a while to get my footing in Reaper at the Gates and I found myself frequently asking, "Wait what happened?" or "Why did they have to do that again?" I had a hard time keeping up with the complicated intrigue and politics in the Empire, the forming armies, the secrets of the Waiting Place, the confusion of the ghosts, and the journey to find out about the Nightbringer. I felt a little lost at times and I definitely felt like much of this story was buildup for the last book. However, some of that lost feeling may have been because I was both listening to the audiobook and reading the physical copy- jumping back and forth. By the end I felt confident in what was going on, but there was so much detail and complexity that at times I just held on for the ride and couldn't quite get my head above water with everything that was going on.
Content
Content
- Language:
- Fairly frequent uses of "a**," "damn," and "whore."
- Frequent uses of "Bit**."
- Very frequent uses of the phrase "ten hells," or "bleeding hells."
- Very frequent uses of "bleeding" or "bloody."
- Sexual content:
- A female character tells a male character to go to a brothel in order to distract himself from guilt. She says she has gone there before and enjoyed it.
- A heated, but quick kiss between male and female characters.
- A male character fantasizes about exploring the curves of a female.
- Steamy scene between male and female character. No sex, but she wraps her legs around his waist, he pulls her on to the bed, she moves her hands "lower, lower than his chest" and he traces the indent of her stomach and then puts his hand further. Described as "we both start to rid ourselves of our clothes," and then they are interrupted.
- A female soldier gets dressed in front of a male after sleeping naked. She asks him if he hasn't ever seen a soldier naked before, and he says, "not one like you."
- Violence:
- As in the other books, we've got a LOT of violence in this book.
- Injuries/deaths from throat slashings, stabbings, and arrow piercings are a regular occurrence and happen in nearly every chapter.
- A character abuses his wife by breaking her fingers and arms as a torture. Mentions of her bruises on her throat and arms from him.
- A character is nearly assassinated- gets a deep wound in her stomach and nearly dies.
- Characters are poisoned and die in front of other characters.
- A woman breaks the neck of her husband and child to prevent their further suffering.
- A character describes different incidents of killing enemies. The descriptions of each death are graphic because the character feels so much pain and guilt for each death caused.
- Ghosts inhabit bodies and have supernatural strength. They attack loved ones, killing them brutally and severely injuring them.
- A brutal battle at the end of the book is particularly violent:
- Women and children are sacrificed by fire.
- The ghosts of these women and children are forced to stay and fight, inhabiting bodies and becoming unnaturally strong.
- Many descriptions of soldiers, civilians, and children being stabbed, shot with arrows, or killed in fire/explosions.
- Two children killed by a blast from the sky.
- Other themes:
- There is a place called the Waiting Place, where souls wait to pass on to the next life. Some souls are disturbed and angry at their deaths and they cannot move on. One character must coax some characters to move on to the next life and help them make peace with their deaths.
- A disturbing theme of spirits possessing bodies and attacking the body's loved ones.
- An army comes from a nation who enslave and abuse women physically and sexually. They sacrifice women and children and force their spirits to fight.
- A woman gives birth- an intense scene with detailed descriptions of the birth and those helping her.
- LGBTQ: It is implied that a secondary male character has a secret relationship with a man. Another character wonders what the Empire would think if they knew.
- Fairly frequent uses of "a**," "damn," and "whore."
- Frequent uses of "Bit**."
- Very frequent uses of the phrase "ten hells," or "bleeding hells."
- Very frequent uses of "bleeding" or "bloody."
- A female character tells a male character to go to a brothel in order to distract himself from guilt. She says she has gone there before and enjoyed it.
- A heated, but quick kiss between male and female characters.
- A male character fantasizes about exploring the curves of a female.
- Steamy scene between male and female character. No sex, but she wraps her legs around his waist, he pulls her on to the bed, she moves her hands "lower, lower than his chest" and he traces the indent of her stomach and then puts his hand further. Described as "we both start to rid ourselves of our clothes," and then they are interrupted.
- A female soldier gets dressed in front of a male after sleeping naked. She asks him if he hasn't ever seen a soldier naked before, and he says, "not one like you."
- As in the other books, we've got a LOT of violence in this book.
- Injuries/deaths from throat slashings, stabbings, and arrow piercings are a regular occurrence and happen in nearly every chapter.
- A character abuses his wife by breaking her fingers and arms as a torture. Mentions of her bruises on her throat and arms from him.
- A character is nearly assassinated- gets a deep wound in her stomach and nearly dies.
- Characters are poisoned and die in front of other characters.
- A woman breaks the neck of her husband and child to prevent their further suffering.
- A character describes different incidents of killing enemies. The descriptions of each death are graphic because the character feels so much pain and guilt for each death caused.
- Ghosts inhabit bodies and have supernatural strength. They attack loved ones, killing them brutally and severely injuring them.
- A brutal battle at the end of the book is particularly violent:
- Women and children are sacrificed by fire.
- The ghosts of these women and children are forced to stay and fight, inhabiting bodies and becoming unnaturally strong.
- Many descriptions of soldiers, civilians, and children being stabbed, shot with arrows, or killed in fire/explosions.
- Two children killed by a blast from the sky.
- There is a place called the Waiting Place, where souls wait to pass on to the next life. Some souls are disturbed and angry at their deaths and they cannot move on. One character must coax some characters to move on to the next life and help them make peace with their deaths.
- A disturbing theme of spirits possessing bodies and attacking the body's loved ones.
- An army comes from a nation who enslave and abuse women physically and sexually. They sacrifice women and children and force their spirits to fight.
- A woman gives birth- an intense scene with detailed descriptions of the birth and those helping her.
- LGBTQ: It is implied that a secondary male character has a secret relationship with a man. Another character wonders what the Empire would think if they knew.
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