Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - A Sky Beyond the Storm

i’ve had a weird relationship with this whole series, the first book was enjoyable, the second book left me very disappointed and bored, and i didn’t care enough to pay much attention to the third book, so at this point i just wanted to be done with this series.

in book 3 i noticed that Elias’ chapters were so useless to the story so i literally skipped all his chapters, this won’t effect your knowledge of the book at all because he’s that unneeded. Laia was as annoying as ever, she just got even more special and kept being stupid. and a Helene, the only character i somewhat liked in this series, didn’t feel much like Helene. i saw a review of someone saying that they could not tell if they were reading a chapter from Laila or Helene’s POV and that’s exactly how i felt.

many things here didn’t make much sense,

Spoiler

it bugs me how unnecessary it was to kill Harper and Livia, it’s almost like the author does it only to be quirky and say “killing your faves lol” as some kind of millennial-author-humor but it just looks like lazy writing and it was clearly pointless. Helene could’ve perfectly become Empress even if Livia and Harper were still alive so… why? the way Keris died and the last battle was pretty bad, not gonna go deep into that because i don’t want to.

Helene and Laia absolutely loving each other and Laia turning in this super skilled Mary Sue was so irritating, rolled my eyes a lot.

i knew how this book was gonna end before even starting it because it was THAT predictable but the kind of “happy” ending will surely satisfy someone who loved this series. i, however, did not.

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rachellewiski's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

Do not read this series of you value your happiness, this book will destroy you.

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monilib's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

aw, I cried during the ending! i really liked the ending of the series and this was definitely my favourite one in the whole series (I did have to Google all of the world history because I had forgotten them from the previous books).

i liked the writing and atmosphere, k enjoyed the character banter and dynamics, so much KILLING OF CHARACTERS (she did not hold back, all the consequences), andII loved how it resolved too

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water_violin's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

5.0

Whew! What a saga! I don’t think I can really review only this book (it was really just a small part of the entire story), but: it was so good. Heart wrenching. Beautiful. There is so much to love and so much to grieve. The story is gritty and real and doesn’t pull punches. It is full of violence and love and horror and hope. Although the resolution is gorgeous and satisfying, do not start reading this series expecting a happy story. You’ll learn to love so many fascinating, diverse characters and... some of them won’t make it to the end. Overall, these books are heavy, but beautifully written.

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ehmannky's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Overall, a solid finish for the Ember series and I liked where all of the main characters wound up. This book really goes deeper into the pitfalls of revenge v justice and emphasizes the ideas that if your forbearers did harm to a population, it is your responsibility to make it right as best you can. All of that wrapped up with incredibly fast-paced action, wonderful characters (also, I was about to tear my hair out with Elias and Laia for like 9/10ths of this book and it ruled. The pining was magnificent), and what I considered a pretty solid ending.

However, I did have some problems with the ending I think that my biggest qualm came with the ending on a more philosophical scale (I was fine with all the deaths and the personal ends of the main characters).

Spoiler

I don't know how I feel about the fact that the Martials still get to have an empire and that an Empress (even if that empress is Helene) is in charge of this country. I feel like I would have personally felt a more equitable ending would be...I don't know, giving the Tribal people complete independence (or at least a vote on if they wanted to leave) and the Scholars should have gotten either a full on country supported by the Martials or every Scholar should have gotten so much money and land since they just went through another genocide. As I said, the book does reiterate the point that you are responsible for making right the sins of your forbearers, and that even if you didn't personally do something that you need to make it right. Also, I would have loved it if Tahir had kept with the idea that Helene is not going to be forgiven by all she hurt and she would have to be okay with that, rather than implying that she is eventually forgiven by those like Mamie Rilla.

As my rating indicates, I didn't find it *that* much of a hinderance in my enjoyment of the series, and I can accept this ending as fair to the extent that the world Tahir will allow it to be.

I honestly can't wait to read whatever Tahir comes out with next, because if I like it half as much as I liked this series, I'm going to love it.

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