Book: “A Sky Beyond The Storm” Sabaa Tahir
Genre: YA Fantasy
Format: Audiobook
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Blogger’s Note: Thank you to Penguin Random House Audio for the free copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review!
“A Sky Beyond The Storm” is the fourth and final installment of the Ember in the Ashes series hailing from the masterful pen of Sabaa Tahir. This epic fantasy series follows the story of Laia, Elias and Helene as they fight against the Nightbringer in order to save the empire and the people that they love. For a full synopsis of “A Sky Beyond the Storm” from Amazon, click here.
Clocking in at 527 pages, this book is a little longer than some of my traditional reads so I opted to pick up the audiobook. Thanks to PRH Audio, I was able to enjoy the audio format which enabled me to dive into this book while being on the go. I actually managed to help my in-laws move boxes into their new home while listening to this magnificent story on my earbuds and it helped the time pass quickly.
The narration on this audiobook was outstanding! With a full cast of voice actors, I loved hearing the different points of view and could easily recognize which character was speaking based on the high quality narration. My favorite narrator was the woman who did the voice acting for the Helene, the blood shrike. Her accent was unique, easy to listen to and was easily identifiable. I was able to recognize her voice from previous audiobooks in the series and I was so happy to hear that the same narrators were back for this novel! I also found myself particularly drawn to her story in this novel. Throughout the series, I enjoyed the storyline for Laia and Elias but over the course of the last two books, Helene stole the show! Her character grew and developed and readers get to see this transition occurring over time slowly. Each detail leads Helene closer to her destiny and I was pleased with where her travels led her.
After the first three books in the series, I knew exactly what I was getting into. Tahir’s writing is elegantly descriptive and vivid while the content is both entertaining and philosophical. This is not a typical young adult series based on over played tropes. Rather than shallow and vapid characters, this series provides readers with multidimensional complex characters. The diversity in this series is fabulous as well. Within the story, there are many different groups of people all with their own unique culture which is explored and detailed. While her characters are well developed, the story is never bogged down or too slow. Instead, Sabaa Tahir has created an epic series that will take fantasy readers on the ride of their lives!
In this series (as is the author’s signature by now) no character is safe! Without providing too many spoilers, this book ripped out my heart and left me feeling quite emotional at times. I would often be reading and then come across a particular event or scene in the book where a major change occurred and I would feel the need to run and tell a friend who was also reading the book. At times I felt frustrated with the author… asking myself “How could you do this to my favorite characters?” However, I loved that I felt this way! I was truly engaged in the storyline and often talking out loud to myself responding to things that were occurring in the novel.
After finishing this incredible series, my heart is certainly more full than before. “A Sky Beyond The Storm” was the perfect ending to a wonderful journey that belongs in the hands of fantasy lovers everywhere!
Recommendations: Highly recommend for any fantasy reader!
Blogger’s Note: A special thank you to Sudio for the gifted ETT headphones! These earbuds have been amazing and I’ve enjoyed devouring audiobooks with them while I’m on the go! Want to check out Sudio headphones for yourself?
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