My Favourite Quotes from the Ember in the Ashes Quartet by Sabaa Tahir

A Sky Beyond the Storm is finally out in the UK! I am so excited to dive into this final book but also terrified because I know Sabaa will put us through pain and I am scared for Elias and Laia.

But until I can read the final book here are some of my favourite quotes from the first three books.

An Ember in the Ashes

Fear is only your enemy if you allow it to be.

I’d rather die than live with no mercy, no honour, no soul.

Nan always said that as long as there is life, there is hope.

I do not doubt, I do not hesitate. I am the Lioness’s daughter, and I have the Lioness’s strength.

When the fear takes over, use the only thing more powerful, more indestructible, to fight it: your spirit. Your heart.

For tonight, maybe we can just be Laia and Elias.

Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after.

A Torch Against the Night

Failure doesn’t define you. It’s what you do after you fail that determines whether you are a leader or a waste of perfectly good air.

What point is there in being human if you don’t let yourself feel anything?

You are my temple. You are my priest. You are my prayer. You are my release.

The stars are so different when you’re free.

The problem with greedy people, Pop once said to me, is that they think everyone else is as greedy as they are

For you, I’m Ilyaas.

Don’t you see? So long as you fight the darkness, you stand in the light.

Standing by someone during their darkest times creates a bond. A sense of obligation that is less a weight and more a gift.

There is hope in life.

This is what it means to have faith, to believe in something greater than yourself.

A Reaper at the Gates

Hope is stronger than fear. It is stronger than hate.

Skies save me from the men in my life and all the things they think they know

Curse this world for what it does to the mothers, for what it does to the daughters. Curse it for making us strong through loss and pain, our hearts torn from our chests again and again. Curse it for forcing us to endure.

This isn’t the end for us, Laia of Serra. I cannot give up what we could have. I don’t care what bleeding vow I made. Do you hear me? This is not our end.

Strange, how silence can speak as loudly as a scream.

The stories we tell have power, of course. But the stories that go untold have just as much power.

I will find you, Laia. I will find a way. This is not our end.

Everyone believes that nothing concerns them until the monsters are knocking on their doors.

Remember that fate is never what we think it will be.

The Tribespeople say that the heavens live under the feet of the mother. So great is their sacrifice. And indeed no one suffers in war more than the mother. This war will be no different.

So these are just some of my favourite quotes in this series! Share some of yours in the comments! But please no spoilers for Sky!

Why You Should Read An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

A Sky Beyond the Storm is finally out! We can finally find out how this incredible series will end and what will be the fate of Laia, Elias and Helene. But if you haven’t read these books yet and are unsure if you want to read them then here are some reasons as to why you should read them!

Incredible Storytelling Which Will Leave you an Emotional Mess

Sabaa’s writing is incredible and vivid and will leave you completely enthralled in the story. We initially see the world from Elias and Laia’s point of view and then Helene’s in the later books. Through them we see such a contrasting world view and we experience what they experience because her writing is so good that you will feel like you are right there with the characters. The fear that Laia feels is palpable, the anguish of Elias and the ruthless determination of Helene, we feel it alongside them. This does however mean that you will be left an emotional mess and fear for the lives of your favourite characters because Sabaa has created a brutal and ruthless world.

Incredible Immersive World Building

Not only is Sabaa’s storytelling incredible but so is her world building. You may think this is a world inspired by ancient Rome but then you hear about ghouls and jinns and it makes you think twice. As we read on we realise that there is also an Asian/Middle Eastern influence too. That the Empire might be inspired by ancient Rome but the Scholars and Tribes have an eastern influence and it creates a rich, diverse world. As the story in each book progresses we travel outside of Serra and see more of the world and we get an idea of just how vast the world is and that there is so much more we can explore. Sabaa’s writing is so immersive that we feel as though we are right there with the characters and experience what they experience. We see how they see the world and it’s as though we can almost touch, see and taste everything.

Complex Characters that Grow in Each Book

In Ember we get Elias and Laia’s point of view so we see the world from two vastly different perspectives. Elias is an elite warrior and assassin who wants to be free from all the killing whereas Laia is a slave and living in fear for her life after watching her grandparents get murdered and brother sent to prison. Yet they both grow so much throughout the book and Laia especially is my favourite character because she is so complex and her growth was incredible to read from the scared young woman to a resistance fighter and leader.

Important Discussions of Colonisation and Oppression

This book does not shy away from the way that people who are oppressed and enslaved and their land colonised are treated by the oppressors. We see the brutality with how they are treated, there are discussions of mutilation, rape and more and how these are justified because the Empire doesn’t even consider them to be human and are inferior in every way so it is fine. That the women are their property so they can do whatever they want to them. It is often horrifying and difficult to read but it is an important discussion to have. The Scholars way of life is completely eradicated and they aren’t even allowed to learn to read or write to keep them in a state of submission. Parallels with our history and even what is happening in the world right now and things that should be discussed.

A Story of Hope

Despite the brutal, ruthless world that Sabaa created there is hope. Hope that things will change, hope that this isn’t always going to be the reality for those oppressed. There will be justice and that these characters are going to bring about change. It’s something we can all relate to. It’s something we all need to believe in to get through difficult times and we can see the characters going through the same but holding on to hope to keep going. To keep fighting for a better world.

This is an incredible series and with the final book finally here it is the perfect time to pick these books up!

Here are my review for the first three books if you need further convincing:

An Ember in the Ashes

A Torch Against the Night

A Reaper at the Gates

Authors I’m Grateful For

Growing up I never saw characters in books that looked like me and come from a similar culture so the last few years when we are finally getting these books, it has made me so incredibly excited and grateful to these authors who created these characters and fought for them to be published.

S.A. Chakraborty – It’s no surprise that Shannon is on this list. The Daevabad Trilogy are books that I love with all my heart and soul. I adore the story and the characters and I love that Shannon immersed us in the history too. I will forever be thankful that she gave me Alizayd, a practicing Muslim man who is driven by his religious beliefs, especially social justice. His journey to learning how best to bring justice for all to Daevabad was incredible to read. I felt so seen and I will always have a special place in my heart for these books and especially Ali.

Sabaa Tahir – The first time I saw a main character who was brown and the hero was Laia and Elias. It was an incredible moment for me and it was written by a Muslim woman. I loved these two so much because they were the first characters I saw who looked like me. I loved that the culture was woven into the story and discussions of colonisation was included in the story. It’s something I related a lot to.

S.K. Ali – Sajidah gave me Zayneb, an unapologetic Muslim teen who just wants to live her life but is angry because of all the injustice she faces because she chose to wear a headscarf and it marks her as Muslim. I related so much to her and I loved how she contrasted with Adam. I loved that we got a love story between two Muslim teens and it was all halal. I wish I had this book as a teen.

Hafsah Faisal – Hafsah gave me hope. A niqabi who published an incredible book and it was supported by so many. I saw her and I knew that those of us who are struggling to find our way to achieve our goals will get that boost because when do women in niqab get published by a mainstream publisher?!  

Yasmin Rahman – I sobbed after reading the first chapter of All the Things we Never Said because I felt so seen. The way Mehreen feels, how Islam is an important part of her life and she takes that into account when trying to work through her suicidal thoughts. It isn’t something that is discussed in the Muslim community and I hope that this book helps others. Yasmin also started the book with Bismillah and I just knew I would love it after reading that.

Is there any authors who you’re grateful to?

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir – Book Review

I adore this series so much and Reaper was absolutely amazing and I absolutely need Sky asap!

You can read my review of Ember here and of Torch here.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Beyond the Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.

The Blood Shrike, Helene Aquilla, is assailed on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable, while the Commandant capitalizes on his madness to bolster her own power. As Helene searches for a way to hold back the approaching darkness, her sister’s life and the lives of all those in the Empire hang in the balance.

Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. But while hunting for a way to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would aid 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. But in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that will stop at nothing to ensure Elias’s devotion–even at the cost of his humanity.

I listened to the audiobook and I highly recommend it! The narrators are so good and engaging and I was completely hooked!

This series gets better and better with each book! The whole time I was listening I was on the edge of my seat and I just needed to listen to just one more chapter. Sabaa takes us on a wild ride in this series and honestly I had no idea what to expect when I started this. But one thing I can say with certainty is that this series does not disappoint. It is amazing and I simultaneously need the next book right now but I am also terrified to read it.

This book starts where Torch ended with Laia and Darin finally reunited and Elias has become the soul catcher because Sabaa likes to torture us and killed him in Torch. *sobs* Helene also has a point of view in this book and we see what is happening in the empire through her.

In the first two books their stories overlapped because they were all in the same place for the most part but in Reaper all three are separate and have different journeys to take. So we see their own journey and how it affects them but also how they slowly come together at the end to give us that explosive ending that left me shook.

I absolutely love Laia’s arc throughout the trilogy from being the scared young woman we meet at the beginning of Ember to the powerful leader she becomes by the end of Reaper. One of the things I loved about her was that she was afraid and she was hesitant, it made her so much more relatable. Her strength and bravery meant even more because we know that she is also terrified and despite that she does what needs to be done to save her brother and her people.

I also loved learning more about Laia’s family especially her mother and brother and I really liked the new characters we met, especially Musa. I love Darin so much and how protective he is over Laia and also how he wants her to be true to herself rather than just become a copy of their mother. We also learn a lot more about their mother and what happened to her and it’s all so tragic and it made me hate the Commandant even more.

Elias, my deadly cinnamon roll, I love him so much. He is torn between helping those he loves and doing his duty as the soul catcher. He slowly realises that he has to fully commit to being the soul catcher and that means leaving those he cares about. I was screaming by the end, like how could Sabaa do this to him after what she did to him in Torch. Please Sabaa stop hurting him.

We also learn a lot more about the Nightbringer and why he is so intent on destroying Laia and her people and it made him even more interesting and complex. But I still hate the Commandant more than him and I really need her to die a slow painful death in Sky.

Helene is an interesting character, she is motivated by her desire to protect her sister yet she does awful things to others all to protect one person. She justifies it by saying how she is just following orders and that she has to do what it takes to protect her sister yet it doesn’t justify what she does. It is not okay to continue the oppression of a whole group of people because you are following orders. I liked how Sabaa wove this into the story and that despite Helene justifying it to herself, we as readers are told clearly that it is not okay.

I highly recommend reading these books they are amazing and have such wonderful complex characters. The world is brutal and ruthless and I absolutely cannot wait to read the last book.