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A Reaper at the Gates

(An Ember in the Ashes #3)

Sabaa Tahir (Goodreads Author)

4.23 · Rating details · 45,426 ratings · 6,191 reviews

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 Veturia, the ruthless Commandant, capitalizes on the Emperor ...more

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Hardcover, 458 pages

Published June 12th 2018 by Razorbill

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Average rating 4.23 ·

Rating details

· 45,426 ratings · 6,191 reviews

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Start your review of A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes, #3)

Sep 01, 2016 Emily May rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, 2018

“There are worse things than death,” I say. “Shall we learn about them together?”

4 1/2 stars. When it comes to heart-racing action scenes, I cannot think of another YA author who does it better than Sabaa Tahir. She plunges you into the chaos almost immediately and once again, for the third book in a row, she keeps the drama and bloodshed coming until the very end.

The ONLY reason I rated this book slightly lower than An Ember in the Ashes and A Torch Against the Night is that I felt like Eli ...more

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Jul 28, 2018 Warda rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Well, it seems like I’m in the major minority here.
Three books in and I’m still not attached to the characters. If any of them had died in this book, I would’ve shrugged it off.
Am I to blame? I don’t think so, since there barely was any backstory or development given to those characters.

Constant action, non-stop movement and not enough focus on our main characters. I had no option but to not form any attachment, since we weren’t given any breathing room for the plot to slow down and for it to ...more

flag 542 likes · Like · see review

Sep 24, 2018 Christine Riccio rated it it was amazing

Devastating and excellent. Can't wait for the final installment! My full booktalk discussion is up on my youtube channel (polandbananasbooks). =) ...more

flag 409 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2017 Brittney ~ Reverie and Ink rated it it was amazing

Sabaa’s writing, characters, and storytelling deserves all the stars in the world. RTC!

******

Hey guys! So I'm seeing lots of turmoil in my feed but I thought I'd pop in. I'm not crazy about switching covers/etc in a series either, but before you go off on a huge tangent, go check out Sabaa's reasoning for the changes. My thoughts on the design/etc don't matter, and I happened to adore the old covers SO much, but this woman did a cool thing with her influence, and I'm so glad I know why! Link be ...more

flag 366 likes · Like · see review

Mar 18, 2018 Renée Ahdieh rated it it was amazing

whyyyyy, sabaa, whyyyyyyy???

(aside: mwahahahahahaha)

you know how they tell you that good things come to those who wait? i never bought into this school of thought bc i'm pretty much veruca salt when it comes to books. but, holy hell, is A REAPER AT THE GATES worth it. i was immediately drawn back into this darkly dangerous world and all its amazing characters. each POV is distinct and painstakingly wrought. the action is intense, and the angst made my heart hurt for days afterward. it's smart, s ...more

flag 309 likes · Like · see review

Sep 03, 2016 Zemira (Kylo Ren fangirl) Warner rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

I hope Helene murders all the hateful peasants, rules the world and finds someone worthy of her greatness.

flag 239 likes · Like · see review

Dec 17, 2018 jessica rated it liked it · review of another edition

it is with a heavy heart and sorrowful soul that i have to rate this book anything lower than 5 stars (i actually may change and round up because a 3 feels sooo harsh at the moment), because this series has been absolutely stellar up until this point.

i get that a story is meant to have opposition. a character grows and develops through it and because of it. without opposition, there would be no resolution. but i also feel that it is important for a character to have hope and to have success alo ...more

flag 210 likes · Like · see review

Jun 30, 2016 Andreea Pop marked it as to-read

THIS COMES OUT THIS YEAR. Holy moly, time has passed rather quickly. But I'm still not happy about the cover style change. Hmph.

Meaningly, my torturous, never-ending wait. Because freaking 2018. ...more

flag 203 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2017 emi marked it as to-read

Shelves: fantasy, book-husbands, girls-kicking-ass

Me: Nothing can be worse than the Tower of Dawn cover

A Reaper at the Gates: *exists*

#WhatTheFuck

An Ember in the Ashes is one of my favorite series ever. I don't deserve this. ...more

flag 194 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2017 alana ♡ rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

It’s amazing how we willingly pay to be traumatized, but honestly I’d do it all over again if I could. I have to say, there is no one in the writing game quite like Sabaa Tahir when it comes to opening up EVERY book with heart-pounding intensity. With that being said I was already terrified to start this book knowing that and also because, let's face it, Sabaa is also not the kindest to her characters. When I read the first 80 pages of this book I NOPED and put it down so fast not because it wa ...more

flag 184 likes · Like · see review

Apr 30, 2018 Hannah Greendale rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction, young-adult, fantasy

The immediacy of Tahir's writing remains spot-on, but the beautiful prose found in An Ember in the Ashes is absent in the third installment of the series. Too much of A Reaper at the Gates reads like filler, and the narrative lacks compelling focus with characters seemingly running in circles. The plot hinges on a reveal that's been blazing red since the first book in the series. The Nightbringer remains a tool used for narrative convenience, and Tahir's continued underutilization of one of the ...more

flag 164 likes · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2018 ♥ℂĦℝΪՖƬΪℕÅ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopia-and-utopian, fantasy, favorites, magic, romance, 2018-reading-challenge, young-adult

5 Sweet bleeding skies STAR'S

“The sword point is my priest. The dance of death is my prayer. The killing blow is my release.”

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

Holly Mother!!! I don't even know what to say right now! I am completely speechless. 'A Reaper at the Gates' is utterly freaking brilliant! BRILLIANT! I was awestruck from beginning to end and I sure as hell didn't want to put it down. It's hypnotizing, once the pages started turning I couldn't stop. I have so many e ...more

flag 168 likes · Like · see review

Oct 03, 2020 ELLIAS (elliasreads) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020-books, i-own

DAMN .

That was sexy af.

Reading Vlog here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEldQ...

5 STARS ALL THE WAY
Twitter | Bookstagram | Youtube | ...more

flag 149 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2017 may ❀ rated it really liked it

Shelves: bye, i-am-trash, library, tears-so-many-tears, 400-pgs, fantasy, buddy-read, look-at-that-beauty, i-will-go-down-with-this-ship, kickass-heroine

im trying to imagine how it would feel to finish a book and NOT BE WORRIED ABOUT THE FATE OF MY BABIES IN THE FINAL BOOK

👏LET👏ELIAS👏AND👏LAIA👏BE👏HAPPY👏ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ

4.5 stars

buddy read with this reading ~~disaster~~ machine

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

what the heck happened to the matching cover designs????

the title is 💯💯💯👌👌👌💯💯 but the cover is so OFF AND NOW IM SAD AND CONFUSED WHY DONT WE HAVE MATCHING COVERS!!!!

. . . also. . .is anyone gonna mention how gorgeous elias looks??!?!?!! ...more

flag 147 likes · Like · see review

Aug 02, 2018 karen rated it liked it

Shelves: thanks-for-prezzies, why-yes-i-ya

oooh, goodreads choice awards semifinalist for best young adult fantasy 2018! what will happen?

this book is an inch-and-a-half thick and i was bored and shocked by my boredom until maybe the last quarter-inch.

i’d been looking forward to reading this tremendously, and when i finally carved out the space to get to it, i dove in like a fox in the snow

but my elation was dampened by the slog of it, and i got sadder and sadder as the book refused to be as awesome as the first two.

it’s very convolute ...more

flag 126 likes · Like · see review

Jan 05, 2018 ✨ jamieson ✨ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, series-to-complete, 2018-reads, series, young-adult, fantasy

“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.”

Look, I'm gonna do something a bit weird here and start with the negatives I REALLY, really enjoyed reading this book but at the same time I had some niggling little issues that I was waiting for some action on and it never came. I need to talk about them.

this is an excel ...more

flag 119 likes · Like · see review

Mar 11, 2019 Zainab rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourite-series, 2018-releases

Such a good series through and through.

flag 109 likes · Like · see review

Mar 08, 2018 Chelsea ❤Peril Please❤ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: awesome-heroines, favorites, unforgettable-male-leads, absolute-favorites, could-read-over-and-over-again, tearjerkers, alternating-pov, serious-cliffhanger, signed-by-author, arc-physical-pusblisher

Love cannot live here.

When one of your favorite authors in the world has a new book coming out, it generally becomes your whole world. You have laser focus. Books lose that quality that always seems to drag you in. You obsess and rant and annoy so many people, yet you just could care less-until the day comes and you finally have it in your hands and you can’t devour it quick enough. This is that book.

I just so happened to be one of those lucky Bloggers/Bookstagrammers that was a par ...more

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Aug 14, 2017 Beatrice in Bookland rated it really liked it

"In this fiery hellscape of a world, this mess of blood and madness, justice exists only for those who take it. I'll be damned if I'm not one of them."

1) An ember in the ashes ★★★★☆
2) A torch against the night ★★★★★

4.5

First things first: nothing will ever be as badass as Helene covered in blood fighting with her war hammer

Anyway, A reaper at the gates was fantastic. Everything came full circle (even if there's still one book left) and some little things that didn't make sense in the previous ins ...more

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Dec 26, 2017 Beth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-reads, 2020-reads, book-series, re-read, 5-stars, characters-i-loved, my-heart-hurts, the-tears-are-real, 2019-reads, faves

Spoiler Free Review :)

”Pain is a choice. Succumb to it and fail. Or defy it and Triumph.”

Words cannot express how blissfully happy I am with this. I mean for me it was everything that I could of wanted. I was wondering where the story would go after A Torch Against the Night We got updates in what had happened throughout the time on the travels and nothing was left un-said. This time around there’s so much foreboding and it’s setting up the final book perfectly. We see characters grow from stren ...more

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Jun 29, 2018 Heather rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya-fantasy, 2018-favorites, all-time-favorites

Full review to come soon! Let's just say after this:
I still love Helene
Elias is amazing and my heart for him..
Laia, I've really grown to enjoy her character.

So many plot twists I did not seeing coming...like at all!
The ending....what???

Amazing book, I expected nothing less from this series! ...more

flag 93 likes · Like · see review

Jul 08, 2018 Lena rated it it was amazing

I need sleep. Desperately.
..........................

”Curse this world 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.”

8 hours later and I’m still in denial. I mean, what in the hells was that fucking ending???????? Sure, go ahead and rip the very soul from my body, laughing while you do it, won’t you?!
All I can say is that this book and series definitely live up to their I need sleep. Desperately.
..........................

”Curse this world 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.”

8 hours later and I’m still in denial. I mean, what in the hells was that fucking ending???????? Sure, go ahead and rip the very soul from my body, laughing while you do it, won’t you?!
All I can say is that this book and series definitely live up to their hype and I’m not kidding when I say this is probably the best one so far? Laia, Helene and Elias all suffer tremendous losses in this book and they hurt. Oh, they hurt. War is looming in this sequel to A Torch against the Night and our characters are right in the middle of it. We get POV’s from Laia, Helene AKA Blood Shrike and our beloved Elias. From all their thoughts I think I might’ve liked Helene’s the most, with her unwavering loyalty to the Empire, her people and her sister. Am I the only one living for her and Harper’s slow burn love? Plus her chapters were probably the most action packed out of the three. I hated Marcus with everything I had and will never forgive him for what he did to Helene’s family. He’s a little...hmmm, how to put this...unstable in this book, being haunted by his brothers’ ghost and all and I was never able to predict what he’d do next.
That being said, Laia is regretting all that happened with the Nightbringer and is desperately trying to mend things and to prevent him from freeing the jinn. But how dare you do this to me?! I can’t believe it but my love for her is even bigger now after finishing this mountain of a book. Laia was unbelievably stubborn at times and tried everything to save people from an inevitable doom, but still, she kept on going, she kept on fighting.
Elias however, oh my. Where do I even begin? The Waiting Place and the magic within kept tugging at him which resulted in my baby boy being ripped away from essential moments and scenes where Laia really needed him, it was maddening and frustrating. Their forbidden love is what kept me going through moments of pure despair for I am trash for this ship. All in all Elias’s chapters hurt the most and I honestly don’t know what I’ll do when the last book is out. I felt like stomping my feet in frustration reading his chapters, it just isn’t fair to him or anyone and can we please stop trying to rob him of his humanity?!

The fuck am I gonna do now 😭😭😭 ...more

flag 89 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2017 Scrill marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2018

Edit:
Ok, so I am mad that it wont match my other hardback covers. If you're buying the books with these covers, the older editions also got revamped, and together they look alright I guess...but my bookshelf feng shui is going to be thrown off. I dunno, I was just such a fan of the original. Here are the remakes of the original covers, in case you haven't seen them.

So at least the color hues are similar....

Cover reveal:
Kept seeing these comments about the book cover, and I kept scrolling cause I ...more

flag 82 likes · Like · see review

Jun 05, 2020 theburqaavenger➹ rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, winds-are-blowing, young-adult, stupid-society, i-love-him, romance, i-am-a-lazy-cat, when-life-gives-you-lemons, you-made-me-a-believer, mommy-s-here

Even though these books are super sad like they are the ultimate level of sadness i still keep reading these books because
i
just
want
Elias
to
be
happy
someone
let
my
baby
be
happy
please
why
Sabaa
why
you
evil
witch
i
hate
you
please
let
him
be
happy
he
deserves
all
the
happiness
in
this
world
and
i
hate
Laia
but
please
let
them
be
happy
together
and
have
babies
p
l
e
a
s
e
and
you
hag
you
evil
cruel
witch
i
hate
you
so
damn
much
LET
HELENE
AND
HARPER
BE
HAPPY
.
.
.
.
.
i
still
hate
you

flag 80 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2017 Wren (fablesandwren) rated it really liked it

Shelves: physical-shelf, 04-stars

Okay but why did you change the cover because I own the first two and now they won't match and I mean it's super cool looking and I love it but can we finish one edition and then start the other because I'll have them both ...more

flag 77 likes · Like · see review

Jul 23, 2018 Ishmeen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Yoooo this was bloody amazing and so much better than the last one, I loved it!! My heart hurts for my poor soul catcher and I have to say Laia has grown on me but Helene is still a queen 👏🏼 I really like the mythological side the plot has taken and I can’t wait to read about all the shit that will go down in the last book😊

flag 71 likes · Like · see review

May 01, 2020 Sofia rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Someone who needs a good cry

Shelves: favorites, comfort-reads, actually-gray-characters, otp, what-a-terrible-ending, enough-with-the-darn-rebellion, depressing, epic-fantasy, what-just-happened, mary-sue

Helene Aquilla could punch me in the face and I would thank her for her time

flag 70 likes · Like · see review

Jun 17, 2018 Fares rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Do you ever read a book and go I wonder how would I feel if I read this in a different time or in a different format?
I do that with a lot of my books, especially the ones I love. But for this one, I have no doubt I would've loved it no matter what, I was just hooked from the first chapter till the last one.
AND
I
FRICKEN
LOVE
ELIAS ...more

flag 64 likes · Like · see review

Jun 12, 2018 ℨαrα rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, 5-stars, couldnt-put-it-down, blood-blood-blood-death, fantasy, heart-wrenching, dystopian, all-time-favorites

So I caved and the reread happened. Buddy read with this fake Canadian
—————————————

MY HEART STILL HURTS. To the point where I’m itching to reread Reaper already.

If you haven’t read this book or started this series, I urge you to do so immediately. Everyone needs to know the pain and the joy.

—————————————

IT’S HERE, IT’S FINALLY HERE.
At long last.
I can’t wait to be destroyed. ...more

flag 59 likes · Like · see review

Jun 30, 2017 Hari ~Brekker-Maresh~ marked it as to-read

8/14/17

WE HAVE A TITLE, I REPEAT. WE HAVE A TITLE. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

I am the definition of sHOOKETH by the TITLE BUT THE COVER????? AM I THE ONLY ONE SLIGHTLY DISAPPOINTED AND BY SLIGHTLY I MEAN WTFFFFFF

Hun, take a look at the rest of your fam.
Do. You. Look. Like. Them? No.
Are. You. Still. Pretty. Anyway? Maybe.

I'm not cover hating ~~except I totally am~~ but like... Um. Ok. Let's just be happy we have a cover with pretty pictures.

WADDUP BROWN PRIDE!

But why couldn't you match 😫

And maybe it' ...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
What is the future of Laia's and Elias's relationship?	27	961	Dec 03, 2020 01:29PM
Jinn	1	2	Dec 02, 2020 06:38AM
2021 Reading Chal...: A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3)	5	23	Sep 17, 2020 02:48AM
Bookalicious Book...: A Reaper at the Gates Book Club Discussion	1	17	Oct 02, 2019 12:26AM

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About Sabaa Tahir

Sabaa Tahir

24,776 followers

**My apologies if I don't respond to emails or friend requests right away! Come find me on Twitter or Instagram @sabaatahir, or on my web site: www.sabaatahir.com

Sabaa Tahir grew up in California’s Mojave Desert at her family’s 18-room motel. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother’s comic book stash and playing guitar badly. She began writing An Ember in the Ashes ...more