A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes #4) by Sabaa Tahir - Starting December 15th 2020

[Evelyn]

Picking up just a few months after A Reaper at the Gates left off...

The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning.

At his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress, and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family.

Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory--or to an unimaginable doom.

And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life--and love--he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save--or destroy--all that he knows.

[Esrat]

I have been looking for someone who would buddy read SKY with me. So glad I found this!

[Evelyn]

Part 1
(view spoiler)[ Laia is staying behind to see if she can still get Elias back! Like Tas said, Elias would never leave her behind so I'm glad Laia's doing the same. I hope she gets him back.
It's really scary Keris is the Empress now. She's deceiving all the lands, telling them she's going to help them even though they're total lies. (hide spoiler)]

[Evelyn]

Part 2
(view spoiler)[ WOW. A lot happened. Apparently there's this sea of suffering now and The Nightbringer wants to release all of it back in the world? And he just lost one of his kin so he wants even more revenge now :/
Is Mauth on The Nightbriger's side? I think so, or at least he used to be.
This Rehmat is the old Jinn Queen?! And she turned on The Nightbringer because she knew this wasn't the way to deal with the war. I wonder what he's gonna do about it. (hide spoiler)]

[Evelyn]

Part 3
(view spoiler)[ I can't believe Livvy died :( After Helene did so much to keep her alive it just seemed like she died just too easily.
We're starting to see Elias come back to himself a bit which is really exciting because he does care for everyone and I miss him! (hide spoiler)]

[Evelyn]

Finished
(view spoiler)[ That. was. amazing. I am so happy Elias and Laia got their happy ending, but Helene literally lost the two people she cares about most. At least Harper and her got some time together before he died, but still😥😣 Helene will make the best Empress. (hide spoiler)]

[Esrat]

I am a 110 pages in and it's so so painful

[Esrat]

All these characters suffer and it makes my heart burn from all that pain inflicted upon them. Elias and Laia's chapters hurt the most

[Evelyn]

Esrat wrote: "All these characters suffer and it makes my heart burn from all that pain inflicted upon them. Elias and Laia's chapters hurt the most"
(view spoiler)[ Elias' chapters killed me. He doesn't deserve to be stuck as soul catcher, but that's what love costed I guess. (hide spoiler)]

[Esrat]

I just finished reading SKY today, the last day of the year 2020. And oh, how much it hurts to think that the Ember journey has come to an end and that we may not get more stories of the characters. (view spoiler)[ The story felt so real, the character's deaths and life and loss felt so so real. (hide spoiler)]

[Esrat]

I was so engulfed in the story that I felt the pain of the characters as if I were only a mere few feet away from them. This hurts so much. Although An Ember in the Ashes series is my favorite series of all time, (view spoiler)[ I had wished that Helene had gotten a better ending. I couldn't even stand Helene until the end of book 2 and it surprises me how much I have come to love and understand her pain, first in Reaper and then definitely in SKY. I do wish that the ending of SKY went a bit further. (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[ Like maybe a scene where Laia and Elias get married (since they are engaged and Elias told Helene that his grandfather wants Elias to return to Serra with Laia as his wife) and perhaps have a child they both wanted to have, especially Elias who always mourned at what he and Laia could have been or have had if the brutal war didn't approach (mentioned during Reaper). Also, Helene finding happiness after Avitas' death, though I do not know how that will prevail. Why does Helene have to suffer so much? She lost her entire family to savage killing and then when it couldn't get any worse, Keris took away Harper from her too. I honestly feel like Harper's death was unnecessary. He should have lived. Been the older brother to Elias, become Helene's support, yet he bled to his death, a true soldier, protecting those he loves. (hide spoiler)]