A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir

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.

definitely my favorite of the series so far

3.5 Stars

Initial Thoughts:It took a while for me to get into this book. I really love the 3 characters, but I feel like Sabaa had them changing into different people that did not align with how I felt their characters would act. Once I was over 1/2 through this book, I felt it picked up and I enjoyed it significantly more. This series may be starting to suffer from Sabba expanding the world and the story but going too far. After finishing both book 1 and book 2, I felt satisfied and the story felt complete, with this installment it left more questions than answers and it just felt like a different story to me. I honestly am not as excited about the final book as much as I thought I would be which is unfortunate because I really love Helene, Elias, and Laia.