Final Book in This Series

 A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir 

This book had everything: action, adventure, love, loss, growth, pain and suffering, fear, sadness, and hope. I was actively yelling at the characters for decisions they were making that I didn't agree with and had to close the book and put it down a few times. I even shed a tear before the end. I did not get everything that I wanted out of this book, I did get some things I didn't know I needed. Cook aka Mirra aka the Lioness did not actually die at the end of the previous book but we don't know that until about 80% of the way through this when she shows up to help Helene. Oh Helene. She started the series as one of my least favorite characters and by the end I was crying over her. I was yelling at her to get over herself and go be with Harper. I mourned with her when Livia was killed and then again when Farris and Harper were killed. Especially Harper. If anyone deserved a happy ending it was Helene. When, at the end Quin stood up and went off script and named her Emperor, I cried. And when Laia had to break the prophecy down and show her. Then there's Laia. I have loved her character from the very beginning. And when Darin told her to not give up on Elias so she stayed to try to help him stop being the Soul Catcher and come back to himself. When she constantly got back up again after being knocked down. When she made mistakes and learned from them. Yes, she was hard headed and didn't listen to Rehmet but she didn't know why she needed to listen to her because she couldn't tell her. And after she killed the Nightbringer and doomed humanity, she realized that she could also save it and did. She was the definition of indomitable spirit and when she decided to join the Tribes to become a storyteller to keep her promise to Nightbringer, that was fitting. Then there's my sweet, stubborn, honorable Elias. Just like when he was a Mask he cannot fully commit to his new role as Soul Catcher because he cannot completely turn off his emotions. Thankfully Cain, who finally did something right, gives him back his memories and allows Elias to be better at his job because you need emotion to be able to connect with the souls to send them on their way. But, it also allows him to do what he does best, lead. He uses everything he has been trained for to unify the Tribes and keep them safe until Helene and her army can get there for the final battle. The battle where we finally have learned Keris's weakness and we discover that Mirra is not really dead and she is the one to kill her. But the same one where Harper dies. The same one where Darin dies. I knew characters were going to die; there was always going to be a war. But. I did not expect those characters to die. Fast forward to Quin naming Helene Empress and everyone except the Scholars and the Tribes are in support of this. Helene says it's not going to be like it was, there will be no more slavery or castes. There will be trades and equality. The Scholars and Tribes join in supporting her. She names her nephew as her heir and then agrees to send him to be raised among the Tribes so he can have a normal life and so he can know who he will be ruling. Mirra volunteers to take over being Soul Catcher so that Elias can have a normal life with Laia and they end the book engaged. We end on a happy, optimistic note. I would read more from this world. What does it look like after the war? How are the lives of our main characters progressing? I was so engrossed that I want the boring. I want the everyday. I will definitely read more from this author.