Ember Read-Along: Month 3 Recap

What’s Happening

The third and final month of our #EmberReadAlong has come to an end! Check out the wrap-up and highlights below!

Some of our favorite BookTube + Bookstagram posts!

BookTube had lots of love for A Reaper at the Gates! Once you’ve caught up with reading or re-reading the book, be sure to add these videos to your YouTube queue:

“I loved Reaper. I really ate it up. I did not expect to love it so much more the second time around. I knew I liked it, I think I rated it four or five stars originally, but the way that I knew that Reaper was my favorite book out of this entire series is because I found myself looking forward to Helene’s point of view.” —Tahirah from Sincerely Tahiry

“I am absolutely loving the drama. The drama is so freaking good—just give me all the drama, I am here for it.” —Layla from Reading with a bawse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA-8ZdPYvDo

“The writing in this book is phenomenal. It’s so poetic and lyrical, and the lines are just excellent.” —Aissata from Aissata Amadou

“This was beautifully perfect. You know how I said it was a preparatory novel, the calm before the storm? And in a way, it is. There’s some tension creeping along, and you know it’s gonna hit when the fourth book comes out, but no. In the last 150 pages of this book, everything just went out of the ballpark. Everything just coalesced into a boiling point, and I am so excited to see how it all folds all together in the last final book. I was so shocked with some of the things that happened, and this book didn’t hold back in terms of violence and the darkness, the tension, the characters.” —Ellias from ellias

Bookstagram also joined in on the Read-Along fun! Here are just a few of our favorite posts:

This book look is just *chefs kiss*

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{#PenguinTeenPartner #EmberReadAlong Week 2} . question of the day- do you have a favorite prop that you use in your book pictures? . Here we are at week 2 of the Ember Read Along with @PenguinTeen! . random thoughts I had while reading~ • my face during the elias and laia dream scene – thenthen • love helene’s protectiveness over livia • poor marcus is completely insane • strong dislike for the ghosts in the waiting place • i’m here for harper and helene’s dynamic . some amazing quotes so far – • “Love is joy coupled with misery, elation bound to despair.” • “The past shall burn, and none will slow it.” • “The memory where the greatest hurt lies, the greatest anger.” . part 2 ended with a bang! ~to be continued next week~ . #bookstagram #readalong #youngadult #fantasy #literature #bookstagrammer #favorite #books #bookseries #yafantasy #love #reader #reread #booksilove #series

A post shared by living in the pages (@_shelf.awareness) on Sep 12, 2020 at 4:39pm PDT

Emoji selection: Very Accurate.

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Describe your current read with emojis Me reading Reaper: ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ How are you doing with your reading? Personally I am bit behind because school and other stuff but I took the week off to try to find some balance so hopefully I get to catch up! #PenguinTeenPartner #EmberReadAlong #bookshelves #bookshelf #bookshelfie #bookstack #bookhoarder #bookstagrammer #booknookstagram #booksofinstagram #bibliophiles #booknerdigans #booksbooksbooks #bookphotography #librariesofinstagram #booklove #bookishfeatures #totalbooknerd #homelibrary #booknerd #bookobsessed #anemberintheashes #atorchagainstthenight #areaperatthegates #sabaatahir #fantasyreads #fantasybooks #readalong

A post shared by ⚜️Michelle| Bookstagram | (@berrybookpages) on Sep 12, 2020 at 6:05pm PDT

Reading A Reaper at the Gates stresses us out, too!

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do books stress you out or is it just me it’s the final week of #EmberReadAlong, in which we’re reading chapters 46-59! #PenguinTeenPartner ➳ y’all this book!! help!! why is my heart so fragile to angst and pain? going to try to finish it this weekend, eeep. A Sky Beyond the Storm comes out so soon and I don’t think I’m ready for how this will all end

A post shared by sally | xx | united states ☾ (@mybookacademy) on Sep 25, 2020 at 12:27pm PDT

And it tugs at our heartstrings (to the point where they break…)

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#penguinteenpartner Hello lovlies. Hope You’re having a great day. What was the last book you read that kept you on your toes? . . . I forgot how A Repear At The Gates tugs at my heartstrings and make me want to stop reading ASAP & finish the book ASAP all at the same time cause I can’t handle all the emotional stress and I just want everyone to be okay . I’m currently reading chapter 15 and supposedly will finish part Two “Inferno” by Friday. . . . Are you joining #EmberReadAlong? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #emberintheashes #areaperatthegates #atorchagainstthenight #sabaatahir #askyagainstthestorm #autumasthetic #autumnvibes #autumnleaves #bookstagram #bookphotography #bookworm #bookaddict #bibliophilie #instaread #igreads #booksofinstagram #bookstagramfeature #readersofinstagram #totalbooknerd #coffeeandbooks #bookcommunity #bookaesthetic #cozyreads #bookishlife #bookishfeed #bookgram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A post shared by Mai ميّ (@bookish_mai) on Sep 9, 2020 at 10:09am PDT

Because the series is just soooo goood!

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“ , .” ― #bookreviewersofinstagram, ? In March, when the U.S. was sent into “panic mode” over the virus, I found my #readinghabits changing. Where I once read broadly and across genres, I was now reading nearly to escape our current #dystopian reality. My genre of choice became #SFFBooks. I read everything from S. A. Chakraborty’s Daevabad Trilogy to the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. While my reread of the later, which had once been a #childhoodfavorite had disastrous consequences (I realized Artemis was a bit of a brat), I adored the Daevabad Trilogy and sought more books like this #ownvoices #bookseries. Thanks to @PenguinTeen’s #EmberReadAlong and the gifted #AnEmberInTheAshes novels by #SabaaTahir they sent me, I have been able to soothe my mind by reading. Penguin Teen’s read-along is helpful for me since I can engage with other #readers that are discussing the series on Facebook, Twitter, #BookTube, and here on #Bookstagram. This is a great way to boost my morale to read. Not to mention having the opportunity to talk with other people doing the pandemic about #books has been a fantastic form of self-care. If you would like to read along with the group, there’s time to get your copy of the series and catch up. All the books are in paperback now, and there’s even a sale on the ebook of #AReaperAtTheGates (It’s $2.99 on Amazon) if you want to get in on the #bookdiscussion. ? #PenguinTeenPartner

A post shared by Adira (@introvertinterrupted) on Sep 5, 2020 at 9:44am PDT

Can confirm: A case of The Feels is incoming.

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We’re coming up on the last days of the Ember readalong, which means A SKY BEYOND THE STORM is only a few months away! I finished my reread of REAPER on Wednesday and y’all—I can’t wait. But I’m also terrified. AHHH ALL THE FEEEEEELLSSSSS • #bookcovers #booknow #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookme #bookish #booknerd #booknerdigans #bookworm #bookaddict #bookaholic #yalit #ya #ireadya #booklove #booklover #booklovers #bookspine #bookphoto #bookphotography #booksofinstagram #read #reader #goodreads #ilovebooks #fangirl #shelfie #emberreadalong #reading #anemberintheashes

A post shared by Shelby | Slytherin (@a.fangirl.life_) on Sep 26, 2020 at 3:05pm PDT

And we’re only at TWO MONTHS TO GO until the series comes to its much-anticipated conclusion!

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If you’ve been following and participating in the #EmberReadAlong, today starts the final chapters of #AReaperattheGates (swipe to see the exact chapters)! And then this can only mean… We’re so much closer to the final book, A SKY BEYOND THE STORM, than we were when this read-along started! . . . . . #bookstagram #ilovereading #ilovebooks #igreads #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookworm #booknerd #booklover #bibliophile #bookaholic #bookish #penguinteenpartner #sabaatahir #anemberintheashes #atorchagainstthenight #ireadya #yareads

A post shared by Nicole OKC, OK (@_amyriadofbooks) on Sep 20, 2020 at 9:33am PDT

This reading journal schedule is wayyyyy more organized than we’ll ever be

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I wanted to participate in both @bloomsburypublishing #acotar2020readalong and @penguinteen #emberreadalong this month and I just finished A Court of Thorns and Roses but I am very behind on A Reaper at the Gates. I’m only on page 44 but I still think I’ll finish it this month! #snoopyreads #snoopy #bookstagram #books #booklover #bibliophile #reading #read #instabooks #bookobsessed #books #bookaddict #readingbulletjournal #bulletjournaling #bulletjournal

A post shared by @ snoopyreads on Sep 17, 2020 at 2:54pm PDT

And this quote from Reaper still haunts our dreams…

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⚔️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.⚔️ ____________________________________________ Dear Ms. @sabaatahir, I would just like A WORD This book… THIS SERIES just keeps HURTING ME! I don’t know how I’m going to make it until December yet I am in no way ready for this emotional ROLLERCOASTER to be over! My babies need a BREAK lol. That being said, I hope to one day write a book that hurts readers the way this series has done to me *maniacal laughter* This #emberreadalong has been so fun! Thanks @penguinteen ▪️ What are we up to today/this week kiddos? I’m currently working on Halloween candles. I poured 2 batches today and I’m waiting for one more oil to arrive for the last one! I’m so excited for these candles to drop !! Omg ALSO it’s so chilly right now and I’m loving EVERY SECOND OF IT ! ______________________________________________ #books #reading #bookstagram #areaperatthegates #sabaatahir #anemberintheashes #atorchagainstthenight #bookphotography #bookworm #booknerd #bibliophile #bookish #booksofinstagram #penguinteen #penguinteenpartner #diversebooks #blackandbookish #tbr

A post shared by a m b e r d i o r☕️ (@stopandsmellthepages) on Sep 14, 2020 at 6:10pm PDT

Call your cardiologist, because your heart will be broken!

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Well my heart is good and truly broken. A Reaper at the Gates completely destroyed me. The book never slowed down and I’m still reeling from the ending. I’m not ready by any means to say goodbye to these characters in A Sky Beyond the Storm which comes out later this year. Something tells me I need to stock up on lots of Kleenex before the last book comes out. Now that I’ve finished Reaper I’m starting the challenges for the yoncéathon! The first challenge for that is to read a book by a black author and for that I chose A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown. What books is everyone currently reading or reading next? Drop ’em in the comments! #books #booktube #bookish #bookstagrammer #booklover #booksbooksbooks #booknerd #bookstagram #bookworm #emberreadalong #penguinteen #reading #readersofinstagram #readmorebooks

A post shared by Ash (@pagesinthestars) on Sep 12, 2020 at 8:26am PDT

And we just love everything about this post!!!

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“You are my temple. You are my priest. You are my prayer. You are my release. – Sabaa Tahir, A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes, #3) ~ • • ~ Do you like rereading your favorite books? ~ I do, you get to reread parts you loved I’m rereading A Reaper At The Gates by Sabaa Tahir AND IS IT possible to be simultaneously infuriated AND absolutely enamoured with a book? Because I’m stuck in a constant struggle between wanting to throw this book across the room and clinging onto it for dear life. its making me begin to feel very emotionally unstable. Have you ever wished to completely forget a book, so you can rediscover it again? Oh, I wish I could with this series!!!! The third one was just so AMAZING probably my favorite one. It was so intense with major plot twists. Can’t wait for book 4 @sabaatahir @penguinteen #EmberReadAlong • • Hey #bookstafam Hope you all doing well • • Day 8 of #allthebookssept20 #tumblesoverbooks #ampersandsept20 #thebookishdreamers #bookstababessept20 #adiscoveryofwitchesseptember #booksnerdsandfriends #wildadventuressept20 • • #saynabreadsbooks #sabaatahir #anemberintheashes #atorchagainstthenight #areaperatthegates #penguinteen #fantasybooks #booksbooksbooks #eliasveturias #BooksasOutfits

A post shared by Saynab / Bookstagramer (@saynabreadsbooks) on Sep 8, 2020 at 10:56am PDT

The end is coming… be prepared.

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Adding another possibility into my #laidbackreadathon with @letstalkaboutbooksbaybee because I’m already deep into the #emberreadalong with @penguinteen ! ⁣ I love these books so much because I feel like you just can’t put them down. What took me so long to read them?? ⁣ What is a book that took you forever to read but you were so happy you did! ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ #areaperatthegates #coffeeandcurrentlyreading #coffeeandbooks #bloomsandbooks #tbr #fantasybooks #ireadya #penguinteenpartner #penguinteen

A post shared by Amanda • TheFunSizeReader (@thefunsizereader) on Sep 7, 2020 at 8:50am PDT