Review: SKY IN THE DEEP by Adrienne Young
/28 Comments/by SuzannePublished by Wednesday Books on April 24, 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 352
Source: Netgalley
Amazon
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
MY REVIEW:
As soon as I realized Sky in the Deep was about Vikings, it immediately became one of my most anticipated reads of 2018. (Have I mentioned that I love Viking stories?) I was hoping for an exciting, action-packed read, and I’m thrilled to say that I got that and so much more. Sky in the Deep opens with our main character, 17 year old Eelyn, and her Aska clan engaged in battle with their lifelong enemies, the Riki clan. The fighting is fierce and the energy is electric, but all of that fades away when Eelyn sees something on the battlefield she never expects to see – her brother, who she watched die in battle five years ago, apparently alive and well and fighting for her enemy. It’s a total WTF moment and I was immediately hooked and, like Eelyn, I had so many questions that I wanted answers to.
How is it possible that Eelyn’s brother is there if she actually saw him die? And why in the world would he be fighting against his own people and for his sworn enemy?
During one of the clashes between the Aska and Riki, Eelyn is captured and taken up into the mountains to the Riki village. If she can survive winter in the mountains surrounded by all of her enemies, she has the opportunity to confront her brother face to face and demand answers.
But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan who has also attacked the Aska village in the past – the same clan who killed Eelyn’s mother — Eelyn becomes desperate to get back to her family. It becomes clear that if the Aska and the Riki are going to survive, they’re going to need to work together to defeat their common enemy.
Can Eelyn convince her father that the Riki are not their enemy and that they need each other?
Eelyn was such an epic main character. I really loved her. She’s a fierce and proud Aska warrior and her loyalty to both her family and her clan knows no bounds. Some of my favorite scenes from Sky in the Deep are those scenes where Eelyn is out there fighting like a total badass on the battlefield. What I also loved about her character though is that she’s not all fierceness and badassery – she’s also a vulnerable and conflicted sister who fears that her brother is a traitor to her people and doesn’t know what to do about it or how to feel about it. I thought the author did an incredible job of conveying every emotion Eelyn was feeling. Her pain was palpable, as was her anger, her initial hatred of the Riki, her feelings of betrayal, etc. Everything about Eelyn was so vividly depicted that it was just very easy to feel a connection with her.
Sky in the Deep is one of those books that I would consider to be the best of both worlds – if you enjoy action-packed battle scenes, you’ll love it, but if you enjoy character and relationship-driven stories, you’ll love it too. The battle scenes were truly thrilling. There were axes and swords flying everywhere and I was on the edge of my seat each time Eelyn fought, hoping that she would make it through unscathed. The scenes were vivid and somewhat graphic but didn’t really veer over into outright gory territory, which worked well for me.
As if those action-packed scenes weren’t fabulous enough, the book is also filled with relationships that just really got to me. I’ve already mentioned the conflicted relationship between Eelyn and her brother. That one just broke my heart because Eelyn was so crushed to think her brother was a traitor. I really wanted to hate him for hurting Eelyn with his betrayal, but then we hear his side of the story, and everything I initially thought of him got turned on its head and I just wanted brother and sister to reconcile so badly.
The brother-sister relationship takes center stage when it comes to relationships, but it’s not the only relationship by far. I thought the author did a beautiful job depicting the evolution of the relationship between the Aska and Riki clans once they realize they face a common threat and need to band together if they hope to survive. I loved the range of emotions that she has the various Aska and Riki clanspeople, Eelyn and her captor Fiske in particular, move through – the long-standing hatred, the mistrust, the curiosity, tentative acceptance, friendship, etc. These relationships were all so messy and so realistic and I just ate them up!
And yes, there is a romantic relationship as well. And guess what? I didn’t hate it! Why? Without giving too much away, I’ll just say that it was a subtle relationship that gradually developed over the course of the story and I never felt like it took over the story or distracted from anything else that was going on. There’s no insta-love at all – in fact, it’s quite the opposite. It’s enemies to lovers all the way, which apparently I’m a huge fan of!
Even though I loved Sky in the Deep overall, I did have a bit of an issue with uneven pacing. Those action-packed battle scenes had me absolutely flying through the pages, as did the scenes where Eelyn confronted her brother or where she clashed with her captors. But then I would hit the occasional lull when the story focused more on the day-to-day life of the Riki and Eelyn’s thoughts as she watched them and did chores for them.
These domestic-focused chapters were still beautifully written– let me be very clear on that– and they definitely served a purpose, which was to show Eelyn that her sworn enemies are normal people just like she and her fellow Aska are. My issue was mainly that reading about sewing and gardening and other chores just felt a little mundane in comparison to the adrenaline rush that goes along with reading about someone slashing and hacking their way across a battlefield. I think this would have been a 5-star read for me if there had been fewer passages that dealt with household chores.
Sky in the Deep is a fantastic read that has something for everyone. If you’re into character-driven books that feature fierce females and plenty of complicated relationships, then this is a book for you. However, if you’re into action-packed stories that feature warring Viking clans, this is a book for you too. And finally, if you’re into a slow-burn romance featuring enemies who suddenly don’t hate each other quite as much as they thought they did, then yes, Sky in the Deep is for you as well.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
OND ELDR. BREATHE FIRE.
Raised to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield—her brother, fighting with the enemy—the brother she watched die five years ago.
Faced with her brother’s betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbor is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan thought to be a legend, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family.
She is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother’s friend, who sees her as a threat. They must do the impossible: unite the clans to fight together, or risk being slaughtered one by one. Driven by a love for her clan and her growing love for Fiske, Eelyn must confront her own definition of loyalty and family while daring to put her faith in the people she’s spent her life hating.
About Adrienne Young
Adrienne Young is a born and bred Texan turned California girl. She is a foodie with a deep love of history and travel and a shameless addiction to coffee. When she’s not writing, you can find her on her yoga mat, scouring antique fairs for old books, sipping wine over long dinners, or disappearing into her favorite art museums. She lives with her documentary filmmaker husband and their four little wildlings beneath the West Coast sun.
Can’t Wait Wednesday – Spotlight on A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY by Brigid Kemmerer
/34 Comments/by Suzanne
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about. It is a meme that I have loved participating in for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll just be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.
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My selection for this week is A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer. This book went on my TBR before I even read the synopsis because I loved Kemmerer’s More Than We Can Tell so much. But then I realized it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling and it fully cemented its status as a must-read book for me. I have a long while to wait before this book comes out, but I think this will be one that’s worth the wait!
A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY by Brigid Kemmerer
Publication Date: January 29, 2019
From Goodreads:
It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.
Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.
Break the curse, save the kingdom.
A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.
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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂
Top Ten Tuesday – Top 10 Books People Keep Telling Me to Read…But I Still Haven’t (Yet!)
/56 Comments/by SuzanneTop Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is a FREEBIE, so I thought it would be fun to share some books that everyone keeps telling me to read because they know I’d love them, but somehow I just haven’t quite gotten myself to read them yet. I swear that I will get to them all eventually because these books are all recommended by trusted blogger friends, but it’s just taking me longer than I thought it would to actually get around to them. Some of them I really have no excuse though because I’ve even read other books by the authors and loved them, Laini Taylor and V.E. Schwab, for example, so I don’t even know what I’m waiting for.
So many books, so little time!
Top 10 Books People Keep Telling Me to Read…But I Still Haven’t (Yet!)
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1. LETTERS TO THE LOST by Brigid Kemmerer
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2. THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater
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3. IN A DARK, DARK WOOD by Ruth Ware
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4. DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor
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5. THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas
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6. ALEX, APPROXIMATELY by Jenn Bennett
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7. VICIOUS by V. E. Schwab
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8. RED WINTER by Annette Marie
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9. A MAN CALLED OVE by Fredrik Backman
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10. REBEL OF THE SANDS by Alwyn Hamilton
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