Book Review: Sky in the Deep (Sky in the Deep #1)

 

Sky in the Deep

Adrienne Young

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 2/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

After spending the last five years thinking her brother died a horrible death on the battlefield, it's pretty shocking for Eelyn to see Iri on the opposite side of the battlefield. She risked everything thinking she was saving him, but she really ends up a prisoner of the opposition with a traitor for a brother. Now, she has to figure out how to gain her freedom without losing her honor and deal with losing a brother all over again. 

I thought this book was pretty good but pretty insubstantial. If we had focused on her dealing with her brother, her enemies to lovers romance, or the impending war as individual events or plot elements that had separate substantial value it would've been better. Instead, everything felt insta and poorly developed. I guess the way she developed the relationship with her brother was okay, but I didn't really feel any chemistry between her and Fiske and then it was like bam they're in love and willing to give their lives for one another. 

I'm kind of a fan of the ultimate evil in a lot of ways because books make it so much easier. In the reality of a war, no side is completely evil because even if you're supporting an evil cause you couldn't pick the geography you were born in and it stands to reason that there are good people fighting only because they have no other choice. In a book, you can kind of ignore that in favor of being like oops these guys are Evil with a capital E. I don't even remember what the opposition was called in this book cause they were mentioned maybe three times before oh my god they're the worst thing to ever besiege the world we have to band together to stop them. And even though fighting is like their whole goal and they have a scheduled war every five years just for fun, they kind of suck at fighting. It was pretty difficult to get behind especially when the slaughter came without a single hint of consideration for their motives. 

So yeah, it was okay. I was pretty interested as I read it but I was always looking for more in everything that happened. I wouldn't say don't read it because it's easy to get through and has it's perks, but it's definitely not a book you want to overthink.