Book Review: “Sky In The Deep”

“Sky in the Deep” by Adrienne Young

Source: Owlcrate

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

Also by Adrienne Young: The Girl The Sea Gave Back

Summary:

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.

Review:

I had very high hopes for this book. Many in the bookstagram community were calling it the best book of 2018. I don’t know if *I* would call it the best book of the year but it was pretty darn good.

It was a quickly paced, non-magical fantasy book which I always enjoy. I’ve never read a Viking-esque book I fell into the story easily enough. I appreciated the words in phrases in the characters native tongue (was that a real language?). I didn’t appreciate that there wasn’t a glossary of terms. Using interesting new words and phrases is awesome BUT translations are also awesome.

The conflicts between the clans were interesting. I did have a hard time really telling them apart. Maybe that was the point? They’re really not so different. It was easy enough to grow fond of characters even if you weren’t supposed to like them

I didn’t even hate the romance going on. I loved that it wasn’t a “You’re so attractive, clearly we’re in love” type of love. It was more of a “I trust you, respect you, and know that I want you fighting by my side” type of love. It makes it easier to believe and accept so quickly.

Definitely worth picking up!

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