book review // sky in the deep (2018)

image from Culturefly

book synopsis:

sky in the deep by adrienne young is a story about eelyn, a young female warrior who, while fighting alongside her clansmen, discovers her brother on the battlefield fighting together with the enemy. the same brother who she believed dead for five years. things happen, drama ensues, loyalties change, and soon enough eelyn must decide who she wants to fight with and what's worth fighting for.

this book was very average for me. the characters were average, the plot was average, and nothing really stood out to me whatsoever. nothing unexpected happened and the entire story was pretty much predictable from beginning to end.

what i enjoyed most about this book:

the originality. how many young adult books are out there that focus on vikings and clans? not very many, i'll tell you that. in fact, i can't think of a single other one. so for that, i give this book props.

a few things i didn't like about this book:

eelyn was an unlikable protagonist. and that's all i have to say about that.

the pacing. it felt like this whole book was rushed. each journey was cut short. the final "epic" battle took place over, what, like... 3 pages?

it was confusing...? not in a way where i felt like it didn't make any sense, but more like i felt the explanations were rushed and sequences of events were skipped so the whole thing felt confusing. plans weren't explained so i literally was lost during the final battle and didn't understand why they were heading into hylle. it was also the most confusing book i've read in that i had difficulty following along as to who was saying what because it was often unclear.

and finally,

the writing. the writing in this book just seemed oversimplified and plain, while also managing to remain unclear. it almost, coming from a master essay bs-er myself, felt like the author was writing just to sound like she was writing something super elegant and fancy when in reality, she was merely repeating what she said in different terms.

    it also seemed like, at times, her writing would contradict the character's thoughts and feelings. for example, when eelyn was first captured by the riki, she kept telling herself that she should just die. that dying would be more honorable than living as a dyr. she was certain that she would rather die with honor than to be rejected by sigr into sjolberg for ever becoming a dyr. as the askan motto dictates, "honor above life."

    this was a fact that i'm pretty sure every reader knew and that eelyn made completely obvious. yet, when fiske pointed this out to her, she basically acted as though that weren't true and that she were ashamed of behaving in such a way, and she didn't want to admit that to herself. she was actually hurt that fiske believed that about her. but like, come on. you were proud to prefer death over servitude. you were adamant that a life with the riki was no life at all. so why are you suddenly surprised by the truth? the exact words:

    "'You'll find your own end before the snow melts because your pride and your anger are more important to you than your own survival.'

    I drew back, the words stinging. Because they were true. More true than I wanted to admit."

WHAT DO YOU MEAN it's more true than you wanted to admit? you've been telling everyone that will listen to you how badly you crave your honor over your life. it's no surprise to anybody, so why is it a shock to you?

this same contradiction occurred time and time again within this novel. eelyn was constantly saying how badly she wished her brother had died instead of living among the riki. that he was dead to her. she wanted to make it known. she kept saying and saying that, yet when anyone threw those words back at her, she would think, "it was more true than she'd like to admit." it was like the author was trying to create this inner turmoil for the main character, but had nothing real to go off of, if that makes sense.

but overall, again, a very average - NOT bad - read. i loved fiske. (but seriously, i read every book for the male love interests ok bye)

my overall rating: ★★★✬☆ (3.5 stars)