Sky In The Deep by Adrienne Young (Book Review)

I received this ARC from St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinions in any way.

This cover PERFECTLY captures the essence of Adrienne Young’s book. Isn’t it just beautiful?

Book Blurb:

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.

My Rating: 4/5 stars

Tags: YA, Fantasy, Myth & Legends, Action, Romance

My Thoughts:

I was incredibly excited when I received a copy of ‘Sky In The Deep’ so, thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley!

One of my favorite genres is YA Fantasy, it’s got everything I look for in a book: young characters, adventure, mystical elements and romance. The only thing missing is an apocalypse(I love me a good apocalypse, hehe).

Sky In The Deep is written in the POV of Eelyn, a fierce female warrior you don’t want to be on the wrong side of in a battle. For her, family is everything, including her clan, the Askas. Fighting in battle and their enemy, the Rikis, is all she’s ever known. No questions asked, that is, until she sees her long dead brother during one of these battles, fighting alongside the enemies. This one chance meeting catalizes events, bringing everyone into the dawn of a new world, however unwillingly they may want it.

Set against a beautiful Nordic backdrop, Eelyn faces a new kind of battle: what she’s brought up to believe in against the reality slowly creeping in on her.

And when both the clans face the threat of extinction at the hands of a common enemy, can they look over their pride and life-long rivalry and *gasp* fight on the same side?

The main message in Sky The The Deep is strong, do you accept newfound truth and change your ways or do you pretend to not notice it and keep doing what you were doing before? Can you swallow your pride or do you choose to stay in your comfort zone? This also brings us to another related point, that we should learn both sides of the story before assuming matters.

That being said, we’re humans and sometimes we only do the right thing because we’ve been cornered into it. Eelyn, Iri and Fiske all realized the truth but, if it were not for the bloodthirsty Herjas descending upon them, they would’ve went back to the way it was before.

One aspect of Eelyn’s character is her reluctance in letting go of grudges, especially those that have hurt her and I totally relate to this. Finally, a character who didn’t easily forget someone’s treatment of her just because they’ve changed their tune; I just never got the people who could do that.

Since the people in this book are of a rougher, more brutal nature, like that of Vikings, some aspects of their culture and the things they did didn’t sit well with me. As beautiful as this tale is, I still think the writing in Shadow Weaver by Claire Merle is more lyrical. Anyway, that’s just me being a bit picky.

Sky In The Deep by Adrienne Young is a ferocious story of fighting on the battlefield, with the people you thought you knew, and the war within yourself.

Should I Get This Book?

Get it if:

• You’re a fan of the likes of Wonder Woman
• You like fierce and independent female protagonists
• You liked Shadow Weaver by Claire Merle
• You prefer books with a message to learn

Don’t Get It If:

• You dislike battle-themed tales
• You like school-themed stories
• You’re looking for books with complex plotlines
• You dislike anything related to violence

Parental Guidance: PG-13

Violence – Plenty, some slightly explicit scenes of killing. One scene of animal sacrifice. Nothing too gorish that’ll keep you up at night. (Do you think we’re too desensitized these days?)

Sex – One small scene suggesting two characters slept with each other. Some sexual tension.

Profanity – None

Religion – Large presence of pagan worship and culture.

Read An Excerpt Of The Book

Where Do I Get It?: Amazon | Barnes & Nobles | Book Depository

I leave you with some of my favorite quotes from the book:

We find things just as we lose things.

I had never considered there was more to life than the most basic explanation.

Ond eldr. Breathe fire.