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.
Oh my goodness, oh my goodness. OH, MY GOODNESS. Ugh. I just seriously love this
book. It’s been a while since I felt this much joy and happiness after reading a book, and Sky in the Deep is so deserving of that feeling.
It’s got everything you could possibly want in a book: Action. Adventure. Romance. Betrayal. Vikings. And who doesn’t love a good Viking story?
First of all, isn’t the cover art just gorgeous?? I listened to the audiobook version and was really happy with the narration. It also helped since there were so many foreign words to me and I would have no idea how to begin to pronounce them. (You know how there are some words that you just don’t know how to pronounce, so your brain just skips over it when you read in your head? I’m taking a Biology course this semester, so that’s basically like every other word I read… like phenythiocarbamide. Sooooo fun!)
Anywho~ This book is seriously my favorite book from this year so far. I love, love, loved the storyline and Eelyn as a character. She was the strong, fierce, capable, female heroine every girl wants to be. I will admit she had her moments, and her stubbornness is a force to be reckoned with, but she and Fiske pulled through in the end. This wasn’t so much a romance novel, but more of a self-realization novel…if that makes sense? What I mean is, Eelyn really discovers how capable and essential she is. She already had confidence, but now she truly understands how to use it and where to aim it.
I loved how every character in this book had a strong sense of family and community. I’m pretty sure — no, I’m 100% sure — I would never survive living life as a Viking, so I found this book to be incredibly interesting. Just a warning though: there’s a ton of violence in this book, so if you’re a bit squeamish, this might not be the best book for you. I’m actually very squeamish but found this book to be amazing, so it all just depends on you!
Adrienne Young has another book coming out this year, called The Girl the Sea Gave Back, and I’m so excited to read it! It’s a standalone novel placed in the same world as Sky in the Deep (!!!) It delves into the story of Halvard (one of my favorite characters!) ten years after Sky in the Deep ends. I literally can’t wait.
So if you can’t tell already, I strongly recommend Sky in the Deep. 🙂 If you’ve read this book already, what are your thoughts on it?
the unlost book nook. 