Review: Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

Book Review

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
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Synopsis
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.

What I thought
Sky in the Deep is a young adult historical Viking age inspired fantasy novel. This is an amazing standalone novel. Yes even with that ending it is a verified standalone. Eelyn an Aska warrior believes she saw her brother die in a battle five years ago. Now when in combat with a Riki clan she sees her brother fighting on the battlefield with the enemy. Eelyn is captured by the Riki’s and now hows to decide how to forgive her brother and whether or not to trust Fiske.

“Ond Eldr
Breath Fire.”

I received this book in the May 2018 Owl Crate box and I was on the fence whether or not I wanted to read it. Some days it sounded so good and other I was meh. All in all, I am very happy that I gave this book a chance. It really surprised me how much I liked it. I am really impressed with Adrienne Young’s writing especially since this was a debut novel. I am not a person that is big on a lot of companion novels but I will have to check out what she has coming up next year. Since its going to be a companion novel I really hope that it focuses on Fiske. I just need more.

“Vegr yfir fjor.
Honor above life.”

If I am being honest I was on the fence about how I felt about this book until the last fourth. That last fourth was just remarkable. Such a good balance of action and romance. I also am a sucker for Hate to love is the one trope I can never get enough of. Adrienne Young did not hold back on the gore in this book. So if you are not very good with that you may want to be careful reading this book. I cringed more than once.

I don’t normally do this but I have included the book trailer.

Enjoy!