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princessgirlypop's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I listened to the audiobook and loved it! (I’m usually not a fan of audiobooks)
Usually I’m a sucker for romance but in this book I enjoyed the non-romantic relationships more than the romantic one. The friendships and family bonds were so well-written and I was so invested in them! Especially the sibling bond between Eerie and Eelyn, I was so moved by the way their relationship evolved throughout the book. Also the friendship between Mira and Eelyn was so beautiful and made me cry. I cannot praise the writing of the relationships enough, it was amazing! I also really enjoyed the fight scenes, they were really descriptive and suspenseful.
My only critiques were that I don’t think this book should be classified as YA. Yes Eelyn is 17 but it was really graphically violent as well as other aspects I think go more with adult books. Also, I think the book could’ve benefitted from being longer. This is because I personally wouldn’t cut anything from the book, but I think the romance could’ve been more fleshed out and the ending felt slightly rushed to me. Lastly I saw it was classified as fantasy, but there really wasn’t any explicit fantasy aspects. It’s not a big deal but if you were hoping for fantasy that might disappoint. However these critiques are really minor, overall I still really enjoyed the book and would recommend it!
Usually I’m a sucker for romance but in this book I enjoyed the non-romantic relationships more than the romantic one. The friendships and family bonds were so well-written and I was so invested in them! Especially the sibling bond between Eerie and Eelyn, I was so moved by the way their relationship evolved throughout the book. Also the friendship between Mira and Eelyn was so beautiful and made me cry. I cannot praise the writing of the relationships enough, it was amazing! I also really enjoyed the fight scenes, they were really descriptive and suspenseful.
My only critiques were that I don’t think this book should be classified as YA. Yes Eelyn is 17 but it was really graphically violent as well as other aspects I think go more with adult books. Also, I think the book could’ve benefitted from being longer. This is because I personally wouldn’t cut anything from the book, but I think the romance could’ve been more fleshed out and the ending felt slightly rushed to me. Lastly I saw it was classified as fantasy, but there really wasn’t any explicit fantasy aspects. It’s not a big deal but if you were hoping for fantasy that might disappoint. However these critiques are really minor, overall I still really enjoyed the book and would recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Death of parent
wolf013's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Trafficking, and Slavery
Minor: Death of parent
bookling_thoughts's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book hits different. It was an immersive story and you really just wanted the best for all the characters ❤️
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and War
egurgens's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I really enjoyed this book! We get to know the main characters backstory a bit before any drastic really happens, which sets a good base for the main plot to develop. Definitely a great enemies-to-lovers book. Set in (Viking?) villages, there is a continuous war between the followers of two different gods. Every five years, the two sides fight in a particular field, fighting to avenge the blood feud declared between the two gods. Everything changes when an impossibility happens, and Eelyn finds herself surrounded by enemies, learning how to survive in a new way and path in life. A common enemy appears, pulling the two clans into a reluctant alliance.
There is SO much tension in this story, but it really keeps the reader engaged. The reader gets to watch as Eelyn struggles through her emotions and difficult situations, and enjoy watching her develop into the character we end up loving. There are definitely some difficult topics touched on, like the threat of sexual assault, violence, graphic violence, and lots of loss / grief.
There is SO much tension in this story, but it really keeps the reader engaged. The reader gets to watch as Eelyn struggles through her emotions and difficult situations, and enjoy watching her develop into the character we end up loving. There are definitely some difficult topics touched on, like the threat of sexual assault, violence, graphic violence, and lots of loss / grief.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, War, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Vomit
helpme71's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Gore, Sexual harassment, and Slavery
marisabenn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
An amazing story of strength and resilience. I like how this didn't read like a YA because the characters are warriors and don't have time to act like teenagers. I don't even think their ages were mentioned, now that I think about it. I love being able to witness Eelyn and those around her grow and change. I wish there was a smidge more romance, but you're pretty limited when it comes to YA.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Child death, and Sexual harassment
mypatronusisajedi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
michellemaas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was pretty conflicted about my feelings for this book. I went back and forth on whether I wanted to give it 3 or 4 stars since the pacing was not that great and there wasn't much that ultimately happened, but I was entertained.
I am going to start with the pacing. My version of this book was 300 pages on the dot, and I read it in two sittings with 150 pages read per sitting. While the first chapter jumps right into the action (maybe one of the best opening chapters I have ever read), the next half of the book just focuses on our main characters with nothing interesting happening. Then you get onto the last 100 pages or so and the pacing is perfect with an ideal mix between action and characters development. While I didn't necessarily mind reading the first half (I was still entertained enough to finish the book, after all) I have found that pacing problems, especially in a book this short, could spell disaster. Luckily Adrienne Young made up for it in a hell of an ending, but the inconsistent pacing was inconvenient and something to note.
Next, I want to discuss our main love interests: Fiske and Eelyn. Their relationship was enemies-to-lovers and also a slow-burn supreme. I enjoyed the development of their relationship (especially with the pacing of the plot being a bit off I was worried their relationship might feel a little rushed, but that was not the case at all). Their interactions and falling in love all felt like a very natural progression and also a realistic portrayal of love between the ages of 16 and 24. There was passion and loyalty between them but they were responsible enough to not neglect their duties to their clans in favor of their happiness. I also liked that they were true enemies-to-lovers (down to him shooting her with an arrow) instead of an "I kind of dislike you for no good reason other than it serving the plot"-to-lovers situation. The resolution of their relationship-based conflict was also masterfully done in my opinion since we would usually see the girl giving up everything to be with the guy in a situation like theirs but it wasn't the case this time.
Overall I enjoyed this book even if I felt it could have been better. There were a lot of times that it felt like there was more of a concept than necessarily a plot. Young did a great job of capturing Viking mythology and incorporating their ways of life, beliefs, and rituals into her storytelling but I wish she would have skipped out on the world-building a little to flesh out the actual plot more. Since there are only two books in this series with neither of them being super long the world-building isn't as important as it would be in something like Throne of Glass or From Blood and Ash which are both series with 4+ books with each book clocking in with more than 500 pages.
Finally, I just want to put a disclaimer that I read this book right off of a reading slump, so I was kind of forcing myself to read it since I have been wanting to read it and wanted to get over my reading slump. I don't know if that affected my reading experience and therefore rating. I try to be very fair and unbiased when reviewing the books I've read but I did want to put the disclaimer out there. If you love YA, enemies-to-lovers books with a bit of gore and a few emotional plotlines I think this will be right up your alley. For me, I was just hoping for a more plot-driven book this time around (meaning that there was more stuff happening in the book instead of just focusing on the characters for long periods), but with that being said I still really enjoyed it, and would probably reread in the future so please do not take my criticisms as hate towards the author since there were several redeeming qualities to Sky in the Deep despite its flaws.
I am going to start with the pacing. My version of this book was 300 pages on the dot, and I read it in two sittings with 150 pages read per sitting. While the first chapter jumps right into the action (maybe one of the best opening chapters I have ever read), the next half of the book just focuses on our main characters with nothing interesting happening. Then you get onto the last 100 pages or so and the pacing is perfect with an ideal mix between action and characters development. While I didn't necessarily mind reading the first half (I was still entertained enough to finish the book, after all) I have found that pacing problems, especially in a book this short, could spell disaster. Luckily Adrienne Young made up for it in a hell of an ending, but the inconsistent pacing was inconvenient and something to note.
Next, I want to discuss our main love interests: Fiske and Eelyn. Their relationship was enemies-to-lovers and also a slow-burn supreme. I enjoyed the development of their relationship (especially with the pacing of the plot being a bit off I was worried their relationship might feel a little rushed, but that was not the case at all). Their interactions and falling in love all felt like a very natural progression and also a realistic portrayal of love between the ages of 16 and 24. There was passion and loyalty between them but they were responsible enough to not neglect their duties to their clans in favor of their happiness. I also liked that they were true enemies-to-lovers (down to him shooting her with an arrow) instead of an "I kind of dislike you for no good reason other than it serving the plot"-to-lovers situation. The resolution of their relationship-based conflict was also masterfully done in my opinion since we would usually see the girl giving up everything to be with the guy in a situation like theirs but it wasn't the case this time.
Overall I enjoyed this book even if I felt it could have been better. There were a lot of times that it felt like there was more of a concept than necessarily a plot. Young did a great job of capturing Viking mythology and incorporating their ways of life, beliefs, and rituals into her storytelling but I wish she would have skipped out on the world-building a little to flesh out the actual plot more. Since there are only two books in this series with neither of them being super long the world-building isn't as important as it would be in something like Throne of Glass or From Blood and Ash which are both series with 4+ books with each book clocking in with more than 500 pages.
Finally, I just want to put a disclaimer that I read this book right off of a reading slump, so I was kind of forcing myself to read it since I have been wanting to read it and wanted to get over my reading slump. I don't know if that affected my reading experience and therefore rating. I try to be very fair and unbiased when reviewing the books I've read but I did want to put the disclaimer out there. If you love YA, enemies-to-lovers books with a bit of gore and a few emotional plotlines I think this will be right up your alley. For me, I was just hoping for a more plot-driven book this time around (meaning that there was more stuff happening in the book instead of just focusing on the characters for long periods), but with that being said I still really enjoyed it, and would probably reread in the future so please do not take my criticisms as hate towards the author since there were several redeeming qualities to Sky in the Deep despite its flaws.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Chronic illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
elsaemmalise's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, Torture, and War
Moderate: Sexual harassment
delvie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
God, I needed this book. Slow-burn enemies to romance that doesn't rely on spice to the point where I'm just reading to get to the next romantic scene is 100% my jam. The setting is fresh (fae who?). The hatred at the beginning is believable. Give me more of this on my shelf.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexual assault