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sophieamreacher's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Scifi top gun. Loved it. Loved the characters, loved the banter, the fighting was excellent and the mystery was intriguing. Didn’t want to put it down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, War, Death, Violence, Animal death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
mandaraffe's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Violence, War, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Death, and Classism
Moderate: Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death
spaghettii's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, Death, and Vomit
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
Skyward was my first Sanderson book and it was so amazing. I’ll admit, I had quite high expectations because of this but those expectations were definitely met.
This book follows the main character Spensa who is brandmarked by the society she lives in because her father fled from a spaceship fight against the Krell that are threatening their society. Through some lucky circumstances, she’s still able to enter the spaceship pilot school where she learns how to defend her society while also trying to figure out the truth behind her fathers’ betrayal and the aliens.
The storyline itself was absolutely amazing and a perfect mixture between funny and dramatic scenes. There were so many amazing twists, and I was constantly worried for Spensa and the other pilots because the world they live in is so cruel and they could die at any moment – and this happens a lot so that you can’t get attached to the characters without getting hurt.
I especially loved the ending with its preceding low point: M-Bot shuts down and Spensa is thrown out of the school because she ejected herself from her spaceship instead of dying with it – amazing scene, by the way. When the Krell later attack, Cobb flies M-Bot to Spensa so that she can fight with it. I was so sure that Cobb would die but luckily, he lived and Spensa saved them all .
Furthermore, Sanderson deals with interesting themes in the story. The society that Spensa lives in is very unjust, especially towards people from lower social classes. People with a high social class pass the test for the pilot school automatically while people like Spensa barely have any chance. I love also how critical the book is towards authorities without being too obvious about this message. Last but not least, the topic of war was depicted quite realistically in its brutality, what it makes with people, and if honour is really everything that counts.
Another thing I appreciate that there was no romance – even though an enemies-to-lovers is a bit teased towards the end. I also quite enjoyed the fights in the spaceships, but I sometimes struggled to see them before my eyes. The pacing was also not perfect since the middle part was a bit slow with many training scenes. It becomes clear though that Sanderson knows his business quite well. His writing style is so amazing; he’s so good at portraying emotions which led to me becoming so invested in the characters and the plot. His dialogues are great as well.
Talking about characters, there were so many that I loved. Spensa was a great protagonist and I always like to read about protagonists who are apprentices and learning something. I was rooting for her so much because she deserves so much better; it’s so unfair how everyone treats her badly for her heritage that she obviously can’t change. She just has so much character development in the course of the story.
All of the side characters were amazing as well, first and foremost M-Bot, the speaking ship that Spensa is repairing. I also loved Cobb so much, he’s the perfect mentor figure. The reveal that he was the one who killed Spensa’s dad was quite shocking and I can only imagine how hard it was for Spensa to get to know this. The rest of the cast is relatively big with a team of ten pilots which I always like but it was a bit hard to remember the different characters.
After Skyward, I’m so hyped to read the next book or maybe finally get invested into the Cosmere universe. Here, I had everything that I love about Sci-Fi/Fantasy books: a great female protagonist that is learning something, amazing side characters and an intriguing story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism and Death
Moderate: Animal death
parisreads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Bullying
Minor: Animal death
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