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littletiramisu's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
egelantier's review
3.0
beautiful, promising, fresh and new worldbuilding - the growing bone towers, life above the ever-dangerous clouds, singers and laws and traditions, bone markers for broken rules that might amount to nothing and might end up with one being a sacrifice to appease the living city, life on a flight and knife fights in darkness - somehow wasted on the cookie-cutter ya dystopia plot and completely forgettable heroine. the first pov doesn't have much: kirit has no discernible voice of her own and neither motivation nor passion to rise her over the ranks of same-face dystopian teenagers finding out the dark secrets at the heart of their ordered universes.
this said, there were several important things that mean i would keep an eye on this author, hoping that for the first book she fit her beautiful new world to the first solid structure she found: i appreciated that there were no romance storyline whatsoever; i liked secondary characters; i liked the scope and the imagination on display. so we should see.
this said, there were several important things that mean i would keep an eye on this author, hoping that for the first book she fit her beautiful new world to the first solid structure she found: i appreciated that there were no romance storyline whatsoever; i liked secondary characters; i liked the scope and the imagination on display. so we should see.
llim's review
1.0
That was a lot less fun than it should have been...
The premise was so cool--a city in the sky, towers made out of bone, people who fly around with wings strapped to their backs, giant tentacle monsters... it would take spectacular skill to fail with all of these elements, yet Fran Wilde managed to do it.
The characters were awful. The main girl made mistake after mistake, and they weren't even justifiable mistakes--she made them because she's an idiot, that's all. "Even though breaking the law is a serious offence in this world, I'm going to do it anyway just because". Really? Her motivations for doing things seemed simply to be "because the plot calls for it". The entire inciting incident (her going out on the balcony when those tentacle monsters were attacking) was completely out of character (or rather, it should have been. No one in this world would do that for no reason, yet the main character did. And then she seemed surprised by the outcome, like she hadn't expected to get in trouble for it). And why did she follow Nat out for their nightflying thing? That was clearly a serious crime, and again--after she was caught--she seemed so surprised by the reprimand...
Also, fucking Nat. He died and came back to life TWICE. I hate that. If you're going to kill a character, they'd better stay dead. "Oh, he miraculously survived". Fuck that.
And the skymouths...ok, they are flying tentacle monsters, but how exactly are they flying...? And since when do they have camouflage skin...? and how exactly did this breeding program produce super scary monsters out of tiny cute things in such a short time?
*sigh*
I really wanted to like this book, because the cover for the sequel looked cool. But man, it was awful. I hate YA garbage.
The premise was so cool--a city in the sky, towers made out of bone, people who fly around with wings strapped to their backs, giant tentacle monsters... it would take spectacular skill to fail with all of these elements, yet Fran Wilde managed to do it.
The characters were awful. The main girl made mistake after mistake, and they weren't even justifiable mistakes--she made them because she's an idiot, that's all. "Even though breaking the law is a serious offence in this world, I'm going to do it anyway just because". Really? Her motivations for doing things seemed simply to be "because the plot calls for it". The entire inciting incident (her going out on the balcony when those tentacle monsters were attacking) was completely out of character (or rather, it should have been. No one in this world would do that for no reason, yet the main character did. And then she seemed surprised by the outcome, like she hadn't expected to get in trouble for it). And why did she follow Nat out for their nightflying thing? That was clearly a serious crime, and again--after she was caught--she seemed so surprised by the reprimand...
Also, fucking Nat. He died and came back to life TWICE. I hate that. If you're going to kill a character, they'd better stay dead. "Oh, he miraculously survived". Fuck that.
And the skymouths...ok, they are flying tentacle monsters, but how exactly are they flying...? And since when do they have camouflage skin...? and how exactly did this breeding program produce super scary monsters out of tiny cute things in such a short time?
*sigh*
I really wanted to like this book, because the cover for the sequel looked cool. But man, it was awful. I hate YA garbage.
hrynkiw's review against another edition
3.0
Good world-building. I like books that drop me into the middle of an interesting society and don’t feel the need to give me the society’s back-story and just let me learn about it through the activities of the book’s characters.
Good writing, for the most part.
But the story-line is jerky. As if the author felt that the protagonist needed to suffer a little, so rolled back the storyline and added a minor event where the protagonist Does Something Wrong and needs to be punished for it.
Many of the standard tropes seem to be present and so the story is utterly predictable.
Alas, while the good writing and world-building kept me reading through to three-quarters of the way through, it wasn’t enough to keep me interested enough to finish. Abandoned.
Good writing, for the most part.
But the story-line is jerky. As if the author felt that the protagonist needed to suffer a little, so rolled back the storyline and added a minor event where the protagonist Does Something Wrong and needs to be punished for it.
Many of the standard tropes seem to be present and so the story is utterly predictable.
Alas, while the good writing and world-building kept me reading through to three-quarters of the way through, it wasn’t enough to keep me interested enough to finish. Abandoned.
eefera's review against another edition
3.0
OVERALL:
- Interesting concept that needed more explanation and depth. I was intrigued by many of the worldbuilding elements, I just wish more attention had been paid to them.
- Characters were mostly lackluster, and I found it hard to connect with them.
- Plotline was laborious until the last 100-150 pages and the first 100 pages were painfully slow. The last section picked up in pace and excitement a bit, although I don’t know how much of my interest was created by the relief that things were finally moving at a faster pace.
CONCEPT:
- I think the concept has a lot of potential. Interesting environment with the bone towers and society structure. Definitely the presence of a upper vs. lower class uprising trope.
- The concept was interesting but not well explained, it was left vague and I would’ve liked to see a lot more richness to the world. It felt more like a skeleton (no pun intended) than a truly fleshed out world. Almost as if it were unfinished.
- I was intrigued by the idea of the skymouth monsters. Very interesting and terrifying concept, and again, I don’t believe that the sense of urgency was created around them in the beginning of the book. They were written less terrifying in the beginning and then later we were expected to be terrified by them.
- The world is exceptionally organic which I appreciated.
- I would consider this book a concept driven novel, and I wish it would have been explored more.
PLOTLINE:
- The first 100 pages are laboriously slow. I almost stopped reading it several times but decided to give it another 100 pages to make sure. I started getting more drawn in around page 210 although there were a few good moments before then.
- The plot itself is not complex and follows a “chosen one” trope mixed with the lower-class uprising trope. I’m not against these tropes when they are done well, I just didn’t feel like this one met the standard.
- The events of the story didn’t start becoming more dynamic until about 150 pages from the end.
CHARACTERS:
- As a character driven novel obsessed reader, this book really missed the mark for me here. The characters felt exceptionally lackluster through well over half of the book, and the relationships felt contrived and awkward.
- Sellis gave me whiplash with her back and forth behavior toward Kirit (MC) and it seemed like her character was there just to cause drama. The one brief mention of Sellis’ relationship with Rumul was completely unnecessary and seemed to just be thrown in for added effect.
- The relationship between Kirit and her mother Ezarit was very strange in the beginning and their conversations bordered on cringeworthy at several points.
- The relationship between Kirit and her childhood friend Nat was a disappointment to me as well, since the author spent most of the time telling us how close they were while the actions of the two characters seemed anything but.
- I will say that I appreciated the fact that romance was not a core element of this book. I had several expectations based on common tropes and neither one of them came to fruition, which I found to be a relief, especially since I didn’t connect enough with the characters to want them to be in a relationship.
- Kirit (MC) herself was painfully robotic most of the time. She was a headstrong, chosen one archetype, but being headstrong alone isn’t enough to create a deep character. It seemed as if she existed solely to do all the things that none of the other characters were willing to.
- Interesting concept that needed more explanation and depth. I was intrigued by many of the worldbuilding elements, I just wish more attention had been paid to them.
- Characters were mostly lackluster, and I found it hard to connect with them.
- Plotline was laborious until the last 100-150 pages and the first 100 pages were painfully slow. The last section picked up in pace and excitement a bit, although I don’t know how much of my interest was created by the relief that things were finally moving at a faster pace.
CONCEPT:
- I think the concept has a lot of potential. Interesting environment with the bone towers and society structure. Definitely the presence of a upper vs. lower class uprising trope.
- The concept was interesting but not well explained, it was left vague and I would’ve liked to see a lot more richness to the world. It felt more like a skeleton (no pun intended) than a truly fleshed out world. Almost as if it were unfinished.
- I was intrigued by the idea of the skymouth monsters. Very interesting and terrifying concept, and again, I don’t believe that the sense of urgency was created around them in the beginning of the book. They were written less terrifying in the beginning and then later we were expected to be terrified by them.
- The world is exceptionally organic which I appreciated.
- I would consider this book a concept driven novel, and I wish it would have been explored more.
PLOTLINE:
- The first 100 pages are laboriously slow. I almost stopped reading it several times but decided to give it another 100 pages to make sure. I started getting more drawn in around page 210 although there were a few good moments before then.
- The plot itself is not complex and follows a “chosen one” trope mixed with the lower-class uprising trope. I’m not against these tropes when they are done well, I just didn’t feel like this one met the standard.
- The events of the story didn’t start becoming more dynamic until about 150 pages from the end.
CHARACTERS:
- As a character driven novel obsessed reader, this book really missed the mark for me here. The characters felt exceptionally lackluster through well over half of the book, and the relationships felt contrived and awkward.
- Sellis gave me whiplash with her back and forth behavior toward Kirit (MC) and it seemed like her character was there just to cause drama. The one brief mention of Sellis’ relationship with Rumul was completely unnecessary and seemed to just be thrown in for added effect.
- The relationship between Kirit and her mother Ezarit was very strange in the beginning and their conversations bordered on cringeworthy at several points.
- The relationship between Kirit and her childhood friend Nat was a disappointment to me as well, since the author spent most of the time telling us how close they were while the actions of the two characters seemed anything but.
- I will say that I appreciated the fact that romance was not a core element of this book. I had several expectations based on common tropes and neither one of them came to fruition, which I found to be a relief, especially since I didn’t connect enough with the characters to want them to be in a relationship.
- Kirit (MC) herself was painfully robotic most of the time. She was a headstrong, chosen one archetype, but being headstrong alone isn’t enough to create a deep character. It seemed as if she existed solely to do all the things that none of the other characters were willing to.
kelli_unraveled's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Enjoyable story. Intriguing world. Memorable characters. I did have a hard time figuring out how much time passed between events, but for the most part I liked the book and would recommend it.
bobreturns's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this. The story's a bit derivative - classic tropes of being inducted into an ancient order, rebelling, learning their secrets, rising to power, etc. As seen in so many fantasy Novels - Magician, Wheel of Time, etc. etc. But it's told pretty well. The writing's borderline YA, but the setting is staggeringly original.
And check out that gorgeous cover art!
And check out that gorgeous cover art!
abetterjulie's review against another edition
3.0
I struggled at the beginning with too much information thrown at me at once, and then I felt there wasn't enough information in the rest of the work. There was a lot expected to be taken on faith, which can sometimes work, but with a protagonist who suddenly can do things no one else can or faster than anyone else could, it didn't hold up for me. I felt it got soggy and vague in the wrong spots, and then I was simply reading to get to the end. I wish it had been written in 3rd person POV, because I think she could have really opened up the world and dug into the characters more. This feels like a first book, and there's nothing wrong with that. Three stars is not a bad review, and I might pick up the sequel to see if her arcs and world-building mature.
oleksandr's review against another edition
2.0
This novel was shortlisted for the Nebula Award for best novel and I assumed it as a nice recommendation. To say the truth, I was disappointed: it is one of the weaker entries for 2016.
Brief outline of the setting without spoilers: after unspecified disaster in the past, survivors of the cataclysm were able to grow (!) bone towers of extreme height – above the clouds. In order to communicate between towers, each of which specializes in one or other specific craft, all able adults use ‘wings’ (actually gliders). General defense and overwatch of the system is done by a specific group called Singers, whose actions shrouded in mystery. A young heroine attempts to survive and find out what really happens. While it is not explicitly stated, most likely this is a first volume of the larger series.
What I liked is a good world building: it is roughly in line with our physical world, e.g. wings are used only to glide, not actively use wings bird-like to fly (human mass to muscle strength doesn’t allow it). What I disliked is quite weak characters and not very bright – while it is fine with me to read about characters, who are not geniuses, but I prefer to have them roughly as smart as a reader: if you understand what’s happening pages before the protagonist, it actually slows you unnecessary.
Brief outline of the setting without spoilers: after unspecified disaster in the past, survivors of the cataclysm were able to grow (!) bone towers of extreme height – above the clouds. In order to communicate between towers, each of which specializes in one or other specific craft, all able adults use ‘wings’ (actually gliders). General defense and overwatch of the system is done by a specific group called Singers, whose actions shrouded in mystery. A young heroine attempts to survive and find out what really happens. While it is not explicitly stated, most likely this is a first volume of the larger series.
What I liked is a good world building: it is roughly in line with our physical world, e.g. wings are used only to glide, not actively use wings bird-like to fly (human mass to muscle strength doesn’t allow it). What I disliked is quite weak characters and not very bright – while it is fine with me to read about characters, who are not geniuses, but I prefer to have them roughly as smart as a reader: if you understand what’s happening pages before the protagonist, it actually slows you unnecessary.