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rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
4.0
Red Sky Burning was way better than its prequel, <i>Dark Blue Rising</i>. The characters finally get more depth, and the main conflict is intensified. My greatest critique is probably that the big mystery is way too obvious.
After the events of the first book, Tabby is now on the run and tries to figure out what is happening in her life. At the same time, the climate terrorists intensify their work, and nothing is like it seems. There’s a second POV of Denzi which I quite enjoyed which focusses more on the climate activism aspect – this plot line really fits in today’s time, and it also becomes clear that the book takes place there and is not dystopian. The POVs were changed organically and especially towards the ending, the switches are fast, making the book more fast-paced and exciting. This book takes again its time to get more interesting but after the half, I was really invested. The general plot is so intriguing but like I’ve said above, the mystery around the clinic that was set at the swimming school is so obvious.
The writing style is still not that great; this is mainly because the sentence structure is so simple with mostly subject–verb–object sentences. It’s also quite repetitive, e.g., the main character telling her life story three times to three different persons, and the mysterious atmosphere is not so well kept. Another problem I see is that the theme is very directly presented without any grey tones: We have to fight against climate change and everyone who doesn’t, is a bad person. It’s also unclear who we as a reader should side with – with the climate terrorists? Terry asks here if the cause justifies the means.
I started to really like the cast but after re-reading the Slated series by Terry, I noticed how similar the character constellations are in both series. We have in both books real and fake parents, an evil grandma, an MC fleeing from home with many name changes throughout the story and two personalities in some way – and I’ll have to admit that I like Kyla more than Tabby.
But generally, the characters became much more likable because they got so much development that was neglected before. Sadly, Tabby’s development is a bit simple; just because she wears new clothes, she’s suddenly a new person. Denzi in comparison is a great character and I love the fact that he has gay parents. Generally, his storyline was more interesting for me than Tabby’s. The both of them actually have some chemistry, something that I was missing from the <i>Slated</i> series.
Red Sky Burning again ends on terrible cliff hanger that makes you want to know what will happen next. I’m more than curious how the author will wrap the series up and what the climax of the conflict and its solution will be.
As a small sidenote, I’ll have to admit that as a non-American, I thought the Hoover Dam only existed in Fallout: New Vegas and not in reality, so I was first so irritated when it was mentioned in this book lmao.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Death
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent
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