Reviews with content warning for Death - Sky in the Deep

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

65 reviews

mokiethe_dog34's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It was bad but it wasn’t terrible. I would’ve liked it to have been more viking-y, and the romance to have had a better beginning. It felt like the mc and the love interest kinda just suddenly fell in love without much context or background. There was fluff after that and I did enjoy seeing them together. As a whole, Sky in the Deep should have been written better and had more detail so we could better understand and enjoy the journey with the characters. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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reka111's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Date: 2022.08.14
STOPPED AT 70%
———————————————————
Date: 2022.12.21
I literally didn't finish this book months ago and I've finished it now. You can call this a miracle, you can call it fate or even perseverance, but the truth is that I simply wanted to read, I didn't want to stop at 40 books (my goal for this year), so I started this again. Basically, I love Vikings, Scandinavian mythology, culture, etc., so there was no question that I would read this. This book needed time and I totally understand that. That's how I was with The Familiars. Sometimes I make a good decision, sometimes I don't and this time I feel like I'm in between the two because this wasn't such an outstandingly good book.

Eelyn is a warrior, a soldier, an unbreakable woman. What I liked most about her character was that she was so persistent, that she did everything to protect her people.

Basically, Fiske didn't impress me, even though I should have, because he's a tall, strong love interest and he should have swept me off my feet, but he didn't. I would like to think that it was his personality that repulsed me, but the truth is that even I don't know why I couldn't love him so much.

So I'm ashamed to admit, but I only remember the other characters vaguely or not at all, in any case, Halvard is the tip of my heart, Iri is a traitor to me, but I'm glad that he got the happy ending, Indra deserve the whole world, and so does Myra.

Unfortunately, a lot of time has passed between my readings, so I can't really give a far-reaching opinion. The plot was predictable, but at least it was cute, not exactly an enemies to lovers gem, but it was good by its standards. I recommend it to those who want to read a short book and want to relax a little.

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viviette's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Listen, this was a beautiful book, it just wasn’t for me. I think everyone should read this…casually… I mean I can see people being obsessed with it (such as my cousin) but it is a very specific book, if that makes any sense. If you like a crazy Viking, slow burn romance, adventurous tense scenery, go ahead and read this!

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emilylovesgoodbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense 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

4.0

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saoreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.5

For the most part, the heroine cried a lot in numerous chapters, and it captured the scene of overwhelming grief when it came to familial love. The novel is packed with action, from fighting to clan wars. The contrast of living in a war rife with emotions demonstrates how loved ones were taken away for making sacrifices based on their own principles and beliefs. It was easy to understand the world building throughout the plot, with its definitive descriptions. I thought it'd be lacking in character buildup and relationship dynamics, but it worked out well considering the novel was short-lived.

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kelburke's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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crownedaimee's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.0

“We find things, just as we lose things. If you’ve lost your honor, you’ll find it again.”

This book, oh my god! Vikings? Check. Worldbuilding? Check. Enemies to lovers? Check. I went in not wanting to get my hopes up but boy did it deliver and blow my mind. I was not expecting to enjoy this much as I did. I could not put this down at all. I can't wait to read more books by Adrienne Young.

Sky In The Deep is a debut, standalone young adult fantasy that focuses on two different Viking clans. The Aska and the Riki have been fighting since the beginning of time. Every five years they meet on the battlefield to fight a war that has been fuelled with hatred through the centuries. Their children have been raised to hate their opponents and are taught to fight and prepare for battle. Eelyn is an Aska and had lost her brother, Iri on the battlefield years ago. But during the fight at the immediately takes place at the beginning of the story, she believed she had saw her brother and in her shock, she was then captured by the Riki. It is a story about betrayal, survival and choice.

I immediately loved Eelyn. Despite being raised to kill and fight, she only ever saw it as her duty as an Aska warrior. And I loved when she opened up to enough to let the Riki family she was staying with take care of her and she saw the love that her brother had and the family he called his own. She is fierce and independent but also vulnerable and broken. Adrienne Young wrote Eelyn so beautifully, you could feel every emotion that she went through, her every thought and the conflict that raged inside her. Especially, when it came to the hurt and betrayal she felt she she realised she lost her brother to the enemy. She quickly became one of my favourite heroines.

“Vegr yfir fjor.” Honor above life.”

I love the relationships within this book: the family, the friends and the romance. Firstly, I love the romance between the two characters. I won't say who to avoid spoilers but slow burn and enemies to lovers? What more could you ask for? Then the whole aspect with family. I loved that Adrienne showed that family isn't just the blood that we share but also that family can be chosen. It's unconditional love, trust, respect and acceptance. It was so lovely to see the two clans come together and bridge the gap that existed between them.

I know that there are many mixed reviews for this book, but I absolutely recommend to everyone, especially if Vikings is something that interests you. As well as a badass heroine and a story about love and strength of family.

Content/Trigger Warnings: loss of loved one, violence, murder, gore, sexual assault(s), physical abuse, slavery, talk of suicide, rape threats and war themes.

“I could still see a young Eelyn standing on the beach turned into the wind, a sword in one hand and an axe in the other. I hadn’t lost her. I hadn’t buried her. I’d only let her change into something new.”

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my_corner_of_the_library's review against another edition

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dark 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

2.75

This book felt like the very definition of, "Thanks, I hate it!" So many things worked for me, but tooooo many didn't.

The Back Of The Book - This isn't really a gripe against the book and author, so it wasn't part of rating the book low, but just a general complaint at the marketing department. This book gave WAY too much away on the back of the book. Seriously, you could have ready the back and skipped to page 275, and you wouldn't have missed almost anything. And even then...read the back, guess what happens next and how it ends....your probably right. That is exactly how it ends. Congrats, you've read the book.

What I did like:

The Characters - I actually really enjoyed most of the characters. For the most part I just didn't like how they were written, which may seem confusing....let me explain. Each character seems to have depth and personality, which is something I love. They all seemed individual despite being very similar and there weren't very many that I straight up didn't like. However, often times things would feel off about the way the characters were written.

For example, I really liked Fiske and Eelyn as a couple. If I saw these two in another book where they weren't together, I feel like I would totally ship them. Their personalities meshed well and they definitely had chemistry. HOWEVER....many parts of their relationship were...weird. For one, it seemed like Eelyn went from loathing Fiske's very existence to finding him attractive then loving him very suddenly (not quickly). We hated him for a long time, sneering at the thought of his name...until suddenly we didn't. She was fine with him and saw the good in him...until suddenly she was in love.

Also...the scene were they do the thing the for the first time...that dialogue was truly disturbing. I can get on board with her going from slave to his equal and lover, but I feel like it needed to be addressed, and this was not the way to do it. Since she did literally belong to him at one point, the absolute WRONG response from him was, "Yes, you do." When she said, "I don't belong to you." She was trying to make a point and he was just horny.

What didn't work for me:

The Writing - There were many things off with the writing of this book. Often times it felt as though it was a translated book that just didn't translate well. For instance, the line: "...his eyes transfiguring from worry to fear." That's not the right word. Your eyes don't transfigure from worry to fear. They shift or change, but not transfigure. Things like this popped up all over the book and it just made no sense.

Also, often times it felt as though parts of the book were edited out that really needed to be there. Often times people would be talking, but there would be no clear dialogue tags and by the end of the dialogue you'd realize it was someone else entirely. For example, when Fiske takes her to the blacksmith's tent to get the collar removed. One moment she is speaking to the blacksmith and referring to him as 'him', then without any transition, she is using 'him' to refer to Fiske because now she's talking to him, without ever making that clear. It felt as though we were missing a line.

The Climax - This actually just pissed me off. So many things in this book were glossed over and NOT given the attention they deserved, but the climax shouldn't have been one of them. This impossible task took no time at all and all went down way too easily. Convincing the Aska to help? One conversation. Convincing the Riki not to kill the Aska? About 5 lines of dialogue and promises from inconsequential people. The big battle that they absolutely should have lost? 2 very short chapters and about 30 minutes.

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cheye13's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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lit_with_lauren's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

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