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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
So nice to read a grown-up novel set in a dystopian world. There is gore, there is sex, there is torture and brutality. There is also love and caring. Basically, don't expect a twee story about teenage angst. I was grossed out and cried and puzzled. This is something to get your teeth into with a twisted plot line that keeps you hooked.
I am now eagerly awaiting the second volume.
I am now eagerly awaiting the second volume.
This book is set in a dystopian future where Skels and Morbihans live in Gale City which is controlled by the Centrals. When Skel girls reah twenty they take part in the Showcase for the opportunity to become a host for a Morbihan family - Morbihans can't breed so Skel women carry their babies. All Skel girls find this an exciting opportunity apart from Skylar. The book follows Skylar from the Showcase and her decision that there is more to life than being a host. Not the usual genre I read - reminded me of The Hunger Games and Insurgent. Good enough read but felt it was more of a young adult read.
Thanks to Bloodhound Books and Emma Pullar for the opportinity to read and review this book.
Thanks to Bloodhound Books and Emma Pullar for the opportinity to read and review this book.
Set in a dystopian future, it follows the story of a Skel named Skyla. Skels are seen as workers, to use and abused until their usefulness runs out but certain ones are used as ‘hosts’ to bear the children of the so-called superior race called the Morbihan’s. Skyla is selected to be one of these hosts but she has never been good at following rules. With the help of Bunce, a young morb who doesn’t want to become immobile and overweight like the rest of his race, she sets out to find a cure for the Mobihan condition.
Now I’ve been reading Bloodhound books for a few months now, and I can safely say this book is nothing like anything I’ve ever read from this publisher before.
This book was an emotional rollercoaster for me, making me angry, teary and occasionally a little nauseous.
Emma Pullar has created a very disturbing and vivid world. I’m not going to lie, it’s not the easiest of reads and is a little slow to start off with, but stick with it, it’s worth it.
Skyla seems to be a product of this harsh world. Frankly at the beginning of the novel, I didn’t find her that likeable (that’s it’s understandable when you’re seen as either disposable or as an incubator) but as the story went on and we find out more about her, I grew to like her a bit more. I absolutely loved Bunce, he’s clumsy and naive but it’s obvious that he cares for Skyla.
I hope this is not the last I’ll be reading about Skyla.
If you enjoyed the Hunger Games or Maze Runner and are looking for something a little more adult, this is the book for you.
Now I’ve been reading Bloodhound books for a few months now, and I can safely say this book is nothing like anything I’ve ever read from this publisher before.
This book was an emotional rollercoaster for me, making me angry, teary and occasionally a little nauseous.
Emma Pullar has created a very disturbing and vivid world. I’m not going to lie, it’s not the easiest of reads and is a little slow to start off with, but stick with it, it’s worth it.
Skyla seems to be a product of this harsh world. Frankly at the beginning of the novel, I didn’t find her that likeable (that’s it’s understandable when you’re seen as either disposable or as an incubator) but as the story went on and we find out more about her, I grew to like her a bit more. I absolutely loved Bunce, he’s clumsy and naive but it’s obvious that he cares for Skyla.
I hope this is not the last I’ll be reading about Skyla.
If you enjoyed the Hunger Games or Maze Runner and are looking for something a little more adult, this is the book for you.
I have to admit that I was fully out of my comfort zone with this book. Books in the Dystopian genre is not something I really go for, so wasn’t quite sure what I was going to make of this book. I didn’t have to worry though as it wasn’t long before the author had drawn me into Skyla’s world and I was well and truly hooked.
I have to admit the story did remind me slightly of the film Wall-E. The overweight Morbihan’s who are to obese to do a lot of things themselves having to rely on in this case, the Skels. Skels are underweight humans due to the living conditions and food they have to eat.
You can’t help but feel for the characters in this novel. Skyla is pretty much on her own in the world and is fighting for survival whilst also wanting to change the world she lives in. There are so many wrongs going on that I could very much feel her frustration.
There were three characters that really stood out to me through out the novel and they were Skyla, Bunce and Kian. All are fighting their own battles whilst trying to make sense of what is going on within their city. Bunce is someone that Skyla takes under her wings and she reluctantly allows him to help her. He isn’t a strong character like Kian and Skyla but I think that is what drew me to him. Kian is a bit of a guardian angel to Skyla. He watches out for her and even though in his job he should have nothing to do with her their friendship is to strong for him not to help her out every now and again.
Skeletal is a story that will appeal to the young adult market and upwards. It is a scary take on what life could be like in the future. Skyla’s journey is one that will have the reader gripped through the injustices she has to endure and the unlikely friendships that she strikes up, which added some warmth to the cruel world and made for emotional reading in part. Sure to be a hit with dystopian fans as well as other readers who fancy something a bit different.
I have to admit the story did remind me slightly of the film Wall-E. The overweight Morbihan’s who are to obese to do a lot of things themselves having to rely on in this case, the Skels. Skels are underweight humans due to the living conditions and food they have to eat.
You can’t help but feel for the characters in this novel. Skyla is pretty much on her own in the world and is fighting for survival whilst also wanting to change the world she lives in. There are so many wrongs going on that I could very much feel her frustration.
There were three characters that really stood out to me through out the novel and they were Skyla, Bunce and Kian. All are fighting their own battles whilst trying to make sense of what is going on within their city. Bunce is someone that Skyla takes under her wings and she reluctantly allows him to help her. He isn’t a strong character like Kian and Skyla but I think that is what drew me to him. Kian is a bit of a guardian angel to Skyla. He watches out for her and even though in his job he should have nothing to do with her their friendship is to strong for him not to help her out every now and again.
Skeletal is a story that will appeal to the young adult market and upwards. It is a scary take on what life could be like in the future. Skyla’s journey is one that will have the reader gripped through the injustices she has to endure and the unlikely friendships that she strikes up, which added some warmth to the cruel world and made for emotional reading in part. Sure to be a hit with dystopian fans as well as other readers who fancy something a bit different.
This is a confusing mess of a book. Lets see if I can break it down.
So the idea is that there is white, obese race that floats around in those hover chairs from Wall-E. They are called Morbs.
They have enslaved a race of very thin dark skinned 'Skels' who produce their food etc and act as surrogates providing them with children.
Our protagonist is a Skel called Skyla, she has an attitude problem and is a loner whose only friend uses birds as murder weapons.
And if you're thinking 'calling the morbidly obese race 'morbs' and the skeletally thin race 'skels' is really not subtle' well wait til you meet a 'Mutil' who is a Skel who has been MUTILated.
The plot starts with Skyla being chosen to become a surrogate for a Morb family and having to move in with them. She doesn't actually meet any of the requirements that most Morb families will have - but the plot must be moved on whether it likes it or not! She hears a rumour that there is a cure for the obesity experienced by the Morbs and teams up with a young Morb who doesn't want to get fat to go find it! She and this young Morb fall in love which causes her tension between her and that bff who can communicate with crows and has been secretly in love with her.
Along the way we find out the meat the Morbs are eating is people! Yes it's the old Soylent Green twist. No explanation on how they're eating the Skels - whose main characteristic is that they're very thin....Skeletal in fact. You'd think there would not be a lot of meat in them. A very inefficient food source.
Also I'm sure you expected this was set on Earth? Well Surprise! It's all happening on Mars! Yes! It's a reverse Planet of the Apes! Why is this important? Who knows. It doesn't actually seem to change anything.
There are also a mysterious 'Central' group who have some kind of power and control everything which mostly seems to see them posing as regular people and living in slums. Which I suppose is effective at....something? Yeah I don't really see the point of them. Maybe they're important in the next book? But I won't be reading it.
This book has a very....odd....treatment of race. So....like I said the morbs are white and the skels are not. During the Mars reveal we are told that there are no white Skels cos they died out during the move to Mars. There's a very heavy handed talk about whether it's better to have all the colours possible or if mixed is better. But what bothers me about this is that Skyla's appearance is specifically and repeatedly noted as being pale. She is in the palest of the surrogates. She is blond. She is variously described as 'olive' or 'honey' coloured. So....is Skyla not white? And if she's not supposed to be read as white why go to such lengths to hammer home how pale she is? (if this is answered in the next book by her being the result of a genetic experiment to bring back white people I will be PISSED) Overall there's a strong vibe of 'this one white girl is the hero this planet of black slaves need' and I am DEEPLY uncomfortable with that. I'd love for someone with the knowledge and vocabulary around race that I do NOT have to read this book and really go into this stuff. Like - are the more sympathetic characters more coded as white? Like how Tess has red hair? Or a character later revealed as a traitor is 'black as night and twice as deadly', 'a smiling charcoal face'?
Returning to the plot - they do find the cure for obesity in Morbs - and Skyla is forced to drink it. Oh no! It's gone! No wait...she can cure her Morb friend by shagging him! I am not making this up. This genuinely happens. They are told that he can now cure other Morbs by shagging THEM. I'm sure this HAS to be a porno plot. But anyway a brief imprisonment, a crow-nado and an untimely death later and none of this really seems to matter.
Skyla is a WEIRD character. Though we're seeing the plot from her point of view we also don't seem to know everything she knows.
Skyla completely forgets about her 'sister' Tess until she is getting on the train to leave her behind forever. If Skyla hadn't escaped her Morb family she would have had no way of seeing her again. And we never get an explanation of how they became 'sisters' cos they don't live in the same part of the city and they're not actually related. So when she gives over her guardianship to someone else it feels anti climatic even though I'm sure it's supposed to be a big deal. Cos we don't know WHY she's this kid's 'sister'. Or why she's never met her mother or been inside her house before.
Or how Skyla knew all along that Kian could talk to crows and used them for an actual mass murder but never really said anything or was bothered by it. I dunno about you but if my bff re-enacted The Birds and killed loads of people I'd have some issues with that. I'd maybe bring it up occasionally. It would be in the forefront of my mind at various times when he was around. I certainly wouldn't be encouraging him to practice his powers!!
Kian never really has any character development so that when he goes all 'there is no Kian only CROW' it lacks impact because we don't really know what the difference is. Kian's only features are that he has brothers we never meet, uses crows to murder people, recently joined up as a guard and has a blinding jealousy towards anyone Skyla might be interested in.
Plot points are dropped from the sky with no real build up and characters appear and disappear almost at random. Like how Cara just suddenly appears in the very dangerous and remote place they are? Then flounces off as soon as the plot no longer needs her? Or how a healer who they urgently need is only 20 minutes away at the time they need her? Despite them having been on the run for ages? And Kian just appears anywhere he's needed whether it makes sense for him to be there or not. He's everywhere! Or there will be info dumps like a character in the last pages suddenly revealing that they were involved in the creation of the cure. Long past the point where that information does any good or fills in any gaps.
Overall this is a heavy handed mess of a book that seems to be pulling together bits from different books and movies. I'm pretty sure it's racist, it's DEFINITELY fatphobic and it's just not very well written.
I have the second book - it was free as part of Amazon unlimited but I think it will go unread. Even free, even with all this extra time to read during lockdown even THEN I don't want to find time to endure a second book of this.
So the idea is that there is white, obese race that floats around in those hover chairs from Wall-E. They are called Morbs.
They have enslaved a race of very thin dark skinned 'Skels' who produce their food etc and act as surrogates providing them with children.
Our protagonist is a Skel called Skyla, she has an attitude problem and is a loner whose only friend uses birds as murder weapons.
And if you're thinking 'calling the morbidly obese race 'morbs' and the skeletally thin race 'skels' is really not subtle' well wait til you meet a 'Mutil' who is a Skel who has been MUTILated.
The plot starts with Skyla being chosen to become a surrogate for a Morb family and having to move in with them. She doesn't actually meet any of the requirements that most Morb families will have - but the plot must be moved on whether it likes it or not! She hears a rumour that there is a cure for the obesity experienced by the Morbs and teams up with a young Morb who doesn't want to get fat to go find it! She and this young Morb fall in love which causes her tension between her and that bff who can communicate with crows and has been secretly in love with her.
Along the way we find out the meat the Morbs are eating is people! Yes it's the old Soylent Green twist. No explanation on how they're eating the Skels - whose main characteristic is that they're very thin....Skeletal in fact. You'd think there would not be a lot of meat in them. A very inefficient food source.
Also I'm sure you expected this was set on Earth? Well Surprise! It's all happening on Mars! Yes! It's a reverse Planet of the Apes! Why is this important? Who knows. It doesn't actually seem to change anything.
There are also a mysterious 'Central' group who have some kind of power and control everything which mostly seems to see them posing as regular people and living in slums. Which I suppose is effective at....something? Yeah I don't really see the point of them. Maybe they're important in the next book? But I won't be reading it.
This book has a very....odd....treatment of race. So....like I said the morbs are white and the skels are not. During the Mars reveal we are told that there are no white Skels cos they died out during the move to Mars. There's a very heavy handed talk about whether it's better to have all the colours possible or if mixed is better. But what bothers me about this is that Skyla's appearance is specifically and repeatedly noted as being pale. She is in the palest of the surrogates. She is blond. She is variously described as 'olive' or 'honey' coloured. So....is Skyla not white? And if she's not supposed to be read as white why go to such lengths to hammer home how pale she is? (if this is answered in the next book by her being the result of a genetic experiment to bring back white people I will be PISSED) Overall there's a strong vibe of 'this one white girl is the hero this planet of black slaves need' and I am DEEPLY uncomfortable with that. I'd love for someone with the knowledge and vocabulary around race that I do NOT have to read this book and really go into this stuff. Like - are the more sympathetic characters more coded as white? Like how Tess has red hair? Or a character later revealed as a traitor is 'black as night and twice as deadly', 'a smiling charcoal face'?
Returning to the plot - they do find the cure for obesity in Morbs - and Skyla is forced to drink it. Oh no! It's gone! No wait...she can cure her Morb friend by shagging him! I am not making this up. This genuinely happens. They are told that he can now cure other Morbs by shagging THEM. I'm sure this HAS to be a porno plot. But anyway a brief imprisonment, a crow-nado and an untimely death later and none of this really seems to matter.
Skyla is a WEIRD character. Though we're seeing the plot from her point of view we also don't seem to know everything she knows.
Skyla completely forgets about her 'sister' Tess until she is getting on the train to leave her behind forever. If Skyla hadn't escaped her Morb family she would have had no way of seeing her again. And we never get an explanation of how they became 'sisters' cos they don't live in the same part of the city and they're not actually related. So when she gives over her guardianship to someone else it feels anti climatic even though I'm sure it's supposed to be a big deal. Cos we don't know WHY she's this kid's 'sister'. Or why she's never met her mother or been inside her house before.
Or how Skyla knew all along that Kian could talk to crows and used them for an actual mass murder but never really said anything or was bothered by it. I dunno about you but if my bff re-enacted The Birds and killed loads of people I'd have some issues with that. I'd maybe bring it up occasionally. It would be in the forefront of my mind at various times when he was around. I certainly wouldn't be encouraging him to practice his powers!!
Kian never really has any character development so that when he goes all 'there is no Kian only CROW' it lacks impact because we don't really know what the difference is. Kian's only features are that he has brothers we never meet, uses crows to murder people, recently joined up as a guard and has a blinding jealousy towards anyone Skyla might be interested in.
Plot points are dropped from the sky with no real build up and characters appear and disappear almost at random. Like how Cara just suddenly appears in the very dangerous and remote place they are? Then flounces off as soon as the plot no longer needs her? Or how a healer who they urgently need is only 20 minutes away at the time they need her? Despite them having been on the run for ages? And Kian just appears anywhere he's needed whether it makes sense for him to be there or not. He's everywhere! Or there will be info dumps like a character in the last pages suddenly revealing that they were involved in the creation of the cure. Long past the point where that information does any good or fills in any gaps.
Overall this is a heavy handed mess of a book that seems to be pulling together bits from different books and movies. I'm pretty sure it's racist, it's DEFINITELY fatphobic and it's just not very well written.
I have the second book - it was free as part of Amazon unlimited but I think it will go unread. Even free, even with all this extra time to read during lockdown even THEN I don't want to find time to endure a second book of this.
Going into Skeletal it's clear that it takes it inspiration from a number of other sources, some on genre and some surprisingly not. From the forced use of the female body to reproduce in a nod to the Handmaids Tale to the Morbihan's use of the hover chairs as they are so overweight which reminded me of Disney's Wall-E - but Disney this really is not. I have to say there was a lot about about this book which was fantastic but unfortunately it just missed the mark for me. I very much enjoyed the darker parts, I think because I have been reading a lot of YA recently it made these moments all the more shocking. The world outside of the Morbihan area of Gale City is harsh, filled with outcasts, gang culture and drug addiction. It's very much a society of "have and have not's" with the have not's suffering more than they perhaps should. It's this lack of understanding as to how the cultural hierarchy came about which left me feeling a little confused. I get that it's a dystopian future and we eventually get some answers in a twist that sadly doesn't feel as shocking as it should, but I would have liked more background. There is a lot of violence and scenes that are vividly technicolour at times when you would rather they weren't! The Mutils are horrifying to imagine and the authors use of aroma's to paint a picture really bring the true extent of the world home. It's incredibly descriptive and not at all for the faint hearted, it feels more horror than thriller at times.
Character wise, Skyla is a difficult one. To start you really feel for her, she just wants to be left alone and has no interest in becoming a host. However, as her character progresses she becomes pretty unlikeable, but the author does seem to give her some sense of self realisation of that fact. Sadly though it does mean that a lot of impact in the closing stages was lost for me. Personally, I hate triangles so that probably didn't help with my feelings towards her. Bunce is an interesting character, as a younger Morb he still has all his faculties and it's his character which becomes the most enriched as he seems to be as unwilling to accept his future as Skyla but for very different reasons. Kian is one which I want to know so much more about, given that book 2 is "Avian" i'm hoping we'll get more of his story as there is certainly a lot more going on which created an almost fantasy element to the story, and why am I feeling so strangely drawn towards Bullet?
Where did it fall short then? The revelation involving Clover left me feeling confused and "what's next" it didn't seem to really factor into much. Tess's arc felt rushed and to be honest, I thought there would be much more to arise out of an underworld bargain made by Skyla. The sex wasn't particularly well written which surprised me as earlier connections in the story felt organic, but when this level was reached with the characters the writing just felt cringy. Maybe I'll revisit some of these points after reading book 2 however, I have to accept that it was very much a page turner with imagary that stays firmly entrenched in the mind, with thriller style pacing and situations which individually did get my heart thumping.
One big issue, which is I would assume down to the publisher and not the author (so i'm not deducting anything for it) is that the way book looks isn't great. The chapter openers offer a baffling use of drop caps and the scene breaks are huge and took up half a page of my kindle! This was very distracting (perhaps more so as i'm a formatter) and something that perhaps needs to be looked at.
I certainly want to know how the ends get tied together and for the most part it did find this a great read so it gets a solid 4*
Character wise, Skyla is a difficult one. To start you really feel for her, she just wants to be left alone and has no interest in becoming a host. However, as her character progresses she becomes pretty unlikeable, but the author does seem to give her some sense of self realisation of that fact. Sadly though it does mean that a lot of impact in the closing stages was lost for me. Personally, I hate triangles so that probably didn't help with my feelings towards her. Bunce is an interesting character, as a younger Morb he still has all his faculties and it's his character which becomes the most enriched as he seems to be as unwilling to accept his future as Skyla but for very different reasons. Kian is one which I want to know so much more about, given that book 2 is "Avian" i'm hoping we'll get more of his story as there is certainly a lot more going on which created an almost fantasy element to the story, and why am I feeling so strangely drawn towards Bullet?
Where did it fall short then? The revelation involving Clover left me feeling confused and "what's next" it didn't seem to really factor into much. Tess's arc felt rushed and to be honest, I thought there would be much more to arise out of an underworld bargain made by Skyla. The sex wasn't particularly well written which surprised me as earlier connections in the story felt organic, but when this level was reached with the characters the writing just felt cringy. Maybe I'll revisit some of these points after reading book 2 however, I have to accept that it was very much a page turner with imagary that stays firmly entrenched in the mind, with thriller style pacing and situations which individually did get my heart thumping.
One big issue, which is I would assume down to the publisher and not the author (so i'm not deducting anything for it) is that the way book looks isn't great. The chapter openers offer a baffling use of drop caps and the scene breaks are huge and took up half a page of my kindle! This was very distracting (perhaps more so as i'm a formatter) and something that perhaps needs to be looked at.
I certainly want to know how the ends get tied together and for the most part it did find this a great read so it gets a solid 4*