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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I am unsure what to totally think.
I enjoyed the book, I liked the pace and the way characters were actually different and had different opinions and emotions.
As of right now, I don’t think Himura deserves a redemption- he promised Kurara that he’d always be there for crafters, maybe he will be in the future, but then he chose knowledge before her.
Despite her being both shikigami and a crafter, he still put this thought that shikigami are nothing but servants to the crafter. So minus points for him being a major douche.
Kurara… is a character. She’s passionate about the emotions of shikigami and that they are more than just tools~ it’s infuriating that Haru isn’t telling her about her past, though he is upholding his promise to her- well past her?
Anyways, I will order the next book in somewhat anticipation (if there is even a next book?) and I want Kurara to become a bad bitch and at least punch Himura twice- because he deserves it.
Overall, the characters though different are quite flat~ it enraged me that Kurara doesn’t see how infuriating Himura is at some points and how he obviously betrays her.
Also Sayo and Tomoe are gay 100% and I am supportive of that :3
I enjoyed the book, I liked the pace and the way characters were actually different and had different opinions and emotions.
As of right now, I don’t think Himura deserves a redemption- he promised Kurara that he’d always be there for crafters, maybe he will be in the future, but then he chose knowledge before her.
Despite her being both shikigami and a crafter, he still put this thought that shikigami are nothing but servants to the crafter. So minus points for him being a major douche.
Kurara… is a character. She’s passionate about the emotions of shikigami and that they are more than just tools~ it’s infuriating that Haru isn’t telling her about her past, though he is upholding his promise to her- well past her?
Anyways, I will order the next book in somewhat anticipation (if there is even a next book?) and I want Kurara to become a bad bitch and at least punch Himura twice- because he deserves it.
Overall, the characters though different are quite flat~ it enraged me that Kurara doesn’t see how infuriating Himura is at some points and how he obviously betrays her.
Also Sayo and Tomoe are gay 100% and I am supportive of that :3
Rebel Skies is an enchanting novel inspired by Asian culture.
Kurara is a servant on board the Midori, but she can always make paper come to life and sees it as a party trick. However, across the Empire it is a treasured power. Kurara joins a skyship and begins training to become a Crafter under the tutelage of Himura. Kurara trains to hunt Shikigami, paper spirits who have long since lost their minds and are highly sought after by the Princess Tsukimi. Kurara needs to train to become the best, to gain an audience with the Princess in order to save her friend. But unfortunately for Kurara, some of her allies are not what they seem.
I absolutely loved the building of the world and the magic system within this book. I feel like it is a perfect book for a teen reader, but as an adult lover of YA I thoroughly enjoyed it myself. The characters all had fantastic personalities and the intricacies of the magic system often left me considering paragraphs before continuing on with my reading.
I am very keen to continue with this series and after some of the twists in the first book, I am not sure what to expect.
Thank you to Walker Books Australia for gifting me with a copy of Rebel Skies in exchange for an honest review.
Kurara is a servant on board the Midori, but she can always make paper come to life and sees it as a party trick. However, across the Empire it is a treasured power. Kurara joins a skyship and begins training to become a Crafter under the tutelage of Himura. Kurara trains to hunt Shikigami, paper spirits who have long since lost their minds and are highly sought after by the Princess Tsukimi. Kurara needs to train to become the best, to gain an audience with the Princess in order to save her friend. But unfortunately for Kurara, some of her allies are not what they seem.
I absolutely loved the building of the world and the magic system within this book. I feel like it is a perfect book for a teen reader, but as an adult lover of YA I thoroughly enjoyed it myself. The characters all had fantastic personalities and the intricacies of the magic system often left me considering paragraphs before continuing on with my reading.
I am very keen to continue with this series and after some of the twists in the first book, I am not sure what to expect.
Thank you to Walker Books Australia for gifting me with a copy of Rebel Skies in exchange for an honest review.
Might be a 4.5! The teens at school have been going crazy over this series so thought I'd give it a go for the next book club meeting with them. The world, concept and characters dynamics were really really good!
Definitely my highlight of the year ❤️ castle in the sky meets spirited away meet howls moving castle, all the vibes I live in one book ✨
adventurous
sad
fast-paced
This was incredible. Surprisingly the second book to give me strong Spirited Away vibes this year, at least at the beginning, this story of sky ships and ancient, furious paper animals had me racing through the pages to find out just what Haru and Kurara was, and why Kurara remembers nothing of her past.
This story has it all for me. Talking paper animals, a girl rising from the lowest ranks of society training to weld paper weapons, complicated girls who definitely need to date already, a complex boy who on the cusp of choosing a path as a hero or a villain, scheming dads, I loved every moment of the story.
This does end on a cliffhanger, not giving us the answers to our questions just yet. The ending was so fun though, yet heartbreaking, devastating and poignant all at once. I cannot wait to read the sequel, hopefully next year.
This story has it all for me. Talking paper animals, a girl rising from the lowest ranks of society training to weld paper weapons, complicated girls who definitely need to date already, a complex boy who on the cusp of choosing a path as a hero or a villain, scheming dads, I loved every moment of the story.
This does end on a cliffhanger, not giving us the answers to our questions just yet. The ending was so fun though, yet heartbreaking, devastating and poignant all at once. I cannot wait to read the sequel, hopefully next year.
Fantastic world with few wins that leaves me wanting more.
Instrumental playlist I made while reading the book: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4gqFSDo6X26kYqybqa64I6?si=IeWiIr0zSzKCEcjzdgLlOw
Instrumental playlist I made while reading the book: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4gqFSDo6X26kYqybqa64I6?si=IeWiIr0zSzKCEcjzdgLlOw
Rebel Skies is an exciting read, perfect for Studio Ghibli fans looking for that type of awe-inspiring magic and world-building in the pages of a book.
The start of Kurara's adventure was like visualizing scenes from Spirited Away, which was wonderful and yet it made me nervous about how many similarities there would be. But the story quickly turns into it's own thing as we learn about shikigami (paper beasts), class divisions in society, and a surprising discovery by Kurara herself. We then set on a journey for Kurara to develop her Crafter skills -- people who can manipulate paper -- to impress the princess of their kingdom, who (according to her mentor) is the only person able to help Kurara with her discovery.
The story slows its pace towards the middle as we get the usual scenes of an MC meeting their crew, then short training montages, learning advanced techniques, and so on. I was never bored, but I also didn't have any urgency in returning to reading the next chapter like I have with unputdownable books. The ending picks back up the pacing and we're left with a non-resolution that I'm guessing will continue in book 2.
There were two things that didn't exactly work for me:
1) The character development remained surface level. We get their personalities front and center, and I could guess at each character's background and motives, but very little is revealed and confirmed to the reader, so I just stopped wondering at some point.
2) This one is a huge pet peeve of mine, but a villain POV is included. These often take out the mystery or the shocking surprises in the story because we literally know what's coming from the villains own POV. I always prefer an MC who works to uncover the villain, than the villain being shown to us by the author.
Overall, I quite enjoyed Rebel Skies and I'll be looking forward to the next book. This reads like a younger YA title, so I'll be interested to see how it grows along.
The start of Kurara's adventure was like visualizing scenes from Spirited Away, which was wonderful and yet it made me nervous about how many similarities there would be. But the story quickly turns into it's own thing as we learn about shikigami (paper beasts), class divisions in society, and a surprising discovery by Kurara herself. We then set on a journey for Kurara to develop her Crafter skills -- people who can manipulate paper -- to impress the princess of their kingdom, who (according to her mentor) is the only person able to help Kurara with her discovery.
The story slows its pace towards the middle as we get the usual scenes of an MC meeting their crew, then short training montages, learning advanced techniques, and so on. I was never bored, but I also didn't have any urgency in returning to reading the next chapter like I have with unputdownable books. The ending picks back up the pacing and we're left with a non-resolution that I'm guessing will continue in book 2.
There were two things that didn't exactly work for me:
1) The character development remained surface level. We get their personalities front and center, and I could guess at each character's background and motives, but very little is revealed and confirmed to the reader, so I just stopped wondering at some point.
2) This one is a huge pet peeve of mine, but a villain POV is included. These often take out the mystery or the shocking surprises in the story because we literally know what's coming from the villains own POV. I always prefer an MC who works to uncover the villain, than the villain being shown to us by the author.
Overall, I quite enjoyed Rebel Skies and I'll be looking forward to the next book. This reads like a younger YA title, so I'll be interested to see how it grows along.
This was a lovely exploration of Asian mythology and found family. One girls quest to save her best friend turns into a journey of self discovery and endurance that ends in a way that makes me want more. And apparently there will be more so winning!
fast-paced
adventurous
medium-paced