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A review by fulltimefiction
Skyhunter by Marie Lu
3.0
3.5 stars
I have yet to read a Marie Lu book that I don’t like and this was no exception. Many authors publish a hit trilogy or two and fail to deliver the same quality books afterward. Lu isn’t one of them. Although Warcross (I haven’t read the sequel nor will) and Skyhunter aren’t as good as Legend and the Young Elites, they are still engaging and that’s coming from someone who hasn’t been enjoying YA lately.
Skyhunter is the story of Talin a refugee in the nation of Mara after the Karensa Federation invaded her native country. What’s standing between the federation's conquest and Mara’s independence is the Maran strikers team in which our heroine is a member. After defending a war prisoner -Talin had a feeling he has some hidden secrets- she is made responsible for him as a punishment.
The characters:
Not annoying. For some reason, whenever I want to read a Young-Adult nowadays, the first thing I want to know is that if the characters will get on my nerves or not. Our characters here are likable but I wouldn’t say three-dimensional.
Talin: The story is told from her POV, she’s mute, so we had sign language in this book which was refreshing. She’s brave and empathic. She’s doing all she can to help her (cool may I add) mom financially. I didn’t like how she compared most feelings of others with a personal experience… She once says she keeps herself from “screaming out”, English isn’t my first language but I understand enough to assume screaming out equals shouting, aka a sound… she can’t make any sound even if she was in pain, is it a mistake or I simply misunderstood?
Red: While I found him interesting, he didn’t feel fleshed out. They trusted him (and him them) too easily for my liking. I wanted to know more about his personality but sadly, we didn’t get much of that. He had so much potential, I'm sad Lu didn't develop his character enough beyond the nightmares.
Adena: The smart secondary character. I felt like this book relied too much on teen power. I mean she’s a chemist, biologist, and smith? It’s a bit over the top. I liked her as a person but her know it all wasn’t believable because it’s too stretched out and she didn’t get any assistance from Mara’s scientists. She also doesn’t have any backstory other than her brother. We know nothing about her family.
Jeran: He’s sweet. I really liked him. I wish he stood up for himself. Also Jeran & Aramin, I love them!!
The characters were interesting but sadly not memorable. While I liked them well enough, they didn’t make any lasting impression. The “bond” was disappointing, it felt convenient even if I know it’s an important part of the plot but I’m so bored ofmind to mind conversations . We also lacked humor, I know their situation is bleak but even as close friends, they barely made jokes.
The world-building:
If you’re looking for something innovative and not seen before, turn back. We might have human experiments but even that isn’t new. As long as you don’t mind that -I don't- you’re good. You can assume that this world is the future Earth but a big event happened and all that’s left of our world is ruin. They don’t have electricity, planes, and such. They built their cities over the ruins. I won’t talk about the Karensa Federation (spoilers) but just Mara. We didn’t have enough information on their world works, what are they doing to improve their technology, what progress has been made, how long they’ve been there… so many questions. We didn’t know how exactly the Maran society functions in the inside nor their hierarchy, it was only vaguely mentioned. Not to say nothing was said about this, of course, just Mara was concrete to me as I would’ve liked.
The Plot:
I wouldn’t say it’s a slow-paced book. Even from the beginning, we have events taking place. Yet, towards the middle of the book (40%-65%), I found myself growing restless. I couldn’t read it in one sitting (I finished it in less than a day but took so many breaks). I couldn’t focus enough/care, although I didcare about the characters, I guess it wasn’t addicting enough. Marie Lu’s writing style is solid and easy to follow as usual but even she couldn’t make me interested in those pages. Again, not to say nothing important was happening but I had to force myself to sit and read Skyhunter. Nonetheless, I probably wouldn’t have faced this issue if I didn’t want to finish it in a day (I don’t like reading many books at the same time nowadays).
The Feelings:
I feel like this is something that should be discussed on its own. The book was fun. The characters were nice. The plot is relatively fast-paced. BUT. I couldn’t feel it. Only once it made me feel a lot and that’s at the beginning when a character died. I really liked them and Marie Lu illustrated Talin’s grief very well. But after that, I just couldn’t connect with the characters, I was reading the story as an outsider and not living the events with them. Legend and TYE made me feel so much, I was disappointed this one didn’t.
Conclusion:
Although it didn't add anything new to its genre, Skyhunter was an enjoyable book with likable characters. Some could’ve used a better development. Although the pace wasn’t slow but towards the middle of the book, I struggled to continue reading. I’m not sure if I’m going to lower my rating but I didn’t hate anything about it, just these minor issues. The ending also reminds very much of this genre... Not exactly a cliffhanger but very typical of YA books. I’m definitely going to read the sequel, however.
PS: I first rounded up the rating to 4 stars but a few months have passed since and the book wasn't memorable at all. It left nothing with me so dropping it to 3.
I have yet to read a Marie Lu book that I don’t like and this was no exception. Many authors publish a hit trilogy or two and fail to deliver the same quality books afterward. Lu isn’t one of them. Although Warcross (I haven’t read the sequel nor will) and Skyhunter aren’t as good as Legend and the Young Elites, they are still engaging and that’s coming from someone who hasn’t been enjoying YA lately.
Skyhunter is the story of Talin a refugee in the nation of Mara after the Karensa Federation invaded her native country. What’s standing between the federation's conquest and Mara’s independence is the Maran strikers team in which our heroine is a member. After defending a war prisoner -Talin had a feeling he has some hidden secrets- she is made responsible for him as a punishment.
The characters:
Not annoying. For some reason, whenever I want to read a Young-Adult nowadays, the first thing I want to know is that if the characters will get on my nerves or not. Our characters here are likable but I wouldn’t say three-dimensional.
Talin: The story is told from her POV, she’s mute, so we had sign language in this book which was refreshing. She’s brave and empathic. She’s doing all she can to help her (cool may I add) mom financially. I didn’t like how she compared most feelings of others with a personal experience… She once says she keeps herself from “screaming out”, English isn’t my first language but I understand enough to assume screaming out equals shouting, aka a sound… she can’t make any sound even if she was in pain, is it a mistake or I simply misunderstood?
Red: While I found him interesting, he didn’t feel fleshed out. They trusted him (and him them) too easily for my liking. I wanted to know more about his personality but sadly, we didn’t get much of that. He had so much potential, I'm sad Lu didn't develop his character enough beyond the nightmares.
Adena: The smart secondary character. I felt like this book relied too much on teen power. I mean she’s a chemist, biologist, and smith? It’s a bit over the top. I liked her as a person but her know it all wasn’t believable because it’s too stretched out and she didn’t get any assistance from Mara’s scientists. She also doesn’t have any backstory other than her brother. We know nothing about her family.
Jeran: He’s sweet. I really liked him. I wish he stood up for himself. Also Jeran & Aramin, I love them!!
The characters were interesting but sadly not memorable. While I liked them well enough, they didn’t make any lasting impression. The “bond” was disappointing, it felt convenient even if I know it’s an important part of the plot but I’m so bored of
The world-building:
If you’re looking for something innovative and not seen before, turn back. We might have human experiments but even that isn’t new. As long as you don’t mind that -I don't- you’re good. You can assume that this world is the future Earth but a big event happened and all that’s left of our world is ruin. They don’t have electricity, planes, and such. They built their cities over the ruins. I won’t talk about the Karensa Federation (spoilers) but just Mara. We didn’t have enough information on their world works, what are they doing to improve their technology, what progress has been made, how long they’ve been there… so many questions. We didn’t know how exactly the Maran society functions in the inside nor their hierarchy, it was only vaguely mentioned. Not to say nothing was said about this, of course, just Mara was concrete to me as I would’ve liked.
The Plot:
I wouldn’t say it’s a slow-paced book. Even from the beginning, we have events taking place. Yet, towards the middle of the book (40%-65%), I found myself growing restless. I couldn’t read it in one sitting (I finished it in less than a day but took so many breaks). I couldn’t focus enough/care, although I didcare about the characters, I guess it wasn’t addicting enough. Marie Lu’s writing style is solid and easy to follow as usual but even she couldn’t make me interested in those pages. Again, not to say nothing important was happening but I had to force myself to sit and read Skyhunter. Nonetheless, I probably wouldn’t have faced this issue if I didn’t want to finish it in a day (I don’t like reading many books at the same time nowadays).
The Feelings:
I feel like this is something that should be discussed on its own. The book was fun. The characters were nice. The plot is relatively fast-paced. BUT. I couldn’t feel it. Only once it made me feel a lot and that’s at the beginning when a character died. I really liked them and Marie Lu illustrated Talin’s grief very well. But after that, I just couldn’t connect with the characters, I was reading the story as an outsider and not living the events with them. Legend and TYE made me feel so much, I was disappointed this one didn’t.
Conclusion:
Although it didn't add anything new to its genre, Skyhunter was an enjoyable book with likable characters. Some could’ve used a better development. Although the pace wasn’t slow but towards the middle of the book, I struggled to continue reading. I’m not sure if I’m going to lower my rating but I didn’t hate anything about it, just these minor issues. The ending also reminds very much of this genre... Not exactly a cliffhanger but very typical of YA books. I’m definitely going to read the sequel, however.
PS: I first rounded up the rating to 4 stars but a few months have passed since and the book wasn't memorable at all. It left nothing with me so dropping it to 3.