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A review by looseleafellie
Fledgling by S.K. Ali
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
YA dystopian novels are SO BACK, and a recent addition to this genre is Fledgling by S.K. Ali. As a fan of the YA dystopian novels from the 2010s, I was excited to see what this book had to offer, and I’m pleased to report I loved it!
This book is about a divided world, where the citizens of the floating island of Upper Earth live in high-tech luxury and the citizens of Lower Earth scrape by to survive. A marriage between an Upper Earth princess and a Lower Earth prince promises to unite the world in peace, but this promised peace isn’t what it seems …
The first half of Fledgling is heavy on backstory and intricate worldbuilding. That sort of thing usually makes the pacing drag for me, but I actually devoured the book all the way through because I was so interested in learning more about the world, the cool sinister sci-fi tech, and the characters’ origins!
This book has a LOT of viewpoint characters, all with different perspectives on their world. At first I was concerned that the number of characters would get overwhelming, but I loved meeting them all in the end, and I don’t think the story would have been as effective with a smaller cast.
Because this is the first book in a duology, the story is still unfolding, and some of the characters’ perspectives have yet to be explored fully. While I mostly felt in tune with the motivations of the main cast of characters, some of the side characters have unreliable or conflicting narratives, and I DESPERATELY need the sequel to find out WHAT THE HECK SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ARE UP TO!
Ultimately, Fledgling is a story about narrative — who gets to write the official record books of history, and how the world looks from different people’s perspectives. It’s a timely exploration of colonialism, misinformation, and the importance of record-keeping and truth-telling to overcome oppression. I will be thinking about this novel for a long time, and I eagerly look forward to the sequel!
Content warnings for Fledgling: Murder, torture, abuse, violence, colonization, brainwashing, misogyny, gender-based violence, and mentions of human trafficking, child abuse, and rape.
This book is about a divided world, where the citizens of the floating island of Upper Earth live in high-tech luxury and the citizens of Lower Earth scrape by to survive. A marriage between an Upper Earth princess and a Lower Earth prince promises to unite the world in peace, but this promised peace isn’t what it seems …
The first half of Fledgling is heavy on backstory and intricate worldbuilding. That sort of thing usually makes the pacing drag for me, but I actually devoured the book all the way through because I was so interested in learning more about the world, the cool sinister sci-fi tech, and the characters’ origins!
This book has a LOT of viewpoint characters, all with different perspectives on their world. At first I was concerned that the number of characters would get overwhelming, but I loved meeting them all in the end, and I don’t think the story would have been as effective with a smaller cast.
Because this is the first book in a duology, the story is still unfolding, and some of the characters’ perspectives have yet to be explored fully. While I mostly felt in tune with the motivations of the main cast of characters, some of the side characters have unreliable or conflicting narratives, and I DESPERATELY need the sequel to find out WHAT THE HECK SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ARE UP TO!
Ultimately, Fledgling is a story about narrative — who gets to write the official record books of history, and how the world looks from different people’s perspectives. It’s a timely exploration of colonialism, misinformation, and the importance of record-keeping and truth-telling to overcome oppression. I will be thinking about this novel for a long time, and I eagerly look forward to the sequel!
Content warnings for Fledgling: Murder, torture, abuse, violence, colonization, brainwashing, misogyny, gender-based violence, and mentions of human trafficking, child abuse, and rape.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Colonisation
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault