A review by laurareads87
The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This debut novel has a lot that I love – complex world-building, an innovative series of magical / technological systems, believable social hierarchies and dynamics of inequity and political disagreement, and a multi-POV structure (in this case with chapters from the perspectives of husband and wife Iravan and Ahilya). The character development is solid and the book is simultaneously self-contained and a good set-up for continuation. In terms of pacing, I did find the beginning a bit slow; once it started moving, though, it held my attention. There was a bit too much emphasis on the main characters’ marriage dynamic for my preferences, but not so much that it took away from my enjoyment; I appreciate that the characters and their relationships are complicated and messy and that no one is straightforwardly perfect or entirely villainous at all, and having the focal point relationship be an established marriage rather than a new romance was a refreshing change. I also appreciate the effortless and natural inclusion of a diverse cast of secondary characters of varying age, sexual orientation, profession, and family structure. 

I know there are Hindu mythological inspirations in this text, but don’t know enough about the inspirations and source material to really say much on that in my review; I would like to delve into those aspects a bit further as I continue the series. I’ll definitely be reading the sequel. 

Content warnings: death, grief, injury detail, violence