A review by whimsyfaerie
Skyhunter by Marie Lu

3.0

⋆౨ৎ 3★˚⟡˖ ࣪
↳ spice rating: 0/5

"May there always be future dawns."

⌗ Going into this book, I was hoping for an intriguing story with a well-thought-out plot, a special cast of characters, and a pacing that kept me interested and excited. Mostly, Skyhunter succeeded in all of these aspects; however: some parts did lack. 

⌗ To begin, my biggest issue lies with the pacing. Skyhunter is 371 pages long, around the average length of a young adult book, but it felt more like 600 pages. The pacing was so slow. Multiple times I was tempted to put down the book because I felt like the plot was not progressing, even after 150 pages. And while the plot was interesting, the slow pacing dulled my interest in the story overall. 

⌗ In my opinion, the strongest element of this book was the characters. Talin Kanami is a fierce and loyal protagonist. She bravely fights for her people and is willing to risk her life protecting those she cares about most. I found her a loveable character whom I rooted for throughout the book. Red, the second protagonist, was also a nice character with an intriguing backstory, but I didn’t feel as connected to him as I would have hoped. I do expect to get to know him better in the sequel, though! The rest of the characters were amazing and I truly loved reading about them, especially Adena, Jeran, and Aramin. Out of all the cast, Jeran is definitely my favorite. His story is so heartbreaking, yet his character has a sensitivity and strength that is admirable. One other little thing I liked about this book was how the characters around Talin used sign language as their form of communication. That was such a sweet detail to include!

⌗ My last critique about Skyhunter is Talin and Red’s relationship. In this story, they’re supposed to start as enemies from opposing sides of the war. However; they never really are enemies. Talin quickly grows fond of Red, and likewise, until they’re sharing small moments and speaking in a hidden language only they understand. Their relationship from hatred to fondness grows quickly, making it feel unbelievable and unnatural. However; this is my personal preference when it comes to (romantic) relationships in literature, so others may find their relationship to progress at a realistic pace! 

⌗ Overall, this book was nice, and while it wasn’t my favorite, I do believe many would enjoy Skyhunter! I would like to note that Legend is still Marie Lu’s superior dystopian novel, so I also suggest everyone pick it up sometime!

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁