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A review by hufsatee
Heir to the Sky by Amanda Sun
2.0
This book was like biting into a luscious-looking chocolate mousse - and realizing it's actually made of clay. Dense, dry clay that left a sad taste of wasted potential in my mouth.
This book could have been great. It had the right premise. It had endless possibilities for world-building (two whole worlds to explore!), and so much political strife that could have exploded into drama. But we didn't get that. We got a shallow story about a privileged princess with unbelievably good luck, instalove, flat, uninspiring storytelling, and side characters whose sole purpose seemed to be as props to the protagonist's journey. Oh, and the odd, well-written action sequence.
That was the one great thing about this book. The action sequences of fights against mythical creatures are well-paced, energetic and thrilling. They are a mark that this is a writer who knows how to deliver. Which is why it's so bewildering and disappointing that the rest of the book fails to match this.
Midway through this book, I couldn't deal with the protagonist's utter ignorance of the world around her. It's one thing to be pampered and ignorant. It's another to see blatant clues about mutiny and untrustworthy behaviour from supposedly trusted officials and completely fail to pick up on their significance. Kali is probably the dumbest brick of a YA protagonist I've seen this year. She willfully seems to ignore glaring danger signs (like the scene right before she falls off the edge of the continent). She is content to blindly believe in what the annals of her people tell her, with little consideration for who might have written them, and it literally takes the entire novel for her to figure out something I guessed from the very beginning. She has, in short, the critical thinking skills of a kindergartner.
And yet somehow, everyone she meets on the dangerous world of Earth absolutely adores her without question. WHY? She does nothing to prove she is no threat to these people who've been living in a world where they can trust nothing. Yet, Griffin and his gang fall all over themselves to care for and accommodate her. It's almost at a point where you could envision people just supplicating themselves at her feet for the glory of being able to aid her in some way. Griffin, barely knowing her a day, goes way out of his way for her and offers to make a perilous journey to help return the spoiled princess to her home. I like to assume he does this because he, too, can't stand her.
The side-characters, if not already obvious, are basically 2D cutouts to serve as a backdrop for Kali's plot. We learn little about their personal motivations, and apart from Griffin, nearly zilch about their backstories. Elisha, for instance, is bright as dirt, with little capacity for complex thought. She seems to have little purpose in life other than to wait around for Kali.
The ending was supremely melodramatic to the point of being cheesy.. There is a lot of theatrical dialogue as the villain unveils himself. I felt like I was watching an old-school action movie, with lots of grand dialogue and haughty looks thrown askew. Think Smallville.
TLDR: Could have been so good. Could have.
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This book could have been great. It had the right premise. It had endless possibilities for world-building (two whole worlds to explore!), and so much political strife that could have exploded into drama. But we didn't get that. We got a shallow story about a privileged princess with unbelievably good luck, instalove, flat, uninspiring storytelling, and side characters whose sole purpose seemed to be as props to the protagonist's journey. Oh, and the odd, well-written action sequence.
That was the one great thing about this book. The action sequences of fights against mythical creatures are well-paced, energetic and thrilling. They are a mark that this is a writer who knows how to deliver. Which is why it's so bewildering and disappointing that the rest of the book fails to match this.
Midway through this book, I couldn't deal with the protagonist's utter ignorance of the world around her. It's one thing to be pampered and ignorant. It's another to see blatant clues about mutiny and untrustworthy behaviour from supposedly trusted officials and completely fail to pick up on their significance. Kali is probably the dumbest brick of a YA protagonist I've seen this year. She willfully seems to ignore glaring danger signs (like the scene right before she falls off the edge of the continent). She is content to blindly believe in what the annals of her people tell her, with little consideration for who might have written them, and it literally takes the entire novel for her to figure out something I guessed from the very beginning. She has, in short, the critical thinking skills of a kindergartner.
And yet somehow, everyone she meets on the dangerous world of Earth absolutely adores her without question. WHY? She does nothing to prove she is no threat to these people who've been living in a world where they can trust nothing. Yet, Griffin and his gang fall all over themselves to care for and accommodate her. It's almost at a point where you could envision people just supplicating themselves at her feet for the glory of being able to aid her in some way. Griffin, barely knowing her a day, goes way out of his way for her and offers to make a perilous journey to help return the spoiled princess to her home. I like to assume he does this because he, too, can't stand her.
The side-characters, if not already obvious, are basically 2D cutouts to serve as a backdrop for Kali's plot. We learn little about their personal motivations, and apart from Griffin, nearly zilch about their backstories. Elisha, for instance, is bright as dirt, with little capacity for complex thought. She seems to have little purpose in life other than to wait around for Kali.
The ending was supremely melodramatic to the point of being cheesy.. There is a lot of theatrical dialogue as the villain unveils himself. I felt like I was watching an old-school action movie, with lots of grand dialogue and haughty looks thrown askew. Think Smallville.
TLDR: Could have been so good. Could have.
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