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A review by zaralc
Skipshock by Caroline O'Donoghue
4.0
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.
This was my first book to read by Caroline O’Donoghue and I have since added several of her books to my TBR shelf. I know they always say don’t judge a book by its cover, but I was instantly drawn to the gorgeous cover. The premise for this book was also really exciting, Margo, a teenager from Dublin is on a train on her way to boarding school when she meets the enigmatic Moon and drops from her world into New Devia. Here Margo learns that different territories have different length of days. She is thrust into a world of conflict, uprising and injustice. She quickly learns along the way that friends are the family you choose for yourself. She begins a journey to fight for her new friends’ freedoms and quest to return home. As the story progresses Margo and Moon become closer, both fighting an internal battle and we wonder, if Margo gets the change to choose – will she choose her home in Dublin or the new home she is making for herself?
I really enjoyed the pace of this book at the start, I felt we were dropped straight into the action, and like Margo, we had to find our feet and go with it. However, there were sections of the book that felt a little rushed. A big defining scene happened, and we were straight onto the next big scene. I feel that the characters could have benefited with a little more exposition, but I got the sense they were just being propelled along with plot. At times this became a confusing read as I thought, hang on a minute – how did they get from this scene to this scene?
Overall, I though the world building was excellent, really enjoyed the idea of travelling between worlds and implications that shorter/longer days meant for the inhabitants of these worlds. I think the author gives very vivid and visual descriptions of these worlds and presents them uniquely. I particularly enjoyed learning about Moon’s Lunati heritage and could see perhaps some nods to old Irish Traditions and ways of life.
This was my first book to read by Caroline O’Donoghue and I have since added several of her books to my TBR shelf. I know they always say don’t judge a book by its cover, but I was instantly drawn to the gorgeous cover. The premise for this book was also really exciting, Margo, a teenager from Dublin is on a train on her way to boarding school when she meets the enigmatic Moon and drops from her world into New Devia. Here Margo learns that different territories have different length of days. She is thrust into a world of conflict, uprising and injustice. She quickly learns along the way that friends are the family you choose for yourself. She begins a journey to fight for her new friends’ freedoms and quest to return home. As the story progresses Margo and Moon become closer, both fighting an internal battle and we wonder, if Margo gets the change to choose – will she choose her home in Dublin or the new home she is making for herself?
I really enjoyed the pace of this book at the start, I felt we were dropped straight into the action, and like Margo, we had to find our feet and go with it. However, there were sections of the book that felt a little rushed. A big defining scene happened, and we were straight onto the next big scene. I feel that the characters could have benefited with a little more exposition, but I got the sense they were just being propelled along with plot. At times this became a confusing read as I thought, hang on a minute – how did they get from this scene to this scene?
Overall, I though the world building was excellent, really enjoyed the idea of travelling between worlds and implications that shorter/longer days meant for the inhabitants of these worlds. I think the author gives very vivid and visual descriptions of these worlds and presents them uniquely. I particularly enjoyed learning about Moon’s Lunati heritage and could see perhaps some nods to old Irish Traditions and ways of life.