Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young (ARC review)

Title: Sky in the Deep

Author: Adrienne Young

Releases: April 24, 2018 by Wednesday Books

Genre: YA Fantasy

OND ELDR. BREATHE FIRE.

My Thoughts: Compelling, gripping, beautiful novel that I already see myself rereading for many years to come. I feel rent open by the love and loyalty Eelyn feels and how it shifts throughout the story in response to the things she discovers. This is an amazing telling of one girl going through many hardships to find out that her clan really isn’t all that different from the one she’s been raised to hate, and they have the same basic needs and desires as herself and her clansmen. How do you continue to hate a culture once you begin to view them as fellow humans? She feels betrayed by her brother’s choice, but, as much as she fights it, slowly comes to accept it and his newly claimed family. When the Herja attack, she realises more about herself and her life than she expected.

“I was the ice on the river. The snow clinging onto the mountainside.”

Eelyn’s journey drew me in from the first page and I absolutely loved every minute of it. This girl is a strong Viking badass who takes shit from no one and will cut your balls off for your trouble. I think I’ve developed a girl-crush! Of course, the protagonist wouldn’t be so interesting without some flaws, right? Well, hers are very relatable. She’s grown up in a culture who’s told her that the Riki are the blood enemy due to some god’s clash ages ago. She’s stubborn and believes in the tradition of her people…until she doesn’t. How can she continue to believe that these are the enemy after all she’s seen? Still, trust is hard won and it takes time to change thoughts you’ve been entrenched in from the time you’re young.

“Vegr yfir fjor – honor above life.”

Fiske, her captor, is not all he seems from the beginning. I love his part in her story and I thoroughly enjoyed that even though he ‘owns’ her, he’s still fair and just. He protects her time after time when he really doesn’t have to do anything and I love him for it. Yes, partly because they share a brother, but also because he is just a good guy. He’s a phenomenal character who just gets better as their journey progresses.

“Home felt an entire world away.”

To be entirely honest, I wanted more of this story. simply because I never wanted to leave Eelyn’s world. To say I loved this book is an understatement. I was shocked to learn this was Adrienne Young’s debut novel. She has written an amazing novel that I can’t wait to dive into again and again. I’ve already bought a few copies to give to friends…

GOODREADS . AMAZON . BOOK DEPOSITORY . B&N

 

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Blurb: OND ELDR. BREATHE FIRE.

Raised to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient, rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield—her brother, fighting with the enemy—the brother she watched die five years ago.

Faced with her brother’s betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbor is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan thought to be a legend, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family.

She is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother’s friend, who sees her as a threat. They must do the impossible: unite the clans to fight together, or risk being slaughtered one by one. Driven by a love for her clan and her growing love for Fiske, Eelyn must confront her own definition of loyalty and family while daring to put her faith in the people she’s spent her life hating.

Early Praise for Sky in the Deep

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