Eh. This one just didn't do it for me.
I felt that it was trying way too hard without really giving meat and bones to the story.

I wanted to begin this review by saying I liked this story. I never read anything like the world I got to know, and it left me entranced. I’m a HUGE history nerd, so the references to Vikings had me squealing all over the place.
My favorite aspect to this story was the familial relationship and meaning of the story. The romance was pushed to the side till the end, and it focused on the sibling relationship and family that isn’t blood because in many ways found families are just as vital as blood ones. It showed strong kinship and the power of love for others, which is the true meaning of family. I loved it. I loved it.
My only real complaint is that I wanted more. Each chapter felt like it was moving lightning fast and ended too abruptly. I wanted to spend time molding these relationships further, but I felt as if the scene would slip out of my fingers because everything moved faster than I could comprehend. And it kept happening.. It hurt my enjoyment because I was frustrated scenes ended so soon. This fast paced feel I experienced then led me to not really care for the characters, and I was left with this wonderful story with "eh" emotions for the characters. Eventually when I reached those pivotal scenes that were meant to move me- I blinked and felt basically nothing. I know that's a bit harsh to say, but I didn't have that connection.
It's a sad feeling to be disappointed in an exciting debut, and I hate feeling anything less than positive, especially when the writing is so luscious. Still torn on my rating but I'm leaving it at middle ground for now.

Did not finish, 20% of the way in.

I don't really understand how a book can have so much action yet at the same time still feel really boring. We open the novel with a large battle scene and right from the get-go I had a hard time being invested in what was happening and in the characters because I didn't feel I had enough backstory to care about the consequences of what was going on around them. I don't think this is well explored enough in the first 20% of the novel, so it becomes difficult to root for the main character and become invested in what's happening to her. I've also come to realize that Viking type stories really aren't for me, and that's just a personal preference.

While predictable, I enjoyed the different world/setting that the characters live in and enjoyed the story.

Vikings! I loved the battle scenes and Eelyn was so easy to connect with. The friendships and the characters are so wonderful. And I loved the world building. I love romance in books, and there's not much in this one... so that was a bit disappointing. Great writing!

Well, this wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for.

When I read the blurb, it sounded exactly like the kind of book I tend to love. We had a strong main girl, a brother that came back from the dead, and a never-ending war between two clans. What’s not to love about that?

This book is about this girl, Eelyn, who’s a fighter. She’s part of a clan or a tribe, I’m not sure, and has been taught how to fight since she was a little girl. This clan has one goal: fight and kill as many Riki (another clan) as they can so they can honor their god. That’s why they have fighting seasons every 5 year. On this particular fighting season everything changes: she sees her thought-to-be-dead brother and gets caught by the people she was fighting against. Now, she’s a prisoner (a dyr – which I still don’t know what that means, exactly) and not only that, but she learns that her brother had not only been alive all this time, but he was living as a Riki.

A Sky in the Deep introduced me to a confusing world, so I’m going to do my best to explain it. This book is about this girl who’s a fighter. She was taught since she was a little girl how to fight in battle to honor her god, a god that told them the way to do that was to forever fight the Riki and kill as many as they could. But one day, in this fighting season, she saw her brother. The weird thing was, her brother had died 5 years earlier. WHAT. So, what else could she do? She had to find him. So of course she went after him and found herself caught by the very same people she had swore she would always fight and hate.

At first, this story caught my attention. It was so interesting to read about this girl who was so dedicated to her cause and so convinced that the world was what it was and there was nothing else to do. But as I kept reading, some things were left unclear. I kept waiting for a backstory to explain the real reason behind this hatred, and not only that, but explanations to the weird words. But at the end of the day, the book was all action and no important details. The relationships felt kind of shallow and didn’t actually grow from one thing to another.

I guess, I was expecting something completely different. I really wanted to like it, but I guess it was lacking too many things for me. I hope the second book is better.

A good story, strong characters. Too predictable for me. I will recommend it for those looking to read this type of story.

A wonderfully complex story of the Vikings with a heroine who is more than capable of holding her own in battle. The story keeps you intrigued and has twists that keep the action level high. Overall, a great book!

Beautiful!I fell in love with this Viking inspired book!!! Full of action, great characters and fast paced plot! I have a new favorite author!!! Great fantasy.

I loved this book. It was extremely well written, the flow/pace was perfection, and the story was nothing short of addictive.

I loved the character development in this book and liked the enemies-to-lovers trope. The rough, edgy settings of the world are amazing! Though, it was a pretty predictable fantasy so I wasn't very impressed by the plot especially in the latter half of the story.

4/5 stars

I love nothing more than Norse/Viking-inspired or reminiscent books, and I adored the story of Eelyn, who is fierce and loyal and willing to fight to the death. This book is unafraid to present a teenage girl who *fights*, who gets her hands dirty, and that is both disturbing but so fascinating in a book.

Also I just love enemies to lovers romances. So that was a plus for me!

Sky in the Deep is the first novel in a series of the same name. It's described as being part Wonder Woman and part Vikings...which is actually pretty accurate. The story follows Eelyn, an Aska warrior. Her life is turned upside down when she sees her dead brother on the battlefield once again – fighting for the other side.
This novel was such an emotional read, I can see why people have gushed about it so much. I regret how long it took my to get around to this one. I hope that anybody else waiting on it will reconsider, because it's worth it!

Warnings: There are slaves in this novel, though that name isn't used. Our main character is also at risk of being assaulted at a few times. She lives a tough life.
Sky in the Deep was a brilliant and emotional read. It explores the concept of otherness, unity, and self identity. And it was just so emotionally compelling. Eelyn's story will make you feel a mixture of emotions, from sadness to anger, and everything in between.
There were so many fantastic moments to this novel. The differences between the Aska and the Riki were fascinating. It was all cultural, of course, but it was impressive how distinct Adrienne Young was able to make them.
Eelyn was a fascinating character. She's stubborn and driven, and even conflicted at times. She's gone through so much, but she never gave up. I feel like many of us would not have survived what she did. I was rooting for her though. It was impossible to do anything else.
At first I was a bit worried about the romantic subplot in this novel, because well... Stockholm syndrome. But Young managed to make it feel natural and not at all creepy. An impressive feat, considering everything else that happens in this novel.
I loved watching Eelyn and Fiske – as well as his family – fight for the unification of their people. It's amazing what people can accomplish when there's more on the line. And what people are willing to do in order to survive.
Mostly I loved the exploration of what makes people different...and how much (or little) that it actually matters. This exploration had some of the most beautiful moments of this novel, which is saying something. It was so well done.
The next novel in the series is called The Girl the Sea Gave Back. But it looks like it's not going to follow the same characters. Which is fine by me – I feel like Eelyn had a chance to tell her story. Now it's time for somebody else to tell theirs.

A really great standalone fantasy (I want more standalone, I have series fatigue!) that was pretty brutal and violent and yet didn't feel gratuitous. I liked how the personal and larger conflicts played out, and the resolutions felt realistic and earned. I recommend this one a lot to readers who want an interesting fantasy world and also aren't ready to get invested into a huge series.

Sky in the Deep has one kick butt heroine that will totally knock your socks off!! She is the warrior, the daughter, the sister, and of course the lover and I loved Eelyn so freaking much!! I read this book in one setting and just could not put down and I am so happy that I already have book two so I can read that one as well. Which for the rest of you guys it will be out in September.

The story is one that was kind of what I would consider childish. That two tribes come together every 5 years to battle and kill each other. I kind of wished that the author would have chosen a real reason why these two tribes were killing each other. So that was a little weird. The other issue I had was the flow of some of the chapters. It felt like they didn't flow from one to the other very well. But this didn't happen very often.

This was a wonderful historical fiction with no fantasy elements which was a great break from the norm. I was at first missing those elements but after a few chapters in I didn't miss any of that at all. The story was steeped in the culture and religion of the Vikings and I loved what the author did. I do wish that we would have gotten some more of this than what we got but I am happy with how it all turned out.

In the end this book gave me everything I was looking for family, love, life, forgiveness, and more!

I have to be grateful to Sky in the Deep and Adrienne Young since this book got me out of a non-reading rut that I've been trying to get out of for a few months. It's also cemented the fact that I want to travel to scandanavian countries and the origins of the vikings. Eelyn, an Aska warrior was born to fight in the blood feud between her Aska clan and the Riki clan -- that's all she's known, with the exception of the Herja; an almost mythological deadly clan that is about to wipe out both Aska and Riki. Having lost her brother (and fighting partner), her life is nothing but blood, gore, and the fight to survive. However, the brother she thought dead has turned up alive -- in an enemy clan. Eelyn needs, and finds, answers (and love?) only to have to make the most difficult decisions for not just her survival, but of her clan and enemy. I read this in one sitting and was so happy to be back on track. I enjoyed the read and would definitely read another book by Adrienne Young.

This book is BADASS. It throws us straight into the battlefield allowing us to instantly connect with the story. If your a fan of Leigh Bardugo then I would highly recommend you pick it up as there are badass women, epic fight scenes and Vikings

This was overall a pretty good read! I loved the focus on Eelyn and Iri’s relationship and the tension and frustration and anger that came with it. I’ll admit, there were a couple scenes that had me almost tearing up. The middle was a bit slow and repetitive and I found it hard to get through quickly, but the last third flew by really fast. My only complaint is the romance between Eelyn and Fiske. I wasn’t really expecting it and didn’t see it coming. Especially since there were multiple times Eelyn was like “I don’t want him to touch me”. I just wasn’t expecting Eelyn to also do what her brother did, especially since she was struggling so much with her loyalty towards her own people. It would have been nice for her to realize that she can accept the Riki as people who were similar to her, but without the romance.

Overall, 3.75/5 stars!

Decent and enjoyable teen historical fantasy with a Vikings flavour. I raced through it not long after reading 'The Glass Woman' and then overdosed on a few other Nordic inspired books so they've all kind of blurred together in my recollection unfortunately... I guess you could perhaps criticise it for being a little cliched if you were being picky, although I still loved it and plan on reading the next one 'The Girl the Sea Gave Back' very soon.

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

I really enjoyed this fresh perspective! A viking teen novel, clan against clan, overcoming an ingrained hatred, and a looming threat over everyone. I was on the edge of my seat for its entirety!