I loved it so much! I loved all the characters and the story. I definitely recommend it!

I liked this book. Mostly. But I didn't love it, so that's why I'm only giving it three stars.

The plot was pretty good, if a little basic: two warring villages must join together to defeat greater threat. While I can't say that I've read this plot before, it still felt kinda cliché. I feel like there could've been a lot more exploration into the dynamics between the two villages, and it would've been more interesting if there had been greater differences between the Riki and the Aska. (They are pretty much identical, except for the name of their god and minor ritualistic stuff.)

I loved Eelyn as a character. I really felt for her and what she went through, and I could understand her emotions. The author did a great job of building a connection with her. However, none of the other characters were really rounded out, which led to the romance feeling very bland and lust-driven rather than a real rapport built between characters. I didn't understand Fiske, and honestly felt like he was just a minor character thrown in for a romance subplot.

I'd love to see more of the broader world in this story as well: where did the Herja come from? Are they even human? What is the bigger picture here?

Overall, I found Sky in the Deep to be pretty bland. What could've been an incredible, heart-wrenching tale about cultures combing/clashing turned into a predictable fantasy adventure that just didn't enthrall me.

Violence 10/10: Very graphic descriptions of wounds, killings, and attacks. One character graphically rips out another character's eyeball. One character is almost raped.

Sexual 5/10: One character is almost raped. Some kissing scenes, semi-detailed. One intimate encounter in a fade-to-black, off-page type scene.

Language 1/10: Characters 'curse,' but actual words are not given.

4 stars!

“Because you have fire in your blood.”

Eelyn, which I'm 100% certain I'm mispronouncing in my head, is an Askan warrior in the middle of a bloody battle when she sees her dead brother, Iri, in the flesh. He is alive and living with another clan, and an enemy of the Aska. In her attempt to find him after briefly seeing him, she is captured by her brother's new clan, the Riki. Sky in the Deep is roughly 350 pages long and a lot of world building information is missing. For example I can't tell you why the clans are enemies, they just are even though they could not be more alike, which I guess is what brings them together in the end.

I blame the info dump and the trilogies I usually read that have made me expect certain things, Sky in the Deep tells you what new information Eelyn learns, she doesn't repeat centuries worth of history like most Fantasy books and WE NEED MORE OF THAT! Despite my confusion over minor details I quickly realized that it is what it is and the point of this is Eelyn herself and not the history.

Eelyn goes from being a warrior to being a slave to her brother's new clan. The main conflict of the book is the need to keep her identity a secret so as to not get herself killed and her brother for not telling his clansmen about his sister. There's a lot of stuff I want to mention because the story felt kind of short but packed with action scenes and slow day-to-day activities that gave me just enough time to get to know the characters before the next blood battle began.

“It was the end. And at the end, life becomes precious.”

This book was heavy on brotherly love. Between Eelyn and her brother, between Iri and his "new family" which included Fiske, Eelyn's love interest that didn't become a love interest until the end. Sky in the Deep did everything Young Adult Fantasy avoids like the plague:

- skipped the love triangle
- heavily relied on brotherly love and family
- didn't info dump
- didn't stretch it with more books
- got straight to the fucking point

The major issue I had with this book is the fact that the blurb feels like from a different book? Sky in the Deep starts with an action scene and then the rest of it is just a quiet village life for Eelyn, I liked it but it's not what the blurb says it is. The last chapters deal with the raid and literally barely a chapter of a major clan battle which would have been amazing to read in detail before things wrap up. I could most definitely use another 100 pages but overall this is proof that not all Fantasies need to be trilogies, better to be left wanting more than bore the reader to tears.

Okay what glorious fun that was! It’s been quite a while since I’ve read something that I just wanted to devour in one sitting, and I definitely had that with Sky in the Deep! I found myself pretty salty when I had to put it down and adult instead. I mean, Wonder Woman meets Vikings...you can’t sign me up fast enough and Sky in the Deep delivered as far as I’m concerned.

I loved the characters. I don’t know if I was just emotional or if it was the storytelling or a combination of both but I had some tears you guys! I could feeeel Eelyn’s anger and sense of betrayal and conflict every step of the way. Her anguish at her brother’s decisions was a tangible thing, and I just felt for both of them! So props to the author for well developed characters that you root for and a writing style that sucks you into that world and these character’s lives.

I cannot give enough praise for how Young wrote and portrayed relationships. Sooo many relationships were explored and they were just done so SO WELL. Father/daughter, siblings, romantic, friendships, family...they’re all there and they were all written with depth and complexity. I loved Eelyn’s friendship with Myra by the way. I am totally here for female relationships that do not include jealousy, pettiness, cattiness etc etc etc. Give me strong women who support each other and who are there for each no matter what ALL DAY.

The story was fast paced and action packed from the very first scene and it doesn’t let up until the final line. I was hooked from line one and experienced the “just ONE more chapter” bibliophile phenomenon multiple times. I also loved the lore and mythology interwoven throughout the story. First, they’re just fun to read, and second, they really aid the reader in developing a sense of the world and specifically it’s history, culture, and belief systems which in turn provide a deeper understanding of the characters and the decisions they make.

Sky in the Deep is a stand alone but according to the author’s site there will be a companion novel out in 2019 and I am going to need that in my life! The story wrapped up like a stand alone should but I will definitely take more of this world and these characters if I can get it!

I received an advanced copy of this title from Netgalley and St. Martens Press: Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much! This does not in any way shape my opinion of the book.

Sky in the Deep is a great read. It's a story about survival, family and the struggle of a woman named, Eelyn. Eelyn was raised to be a warrior, fighting with her Aska clansmen against the Riki clan. Five years ago her brother, Iri, was killed during the fighting season. All she has left is her father and her fighting partner, Myra. The fighting season starts again and during one fight she sees her brother. She realizes he is not dead and is fighting on the side of her enemy. She decides to follow him. This unfolds a series of events that will forever change her life.

What I really liked about Sky in the Deep is that I could see this play out in my head. I could picture it as a movie and thought it would be a great one. Eelyn is a strong woman and so is her fighting partner. We can all use more books with strong women. I loved it!

Very good book! Loved the Viking world, loved how the main character was a strong female that could defend herself and didn’t need the help of a man. The author did a good job describing the worlds and clothing, and made me feel I was there, TW for animal sacrifice. Thanks Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

Towards the beginning, I didn't know if I would like this book. I previously read And I Darken (I found it okay, with nothing special in it), with another female protagonist, and I was afraid that this book would be similar to it. However, I was satisfied with this and I enjoyed it. It was a good book, and I probably would have rated it higher if my preferences were towards books like these (maybe historical fiction/warrior-driven books? I'm not sure how to describe it).

I liked the main character, Eelyn. She was a really realistic character and all the actions she took reflected on her past and the current situation. Also, the romance in the story was a nice addition to the book since it mainly focused around the plot. Eelyn's relationships develop over time, and it makes sense, compared to if it was more faster paced. Besides Eelyn, I wish her brother was more present throughout the book, as for the majority of the book, he is very distant.

Overall, I would definitely recommend it when it comes out. I wish I could write more, but I wanted to keep it spoiler free.

Rating: 3.75
Ah where to start with in this review.....?? This was one of my most anticipated book of this Spring and i just wanted it so badly you have no idea how many emails i sent to the publicist lol *hides in a corner*. Yeah so finally as you can see i managed to get a galley......


If you didn't already know this book is about vikings #Rawr cue the action!!!!!!

Blurb Shlurb:
There are two clans Aska and Rikki , that are caught in an ancient rivalry against each other. Our protagonist Eelyn belongs to Aska clan and is fiercely loyal to them. One day while fighting against the enemy, to her astonishment she see her bother fighting with the enemy, who she watched die 5 years ago!!!! Anyway while trying to make sense of the "betrayal" or being "back from the dead thing"....... she is captured by the RIKKI and (//Cue Music//) hence starting the story line #LivingWithTheEnemy


Eelyn
Oh yeah i liked her. She didn't have that snow flake thing going on for her that the usual supposed bad asses in Ya do. She was actually very resourceful and was indeed a warrior that could chop people up in a second. But she also has depth to her with a lot of loyalty, fierceness and protectiveness for the people she loved.

When she is captured , seeing her deal with the new environment, living with her enemies and watching their rituals her mind ticking and seeing her torn between her beliefs and what she saw around her and the turmoil it brought was the best part for me.

The characters in this story are deeply fierce and each one of them is so driven by love and loyalty. All of them had emotions that were so rooted in their love for family and clan.

The romance in this book was the enemies to love trope. My favorite. It was slow and didn't feel like insta love or the huh feeling you get when you can't make sense why they are suddenly together. It was a minute part of the story. But it makes the story so so much better.


This story is epic and bloody. People get chopped down, lots of blood and gory. Filled with axes, swords and armor, and all the fury that battle bring. Ah their are one or two animal sacrifices so yeah trigger warning for that 🤐


The world building isn't done in the vast sense of the world but we get the jest of the two clans and their locations. Their culture, habitat, colors, customs and clothing.

The only thing I have to complain about is that it felt like it was missing something. I needed this book to have something more, maybe a little longer. More interaction, and scenes between the people. The story felt it was over in like a span of 1-2 weeks. And I think it should have had more time and needed more into it to maybe built it up a little more.

Also it's a standalone. OMG it's so frickin hard to find fantasy standalone. So this part was awesome!!

Overall, this story was fun to read. Lots of Vikings and blood and fierceness involved. Interwoven with loyalty and love for family its a easy quick, fast paced short read that will be over quickly.

Vegr yfir fjor. Honor above life.'
Eelyn is an Aska warrior, every bit a tough viking woman, strong, fearless but in battle she sees her brother, Iri, who she thought to be dead. From that moment she is pulled into the Riki way of life. But Eelyn has much more to fear than the Riki.
The picture this book painted of the viking world made me feel if I was there (mind you I don't think I could handle seeing an animal sacrifice for real!)
The writing was sublime and the story, oh the story, I read this book slowly, savouring every word. How it focused on their world and family values, it won a place in my heart and it certainly pulled all the feels out of me!
In short, I loved every bit about it!

Nice story and character development, but didn't meet my expectations based on strong ratings and reviews. And not strong enough for me to buy follow-on books in the series.

A combination of savagery and beauty.

I was hooked from the first chapter. I loved Eelyn with all her flaws and struggles as she fought to overcome inner and outer demons. The journey was awesome. I had mixed feelings (as did Eelyn) about some the other characters but they grew on me and as Eelyn discovered allies, family, love, loss—as a reader I did too.

I highly recommend, despite the violence. I’m not a fan of gore, but war and fighting were their way of life so it fit with the story. I do hope we see some more books in the future, but as of now, I understand this to be a stand-alone.

I don’t recall reading a young adult Viking story before this – does a movie count like How to Train your Dragon lol. It does have the same vibe as an adult story I once read from my dad’s bookshelf – Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M Auel.

Some of my favorite phrases:

Vegr yfir fjor – “Honor above life.”

Sal fjotra – a bond between souls. “This kind of bond is formed when a soul is broken. It’s formed through pain, loss, and heartbreak. They’re bound by something deeper than we can see . . .” … I knew exactly what she was talking about.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read this before publication.

Love and prayers fellow readers

very good book ! i loved the story, the characters, the fighting scenes. I found that the vikings were a bit soft. .. a bit too gentle.... but Still an amazing story with strong femme characters. I finished it in two days.

Another Norse/Viking book adventure I went on!
Okay so I heard about this book a few months ago. Ever since then I have been dying to get my hands on a paperback Arc, but since I have small children and live in the middle of nowhere I was fortunate enough to have received this eBook from the publicist via NetGalley! So thank You Thank You!
I seriously told my husband to get me this book for my birthday even though it releases the week after. That is how excited I am for this one.
Now, while I love the Viking feel this book offers, I wish there was more details about their villages/ clothes/ weapons, etc.. the details just were limited to my liking and therefore I was only able to give it 4 stars. Now I am happy to hear that there will be a sequel to this next year I believe. Which is amazing because come on: Fiske and Eelyn. We need more of them. Right now this is a book I want to fangirl hard about, but not many people know about it yet to be properly fangirling. Now, if you are like me and have read a lot of YA and you are kind of skeptical about the fantasy factor of this.
example: " all YA fantasy seem similar.."
Let me be one to tell you that this is not like other YA fantasy. I promise you that this badass heroine is not one to be messed with and definitely a figure YA girls need in their lives.



When you think of Vikings you probably think of these ruthless violent people who will stop at nothing to get what they want. Now, yes you are not wrong, but this book doesn't involve the details or descriptions of ruthless bloodshed. So its a great Vikings tale for the younger audiences. I wish a book like this existed when I was younger so I was able to experience these characters at a younger age.
If you have watched History's Vikings then let me add that Eelyn remind much of Porunn, in a way that she is youthful, strong, lives for her gods, but yet still has much to learn on their way of life. ( I'm trying not to spoil the book or the show for anyone)
Anyways Sky In The Deep Released APRIL 24, 2018!!
This is one YA book you truly wont want to miss this year!
Skol!
DauntlessReading

I love, love loved it!! I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. This book was took off g=from the get go. This was an action packed Viking masterpiece. The plot did not let go until the last page. This was full of brutal scenes and Viking badassery and I can't believe its a standalone. The one time you don't want something to be a standalone because you love the world and the characters so much you don't want it to end. Eelyn is an exceptional heroine and I just adored her. She is tough and brave, kind and endearing and seriously badass but also somehow humanely flawed. She was extremely relatable. I loved how much she grew from seeking revenge and being stupidly prideful to being understanding and forgiving and that maybe she does need to rely on other people and not just herself. I didn't think she was able to grow and see how idiotic she was being and kudos to the author for being able to show that much growth with a character in a standalone book. The romance is subtle and kind of out of nowhere but I didn't mind. This book focuses more on family and tradition and how our pride can end up hurting us in the end.
Overall this is an exceptionally well written and plotted book and I cannot wait to get a physical copy to swoon with over and over again.

Arc provided by NetGalley. I’m very conflicted about this book.

I guess I would most compare this story’s setting to Vikings maybe?? Nordish? It’s never really clear. It’s the story of 17 year old named Eelyn, raised to fight a constant war against the Riki, another group of warriors. This is a battle that has raged for ______ amount of time, a long time at least. Her brother was killed by the enemy, or so she thought. The opening battle shows that her brother is still alive but has joined up with the enemy. Desperate to understand, she tries to figure it out but is captured and held hostage at a Riki village where the majority of the story takes place, as she comes to understand why her brother may have left.

So. This story. I really struggled with this one. I don’t think it was bad, and there are moments when it really shines: the descriptions of battle are great! The romance, well not surprising, develops in an interesting way. The lead character was interesting.

BUT I still found myself unable to get into this story. I rate books highly when I just HAVE to find time to read them, books that I read on my breaks or right before bed or even just sneaking in a sentence or two at a red light. But this book I never fully got into. I was never fully invested in the story, and I can’t seem to quite figure out why. There was nothing wrong with this book. It was a solid standalone. But I didn’t find myself constantly trying to read it; I was never hooked.

The story is a bit of a slow burn and the writing at times veers between visceral and elegant to just kind of so-so, though it’s not distracting. I don’t know. I think it’s just me but I just couldn’t connect to this. Still a solid read, just maybe for someone else instead.

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young is a very interesting tale about a young woman named Eelyn, who is a member the Aska tribe. She has been raised by her father to be a warrior, one whom has lost her mother and brother to other tribes. Her brother to the Riki, a rival clan they are always at odds with, and her mother was lost to the Herja, a legendary clan that even the Riki don’t know exists. While fighting one day and about to be killed, her brother appears and stops the Riki man from killing her. This shatters her world, so during the next battle she chases after her brother and winds up in the hands of the Riki. After she is captured by the Riki and purchased as a dyr (basically an indentured servant) instead of killed, she simultaneously wants to escape and also figure out why her brother, Iri, has joined the side of the Riki.

The way the book began, I thought it would focus more on the battles than what the story actually is. While the battles are a lot of fun, I am glad the book took the turn it did. The meat of this story is of a young woman learning to understand there is more to the world than she has been taught. Her time spent with Fiske’s (the Riki that saved Iri’s life) family is one of struggle. She is angry and ashamed, wants to escape or die instead of being dishonored. Yet as she fights within herself, she realizes the Riki have much in common with her own tribe. When the Herja arrive and the only way to survive is through unification of the two tribes, Eelyn takes on a much larger task that she wonders if she can handle it.

Eelyn was an amazing protagonist. She had this fire within her that helps the reader connect with the character in a way that isn’t present with many books. No matter the emotion she felt throughout the book, it was projected with ease on to me as the reader. As I read the words, I could feel her fear, her anger, her happiness, and so forth. The look on my face probably mimicked hers through much of it, I can’t lie. I left this novel thinking back through the story and examining how her changes, large and small kept occurring.

The cast that surrounds Eelyn is equally as good. Iri is the loving brother who has found a new family, but had never forgotten his original, and helps keep Eelyn alive with capture. His new brother, Fiske, had me initially stereotyping him as a very angry and rough viking, but quickly realized he was much more compassionate than he originally appears. And while I loved Iri, Fiske, Inge, Myra and Eelyn’s father, I’d have to say the stand out for me was Halvard. He plays such a key role in breaking down Eelyn’s walls she had built, and helps push her in the right direction with her search for understanding. He was such a darling boy, that every time he would exude his joy around Eelyn I kept having the biggest grin on my face.

When it came down to the battles and violence that comes from the conflicts between the various tribes, Young is not afraid to write the gruesome details. You feel and picture the action as it is happening as she writes them with much fluidity. She also has a way of writing that helps the emotions emanate from the pages. During the second half of this book, I found myself wiping tears away from my eyes plenty. Some were of joy and some of sadness. I haven’t had a book do that to me in a good while, where the tears welling up were a mixture of different emotions because I didn’t have time to wipe away the first feeling before the next took over. I have to congratulate the author on that feat, because it was an amazing feeling.

Those looking for battles and violence with Sky in the Deep will surely find it, but maybe not as much as they hope, especially during the first half of the book. It is more a book about how Eelyn grows to see the world from a narrow viewpoint to a larger understanding of everything and everyone around her. She takes what she has learned and utilizes that to spread it to others. By the time the last page is finished, I leaned back in my couch satisfied and happy I was able to accompany Eelyn on this journey. I recommend this book highly, and as I finish this review I can still feel some liquid in my tear ducts trying to escape.

Highly recommended for all! For the first time in forever, I don't have anything particularly negative to say about a book. A really really nice surprise. Sky in the Deep exceeded my expectations and so much more. Incredibly thankful I had the time to read this magnificently crafted work.

Sky in the Deep is about a girl whose world takes a turn when she finds a truth to be shattered, and the way she and the people around her subsequently deal with that and the other things that end up taking place.

I loved the progression of everything, the pacing, the dynamics, just everything about this book in its entirety. While the course that the characters and their world took was definitely predictable, the way that Adrienne Young presented all the information was absolutely wonderful.

What I love about complex worlds is that it's easier to push aside things that might not be as appealing about characters and character dimensionality, because of the balance that needs to be found regarding world and character information. Here, while the things that needed to be learned about the way Eelyn's society worked (or didn't work) did detract a little from the characters as a whole, I still saw them decently well, and wow did I connect with them.

I felt for everyone. The struggles that the characters encountered and the classic "there might something more to the story" contributed beautifully to the appeal of Sky in the Deep, though I'm currently still thinking about the title choice for the novel.

One thing though, I wish that the MC's relationship with her family back home could've been developed more before the plot takes its course, but no complaints because e v e r y t h i n g.

Can't wait for this diamond to hit the shelves! Many many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the incredible ARC.

Okay, I think I might need to step away from YA fantasy for a while. I'm going to read Ash Princess and a couple of other ARCs I've committed to, but after that I'm going to start being much more selective and stop being seduced by pretty covers and exciting blurbs. I might be lying about this, but here's hoping I can restrain myself.

The thing is, Sky in the Deep feels like one more in a long line of shallow and emotionless fantasies. When I began reading, I knew very little about it. A few chapters in and I was thinking "wow, this is so dry and boring" so I decided to go see if any other reviewers agreed with me. Instead, I found 5-star after 5-star rating, plus a starred Kirkus review. Convinced I must have been missing something amazing, I pushed on to the end.

And I don't get it. I'm having that "I feel like I read a completely different book" feeling.

There are some attempts to do something different here. The world and fictional language feel and sound like old Scandinavian, complete with Viking-esque clan warfare and brutal violence. But it is all action and no substance, and the tropes are the same ones we've seen in a thousand YA fantasy novels.

Eelyn is a standard strong warrior heroine, apparently, though the plot is mostly moved forward by her being captured and/or saved by the male characters. There's the sibling love driving Eelyn's motivations. There's the aloof love interest who is as bland as steamed cauliflower. In fact, there is not a single memorable character. The whole book lacks character complexity or depth.

Sky in the Deep opens with its strongest chapter. A bloody action scene ends on a cliffhanger: Eelyn believes she sees her dead brother fighting for the enemy clan. Next thing you know, Eelyn has been kidnapped by said enemy clan, the Riki, or more specifically, by her future love interest. Nothing says romance like a guy shooting you with an arrow and then kidnapping you.

After a few terrible attempts to escape, Eelyn settles into life with the Riki, who are mostly nice and welcoming to her. Then there are pages and pages of conversation, garlic crushing, and wood carving. Where is the suspense? The excitement? The ferocity? Why do we care?! It was SO HARD not to skim chapters.

I guess I would recommend this for fans of violent action scenes interspersed with pastoral activities. For me, this lacked some suspense, characterization or a deeper intriguing theme that would make me want to read on. I was bored.

I almost couldn’t believe this was a debut novel because of how wonderfully written this was - from start to finish, it’s an empowering, exciting, and extremely satisfying read. With a strong ensemble of characters and brilliant imagery, it was difficult to put this one down. A highly recommended story, indeed.

I received an arc to honestly review thanks to Netgalley.
Woman Power +Viking = The best possible combination. I have been waiting for a book like this for years, especially after watching the Viking tv show. This is action, power, heritage, a bit of love and amazing writing. I couldn't put it down. I would highly recommend anyone who wants a fast paced standalone, that kicks butt. Amazing read.