A fantastically written story about vikings! I loved the protaganist and her fiery personality. While some parts frustrated me a bit I loved Miss Young's writing style and awesome action packed fighting scenes. Overall I rated this book 4.5 stars

Absolutely LOVED Adrienne Young's SKY IN THE DEEP! I had been hearing such wonderful things about this book from so many people and I was not disappointed! The writing was excellent and I was swept away by the story--it felt so fresh and it was a beautiful winter read! Very much looking forward to THE GIRL THE SEA GAVE BACK!

I really enjoyed this one, though I didn’t LOVE it quite as much as everyone else has been. I think my main issue was I wanted more action earlier on. This book felt more character growth focused and that’s always something I struggle with, I like my action packed fantasies. There was action eventually I just felt it took a while before anything really happened. It was a very quick read and I did enjoy it none the less.

Sky in the Deep starts with a bloody battle between two warring clansmen, the Aska and the Riki. Eelyn fights for the Aska but while on the battlefield, she notices her brother who supposedly died five years ago fighting for the other side. Eelyn gets captured by the Riki and they take her back to their mountain village where she has to survive the winter while being desperate to get back to her family. When a ruthless clan thought to be a legend attacks the Riki village, Eelyn has no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother's friend. Together they have to unite the Aska and the Riki clans to take out the threat once and for all.

All of that up there? It's in the summary of the book and it's pretty much everything that happens here. If you know the entire book by the summary it gives you, why are you even bothering to read it?

The world in this book- huh? We have different clans, mountains and some Fjords. There is no difference shown between these clans besides what color armor they wear and some fable about how one god pissed off another god and they've hated and killed each other since. Both clans say random words in a different language that are never really explained and yet we're supposed to know what any of this means.

This book is really boring. Eelyn becomes a slave and.... does mindless chores for a lot of it. When she first gets captured- she is a fighter. It really doesn't take long for her to accept her new life though and fall for her cute captor. Also I kept forgetting her name because everyone kept calling her Aska.

I was promised Wonder Woman and Vikings and I didn't get either. Maybe if the main character did things for herself instead of just letting men decide what she did and didn't do, maybe it would have been better. Maybe if there was more action instead of household chores I would have liked it. Maybe if the romance wasn't god-awful. Who knows, just wasn't for me!

I had a hard time with the extensive amount of narrative vs dialogue, and not being prewarned that the viking gods would be made up. Otherwise, solid read.

Okay, can I just say something crazy?! VIKINGS! I absolutely loved this book! It was so unique in so many aspects. Eelyn’s identity wasn’t partially tied into her romance with another character, the romance didn’t come into play until the end of the book, all of the characters had amazing character growth, and they were just very relatable and real. The writing was absolutely fantastic and this author has become an insta-purchase for me. I also want to praise the book for talking about religious acceptance. I talked about this in my rave video on the book on my YouTube channel, but to summarize: throughout the book the reader is told about these two different, but similar, religions that the Aska and the Riki have and cherish. But in the process of the story the reader comes to see that maybe while they worship different Gods they’re not as different as they appear to be. In my opinion, one of the main problems in today’s world is the lack of respect of other people’s religions. While I’m not a religious person I respect and try to be mindful of other’s religious preferences and beliefs. I liked how the book showed the character’s progression and acceptance of the other group despite their religious difference. The main character’s progression from absolute hatred for the Riki to accepting and being open minded about their beliefs, even though she didn’t sacrifice her own, was absolutely inspiring for me.



The only thing I felt needed a little more progression in the book was the world building. I feel that there was more to this world than what we had at the end of the novel, but for what we got it was well done. The book as a whole was extremely well done and I’d definitely buy a whole series of Eelyn and Myra’s adventures as… wait for it… VIKINGS!!!!!



Verdict: Break out your battle axe and grab this book today!

Finally a good standalone novel! I keep trapping myself in series and I'm so happy to end the year with an emotional poignant historical fiction like this!

4.5

Skye in the Deep by Adrienne Young is an impressive debut novel that every fan of YA fantasy should add to their tbr. A masterfully written tale with badass characters and a beautiful message, this story exceeded all my expectations! Knowing this is the work of a new author truly blows me away! 

I want to start off by saying that I've read plenty of first time novels, and this doesn't read like one. This story is expertly crafted, interesting, layered, and emotional. It's not one of those books you forget about the second you put it down either. It's stays with you, and that has a lot to do with the author's cinematic writing style. I could picture everything she described with an incredible ease that made the book that much more memorable. 

Though I loved the action, suspense, and violence, what stood out to me most in this story was the exploration of what it means to be a family, a friend, and just plain human. Watching these people struggle to survive, to take care of each other, to hold onto their faith, to fight when giving up seems like the obvious choice, and striving to live and die with honor is emotional, intense, and deeply moving. 

The relationships between all of the characters were the highlight for me period. They were unbreakable, complex, and sometimes, complicated and forbidden. The latter made everything a lot more interesting. 

Skye in the Deep is a vivid, bloody, entertaining, and exciting piece of literature that I'm thrilled to have had the opportunity to read. I appreciate a story with a well built world, fierce characters, a love connection worth rooting for, and epic battle scenes that keep me on the edge of my seat. This book delivered on all fronts ! 

Bottom line, I fell in love with this story, the setting, the characters, and the heart of this novel. I hope you will, too! 

YA Fantasy fans that don't mind a little slow burning romance with their adventure, this one's for you!

This book has some great character development, and while I really appreciate such books, I didn’t find the plot here very compelling. The middle portion is very slow paced too. However, it’s still a well written debut and I’m looking forward to the next companion novel.

Compelling and violent, this was well written even if the romance was slightly unbelievable as was the easy resolution of decades/centuries of violence and hatred.

This was wonderful!
I loved the protagonist and her journey and I have a bit of a book crush on Halvard.
I loved that it didn't follow the usual YA formula and was everything I wanted it to be.

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book reminded me of Game of Thrones’ battles in the snow against the cold ones from the Wildlings point of view. It is actually a Viking clan story about an axe-wielding warrior maiden, Eelyn, whose clan traditionally wars with another clan every year until villages worth of people in both clans are mysterious killed off. Eelyn (which autocorrect wants to keep changing to Evelyn) thought her older brother died in a battle years ago but ends up getting captured by his clan and living with his new family. As she learns about this rival clans’ way of life she must choose loyalties and question her belief system as all clans people face this new horror. I felt like the plot and storyline were predictable but I ended up loving and connecting with the characters so much, it didn’t matter to me in the end. I would read this just for the “woman-kicking-a**” part of it again.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.

I heard a lot of hype about this book, and read rave reviews about the world building and romance. I eagerly requested an ARC... and this was NOT for me. From cover to cover, this book is filled with violence and despair. Now, I am no stranger to either of these elements. I read books featuring wars and tragedy all the time. Usually before you are thrown into the thick of it, you connect with the characters. You understand their motivations. You care when something happens to them! Unfortunately, I couldn't do that in this book. I couldn't connect with the characters enough to root for anyone or care what happened. As I said, there were LOTS of people who loved this book, but it was not my style.

Sky in the Deep throws us straight into the battlefield, as we find our heroine Eelyn fighting alongside her clan against their most hated enemy, the Riki clan. After seeing the impossible on the battlefield we see Eelyn struggle with the realisation that her brother is a traitor. However, when a greater power threatens both clans, Eelyn must learn to trust those she has been taught to hate.

I found the world building to be good, with a decent amount of backstory and a relative unique concept with Nordic influences. The battle scenes were very good, vividly described and brought a great deal of excitement and action to the story. Eelyn is also a strong female character, with a large amount of passion for what she believes in. I just found her a little pedestrian and predictable. She’s a cookie cutter of every YA heroine I’ve seen before and unfortunately there’s very little that’s new about her.

There are a lot of good interpersonal relationships found throughout the novel, particularly between clans people and the familial bonds they share. This was nice to see, and I appreciated the time spent to developing this aspect of the story. In comparison,I found the developing romance rather forced and again rather predictable. It’s slow burning, which I appreciated, but I thought not enough time was really spent explaining why Eelyn and Finke really liked each other apart from having this one shared experience together.

I also found that the novel overall had a weird pacing to it, with this amazingly gruesome and action packed opening chapter which quickly petered out into something rather slow. Life with the Riki in particular got a little dull, and I was crying out for something, anything, to happen by that point. I was expecting more after that opening scene.

A promising start, with some interesting concepts, but the pacing and romance put me off a little.

This book was seriously so fantastic! I had wanted to read it since I first learn about it, because it’s so Up my alley, and I am so glad it lived up to my expectations. It was a badass, thrilling, enthralling read and I loved it.

One of the things I loved most about this book was the world. I have been wanting both oks about Vikings, or inspired by Vikings, for years now and this is the first one I’ve read which I think did it right. The author managed to capture the spirit of Vikings while still making something wholly unique. You could feel the inspiration in the culture of the book. It’s an intense and barbaric culture with battle-hardened warriors. But you also see it in their religion and stories. It felt totally immersive and fascinating.

But the setting also perfectly lent itself to a thrilling fantasy plot. You guys know me, I am a plot junkie. I want a book full of action and suspense that keeps me on the edge of my seat. This book completely did that. There were thrilling battle scenes, more quite moments of uncertainty and fear, there was external conflict and internal conflict, there were big bads and smaller enemies. There was definitely a lot going on here but it all worked together to craft a fantastic plot that really built to an exciting conclusion. I seriously did not want to put it down. I breezed through this book and I loved that about it. I needed a book like this.

The characters too really blew me away. This book very easily could have taken a very cliche path, but it didn’t. The characters were complex and had a lot of depth. First we have our main character of Eelyn. She’s a kickass female warrior, which I love, but she was also incredibly vulnerable. Throughout the book she doesn’t always win and there are times where she lets her emotions affect her in a very real way. I loved that about her. I love that she can kill someone on the battlefield and cry herself to sleep. It made her so real and so raw at times. She felt everything and you felt it with her. All of this really made Eelyn a very compelling protagonist.

But the real heart of this story is about family. It is about doing anything for your family and the people you love. It’s about finding family in the most unlikely of sources. This too could have been really cliche but it never went that far. It gave the book depth and heart. Speaking of heart, I also kind of liked the romance here. I don’t even know how to describe it. It wasn’t quite a hate to love thing, nor was it instalove. It leaned more toward the former though. Either way, it was a good slowburn in that it was one of those romances where I didn’t even know I shipped it until something happened that melted my otherwise frozen heart.

My only criticism is with the synopsis. I know I’m just nick-picking here but I really hate when the synopsis of a book gives a lot away. I understand you want to capture people’s interest but I think you can do that without revealing three-quarters of the plot. It takes all the mystery out of a book when the synopsis tells you what to expect. And I knew exactly what to expect. I knew exactly what was going to happen. I wish the book would have keep something from me at least.

All in all this was an amazing read. It had everything I wanted and more. There was a fascinating world, a thrilling plot that kept me on the edge of my seat, complex and likable characters, and a lot of heart and depth. I have been looking forward to this book for probably a year and it was so worth it. It’s amazing.

This book was amazing. I loved it so much I read it, and then read it again. The characters were amazingly written, and there was so much to take in that I loved every second.

One day, I was scrolling through my goodreads feed and I came across this book. I had been looking for quite some time now for a 2018 release that could make me exicted for its release and since I liked the way it sounded, I didn’t think twice before adding it to my TBR. Then, one random day, as I scrolled through Netgalley, I saw it was available to request, so I did. Once I finally—and miraculously—got approved, I can’t deny that I dove into this book without zero expectations and with a hunger for something new and different that I’d never seen before. And you know what? This book didn’t let me down. The voice that screamed inside my head about how I needed to read this book was right!

Believe me when I tell you that I loved every single thing about this book, it had everything I love in a story and more! It had blood, pain, grief, love, loyalty, strong family relationships, but what I mostly enjoying about it is that is has some very good character growth. Not only did our main character Eelyn grew and changed through the story, everyone else did too. Another thing was the pacing, which was perfect because it wasn’t too fast nor too slow! But my absolute favorite thing about this story was the strong, healthy and loving family bond between the characters.

The author’s writing was fantastic!! It was easy to follow and understand what was happening, and it made it easy to learn and understand about the clans, their beliefs, their differences, and even their similarities.

The settings we get to visit through Eelyn’s story weren’t much, but they were all great. We get to visit the Aska villages, the Riki villages, their battleground, and their worship grounds. This really helps you see the clans and learn about how the clans live after the fighting season.

We get to meet multiple characters through Eelyn’s journey. They were all lovable on their own way and I enjoyed how they changed the story with their presence and their twists. Some of these characters were: Iri, Myra, Aghi, Fiske, Tala, Runa, Inge, Halvard, and the detestable Herja that threatened to get rid of them all.

In the end, “Sky in the Deep" turned out to be one of the best books I’ve read so far in 2018—right next to “The Banished of Muirwood” by Jeff Wheeler! I enjoyed the action, the pain and the growth, and I loved how the characters—especially Eelyn—changed with it. This book definitely reached deeper than I thought it would with its strong and unbreakable families, and I’m so glad you can now get your hands on this baby so you can understand what I’m talking about and enjoy it.

I quite enjoyed this book. There were a few rough spots (mostly in the romance itself which didn't feel very well-motivated or fleshed out at times. I just wish there'd been more build-up to it so that I could embrace that Eelyn and Fiske were becoming an item). The action sequences were very well done and I liked seeing the every day life of the Riki (and the bit we got to see of the Aska as well). Eelyn's relationship with Iri was well done, a lot of rich emotion going on with her being happy that he's not actually dead but also the betrayal that he survived but didn't try to come home to her and their father. I also liked that though Eelyn started the book hating the Riki, she came to see that they were much more similar to the Aska that she might have once believed.

The final few chapters were rife with drama and action and it was really nail-bitingly entertaining. I loved seeing Eelyn back in her fighting element and getting to see her find the rest of her family again (her reunion with her dad was very touching). All in all this was a very enjoyable read and I wouldn't mind more stories set in this same world.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Could Sky in the Deep be the best book I’ve read in 2018? I read this book way back in April, yes, I know it’s already September and I’m just now getting around to writing my review. And YES, Sky in the Deep is STILL the best book I’ve read so far this year. Why am I just now writing my review? Sometimes words are just impossible to express how amazing something is!

First of all, don’t read the blurb! Sorry if you’ve already read it, but it’s too spoiler-y in my opinion and I loved how I really didn’t know what I was getting into with this book. Go in BLIND, I totally recommend it!

Second, in case you haven’t read the blurb, I will give you hint of a few things to expect:

I’ve seen this book listed as a Fantasy, but it really isn’t a Fantasy in my definition: there are no supernatural powers at work here. The only fantastical aspect of this story is the importance of the gods/faith/beliefs of the different clans.
Eelyn is a badass heroine...even when she’s at her weakest. She does suffer through some very brutal things that can be difficult to read. Just a warning.
The book is violent! Duh, it’s Vikings!
The story is VERY character driven, but also has plenty of well plotted fight scenes that I didn’t get bored with like I often do in other books. I really CARED about so many of the characters and worried that anyone of them could be killed at any time.
The romance was BEAUTIFUL. It’s very slow burn, some people might even call it “boring”, but it hit all the right buttons for me.

Finally, there is no cliffhanger! Yay! I only love cliffhangers when the next book is already, immediately available to me. Although it does appear there will be a companion novel released next year...??

To be honest, I kind of found this book to be dull and predictable. I think most of this came from my dislike of the main character. I found Eelyn to be similar to a lot of YA fantasy protagonists, who are supposed to be badasses because of their fighting skills and lack of emotion. I couldn't relate to Eelyn, who was very stubborn and angry. I just wanted to scream at her that she should be happy that her brother is alive rather than being mad that he betrayed their clan. This book was very much about Eelyn coming to terms with her brother and since I was not a fan of Eelyn and thought her anger towards her brother was stupid, I really didn't like this book. There was also a romance that I saw coming a mile away that I felt wasn't necessary.

This was not my favourite type of YA fantasy but if you like books about Vikings and betrayal, you might enjoy this.