A Viking inspired tale, a simple yet complex plot, and opposing peoples brought up to hate one another through misconceptive means. It’s taken me awhile to compile my thoughts over this, but in the end, it’s worth the wait. With an action-packed opening sure to capture the eyes of readers everywhere, it laid down the foundation of what the future events held.

The story follows an ancient blood feud between the Riki and the Aska leads to a full-blown war between the families. Eelyn, an Aska, fights for her people only to be captured by Reiki forces and kept as a slave. She quickly learns how similar the people are to her own and realizes how wrong the feud truly is. But will the families push their prejudices aside in order to fight the terror lurking in the dark.

Amazing debut for Adienne Young! I’m excited to see what else she may bring. If you ever have a chance to read this, do it!

How can I describe this book!? I mean i never read a fantasy book that was finished in one book and i am actually fine with it being one book. Eleyn the girl with fire in her blood and Fiske the hard man with the ever changing heart, i loved reading your journey. Iri the boy who found out that blood doesn’t make family. Gah. I need to watch any and everything about vikings, this story made me want to stand up and sound my own battle cry. The battle was won, not physically but emotionally.

This was just a really lovingly written story? I wish there had been maybe more verbal depth to some of the relationships, but the physicality worked for the cultural setup, so it’s a push and pull there.

Also god bless stand-alones. And no killing the best friend/strong female friendships. SO here for that.

A solid fantasy novel that is set in a world similar to the Vikings of Old. Eelyn is a warrior for the Aska tribe. Her entire life is devoted to training for the fighting season against the Riki clan. Every five years the two clans meet on the battle field and slaughter each other over a blood feud that is woven into the lore of each clans very existence. When Eelyn sees her long dead brother on the battlefield her tribe believes he was sent by the gods to protect Eelyn in battle, but she is sure it is something else. Startling revelations about both tribes, why they fight and if they can ever stop are addressed through Eelyn and her experiences after the battle. There are a lot of battle scenes, a lot. By the end I found myself skimming the gory descriptions to get back to the plot and characters. I struggled with the Aska philosophy and the reasons why they would consider Iri a traitor. A solid recommendation for those who like fantasy or are looking for more Nordic/Viking fantasy novels (even though the gods in the this title are not Norse)

Originally Reviewed At: Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 3 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: NetGalley
Reviewer: Ariel

A YA novel about vikings? Sign me up! Sky in the Deep is the debut from author Adrienne Young, and if you’re into vikings, strong heroines, or both, I would suggest picking this one up, although I would say be prepared for less action than what is advertised.

The Aska and the Riki clans have been at war for as long as anyone can remember. Every year during the fighting season, the two groups meet just so they can fight. Five years ago, Eelyn lost her brother during a battle against the Riki. So why does she see him fighting with the Riki this year? When she is captured by the Riki, Eelyn must find a way to survive and get back to her father, the only family she has left. But when the Riki are attacked by another clan, the Aska and the Riki must come together, or it’s possible none of them will survive.

I want to start out by saying I legitimately did enjoy this book. However, I don’t like how it was marketed. The entire plot is in the books description, which I always hate. If something is brought up in the description on the back of the book, I want it to happen fairly early on. That was not the case with Sky in the Deep. The attack on the Riki from the clan that everyone thinks is a legend doesn’t happen until about halfway through the book. The first half was more of a slice of life novel in the Riki village where Ellyn starts to realize the Riki and the Aska really aren’t that different. Personally, I love slice of life types of stories and I really enjoyed that bit of the story, but I was left feeling disappointed because I was expecting so much more action than there actually was.

My other really big complaint comes from Herja, the legendary clan that attacks the Riki halfway through the book. Because the book description said that everyone thought they were just a legend, I thought there was going to be a supernatural element to them. I was pretty disappointed to discover they were just another clan. There were more of them, and they were bigger and scarier, but they were just regular vikings. It could be that I just misinterpreted the description of them, but it was still a bummer.

For what it was though, I did really like the story. Eelyn is a strong heroine who loves her family and the rest of her clan. She spends a lot of the book torn between being relieved that her brother, Iri, is actually alive and angry because he left their clan to live with the enemy. As she lives with the Riki and sees them doing the same things she would be doing with her family back at the Aska village, she starts to see that the Riki and the Aska really aren’t that different. The romance between her and Fiske is something that doesn’t happen until much later in the book, and I honestly could have done without it, but I liked them both as separate characters.

Overall, I would give Sky in the Deep 3 out of 5. It wasn’t what I was expecting based on the book’s description, but I still enjoyed it. I would have given it a higher rating had it been blurbed differently, but it’s still worth picking up.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO SKY IN THE DEEP BY ADRIENNE YOUNG?
Sky In The Deep by Adrienne Young was ALL OVER BOOKSTAGRAM for a long time. And you guys, sometimes I get bored and engage in the endless scroll of pretty book related pictures. I kept seeing picture after picture of this book along with axes for some reason? Apparently the masses really like pictures of books and weapons and/or tools? Anyways. That was kind of the kick I needed to get myself to listening to this audiobook. It also helps the case when the book is a fantasy about a kick ass young woman set basically during the Viking era. That is exactly my kind of thing.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Adrienne Young’s Sky In The Deep is about a young woman named Eelyn. She’s this warrior who deeply loves her clan, the Aska clan. Her main goal in life is to keep her people safe by fighting and surviving. Anyways, one day she is in battle when she thinks she sees her brother, Iri, who allegedly died five years ago. Only, oh snap, he’s living with the enemy clan — the Riki. So, okay, Eelyn ends up spending the winter in the Riki village in the mountains. She’s nervous and completely mistrustful of the people she’s staying with.

Only, she begins to open up to this guy named Fiske. BUT IT TAKES TIME, a whole lot of time actually. Eventually Eelyn sees with her eyes that the Riki are being threatened by this other clan – a clan of legends. And well, she has to figure out a way to unite the Riki and the Aska so that both may survive. And whoa, there is A LOT going on and it is great.

HOW DID I LIKE SKY IN THE DEEP?
Honestly, this was a really good book! I am looking forward to reading more by Adrienne Young after Sky In The Deep. The story resolved itself very well. She’s got a knack for characterization. Eelyn’s progression as a character was one that felt realistic. It seemed like her changes came about at the right times. There was nothing that annoyed me about the plotting or the characterization. I think if I had to do it again, I would likely end up reading the book via ebook or physically. Just because I listened to this at times of annoying traffic which meant I was more focused on beeping than reading.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook of Sky In the Deep is narrated by Khristine Hvam. She’s a narrator that I’ve listened to a few times. Her narration is one that I have no qualms over. I obtained this book from Scribd, which is my go to lately. That makes sense, FYI, given I have a free trial that ends in a few weeks. However, because there is SO much I want to listen to, I think I will keep it. OKAY SO BACK TO SKY IN THE DEEP – I would say it is a good audiobook particularly if you have an ear for detail and enjoy listening to historical fantasy. Also, you cannot ever go wrong listening to Hvam.

I didn’t really know what to expect when I went into Sky in the Deep. I heard about it through book tube and all it really took to pique my interest was “lady viking warrior protagonist.” Yes, please; sign me up for that. Beyond that, I knew nothing about this novel going into it — I didn’t even know that it was a standalone and not book one of a trilogy.

I’m so relieved it’s a standalone. It’s refreshing in this time of series’ (that don’t often need to be series’) to find a book that tells a single narrative with a defined start and end in the span of only the one book; it’s wonderful to find an author who has a singular theme to explore and knows that she can do it within one novel. Does that mean this book is perfect? No. There’s certainly a need to suspend one’s disbelief a bit in some cases, especially in terms of how rapidly characters often undergo their emotional journeys, but it’s not so bad that I would dock this novel for it.

Eelyn is a fantastic protagonist. This is an angry young woman who channels a great deal of grief into vicious, well-trained wrath. She’s also resourceful and well-equipped to handle the violent world in which she lives — after all, we open on the start of the “fighting season” her clan fights regularly with a neighbouring, enemy clan. In the opening quarter of this novel alone, Eelyn suffers dislocations, broken bones, a need for stitches before popping said stitches, and who knows how many scrapes and bruises. Yet she carries on because this has always been her world, and her world is uncompromising and unforgiving.

Except…Eelyn is suddenly forced to learn the power of both compromise and forgiveness. She is forced to reexamine her long-held world views, as well as the world views of not only her family and clan, but the enemy clan they’ve spent lifetimes battling. Eelyn’s journey is partly physically, but predominantly emotional and ethical — her entire life ethos gets called into question when she realises that these two people’s who’ve spent so long fighting each other have more in common than they do in contrast.

Are there contrasts? Of course. Different tribes and clans and peoples will have nuances in the way that they, for example, honour their dead, celebrate a victory, worship their deities, etc. But ultimately there is a commonality: a spirit of humanity. We strive to live and love and eventually die; we want to see our people and our families grow up happy in a world that is safer for them than it was for us. Eelyn has to deal with all of this, all the while enduring a turbulence of emotions that I cannot fathom but that Young writes so damn well, that I was grinding my teeth for much of the novel because I felt everything that Eelyn felt. It was like I was there, feeling everything along with her — and an author who can write emotions as complicated and complex as Eelyn’s and do it was well as Young does, has my immediate attention.

Hell, I even got on board with the romance. To be fair, I am absolutely weak for anything that hints of the enemies-to-lovers trope, especially if I think it’s being done well, so I guess I was an easy mark for the eventual romance. But I think I appreciate more that the romance was always secondary to everything else going on in the story. Sure, it crops up and certainly affects or informs some characters’ decisions, but it’s never the primary focus. This is always a book that is about more than a love story; instead, the love story is just a nice side-dish to a great feast of an adventurous, action-packed novel.

This is honestly one of the best books I've read this year. I couldn't get enough of it and have told everyone that I know about it. I loved how emersed in the story I became while reading it. It wasn't predictable like a lot of the books I've been reading and like I said it's the best I've read so far this year. I really connected with the main characters and was rooting for them the whole time. I honestly can't say enough about how amazing this book truly is!

The Aska and the Riki clans are enemies locked in a long-standing feud. Eelyn is an Aska warrior whose life is upended when she sees the brother she thought was dead fighting with the Riki against his own clan. Captured by her brother and his friend, she is taken up into the snowy mountains with the Riki warriors.

Adrienne Young's debut novel is rich with Viking imagery; the setting, the clans, the clothing, the weapons, the rivalry, the religions. It's a book that creates striking visuals in the imagination of its readers including some nail-biting battle scenes. (Battle scenes often bore me, but I found the battle scenes in this book to be pretty riveting.) Eelyn is such a strong female protagonist--both mentally and physically.

I devoured this in only a couple of days.

It gets going right from the start, and I have to say that I loved the world and the vikings element. The characters were wonderful. I really loved Eelyn, Fiske, and Iri. The different clans and way of life for each of them kept me intrigued throughout the novel. At times, it was a bit slow with normal everyday life tasks taking up a good chunk of the middle of the book, but it quickly recovered into more action packed fighting. I liked that this was a stand alone novel, but I also felt that the story line was wrapped up a little too conveniently for there being a generations long battle between clans.

If you're looking for a fast paced, viking centered fantasy stand alone, this one is for you! I've also heard that Adrienne Young will be publishing a companion novel next year, and I'm all for it!

This was pitched as a novel for fans of the show Vikings, which I was for a period of time (Lagartha deserved better). I went into this with modest expectations, and found that they were mostly met.

The fight sequences are done well, with a fairly realistic portrayal of injury and recovery. The main character's internal dilemma about being held captive by a clan she's grown up fighting a deeply ingrained blood feud was one of the more compelling parts. The romance was expected but built slowly and felt relatively natural. Overall the writing style was competent, but relied too much on short repeated sentences for emphasis.

Did this book set my soul on fire? Not really. Was it enjoyable while it lasted? Yep.

Difficult review to write... I really wanted to like this book - really, really wanted to like it. There was such a lot of hype and it sounded well... awesome!

Vikings - tick
Kickass female - tick
Great opening chapter - tick
Sibling and friendship dynamics, NOT just romance - tick
Beautiful prose (like the title) - tick
Action, but character driven - tick
Standalone (it's hard to commit to series when you have so many books to read) - tick
Interesting world building - tick

Yes, it had these things - as we were promised. And I spoke to Adrienne quite a lot on Instagram before, learning about her writer's journey - remember this is a debut. I was really excited for it (as was the rest of the book world).

But, it just didn't live up to the hype. I don't like to leave negative reviews, so I'll keep this short. It was a very slow book, there was a lot of time when it felt nothing was happening. When the title character was captured by their rival clan, they started to be nice to her... and then there were pages and pages of conversation, wood carving, garlic crushing... Where was the excitement? The build up? Things happened in fits and starts - it was all or nothing. The characters weren't really fully developed; it felt shallow and stilted. And there did end up being some stereotypical YA romance after all...

It's not a bad book - I think the problem was the hype. If I hadn't had such high expectations, I might have enjoyed it more. It has also what I have dubbed 'debut novel syndrome' where a writer tries to put in EVERYTHING about the world they've created and the research they've done, when, sometimes all you want is just the plot to move forward.

Ultimately, I hate to say it but it wasn't brilliant. I do expect brilliance from this author in the future though... 2 1/2 stars.

Meh....I'm not too sure what happened with this book. It sounded amazing, folks were raving about this book and when I got the ARC, I jumped on this.



However, I didn't really like it. It didn't grab my attention and hold it. Eelyn, is an okay character. We start with her in the mountains when she is called back home earlier than expected. So off she goes making her way back with some people to accompany her. They never expected to be under attack. Eelyn should have run and hide like she was told, and maybe should have been able to escape. Instead she's caught and puts up a good fight. Unfortunately they over power her and she is forced to go with this enemy.



I gave it about a few more chapters after that scene. And then I just gave up on the book. I wasn't feeling it. The character's weren't screaming amazing at me. The story seemed to be moving along slowly. I ended up putting the book down at that point.

This was a dark, gripping read for me. I loved the action scenes and main character but felt the pacing was a bit off. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will be telling people to pick Sky in the Deep up and to keep an eye out for the sequel.

This book surprised me! I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to like it. I mean, the description looked awesome, but I've been fooled too many times by synopses who's book don't live up to my hopes. This book wasn't perfect, but I couldn't put it down. I read it in three days-and I can't remember the last book I read that quickly.

And OK, this isn't an extremely long and detailed book, so that might have been one of the reasons why it was such a quick read. It starts off with high action and things don't slow down at all until the last couple pages. so that really helped move things along. Sometimes I think things could have used a little slow down. I feel like there were times when more explanation and detail was needed to take this book to the next level. It was a little predictable at times, but not painfully so. I figured out what would happen pretty quickly, although I was still able to enjoy the story.

But the characters really shined in this book. I loved Eelyn so much; she was a fantastic combination of fierce and caring. Honestly, I enjoyed pretty much all of these characters. Fiske annoyed me occasionally, but I still found myself rooting for him more often than not. They were all so unique and well-developed. I loved getting to know them!

So, all in all, I am so glad I picked this gem up. Like some other reviewers, I was a bit hesitant at first because I thought it might be too cliche. But, this book was not at all what I expected, and I really appreciated that (although, yes, there were some predictable parts)! It's a fun, quick read. If you love vikings, I'd recommend giving this a go.

Excellent read! It's highly unique to have a stand alone fantasy novel these days, so it was very refreshing to have everything wrapped up in the single novel. Fantastic characters and a very interesting world built here.

I have decided after much thought and consideration to pull my review of this title for personal reasons.

Riveting historical fiction!
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read and review Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young! Eelyn goes to battle with her fellow clansmen and is saved by Iri, her brother that died five years ago. Iri fell in battle and everyone thought he had died. He fell into a ravine that his clan couldn’t get down into, but the Riki clan that they were fighting managed to get to him, save his life and help him heal. Eelyn discovers this after she followed Iri and was captured by Fiske from the Riki clan. Now she’s facing being sold to a different clan because the clan she’s with doesn’t know what to do with her. Fiske ends up buying her so no harm comes to Eelyn. Fiske and his family are the people who saved Iri, who has become part of their family and has vowed himself to the Riki clan. A world opens up to Eelyn as she sees that the two clans are alike and they both have an extremely dangerous, terrorizing common enemy. Sky in the Deep brings the lifestyle of Vikings up close and personal and allows the reader to see and feel their thoughts, reasoning and family bonds that made the Vikings formidable. 5 stars for the insightful story of love, loyalty and beliefs of the Vikings!

My Review
Raw, vivid, gritty and beautiful — SKY IN THE DEEP is Amazing!
Brutal, vivid and filled with gritty action, Adrienne Young's debut novel SKY IN THE DEEP is a Viking fantasy featuring one of the fiercest female warriors I have come across recently in young adult literature. Eelyn is not your average heroine. Friends, you are going to fall hard for her.

From the very first pages, the setting comes alive with its richly crafted world.
Viking enthusiast will feel like they are transported to Evelyn's world. From the deep valley fjords to the forested mountains, you can smell the pine and smoke, feel the crunch of snow and taste the cooper of battle and bloodshed.

“Every five years, we lost those we loved. And we spent five years counting the days to the moment we could make the Riki pay for our pain.”

The writing is simply amazing. Well paced and with a straightforward plot, the novel does waste time on a convoluted story.

Instead, it steadily builds delicious tension; this is a book you will not want to put down due to the page-turning addiction it creates. I love the sharp contrast between the lyrical way Young describes the landscape with the gritty and brutal moments of battle. There are moments of stabbing and bloodshed and beautiful moments of ritual, and everyday life of the Aska and Riki—painting a vivid picture for readers.

Eelyn is a protagonist that completely steals the show—sweeping the reader along her heart-rendering journey.

Rarely do we really get such a layered and well-written heroine in a YA novel, let alone a debut. She is a warrior of honor, strength, and heart. I loved just how fierce she is mentally and physically. She can strategize with the best of the warriors, her fellow fighting mates.

Young creates this tough yet vulnerable character in Eelyn.

We see the hurt and betrayal she feels towards her brother after she discovers he is not dead but instead living with the enemy, and the heavy burden it creates, causing her to take up his mantle in order to protect her father. I also enjoyed seeing the strong love Eelyn shares with her father. And, Mýra—her friend and fighting mate, is a great example of positive female friendship. I want her in my life!

“I TRIED TO REMEMBER WHO I WAS.
STRONG. BRAVE. FIERCE. SURE.

I tried to summon her to me—that Eelyn who would choose her people over anything else. I searched for her within myself, but she was different now. I was different. And it was something already done. Something I couldn’t change.”

Get ready for the feels!

When taken by the Riki, Eelyn is made a slave but gradually gains trust, sometimes the hard way, of its clan members. She also begins to see that their people share many commonalities. She also sees the losses they share. This causes so many conflicting emotions in Eelyn that are so palpable.

There is this terrific, slow-build, romantic tension that made me swoon several times.
For all its fierceness, SKY IN THE DEEP felt especially romantic at times. Even though its slow-to-build, and remains a secondary focus, when on the page together, Fiske and Eelyn just made me swoon. Their changing emotions, complex relationship, it all had me tied in knots. It felt realistic and I loved how Young portrayed them together.

In the End

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young is a fantastic addition to the YA genre. The best compliment I can give (one that might age me) is the fact Eelyn reminded me a bit of Ayla from Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel. I remember how fierce she was and how much I'd admired her as a teen. Eelyn is sure to bring similar feelings out in today's YA readers. Highly recommended.

*I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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.

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Vikings vibe is strong in this one and I am all about it. Any book with badass female warriors is something I am going to devour, and this was no exception, having stayed up until 2am reading until I finally forced myself to go to bed and finish it in the morning.

I’ve read this story so many times before (Flame in the Mist or The Continent, anyone???) where a girl from a different tribe is captured by an opposing group and kept as prisoner and some grumpy but incredibly hot dude doesn’t trust her but eventually they come to understand one another and their different cultures and they fall in love and try to unite the two groups and ooh boy wasn’t that the exact plot of the two aforementioned novels as well as 100% this one also??

Do you think I care???
NOPE I LOVE IT. Honestly, I could read the same story line with differently names characters and a vaguely different setting a dozen times and would still obsess over it each and every time because I know what I am about and I’ll freely admit I am trash.

Eelyn is such a god damn badass and I love it, she can take care of herself but beneath her hard exterior she is fragile and hurting and Fiske is just like waaaaiting for her to sort herself out and deal with her emotions and figure out that everything she once thought is wrong and BOOM I ship it two badass warriors who are passionate but tender as heck are the type of pairing I live for.

I both love and hate that this appears to be a standalone because I mean I’d love to spend more time in this world with these characters (the side characters were really well written and whole and full and good yes) but at the same time this is such a complete and whole story and the ending was lovely.

Keen as for whatever else the author comes up with because this is a great start.