It’s amazing how an except can suck you right in. This starts out jumping right into the world. We learn about the people and the humanoid ghosts they are fighting. The excerpt gives enough details to really bring you into the world and connect with the characters. I love Marie Lu and already planned to read this book and now I cannot wait! It’s going to be so good!

Thank you Netgalley, Marie Lu and McMillains for the extended excerpt in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an excerpt!

I haven't read one of Marie Lu's books in a while, but now I'm really wondering why! The writing really flows even in such a short except and I'm eagerly awaiting the rest of the book. The beginning cuts straight to the chase with Talin losing someone close to her to the Ghosts, humanoid monsters sent by the Karensa Empire. I absolutely loved both Talin and her Shield, both characters were very well fleshed out and intriguing.

I definitely see a LOT of influence from Attack on Titan, and I think that would be glaringly obvious to anyone who has ever watched the anime or read the manga. While this isn't a bad thing, it was definitely a little jarring since it wasn't marketed as such and was an unexpected surprise.

Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. I need to read the whole book right now because the world was so interesting, the writing was amazing and the characters stole my heart in the first chapter. I also cried a lot and this was only three chapters long. I have the feeling this will become a new favorite book for me.

This is a really well done extended excerpt. It was long enough to allow for some great world building and give readers a sense of the setting and its culture. The main character is interesting and I really want to know more of her story and her past. I enjoyed the overall concept, was completely unnerved by the Ghosts, and was all around left wanting to read more.

Absolutely amazing. Another gem from Queen Marie Lu. I will definitely purchase a copy upon release.

If you like Marie Lu’s previous work, you’re going to love Skyhunter. I was lucky enough to receive and extended excerpt from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, and I’m so glad I did! The world-building is fantastic and pulls you in from the very first page. I was completely immersed in Talin’s story. She’s a Striker, which is an elite warrior and is paired with her closest friend. When something goes terribly wrong during a routine sweep for Ghosts, savage beasts that the Federation created to use as weapons, Talin reels from her loss.

As Talin deals with her grief, the reader learns more about Talin’s world where xenophobia, social inequality, and racism is rampant. We meet some of Talin’s friends and a mysterious prisoner that I suspect will have a large roll in the rest of the book.

This is a fabulous start to Skyhunter, and I can’t wait to read the rest of Talin’s story!

Oh my god. This is the first Marie Lu book I've read and I am hooked! The words such as refugee, asylum, conquered, and war made me think Mara, Basea, and The Karensa Federation are based off of a certain part of our world history. Maybe it's not right for me to compare this to other YA dystopian novels that have come before it, but it certainly seems similar to some.

The novel's heroine, Talin Kanami is a refugee from Basea. She becomes part of Mara's elite fighting force called the Strikers, who are trained to fight off the federation's war beasts and save Mara from being conquered. At the end of the excerpt we meet a mysterious prisoner. And that is why I'm hooked. I want to know about that prisoner. There's a significant part of the novel I left out because spoilers, but god, I was utterly devastated by what happened. If you're curious, you better read it.

I'll admit to not wanting to read anymore YA novels, especially dystopian ones, but Skyhunter certainly has my attention.

Really interesting world, gorgeous cover, and I like the main character so far. Marie Lu is a great writer and I can't wait for the full edition to come out! Thanks Netgalley for letting me read a sneak peek!

I didn’t realize this was an excerpt when I requested it. It was definitely intriguing though. I’ve read most of Marie Lu’s work and enjoyed it. The excerpt definitely convinced me to give this book a try as well.!!

Marie Lu never ceases to impress me with her writing and her books! It is honestly really refreshing to see the main character be someone who uses sign language, and it definitely adds a new twist to the protagonist of this book. I was hooked since page 1 and I hope I get the opportunity to read the rest of the book.

Thanks Netgalley, the author and publisher for letting me read this book!

***Review Based on the First Three Chapters***

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher I was able to read an extended excerpt of Skyhunter in exchange for an honest review. I CANNOT wait to read the rest of this book!! I love Marie Lu's books and her writing is flawless. I was hooked from the first chapter. This book is definitely action packed and fans of her first series "Legend" are sure to like this as well! Talin Kanami is a Striker warrior for the nation of Mara, who kills Ghosts which are war beasts that used to be humans until the Karensa Federation changed them. Something that is extremely different and exciting to read is that Talin signs, she does not speak after having her vocal cords damaged in a Federation attack which led to her and her mother taking refuge in Mara. All Strikers use sign language to communicate in the field because Ghosts have incredible hearing so I find this exciting to see signing represented not just by one character in the book, but many. I can't wait to read more of this book! I give the extended excerpt a 5/5 star rating!

Absolutely loved this excerpt! I’m a big fan or Marie Lu’s previous books, so this release is particularly exciting. I can’t wait to learn more about these characters and really dive deep into this universe.

This extended preview is one that I won't soon forget!! I haven't loved everything that Lu has done but this one sounds amazing!! I can not wait to either get a full ARC or the finished copy.

Wow, I loved this excerpt! I love the setting of this story (from what I could read) and I definitely love Talin already! She seems like a strong, badass female lead and we definitely need more of those! Also loving the fact that sign language is being used, cause representation is so so so important!

I know this was only 3 chapters long, but Marie Lu still manages to already touch on subjects like racism, injustice and inequality, so props to her.

Honestly, I can’t wait to be able to read more! These 3 chapters were compelling and sucked me right into the story (and already gave me some feels).

The extended sample contained three chapters of Skyhunter and I read these three chapters as well as the synopsis completely.

We''re introduced to the main character, Talin who is an outsider and faces xenophobia as a refugee of an evil empire the Federation. Despite this she holds a job that has quite the acclaim as a Striker, the chosen soldiers of Mara (the last free country) who fight the Federation and their mutant soldiers, the Ghosts.

From what I could tell from this sample, I found the world building to be okay perhaps I would have liked more but I can totally see the additional chapters continue world building. Our main character seems like she will be a tough strong female character which I appreciate.

I found the first few chapters compelling and would continue reading this dystopian book when it came out.

This seems like such a cool book and I cannot wait to read the full book! I love Marie Lu's writing and her story telling in general. The plot seems really good and I'm so upset I can't read more right now. I guess I'll have to wait until September.

Marie Lu is one of my favorite authors because she is able to craft such amazing worlds and characters in every single one of her books. I was delighted to see that the main character, Talin Kanami, uses sign language. I have yet to read a YA Sci Fi/ Fantasy book that focuses around sign language. This excerpt was more than enough to convince to me to buy this book. I have no complaints for this book except the map. I know it is suppose to be like ruins but maybe have a more detailed map. I cannot wait to read the rest of Skyhunter

The first thing I want to say is, I love Marie Lu! The second thing, is if you love Marie Lu then you are going to adore her new book! Talin is a Striker for the nation of Mara, meaning she kills ghosts that are attempting to infiltrate and attack their land. This is another super creative story by Marie Lu, full of action. Its intensely edgy but still has the heart that makes Lu's books so enjoyable. And I cant wait to get a copy of the full book and devour it! Also, thank you to Netgalley for this sneak peek!

Thank you so much, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Roaring Brook Press, for the chance to read this extended excerpt of one of my most anticipated reads of the year!


The Karensa Federation conquered lots of nation, leaving Mara as one the the last free one, but it's constanty threatened by the Federation and the beasts it created, called Ghosts.
The Strikers are Mara's elite fighting force, trained to stop them and Talin is one of them, refusing to give up and admit defeat. When she was little she and her mother were forced to escape the brutality of the Federation and she lost both her home and her voice, living in a country where she and people from her country are considered "rats", repugnant. Still, Talin is determined to keep fighting, finding comfort in some fellow Strikers. Everything changes when a mysterious prisoner is captured and she senses there's more to him.

In only few chapter Marie Lu was able to create a wonderful, complex and intense worldbuilding, introducing a stubborn and fierce main character, Talin, injustice, racist issue and a world where people fight not to lose hope and to be free. The writing style, like always, is immersive and atmospheric and I loved everything about this excerpt and I can't wait to read the whole book!

For an extended Excerpt, it sure left me dying to know the rest.

the story kicks off with strong world building elements where we follow the Strikers in their routine sweeps against The ghosts, which are weapons created by the federation to take down the last area standing against them. The fact that it's written with first person point of view allows a quick deep connection with the characters and an immersive experience.
I first thought it would be a generic of Attack on Titans or some other sort of apocalyptic story, but I was definitely wrong to judge quickly and the pages I've read made me change my mind. This book is a must for sci-fi fantasy fans.