2.75 stars

DNF @61%

This book is just a bit too young for me. It's also a bit too basic. Evil for the sake of being evil. Plot holes. No character development. Not a gripping story. The writing is actually not bad, but the story is not good. Some of these reviews are like.. WOW BEST BOOK I EVER READ, and I'm like...

wat?

RATING: 3.5 Stars

I’ve always loved pegasus since the 1997 animated film Hercules came out, so when I saw the cover and read the premise of A Light in the Sky by Shina Reynolds I knew I had to jump at the chance to read the book. The author did not disappoint - once I started reading, I could not stop (I think I finished it in about 5 hours or so?)

Aluma Banks has always dreamed of the freedom the sky offers, gliding on the backs of Empyrean Steeds (essentially a fancy name for pegasus). Flying is in her blood, as her father was a war hero who has since retired from service. She thought she would never get the chance to prove her worth, but when disaster strikes her father she is thrust into training to join the ranks of the Empyrean Calvary and swear her allegiance to the king. Long-held secrets come to light and Aluma must realize her own strength and become a light to save her people from the threatening dark.

I wasn’t a big fan of the budding love triangle in the book. It was a bit cliche, and I didn’t feel like it was necessary to move the story forward. I want a strong female protagonist who doesn’t need a love interest. I don’t know if I’m just burnt out by love triangles (I’m looking at you, Twilight) but I was more invested in how Aluma is driven by her father-daughter bond.

While the blurb compares the book to Red Queen and The Scorpio Races, I was actually reminded more of The Hunger Games. Both books are led by very strong female protagonists and both involve governments where most of the population is suppressed in favor of the ruling class living in luxury. The prince definitely reminds me of President Snow - I love when an author creates a layered villain that you both hate and want to learn more about.

I definitely recommend that young adult fans of the fantasy and dystopian genres check this book out. There is some violence in the book, but I would be open to suggesting it for some more mature middle-grade readers on a case-by-case basis. I’m eager to hear news about when the next book in the series will come out because I really want to know what’s next for Aluma and the others. Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Wink Road Press for allowing me to read A Light in the Sky early. I voluntarily read and reviewed the book; this does not affect my opinion of the book or the context of my review in any way.

This was a pretty good book that did get me out of a reading slump! It was quite enjoyable for me, and I really liked the plot.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wink Road Press for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Flying horses? Yes, please! Everything else? Meh.
A Light in the Sky has a great premise, with the main character Aluma having to venture out on her own and find her power. While I loved the story the author was trying to tell, it was hard for my to stay tuned in. I know a popular trope for YA novels is the love triangle, but I found this one to be cringey at times. It didn't feel earned given how much time each of the characters knew each other.
Some of the dialogue (mainly of the antagonist) was so stereotypical I was waiting for him to do the evil 'mwhaha" laugh. I kept being told how bad of a guy he was, but I didn't feel like it was shown enough to make me feel his true evil.
If you like the YA device of normal girl finds love triangle with old friend and new love interest, a gorgeous high cheek boned girl as the friend and flying horses (which were honestly the best part) then give this book a try.

This was an ARC I got from Netgalley and while I enjoyed the book, it was looooooong. However the pacing was good and a LOT happens in the story. It was an interesting world, story premise, and gotta love flying horses that understand everything the riders say. Lol

It does read like a debut novel though in that there are a lot of holes, a really weak love triangle, and it ends on a cliffhanger of sorts.

The first thing that compelled me to want to ead this book was the title, it sounded very poetic, like something you could incorporate into the lyrics of a song. Also the picture of a Pegasus type creature is equally attractive. I mean who doesn't want to read about about horses that can fly?
True enough, the story doesn't disappoint. It follows the main character called Alumna, whose been secretly flying her father's horse across the forbidden border to collect special fruit for her and her friend's Thayer's family. The fruit has unique properties and can only be found on the other side of the border . Risk taking and protecting her family fiercely is in her nature, so when she is thrust into a world which she always secretly wanted to be a part off but not quite in the way she expected or wanted, she realises she's not the only one that's been keeping secrets. Now left with a cryptic message from her injured farther and his plea for her to join the King's army as a rider, she has to leave her life as she knew it behind, to solve the message and become who he wanted her to be.
I love the whole fantasy, adventure genre of the book but I did feel that mystery aspect, wasn't quite a mystery. I would have liked to be kept guessing for a little longer. Also I didn't really enjoy the love triangle here. It was a little weak because it felt like their was clearly no competition between who had a heart.
Overall though, it was a wonderful story and had everything you would expect on a fantasy adventure novel and I would definitely recommend it to everyone with similar tastes.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me a digital ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to enjoy this book because it's the first in a series and it's about a young girl who joins a pegasi riding army. However, there was just so much that I couldn't get into.
(1) The setting Eirelannia seems to be a post-apocalypse world that went suffered some sort of climatic and human-initiated disaster. There's no explanation of how that happened nor is there any explanation of how magic came to be in this world. Did it always exist? If it did, how did this climate disaster happen? Why do they need solar-powered ships if there was always magic? There are just a lot of world-building questions I have that weren't answered by the story.
(2) This is a horse-girl story through and through. There are so many unnecessary details about horses and horse care that don't add anything to the story, even with it being about pegasi.
(3) The love triangle between the main character Aluma, her best friend, and some new guy she meets is just absolutely ridiculous. There was no reason in the world why she had to all of sudden realize she's in love with her best friend; the story would have been stronger if they just had a platonic relationship. Nevermind the fact that she then "falls in love" with some stranger after knowing him for two days. I understand that it's meant to add to the dynamic of the character but really it just makes her look like a horrible person who'd throw away a years-long solid relationship for something new and exciting.
(4) Aluma was so frustratingly naïve about EVERYTHING. Anything bad that happened was because she didn't know better. Most of the time I just wanted to smack her for being so oblivious.
The only redeeming factors about this novel were the plot and the idea behind a pegasi-riding army. I would have loved to read a book about training in the army and building relationships with fellow soldiers over this trope-y nonsense.

I originally was not going to provide feedback on this book. It was a DNF around 20 percent, as it was extremely YA. I expected more from the world development, and I found the concept a bit boring after I began reading. I just feel I might not be the correct audience! I hate giving below a 3 star review, so I that is what I am giving here - just because I feel it is unfair since it was a DNF for me.

How far would you fly for freedom?

Aluma is the daughter of the most well-known and respected of the Empyrean Riders. The winged Calvary of the king that protects the kingdom of Laithlann.
She's always dreamed of becoming part of the calvary herself. As the autumn tournament approaches, events conspire at an alarming rate and Aluma is thrust into the world of not only the Empyrean riders but one of deceit, political subterfuge, and insane events.

Shina does a wonderful job of keeping this story fresh and at a perfect pace to keep you intrigued at every perfectly planned reveal.
The story was in no way predictable and had me guessing what would happen next....no I was not right.
The characters were easy to relate to. They got hurt and were very much not perfect in any way.

It was a delightful read. I'm very excited to see where Shina will take the story in book two.

Tropes:
friends to lovers
kingdoms at war
love triangle

The blurb and the cover for this book had me biting at the bit so to speak. A YA adventure on a cavalry of flying horses! 12 year old me would have squealed in delight at this.

It's the tale of Alumi, who has to compete in order to become an Empyrean rider and save her family's home. It sets her off on a journey of discovery, adventure and heartbreak.

This is a good YA novel. I liked the characters and adored her relationship with Thayer. I'm unsure why there really needed to be a love triangle in this book as I don't think it added anything to the narrative, unless something significant is going to happen in the following books. There was a good mix of secondary characters and the plot was exciting, I kept the pages turning to find out what was going to happen next.

It's a good start to this series. It reminded me of the hunger games meets a pony book (younger me lived for a good pony book!)

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

Ehhhh I'll probably end up picking it back up and trying again, but this just isn't for me. It's quite predictable honestly. I love a good fantasy, and the idea is intriguing but the execution is lacking a lot. DNF'd around 30% I don't like giving less than 3⭐ simply because it may not be my cup of tea, but someone else will love it.

This is a wonderful young adult novel for any child who loves a strong female protagonist and horses with wings. Reynolds sets the stage beautiful and her imagination literally soars. I was drawn in and fell in love with the characters. Teen angst is wonderfully done here. Not drawn out at over scripted, but just enough to get the idea that Alumna is torn. You'll have to read to find out what I'm referring to. It's a definite must read. Special thanks to NetGalley and IBPA for giving me an opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. I look forward to the sequel.

TW: blood, death of a parent, harmed animals.

This was basically if "Flicka", "Eragon", and every 2014-2015 YA book had a baby, and um... I'm not really sure what I can say about it other than that. It had every old YA cliché from the "not like other girls" trope to the love triangle between the blond best friend and dark, brooding, high cheek-boned stranger.

I wanted to love this, but it wasn't for me. I could, however, definitely see certain people enjoying it if they're looking for this kind of... derivative story. (This isn't meant to sound condescending! There can be something extremely comforting about revisiting what used to be popular and there's nothing wrong with that.) Especially if you're someone that really loves horses! That was definitely my favorite part of the book, and I honestly found myself wishing I could omit the plot and just read about the Pegasi and regular horses living their best lives.

Overall, definitely not for me. I wish I could have enjoyed it and I wish the author every success, I just couldn't get past my personal (and technical) problems with this story.

Thank you to NetGalley & Wink Road Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I feel conflicted about this book because while I love the concept and see a lot of potential here, I found it fell flat in some places and ended up more stereotypically YA fantasy that I expected.

Without spoiling much, I liked the magic, most of the characters, the political intrigue, the overall pacing of the book and of course, the flying horses. It’s a really quick, easy read and I can definitely see some semblance of a found family trope with Aluma & her friends that might progress further in the second book.

I primarily struggled with the introduction of a 2010 style love triangle between Aluma, her childhood friend, and a handsome stranger who saves her. There wasn’t enough time given to the development of either of the love interests, it just portrayed Aluma as a naive teenager who blushes anytime a member of the opposite sex makes eye contact with her, and HOW could she choose between them?

In addition to the above, I found the world building quite confusing at times, and I read a lot of fantasy with more complex backgrounds, it just could have been portrayed more clearly. It might be easier with a physical copy so you can flip back and forth to the map, but I just found it lacking.

Overall, I rated this 3/5 stars and would love to see some more original plot points introduced in the second book, because the flying horses and some of the secondary characters REALLY carried this for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read Shina Reynolds's debut YA novel, A Light in the Sky, in exchange for an honest review. The heroine, seventeen year-old Aluma, discovers that loyalty is both more difficult and dangerous than she realized growing up on her father's farm with dreams of becoming an Empyrean rider like her father, a retired war hero. Long-kept secrets assign the heroine a unique role in a hidden struggle against corrupt leaders with unspeakably powerful relics in play. Aluma soon finds herself entangled in well-founded anxiety for her family, her close cadre of friends, and the future Eirelannia. Long-lost tech and magic blur together in a dystopian world with echoes of the Hunger Games. A beautiful cover and the promise of winged horses will be enough to secure the interest of the book's target audience. Add to that a daughter's love for her father, the angst of first love, high fantasy adventure and the horror of war and you have all the components to satisfy genre readers in a story that rates a solid 3.5 stars.

terrible.

the worldbuilding is weak and writing is amateur. the protagonist is the standard YA fantasy protagonist. she is boring, but she is especially stupid and naïve. the other characters are one-dimensional; there is absolutely no complexity or depth to them. the mustache-twirling villain was pitiful because there was no reason for the villainy (and it wasn't explained at all, even though he had his evil villain monologue).

the plot is simple, but the execution is so pathetic i almost feel bad. everything is so predictable and convenient, it's like the author didn't even try to make an effort. i could see how everything would unfold by 30% and yet our protagonist did not even though it's in 1st person (again, she's very dumb). unrefined storytelling.

overall, this is so corny and cheap and lame. the acknowledgements are cute though.

A captivating, charming and enchanting read mixing fantasy and mythology/folklore with some wonderful results.

Aluma Banks dreams of riding her very own winged steed. But that privilege is reserved for the king’s Empyrean Cavalry, who guard Eirelannia from the troublesome land of Laithlann. So Aluma resigns herself to a life on the ground and a future that doesn’t interest her. Moreover, she’s about to lose her close friend Thayer, who plans to compete in the Autumn Tournament for a chance to join the Cavalry.

Just when Aluma thinks she’s hit an emotional low, her father is tragically injured in the tournament. Suddenly thrust into the competition for a spot in the Cavalry, she now has a chance to pursue her dreams. But along the way she begins to realize that not everything is as it seems and Eirelannia’s king may be keeping a secret from his people.

The description and cover of this book intrigued me as, at the time, I hadn’t yet read a fantasy book involving winged horses. Similar to many stories, A Light in the Sky shares themes of coming of age, learning about and pushing oneself, and loyalty. A couple of characters reminded me a little bit of Peeta from The Hunger Games and Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter.

Shina Reynolds’s writing is clear, if not a little plain. There’s nothing wrong with that, though I prefer writing that evokes a little more emotion. I will always give kudos to authors whose grammar and punctuation are on point since I find continuous errors of this nature to be distracting. I was very happy to see that there were no errors of this kind worth mentioning.

It’s also evident in the descriptions of the horses’ movements that the author has equestrian experience. I looked the author up afterwards and found she used to ride horses when she was a child. One of the more vivid scenes in this book, to me, is when the horses compete in the tournament. Reynolds does a great job describing the course and how each horse navigates it.

However, the characters in this story are a bit one-dimensional. Their dialogue is elementary and stilting considering they’re all in their late teens. I also felt their dialogue was rather formal. I wasn’t sure if this was due to the author’s writing style, or because most of the characters had to become fast friends. And though there’s the beloved (or hated) love triangle trope, I found Aluma’s inner dialogue about it so awkward. It felt slightly misplaced with everything else going on in the story; I found myself wishing it hadn’t been included at all. Reynolds also recycled descriptors of physical appearances of the two boys in the love triangle, which I personally found annoying.

I also had a difficult time with how naïve Aluma is. Her character takes everything at face value. Despite someone close to Aluma betraying her, she allows herself to fall for it again. And, perhaps the most important critique in my mind, the plot is fairly predictable. Almost everything seems to go Aluma’s way even though she’s basically a newborn to how the world works outside of her family home.

The most interesting part of the story for me concerns two different types of powerful objects that are important to Eirelannia and Laithlinn. Keeping this spoiler-free, I found this concept intriguing. Though several characters use these objects in the book, I felt like I didn’t really understand the full concept of them. I’m happy to chalk that up to the fact that this book will be part of a series. But I also felt like we could have learned more about them from several characters if Aluma had chosen to push certain people for information.

Overall, if you’re looking for a complex storyline or well-developed characters, I would look elsewhere. If you’re up for a light, fast-paced read, then dive right in. This book ended up not being for me. But I’m sure there’s someone out there who will since we all enjoy different things.

I really wanted to love this book. The concept is whimsical, and well executed, but the writing style didn’t quite match the story’s fantastical nature. I had trouble relating to and caring about any of the characters, and found that it left something to be desired.
The beginning of the story read very slow, so I couldn’t really get into it. I wish that there was a better hook to keep the audience intrigued. The pacing also felt a little off to me. I wish it was faster in some places and slower in others.
I was torn between giving this 3 or 4 stars, but decided to round up because it’s very obvious that the author did a lot of research and put tons of effort into this book. I love that the ending is open enough to allow for future books but also concludes well enough to be read alone. I hope to see more from this author in the future.

For me, a YA fantasy/sci-fi dystopian novel with winged horses ticks All The Boxes but I can see also see the flaws that make me hesitant to unreservedly recommend it.

A lot of things about this book gave me strong Hunger Games vibes: Aluma comes from a poor farming district that sends most of its food to the capital, where people live in luxury. The arenas in each city, the flamboyant host of the Rider competitions, the love triangle- oh god, the love triangle. It all feels like it belongs to a very specific era of dystopian YA.

(Seriously imagine the Hunger Games but instead of a battle royale for your life it's a stadium eventing course for a a job in the army.)

The plot, however, is quite different. Aluma competes not for her life, but for a chance to join the Empyrean Riders, an elite sky cavalry that serves the king. Before she can even compete, though, her father is gravely injured and she is swept up in a conflict greater than she ever suspected.

I loved (almost) everything to do with the horses in this book. You could tell that the author had a thorough knowledge of horse care and riding, and her admiration for equine grace and beauty shone through.

(My two quibbles - some acknowledgement that the horses seem to understand human speech would be nice; and the last sequence seemed to involve an awful lot of hard flying with no recognition that the horses were probably exhausted.)

I think the amount of romance and the classic love triangle will put some people off (Aluma is torn between her sweet childhood friend and the handsome rebel who saves her from drowning). And I also have some hesitations about the world building and political motivations BUT as this is only the first book in a series I am open to more being explained in future books.

I would absolutely read the next book(s) in the series, and I commend the author for writing a YA fantasy with big #horsegirlenergy.