Rating: ⭐️⭐️

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

I received Sky in the Deep in the OwlCrate “Fight Like a Girl” May 2018 box. I absolutely loved the premise . . . female vikings!! The world was stunning. The imagery and scenery were absolutely beautiful. I loved the setting. This was the saving grace for me in Sky in the Deep. The story itself was disappointing. 

I was expecting a thrilling adventure led by a badass viking girl! Eelyn was fierce and definitely badass, but I felt the story lost the thrilling adventure. The book opens with an awesome chapter. It begins with a bloody battle that ends with an epic cliffhanger . . . Eelyn sees her dead brother on the battlefield fighting with the enemy (the Riki). After a series of events, Eelyn is kidnapped by the Riki and brought to their village. This is where the story lost me. I was so bored! Nothing really happened until the end. 

I had several issues with Sky in the Deep:

• The world and imagery was beautiful, but the actual world building was lacking. I felt like the author just threw random words and phrases and I was supposed to know what she meant. For example, Eeyln freaks out at the possibility of being a dyr. I had no idea what this was and it took a couple of more chapters for me to realize it meant slave. 
• The pacing. . . or lack thereof. The start, until Eeyln becomes a dyr and the end are the only exciting parts. Literally nothing happened in the middle. There was a lot of talking. The author tried to put something extra in with the bear and the Tala’s premonition/prophecy, but it fell flat. It could have been really interesting, but unfortunately the author did not delve in enough. 
• The insta-love between Eelyn and Fiske. When I read the synopsis I knew that there would likely be insta-love, but this was just too much. Eeyln and Fiske go from barely speaking and literally trying to kill one another to being in love and “belonging” to each other. Even though I was expecting it, their relationship came out of left field. Nothing happens between them to lead to this undying love. They see a bear together and I guess that brings them closer, but that’s still pretty weak. I will accept insta-love if there’s moments and reasons for why the two characters fall in love, but I didn’t see that in Sky in the Deep. 
• The Herja aka the shared enemy. I wish that the author would have included more history and/or explored the Herja more. They sounded absolutely terrifying in her descriptions, but they just felt like a prop. I think the story would have been a lot more exciting and interesting if the Herja were included more. 
• The ending. The last ~75-100 pages finally pick up again and it’s building up to what should be an epic battle and conclusion. It was supposed to be this huge battle with drama galore, but it was the opposite. The ending was so damn fast and neat. I blinked and it was over.  I love happy endings (especially in a stand alone book), but this was just ridiculous. It was so easy and everything worked out perfectly. It was boring and uneventful. 

As you can see I was not a big fan of Sky in the Deep. I hate being so hard on books and authors, but I have to share my honest opinions. Sky in the Deep was ok . . . I don’t feel super strongly about it. It’s a stand alone book, but the author announced that there will be a companion novel published. 

Let me know what you thought of Sky in the Deep!!