[Book Review] Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

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.

 4.5 STARS 

The moment I discovered this book and realized it was a young adult book about vikings I immediately needed to read it. So I requested it from my library as quickly as I could and I am so happy I did. I also noticed that Scribd had the audiobook, so as I read the physical borrowed copy I listened to the audiobook. Which is easily becoming my new favorite way to read. With audiobooks by themselves  I tend to not be able to fully focus and with reading a physical copy or e-book sometimes my speed reading makes it hard for me to retain the story fully. This is like the perfect balance between the two. Plus, I noticed one of my favorite narrators Khristine Hvam was narrating this one which I was really excited about. She did an amazing job, as always. 

I really loved the characters and how complexly they're written. The Aska and Riki, two groups of people who worship opposing gods have hated each other for as long as they can remember. Our main character, Eelyn who is Aska, is captured by the Riki and forced to live with one of the Riki families until she is traded to another Riki village. In that time, she is confronted with the harsh reality that she was brought up her whole life seeing Aska and Riki as totally different beings when in reality they have more in common then she'd like to originally admit. Eelyn is intensely protective of her people and she will do anything to get back to them. She fights for herself and the pride of her Aska people even when it could put her in danger. The stubbornness, determination, and loyalty to her people is admirable but sometimes almost infuriating. I loved seeing her guard slowly go down, and her friendship with the family's youngest member, Halvard, was one of the most heartwarming moments of the story. I really enjoyed all of the characters. Inge's motherly nature with everyone, Iri and Fiske's brotherly bond for each other, and the obvious love Aghi has for his children. I loved seeing a strong leader like Aghi not only be an amazing father but letting himself express his emotions. However, because we didn't get a lot of time in Hylli before Eelyn is captured, we don't get a lot of moments between her and Mýra so we didn't really get to know her as a character but also their connection other than being fighting mates. We are told that the bond between Iri and Fiske is similar to the one between Eelyn and Mýra but I wasn't as convinced. I felt for Mýra and what she had been through but because I didn't know her as well as the others it made it hard for me to fully connect. 

The romance overall was enjoyable and swoon-worthy. That being said, I did have an issue with it. It was well written, romantic, and the characters definitely had chemistry. Fiske was sweet and gentle with Eelyn, which I thought was a great contrast to how tough and cold they were to each other in the beginning. I like that it started with a few hints, and then slowly built. That it took a while for either of them to even acknowledge that something was there between them. It made the end even more rewarding. However, I did find that it went from them feeling stuff for each other, starting out basically as a crush. They have a passionate moment or two, and then all of a sudden they are ride or die "I cannot live without you" when they have just started to feel for each other. It felt rushed and I think a lot of the blame has to do with how rushed the ending was. I also think because it's a stand alone fantasy novel there was a lot to cram into the book. I honestly wouldn't have minded a longer book. 340 pages is not a lot of time to fit an entire fantasy novel. I think Young does an amazing job with world building, character development, and most of the plot. The only two things I had issues with was the end battle scene and the romance, two things I think could have been fixed with more page time.

The plot is one I was really excited to dive into and in the end I thought it was really well done. One thing after another happens in a flurry of action. Some of the action is fighting in battle and the other kind is panic and fear based. It kept me on edge for a a good majority of the story. It's very episodic and could easily become an amazing movie or miniseries on Hulu or something. It kept me engaged the entire time and I was (non surprisingly) emotional while reading for a lot of moments. However, one thing I was a bit disappointed in was the end fight scene with the Herja. From the synopsis in the dust jacket of the book I assumed this was going to be a big scene we build to and although it was, the scene only lasted a couple chapters and was a bit anticlimactic. I don't think this really took away from my enjoyment of reading because of how invested I was in the characters, but as an afterthought  I realized I wasn't as impressed with the big end battle. Don't get me wrong it was really well written and exciting but it also was over really quickly. Like the romance, I think the battle suffered because of how rushed the last act was. Young writes amazing fight scenes that I devoured. I loved the way Eelyn and Mýra fought in battle, becoming one person. It was deadly, graceful, and bloody. I loved it. When they fought in the battle in the beginning I was already anticipating how badass the end fight scene was going to be if this was the way we were opening the story. Which is why I wanted more. 

Adrienne Young's writing style is simple but also really gorgeous. I feel like I could smell the snow in Fela and the salty ocean in Hylli. I could smell the sage and toasted grains from Inge's house. It was all incredibly vivid and I really love everything about it. Like I said, the characters are also really well written. I think I am a pretty empathetic reader because it's really easy for me to put myself directly in our main character's shoes. And it definitely happened with Sky in the Deep. I was incredibly emotional while reading because of everything Eelyn had gone through, and her character development being so amazing. 

Overall, I highly recommend this book! Like I mentioned earlier, stand alone fantasy novels are really rare and hard to write well. And despite my minor issues with the story, as a whole I definitely think it's one of the best stand alone fantasies I've read. I haven't seen many people talk about this book, but the ones I have noticed all seem to love it as much, if not more, than I do! I wholeheartedly believe this book need more hype around it, unless I just missed out on the hype train. If you're in the mood for a viking story with badass women, enemy groups having to come together to fight a common enemy, and really heartwarming characters and family dynamics I recommend picking up Sky in the Deep.

Thanks for reading!