Reviews with content warning for War - Skyhunter

Wow, I really enjoyed this book. I have a hard time reading YA as I get older because the characters always seem to be the same - they have the same appearances, they are quite whiny, powerful people fall head over heels for them for no reason, and they are all-powerful and special for no good reason. I'm really tired of it tbh. This story has a diverse mix of characters and the author did a great job developing all of them. The MC is from a fictional land, but I think her appearances are reflective of maybe south Asian people's appearances. Also, she is part of the disabled community, which is really cool since we don't see a lot of representation of that community as a leading character.
It was also very refreshing to finally read a book about warriors where there is no sexism. Like not once. It's not even mentioned passively. Loved that.
It's not a romantic story, and I am not sure if it will go in that direction in the next book, but I kind of have a feeling it won't. So if you are looking for some romance, then this book probably won't satisfy you. I do however recommend it if you are looking for a somewhat unique dystopian fantasy. The world building is clear and done well, and the characters are nicely written. I became quite invested in their feelings, their traumas, their relationships, and their growth. I look forward to reading the second book.

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emdashenthusiast's review against another edition

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I could not get through this book. The idea was very interesting, but everything was way to coincidental, even for a YA book. The science of things didn’t make any sense and things kept being repeated two or three times like the reader isn’t trusted to understand what was said a paragraph earlier. when Talin and Red formed their bond i was incredibly disappointed by the lazy work around for the communication barrier between them

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gabykyu's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I had never heard of this book until I went into this little bookstore in the Denver airport while I waited to go back home to Florida. I walked around and read quite a few summaries of the books there, and then walked around again but something about this book kept pulling me back to it so I bought it and only this book did I buy.

I… was NOT prepared for the utter SUSPENSE and the great emotional rollercoaster this book put me through. I won’t put any spoilers because honestly, it’s worth you reading it yourself and discovering it all. I’ve never noted down quotes and scenes of a book but I noted down a good amount from this one that either made my weak-to-shipping-canon-lovers heart cry or made goosebumps rise on my arms at the magnitude of meaning behind the words on the pages.

I’m so glad I bought the second book knowing I was loving the first one so now I can just continue on with the story. I’m also going to look up more by this author because holy crap I love her ;-; Please read this book, it’s my first 5 star read of the year and it’s like my fourth book.

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owlsreads's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I must choose goodness.

Personally, Skyhunter was a pretty light and entertaining read. Marie Lu's writing was engrossing as always and I really very much enjoyed the world-building here and how it was developed. I also liked that the author didn't shy away from the horrors of war and how they affected other people.

Talin's perspective was engaging and I really liked how determined and brave she was. I was so pleasantly surprise that she was mute and communicated through sign language; the way that was incorporated into the world-building itself was also really nice and I loved that this, in no way, defined who Talin was as a person.

I had quite a few theories while reading this book and pretty much all of them panned out. A lot of the twists were typical YA plot reveals and some of them were very convenient to boot. Around the halfway point I already pretty much knew how everything was going to go and there were only one or two surprises left for me as the story progressed.

The ending was interesting despite the predictability. Talin was in a very difficult situation and made a choice that was not easy for her to make, but that left me really curious about the sequel. I really want to know how that's going to go--even though I already have an idea of what's going to happen lol

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alejandra__ra's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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1quillb's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

4.5/5
A story about a country in danger from a dangerous dictatorship, and a girl who’s at the centre of it all. Skyhunter is an incredible book, filled with good representation and carefully thought out plot lines. Talin is a likeable character who uses her disability as a strength while fighting in the war against the Karensa Federation, and the side characters are very loveable (though not as defined as they could have been). The romance is minimal, but will probably be explored more in book 2.
I greatly enjoyed the way language/culture barriers were explored in this book; so many countries being conquered by one people means you start mixing cultures around very quickly, and the more people there are under one nation, the more salad-bowl it becomes. I liked that there were no two people that were the same, and that everyone had something to fight for.
The thing about this book is that while it adds nothing new to the ya dystopian/sci-fi genre, it is a fantastic read. I’d recommend this to any lover of dystopian or science fiction young adult books.

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anaguana's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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hannahthelibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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