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rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, War, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
Minor: Animal death, Kidnapping, and Cultural appropriation
bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
3.5
“But conquering people is easy. You break past their defenses, seize their cities, burn their world to the ground. To annihilate us, though, is impossible. A seed will survive. I am not done. I will not forget.”
➽ Skyhunter is an interesting dystopian (somewhat post-apocalyptic) story! It follows Talin, a Striker who defeats the vicious Ghosts - humans that have been experimented on and transformed into monsters. She serves Mara, the last free nation that stands against the ever-expanding Karensa Federation which creates the Ghosts and conquers every other nation one by one. I really liked the premise, as it was intriguing and had many great themes such as colonization and the treatment of refugees. Talin is a refugee herself who fled the Federation's conquest with her mother. Ever since she's mute, but the Striker force communicates in sign language as the Ghosts they hunt hear the slightest sounds. I liked how sign language was incorporated into this book and utilized within the Strikers!
➽ It was easy to empathise with Talin, who risks her life for Mara while many people discriminate against refugees. Without the help of her partner - her Shield - she wouldn't have even been allowed to become a Striker. Even though she's confronted with daily microaggressions and suspicion from her own people, Talin still takes pride in her crucial work of keeping Mara safe. I liked her determination and bravery, as she's not giving up, no matter how harshly others try to put her down. The story touches upon the lingering trauma of her escape into Mara and the treatment of most refugees as second-class citizens who are forced to live in the outer region of the country. When Talin saves a captured soldier from the Federation, it seems like he might hold the key to staving off the looming invasion!
➽ In the end, the book missed a certain spark that I've come to expect from Marie Lu's books. Skyhunter had a lot of potential and I enjoyed the disability representation and discussions about refugees and war. However, I needed more from the story, as the world of Mara and the Federation still didn't feel fleshed out. Unfortunately, there were no interesting twists and turns, no shocking revelations that Marie Lu has pulled off in her other books. Skyhunter was a bit too straightforward for me and I wish the story had dug deeper into the people from before, why they were wiped out and how exactly the Federation rose to so much power. I also didn't feel invested in any of the characters apart from Talin. Her Striker friends faded into the background for me and Red, the Federation soldier was ultimately a forgettable character. I actually had high hopes for Red, but I feel like he lacked depth and I didn't connect to him. Maybe a dual POV would have helped with that. I don't think I'll read the sequel as I can already tell the direction it'll go, and I'm not invested enough into the story to continue!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Murder, and War
Minor: Ableism, Torture, and Xenophobia
beingsimba's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Xenophobia
asahome's review against another edition
4.5
TL;DR: A young woman saves the life of a prisoner of war and is assigned to be his partner. As they learn to fight together, their bonds are tested by an inability to communicate and old prejudices.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Police brutality, and Classism
nafsaila's review against another edition
5.0
In a war torn future where the technology has regressed Talin and her companions work to protect Mara as the Federation bears down on their borders with ghosts that have a bite that will turn you into the same type of monster. The Federation does experiments to turn their prisoners into these monsters and worse. When one of the Federation soldiers is captured and Talin defends him before he is executed by her leader, our adventure is set to begin.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Injury/Injury detail
myakemovic's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Death of parent
janiceinwonderland's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-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? No
4.5
me when i started the first chapter:
me when i finished the first chapter: 👁️👄👁️
as someone that finished attack on titan, i couldn’t help but draw the similarities between the world in skyhunter and that. won’t lie— after seeing how much of the aot plot was revealed by the time marie lu could’ve started writing, there are a lot of parallels, but i couldn’t feel them by the time i was well into the book.
another weird bit of context for my read (i’m treating this more as a journal entry now lol), i picked this up to fill the hole in my heart that was left by xiran jay zhao’s iron widow…and i hate to say that this was a far more enjoyable read (still love the book though.) marie lu writes some captivating action sequences and gives us a lot more time to enjoy and get to know our characters in this book.
i’m likely going to immediately pick up steelstriker because im hooked
me when i finished the first chapter: 👁️👄👁️
as someone that finished attack on titan, i couldn’t help but draw the similarities between the world in skyhunter and that. won’t lie— after seeing how much of the aot plot was revealed by the time marie lu could’ve started writing, there are a lot of parallels, but i couldn’t feel them by the time i was well into the book.
another weird bit of context for my read (i’m treating this more as a journal entry now lol), i picked this up to fill the hole in my heart that was left by xiran jay zhao’s iron widow…and i hate to say that this was a far more enjoyable read (still love the book though.) marie lu writes some captivating action sequences and gives us a lot more time to enjoy and get to know our characters in this book.
i’m likely going to immediately pick up steelstriker because im hooked
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and War
Minor: Xenophobia
achay91's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, and Death of parent
Minor: Grief
guessgreenleaf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic
ashylibrarian's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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? No
4.0
I would love to see this book turned into a visual creation. I think the concept of the Skyhunter, the war machine, would be so interesting to see brought to life in a visual format.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, and Blood
Minor: Torture and Death of parent