thewritermuse's review
3.0
I wasn't quite as connected to this book as I was to Skyward because it was set in a completely different setting. I enjoyed seeing Spensa's character arc and seeing her grow as a character and a fighter. M-Bot's journey was also really interesting in terms of his self-conflict. The worldbuilding in this book had the potential to be interesting, especially in alien species and cultures, but I want to acknowledge one large failure it has.
"Alien" genders in this book are established as completely separate from "human" genders, specifically the use of the pronouns "they/them" and of bigender-coded individuals. However, we see human beings who identify with these pronouns and genders, every single day. Claiming that humanity only has two genders and that anything else is "alien," as this book does, disrespects and invalidates nonbinary people.
Otherwise, the suspense and action of this book was good, especially the ending. The ending probably deserves a separate review all by itself (yes, I'm still angry about it)
"Alien" genders in this book are established as completely separate from "human" genders, specifically the use of the pronouns "they/them" and of bigender-coded individuals. However, we see human beings who identify with these pronouns and genders, every single day. Claiming that humanity only has two genders and that anything else is "alien," as this book does, disrespects and invalidates nonbinary people.
Otherwise, the suspense and action of this book was good, especially the ending. The ending probably deserves a separate review all by itself (yes, I'm still angry about it)
brandainamco's review against another edition
DNF around 50% I'm not happy with this one
amber_lea84's review
3.0
This review is going to be a mess because I don't know how to organize my thoughts about this book/series.
Much like the first book, so much of the story feels flimsy, and yet I was still super into it. I still find Spensa's character to be kind of non-sensical, though she's far less annoying in this book because she's stopped boasting about being tough all the time. But she's still short-tempered and impulsive, right? And yet she never wants to punch Brade in her dumb face. I think Brandon Sanderson is going for a whole, "See? Spensa's not so bad. She's so calm and empathetic even when dealing with someone like Brade. She's grown so much since the last book!" but like, come on. I'm so much more chill than Spensa and I would have shot Brade in the face at least three times by the end of the book. I feel like a lot of what happens just happens to keep the plot going and set up other things that happen later and that low grade annoys me because Spensa never gets to act like an actual person who makes sense because of it.
Also, most of this book takes place over a two week period which doesn't feel right at all. It seems more like two or three months. At one point I thought a weeks worth of training happened and it turned out to be ONE DAY.
Also, neither of these books wrap up neatly and they leave all kinds of lose ends. Like in the last book you never learn what the deal is with doomslug and you can tell she's important because the foreshadowing was almost unbearable. In this book a character is introduced and then it's crickets for the whole book. Is she dead? Where did she go? What's going to happen with her? We didn't even get a paragraph at the end to acknowledge that she still exists. I'm sure it's all answered in the next book but I just don't like that. It feels sloppy.
This is one of those books/series where I could easily write a whole essay about it's flaws, but it's still fun and some things about it do work really well. I'm a little mad at Brandon Sanderson for not trying a little harder to make these books better, but I feel like the problem with this series is that it just doesn't work if you think about it too hard.
Like oh my god, (moderate spoiler alert) this idea that this whole society is anti-aggression to the point of having no real military is so dumb. It's just an easy way to make Spensa more of a badass by comparison and constantly leave them wide open for every hair brained scheme. But if they weren't that way the whole story would fall apart. There are so many things in this story that you can't really change to be better without having to change basically everything.
These books remind me of eating trail mix. I'm like well, I don't like peanuts very much, and I don't know what this other nut is, but I do like cashews and chocolate. It will never be my favorite snack, but I'm not exactly upset about it. This series is a lot of good ideas and a lot of bad ideas mixed up together and I'm like...eh, I guess I can just pick some of this stuff out. Like this book/series doesn't make it impossible to ignore what I don't like about it.
Like okay the thing with Brade is stupid. BUT there are parallels between Brade and Spensa and THAT works. (moderate spoilers) Like what Brade is experiencing is like an even more extreme version of what Spensa went through in book one. And I feel like that works and is interesting, even if Spensa going through it in book one was kind of annoying on it's own because it was so dumb. You understand why Spensa empathizes with Brade. But then the fact that Spenda never gets mad at her just doesn't work for me at all. Brade is INFURATING and Spensa is short tempered. This is the world this book set up! Give me Spensa rage damn it.
Probably my favorite thing about Skyward is how creepy the Delvers are. If I didn't find the Delvers creepy I'd probably give this book two stars. But I have to give it credit for creeping me out because it's no easy feat.
Much like the first book, so much of the story feels flimsy, and yet I was still super into it. I still find Spensa's character to be kind of non-sensical, though she's far less annoying in this book because she's stopped boasting about being tough all the time. But she's still short-tempered and impulsive, right? And yet she never wants to punch Brade in her dumb face. I think Brandon Sanderson is going for a whole, "See? Spensa's not so bad. She's so calm and empathetic even when dealing with someone like Brade. She's grown so much since the last book!" but like, come on. I'm so much more chill than Spensa and I would have shot Brade in the face at least three times by the end of the book. I feel like a lot of what happens just happens to keep the plot going and set up other things that happen later and that low grade annoys me because Spensa never gets to act like an actual person who makes sense because of it.
Also, most of this book takes place over a two week period which doesn't feel right at all. It seems more like two or three months. At one point I thought a weeks worth of training happened and it turned out to be ONE DAY.
Also, neither of these books wrap up neatly and they leave all kinds of lose ends. Like in the last book you never learn what the deal is with doomslug and you can tell she's important because the foreshadowing was almost unbearable. In this book a character is introduced and then it's crickets for the whole book. Is she dead? Where did she go? What's going to happen with her? We didn't even get a paragraph at the end to acknowledge that she still exists. I'm sure it's all answered in the next book but I just don't like that. It feels sloppy.
This is one of those books/series where I could easily write a whole essay about it's flaws, but it's still fun and some things about it do work really well. I'm a little mad at Brandon Sanderson for not trying a little harder to make these books better, but I feel like the problem with this series is that it just doesn't work if you think about it too hard.
Like oh my god, (moderate spoiler alert) this idea that this whole society is anti-aggression to the point of having no real military is so dumb. It's just an easy way to make Spensa more of a badass by comparison and constantly leave them wide open for every hair brained scheme. But if they weren't that way the whole story would fall apart. There are so many things in this story that you can't really change to be better without having to change basically everything.
These books remind me of eating trail mix. I'm like well, I don't like peanuts very much, and I don't know what this other nut is, but I do like cashews and chocolate. It will never be my favorite snack, but I'm not exactly upset about it. This series is a lot of good ideas and a lot of bad ideas mixed up together and I'm like...eh, I guess I can just pick some of this stuff out. Like this book/series doesn't make it impossible to ignore what I don't like about it.
Like okay the thing with Brade is stupid. BUT there are parallels between Brade and Spensa and THAT works. (moderate spoilers) Like what Brade is experiencing is like an even more extreme version of what Spensa went through in book one. And I feel like that works and is interesting, even if Spensa going through it in book one was kind of annoying on it's own because it was so dumb. You understand why Spensa empathizes with Brade. But then the fact that Spenda never gets mad at her just doesn't work for me at all. Brade is INFURATING and Spensa is short tempered. This is the world this book set up! Give me Spensa rage damn it.
Probably my favorite thing about Skyward is how creepy the Delvers are. If I didn't find the Delvers creepy I'd probably give this book two stars. But I have to give it credit for creeping me out because it's no easy feat.
bleubythecover_'s review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book and it really surprised me in the plot twist department. WOW.
I’m not sure whether to give this one a 4 or 5 stars. It was really good but I might not have been completely mentally invested in it as I would’ve liked (not the book/author’s fault as my mood can HIGHLY affect my enjoyment of a book).
The plot was fascinating and SO MUCH happened that I can’t seem to grasp it all. I incredibly loved the new characters that were introduced (and some of them I loved to despise).
I wish we could’ve seen more of Alanik, hopefully we’ll get to see a little bit more about her on Cytonic. If not, one of the novellas (ReDawn) will give us that insight.
At some points I did find the book repetitive but maybe it was intended to be that way to possibly highlight/foreshadow the importance of some elements in the story.
As always, the audiobook was immaculate and I highly recommend listening while reading a physical copy. I really have the audiobook to thank to, my usually non-reader husband got hooked on the story so much that he started listening to Skyward and finished it in 2 or 3 days. Now he’s got a pretty good chunk down on Starsight and I can’t wait for him to get to the plot twists so we can gush about them.
I can’t possibly imagine what awaits me on Cytonic, but I’m looking forward to it.
I’m not sure whether to give this one a 4 or 5 stars. It was really good but I might not have been completely mentally invested in it as I would’ve liked (not the book/author’s fault as my mood can HIGHLY affect my enjoyment of a book).
The plot was fascinating and SO MUCH happened that I can’t seem to grasp it all. I incredibly loved the new characters that were introduced (and some of them I loved to despise).
I wish we could’ve seen more of Alanik, hopefully we’ll get to see a little bit more about her on Cytonic. If not, one of the novellas (ReDawn) will give us that insight.
At some points I did find the book repetitive but maybe it was intended to be that way to possibly highlight/foreshadow the importance of some elements in the story.
As always, the audiobook was immaculate and I highly recommend listening while reading a physical copy. I really have the audiobook to thank to, my usually non-reader husband got hooked on the story so much that he started listening to Skyward and finished it in 2 or 3 days. Now he’s got a pretty good chunk down on Starsight and I can’t wait for him to get to the plot twists so we can gush about them.
I can’t possibly imagine what awaits me on Cytonic, but I’m looking forward to it.
stephsbookrecs's review
4.0
This series is quickly becoming my favourite Sci-Fi YA. Loved continuing Spensa's story and if I can say anything I highly recommend listening to the audiobook. The narrator, Suzy Jackson, did such a good job of pulling me into the story. If you haven't read Skyward yet please skip over this review since this is the sequel.
After the events of Skyward, Spensa has become a part of the DDF once again and Cobb is now the director. When the opportunity arises for Spensa to infiltrate the Superiority and find out why they keep attacking Detritus, she takes it. Finding herself on an alien space station filled with so many different beings her ingrained beliefs that the Krell are bar will be tested.
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Spoilers Ahead!
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First off, I like the little budding romance between Spensa and Jorgen. Even if it is still really just the bud of it, there is an attraction there that just makes sense. What caught me off guard was Jorgen having Cytonic powers as well! Loved reading the interaction between him and Gran, it had me laughing out loudm Can't wait to see if his abilities are explored more in the next book.
I like how it showed that we are often afraid of the other because we do not know the other. Having Spensa be at Starsight and meet these other aliens and come go regard them as friends is what made it difficult for her to make decisions. This is ultimately what takes her back to Starsight to try to save it. It is also this realization that stops the Delver from destroying it. It is an important message woven into a Sci-Fi YA novel.
Can't wait to see what the conclusion of the series will bring!
After the events of Skyward, Spensa has become a part of the DDF once again and Cobb is now the director. When the opportunity arises for Spensa to infiltrate the Superiority and find out why they keep attacking Detritus, she takes it. Finding herself on an alien space station filled with so many different beings her ingrained beliefs that the Krell are bar will be tested.
.
.
.
Spoilers Ahead!
.
.
.
First off, I like the little budding romance between Spensa and Jorgen. Even if it is still really just the bud of it, there is an attraction there that just makes sense. What caught me off guard was Jorgen having Cytonic powers as well! Loved reading the interaction between him and Gran, it had me laughing out loudm Can't wait to see if his abilities are explored more in the next book.
I like how it showed that we are often afraid of the other because we do not know the other. Having Spensa be at Starsight and meet these other aliens and come go regard them as friends is what made it difficult for her to make decisions. This is ultimately what takes her back to Starsight to try to save it. It is also this realization that stops the Delver from destroying it. It is an important message woven into a Sci-Fi YA novel.
Can't wait to see what the conclusion of the series will bring!
nemisette's review
5.0
What a fantastic ride! **SPOILERS**
The emotional rollercoaster that this book put me on was one of the best this year. The development of relationships, the twists, the turns, the lot.
Doomslug being the freaking hyperdrive - this whole time?!
Brade, thinking she was finally getting there and then becoming just like Winzik.
M-Bot, poor M-Bot. Never thought I would have such feelings for an AI. Is he a Vapour maybe?
You've done it again Brando Sando. Thankfully I'll have Stormlight 4 to keep me entertained until Skyward 3.
Thank you Brandon, thank you again.
The emotional rollercoaster that this book put me on was one of the best this year. The development of relationships, the twists, the turns, the lot.
Doomslug being the freaking hyperdrive - this whole time?!
Brade, thinking she was finally getting there and then becoming just like Winzik.
M-Bot, poor M-Bot. Never thought I would have such feelings for an AI. Is he a Vapour maybe?
You've done it again Brando Sando. Thankfully I'll have Stormlight 4 to keep me entertained until Skyward 3.
Thank you Brandon, thank you again.
pavram's review
4.0
Ponovo malo slabiji kraj uzima od potentnosti inače sasvim solidne (audio)knjige. Sanderson je Sanderson i na kraju se od njega ne može ni očekivati da toliko odstupi od svog šablona praktično opscenog heroizma. No, Spensa mu je i dalje najzanimljiviji lik koji je napisao, i njen razvoj ovde je još veća milina pratiti nego u prvom delu. Audio naracija takodje bajna (US verzija).
4
4
k09229's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A tad slow to start but he really knows how to build up a story. I burned through the second half