Reviews with content warning for Blood - Skyhunter

Would you do everything in your power to fight for your nation? I truly feel for Tamlin and her internal struggles throughout this book. I love how she was able to use sign language as a strength. Marie Lu did a beautiful job at writing this book. I cared for the characters and enjoyed getting an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses in ways that I did not anticipate.

There are so many similarities to our current world to the one Marie created. There's always someone in power who wants more and will do anything at all costs.

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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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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

4 ⭐ CW: violence, descriptions of blood and gore, torture, public execution mention, family abuse (physical and emotional), death of a parent, medical horror

"My name Talin. I am a Striker of Mara, the last free nation on this side of the sea. We are legendary bringers of death, assassins of monsters."

Skyhunter by Marie Lu is the first book in the Skyhunter duology. I loved this book! It had been a while since reading any scifi, and this one didn't disappoint. This is also my first Marie Lu book, and I am firmly in love with her writing now.

We follow Talin, a Basean refugee in Mara, who can't speak and uses sign language. She is a Striker, fighters in am elite force tasked with killing Ghosts, people who have been turned into monsters in a lab by the enemy Federation. The Federation is trying to take over the whole continent, and only Mara is left to conquer, but Talin and her Striker friends, Adena and Jaren, are determined to stop them. When a runaway from the Federation makes it to Mara, he becomes bound to Talin.

This was a fast paced story that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time! Talk about tension and raising the stakes! The descriptions of the battles and fight scenes were so exquisite, it made me want to see them on tv. The world building was interesting as well. We learn about the Old Ones, the civilization that came before and left ruins all along the continent. The Old Ones were more technically advanced than the people we follow, but destroyed themselves. I'm hoping we learn more about this next book.

The characters in this were wonderful! I loved Talin's friendship with Adena and Jeran. We must protect Jeran, my abused baby. Red and Talin's relationship is definitely of the slow burn variety and I'm here for it. I love that she was finally able to fully communicate with someone. Their bond is very intimate. Also Red has a pet mouse who just chills in his shirt pocket and makes it through many intense situations.

We get themes on the cruelty that refugees face, the cost of imperialism and tyranny, and how the cowards in power will be the death of freedom. I can not wait to read Steel Striker!

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