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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
emily44's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
This is such a fun book to read! The story draws you right in and leaves you wanting more. The characters are enjoyable to follow. There were a few instances that were predictable but I personally don’t mind that at all. Would totally recommend this book to someone who enjoys dystopian books and to people who don’t read too much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Blood
pelb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I really wanted to like this book, but it just wasn’t it for me. I’m a huge attack on titan fan, so I thought this book would be great since it’s an similar premise. Unfortunately it’s a little too similar in some aspects. This is like if attack on titan was a book, and it was way more boring and predictable. The plot was interesting but as I said, unoriginal, which I would have been able to get past if the characters were better. Sadly, the characters were my biggest problem with this book. They were so one dimensional and bland that I didn’t even care what happened to them. I couldn’t connect with them at all which made the story uninteresting. They all had literally no individual personalities, which was very disappointing. There were definitely good aspects of this book, like the prose was very beautiful and it had great diversity and representation. But overall, to me it’s flaws out way the positives, so I wouldn’t recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, War, and Injury/Injury detail
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
artmuseam's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
currently struggling to find the right words to describe this breathtaking, action-packed story. i’ve always been a fan of marie lu’s works and how they keep you reading until you’ve reached the end of the novel. i was introduced to a world that made me fall in love with all the characters and the ways they worked together to fight against monsters that i pitied rather than hated. this book kept me at the edge of my seat until the very end and i can’t wait to start the next one! 10/10 recommend
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, and War
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Genocide, and Classism
fictionaladventures's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
This was SO GOOD! Perhaps the best prologue I’ve ever read? When I got home from work after starting it, I had to read the prologue to my mom because it was so perfect. And the story didn’t ever lag from there. It was unique and completely captivating. The Ghosts remind me of a mix between the monsters from The Last of Us and Game of Thrones 👀
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
literarypenguin's review against another edition
adventurous
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
This is my first book of Marie Lu's that I have ever read and I have to say that I don't know how she does it! This book held my attention until the very end and didn't let go!
The plot of this book held me, talking about war and racism throughout this world. The Federation is bent on taking over the continent and spreading their legacy to all parts. They want to run their experiments on people and let those experiments fight for them to take cities that do not comply with them. They really think that what they are doing is right while the city of Mara is a city holding on to it's independence from the Federation trying to fight off swarms of Ghosts, mutated creatures that when they bite humans they turn into them.
The characters are great in this book my favorite was Talin, a refugee that came to the city of Mara with her mother after her village was destroyed and her father killed. Because of this incident she becomes mute unable to speak. I love how the other characters use sign language to communicate with her and they even weave it into the Strikers and how they do things on the battle field. That was very clever! Her other friends Jaren and Adena were amazing and their bond as Striker and Shield was so close and lovely. These group of characters all have a struggle in the world that bonds them together. Talin faces racism every day by not being trusted by the other Marans but she keeps her chin up and head held high, Jaren is abused by his father and brother but has a sweet and gentle heart despite this. Adena tries to make her brother proud of her and tries to advance her inventions and Red deals with his trauma after the Federation tortures and experiments on him.
The world was great and I loved learning about the Ghosts, Strikers, and Shields. It was a harsh environment to live in torn up by war and survival which our characters had to learn how to survive in. The Ancient Ones were fascinating and I hope that we learn more about them in the next book.
I highly recommend this book and I can't wait until I can pick up the next one!
The plot of this book held me, talking about war and racism throughout this world. The Federation is bent on taking over the continent and spreading their legacy to all parts. They want to run their experiments on people and let those experiments fight for them to take cities that do not comply with them. They really think that what they are doing is right while the city of Mara is a city holding on to it's independence from the Federation trying to fight off swarms of Ghosts, mutated creatures that when they bite humans they turn into them.
The characters are great in this book my favorite was Talin, a refugee that came to the city of Mara with her mother after her village was destroyed and her father killed. Because of this incident she becomes mute unable to speak. I love how the other characters use sign language to communicate with her and they even weave it into the Strikers and how they do things on the battle field. That was very clever! Her other friends Jaren and Adena were amazing and their bond as Striker and Shield was so close and lovely. These group of characters all have a struggle in the world that bonds them together. Talin faces racism every day by not being trusted by the other Marans but she keeps her chin up and head held high, Jaren is abused by his father and brother but has a sweet and gentle heart despite this. Adena tries to make her brother proud of her and tries to advance her inventions and Red deals with his trauma after the Federation tortures and experiments on him.
The world was great and I loved learning about the Ghosts, Strikers, and Shields. It was a harsh environment to live in torn up by war and survival which our characters had to learn how to survive in. The Ancient Ones were fascinating and I hope that we learn more about them in the next book.
I highly recommend this book and I can't wait until I can pick up the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and War