A review by caitlinisbookish
Skyhunter by Marie Lu

4.0

“Because my mother taught me that, in spite of everything, I must choose goodness.”

Skyhunter follows Talin, a Striker for Mara, the last free nation warring with the Karensa Federation. Strikers are tasked to kill Ghosts, beasts that the Federation uses to attack Mara. But one day, a prisoner from the Federation is brought forth and Talin believes that there's more to him.

I really loved this book! I did find it a bit slow in the beginning, but it quickly picked up its pace.

One of the defining characteristics of this book is the characters. I think that they were all really well written, I could tell that Marie Lu put a lot of time into perfecting them.

The relationships between the characters were also great.
I loved the partner dynamic between Adena and Jeran. Adena's mechanical abilities paired with Jeran's deathdancer-ness was really nice to see.
The progression of Red and Talin's relationship wasn't forced at all, I think that it had a very nice balance from enemies to partners/friends to love interests. Red and Talin's relationship was my favorite *chef's kiss*
I also really loved to see Talin and her mother together! Typically in YA books, the parents are dead so it's nice to see at least one of them alive and not completely emotionally devastated! They had such sweet interactions with each other.

It was also interesting to see the communication between all of them.
With Red and Jeran speaking Karenese, Talin, Talin's mom, and Jeran speaking Basean, and all of them except Red using sign, it's very complicated. And, obviously, Red and Talin speaking through their link.

The trauma shown with both Red and Talin shown through flashbacks and link magic, it gave a very interesting perspective on their backstories. Jeran's traumatic relationship with his family and Adena's loss of her brother are all explored and adds that much more depth to their characters.

The writing was gorgeous. I think this is Marie Lu's most well-written book. The battle scenes were epic, it felt like I was reading a Marvel movie (how the heck?!?).

Overall, it was a really great read and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a YA dystopian novel with found family and "gotta save my country" troupes.