Review: Skyward

General information

Title: Skyward

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Series: Cytonic Series #1

Pages: 513
Publisher: Delacorte Press (US),

Gollancz (UK)

ISBN: 9780399555770

My rating: ★★★★★

Wow, this was... incredible. Outstanding, the best possible kind of amazing. My favorite book of the year so far and possibly one of my favorite books of all time from now on!
This book felt incredibly personal for me and therefore, I'm probably not completely rational with my rating, but let me explain that.

My dad was a pilot. Not air force, 'just' a regular airline pilot, but still. I grew up flying. Airports and airplanes feel like home to me and as a little girl, I wanted to become a pilot. I was this 6-year-old running around telling people I'd be a pilot one day. (Well, I'm not now, but that's a different story.)

Anyway, I knew I was gonna love that book before I even started it, and I related to the main character Spensa after just reading the synopsis, simply because she's a pilot's daughter. Except she's sassy and badass, which I'm not. She's basically who I wish I was. Spensa is a great main character, she is strongwilled and determined and doesn't back down. Sometimes she's a bit over the top, but that's kinda funny. She reminds me a lot of Captain Marvel (the whole book did, but in a very good way). In real life, she's the best friend who sometimes drives you crazy but you still can't seem to write off. She had great character development throughout the book, too - there's an insecurity to her that you have no idea about when you start the book.

The other characters are mostly side characters, but they were so cool too. There's this bunch of teens that share nothing but a dream, and it was great watching them become a team. I laughed with them and I cried with them. And for them. Even though I didn't know much about them, I cared for them. Which made the deaths feel even more personal and heartbreaking.

Which brings me to the scudding emotions, as Spensa would say. The book was full of them. I haven't cried in a long time reading a book, and this one made me cry several times: both in awe and in pain. The writing style was so engaging, it gripped me in the prologue already and didn't let me go until the end. This book was really hard to put down ! The writing made me picture everything I read in my head. I was in the cockpit with Spensa, or at the landing field, I could see the stars she was talking about. I loved it with all my heart.

The plot was everything I could've asked for in a good sci-fi novel. It had everything: aliens, explosions, spaceships. Talking spaceships! It was the perfect mix of flight training, actual flying, exciting battles (I mean it: exciting, as in heartstopping!) and stuff the characters do when not in a cockpit. Which, you might have guessed it, often involves starfighters too. You probably shouldn't read this book if you're not a fan of spaceships.

There's also some sort of mystery to uncover for Spensa which involves her dad. It was exciting to read about and the way the truth unravels slowly throughout the book was very well done. Then of course there are the aliens. What are they? What do they want? How will this end??

You have to read it and find out! Like I've said, my rating is biased, but I loved this book a lot more than I expected to, and I think my review makes this obvious. Was the book perfect? Probably not.There were some scenes that didn't quite flow as the rest, maybe even some lenghts. But that didn't keep me from enjoying the whole thing as much as I did. And that ending?! Holy hell! That's how you write an ending, folks. So many twists and breathtaking sequences! If this was a movie, it would've left me on the edge of my seat, maybe jumping out of it a few times.

Clear recommendation for each and every sci-fi fan! I cannot express what this book did to me. It makes me wanna get out there and learn how to fly a freakin airplane. Or a starfighter, if that were possible. It makes me wanna claim the stars.