Review: Skyhunter - Extended Excerpt

"A broken world.
An overwhelming evil.
A team of warriors ready to strike back."

Marie Lu - aka my favorite author - has a new book coming out soon, and here's everything you need to know!

 

General Information

Title: Skyhunter
Author: Marie Lu
Pages: 384
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
ISBN: 9781250221681
Scheduled release: September 29th, 2020

 

 

About: Talin is a Striker, a member of an elite fighting force that stands as the last defense for the only free nation in the world: Mara. A refugee, Talin knows firsthand the horrors of the Federation, a world-dominating war machine responsible for destroying nation after nation with its terrifying army of mutant beasts known only as Ghosts.
But when a mysterious prisoner is brought from the front to Mara's capital, Talin senses there’s more to him than meets the eye. Is he a spy from the Federation? What secrets is he hiding?
Only one thing is clear: Talin is ready to fight to the death alongside her fellow Strikers for the only homeland she has left . . . with or without the boy who might just be the weapon to save — or destroy — them all.
(Synopsis taken from barnesandnoble.com)

I got the free extended excerpt of this book from Netgalley.

Marie Lu is back with another seemingly very gripping dystopian novel! It took very little time for the excerpt to pull me in, and once I was done with it I immediately wanted to know what would happen next. The writing style is exactly like we're used to it from her: relatively simple, yet super fluent, quick and easy to read, and the world Marie Lu has created comes to life. 

It seems to be a harsh world and I love how she writes these. The dystopian vibe is clearly noticeable, with the Karensa Federation conquering and suppressing other nations. The Federation leaves behind horribly transformed creatures called Ghosts. These formerly human beings are now hunting anyone who dares to set foot into their territory, infecting people with their poison, and it's the job of the Strikers to hunt them down.

Meet Talin. She's a Striker and a refugee. She comes from the nation of Basea and is looked down upon by the people of Mara. She's also mute, which the reader is reminded of from time to time, but never in a patronizing way. Instead, she's found a way to use her inability to speak to her advantage when she joined the Strikers, because they too communicate through sign language to not attract the attention of the Ghosts. It's an interesting trait Lu chose for her main character and it makes Talin stand out.

The excerpt ends with a Karensan prisoner being brought before the fighting force of the Strikers for interrogation. They hope to get information out of him which might help Mara in the ongoing war against the Federation. Yet, Talin senses something off about this particular prisoner... he seems to want to die...

Skyhunter is definitely off to a promising start. It seems to have everything I'm looking for in a good dystopia - two rivaling forces in a war, a society divided by class with an outsider main character and a mysterious enemy prisoner... I'm getting slight Legend vibes, but in a good way! I don't want to compare the two - I feel like this book is gonna be very different, and I can't wait to get my hands on it and continue reading!

Also, isn't the cover a real eye catcher? It's so colorful, and I love the stark contrasts! The person with the winged shadow gives off a slightly mysterious vibe, adding a fantastical touch to the whole thing. 

How about you? Will you be reading Marie Lu's new book? It's only a little more than a week until the release date, and I hope Skyhunter is as good as it seems to be. I'll definitely be reviewing the whole thing too once I have read it. Until then, happy reading!

~ Anni