Review: Skyhunter

General Information

Title: Skyhunter
Author: Marie Lu
Series: Skyhunter #1
Pages: 371
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
ISBN: 9781250221681
My rating: ★★★★☆

About: In a world being steadily conquered by the Federation, young Talin and her companions fight for the freedom of Mara, the last free nation. A refugee herself, Talin knows what they have to lose when they go up against the terrible creations called Beasts that the enemy hides behind. Then one day, a prisoner from the Federation is brought into Mara. Talin immediately knows there's something different about him, and she will do whatever it takes to find out the truth and stop the war that has destroyed her home country and is now at Mara's border.

 

I had very high hopes for this book. But sadly, while I thoroughly enjoyed it, it wasn't as amazing as I'd wanted it to be.
Marie Lu's newest book is a ya dystopia, but it doesn't compare to "typical" dystopian novels. Skyhunter has a bit of everything: A nation at war against an all-powerful dystopian regime, creepy monsters, science experiments, an enemies to lovers friends relationship and a mute main character! It also feels more grown up in a way than Lu's previous books.

Meet Talin. She's an elite fighter for the last free nation of the continent and a refugee. She's also mute, which we are 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. It's an interesting trait Lu chose for her main character and it makes Talin stand out. So does her refugee status. Talin is strong, but she still faces the hatred of others, simply because she looks different.

All the characters in this were interesting and I liked to read about them. Especially the mysterious war prisoner holds a secret that might save everyone. I loved learning more about him. Still, I missed the final something. I cared for them, but I didn't feel with them (at least not with all of them). What also fell a bit flat was the villain. His motivations only became clear at the very end and it wasn't quite enough for me to really hate him.

The writing style is super fluent and the world Marie Lu has created comes to life. It is a harsh world and I love how she writes it. I could see the war-torn streets of Basea in Talin's memories, the arena where the Strikers assemble and the prison that goes many stories below the surface.

What I liked was that there's no real romance. There are some hints, but all very subtle and not really important to the story. It shows that ya books can be exciting and interesting without a romantic subplot!
Instead, the book focuses on the fight against the Federation and what it means to Talin to still live as a free citizen. It focuses on the relationships of the characters, of them being a team despite their differences. There are some very nice and important messages in this book. 

The pacing was good, although I sometimes found it a bit slow - but never boring. There are also
frequent action scenes and those are on point. The Strikers are real badasses, and there's a fair amount of death and killing. It's never over the top, but some scenes might be disturbing to some readers.

All in all Skyhunter was a good and very enjoyable book, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations. I'd still highly recommend the book and I will definitely read the sequel, since the ending was just... no, I can't talk about it. I already feel sorry for what's about to happen...

(Can we talk about the cover for a moment though? It's definitely one the prettiest books I've bought this year, the colors are so vibrant and the tiny figure with the huge winged shadow gives it a fantastical and mysterious vibe. The pic above shows the book without the dust jacket, and seriously, I gasped when I first saw it.)