The Endless Skies
After years of brutal training, seventeen-year-old Rowan is ready to prove her loyalty to the city and her people to become one of the Leonodai warriors. But before Rowan can take the oath, a deadly disease strikes the city’s children. Soon the warriors―including two of Rowan’s closest friends―are sent on a dangerous mission to find a fabled panacea deep within enemy lands.
Left behind, Rowan learns a devastating truth that could compromise the mission and the fate of the Heliana itself. She must make a decision: stay with the city and become a warrior like she always dreamed, or risk her future in an attempt to save everyone she loves. Whatever Rowan decides, she has to do it fast, because time is running out, and peace can only last so long...
My Review
Shape-shifting flying lions in YA fantasy books. Sounds intriguing, right? And to me it was. I was curious as to how something like this could be done well in a YA storyline. Was I completely impressed with how this book was executed? Not really, sadly.
So we have three main characters in The Endless Skies, all with their own point-of-view chapters. First is Rowan, a headstrong Leonodai warrior-in-training; Callen, the boy who loves her; and Shirene, Rowan's older sister who works for the King. Because there were three POV characters, and none of their voices were particularly unique, it was very easy to get them mixed up and forget who we were following in each chapter. At least one POV should've been cut, maybe two. We got way too much information out of Shirene's chapters, due to her political role, that would have been better off coming as surprises to the primary character, Rowan. Then, plot elements could've been surprising to the reader as well. As for Callen, having a POV from a boy who has been rejected romantically by the main character is quite interesting, but since Rowan and Callen are in the same locations a lot of the time, theirs were the easier chapters to mix up.
Rowan herself isn't all that interesting or unique from other YA female fantasy characters, either. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you've read a lot of fantasy, this may not be the book for you. Because of the lack of difference in characters' inner voices and the lack of individuality of characters, this book read really young. I would recommend it for 12-14 year-olds, not upper YA readers.
The world building, while completely unique in the shapeshifting abilities, is just okay. There's not enough description to really connect readers with the locations, other magical shapeshifting creatures, or even the catastrophic things that are happening to the children of the land. Oh, and a major warning here for a disease that kills off kids. If you're at all tired of diseases or even triggered by diseases because of the world's current circumstances, do not read this book. I know that's one reason I just couldn't get into it, in combination with the stuff I mentioned earlier.
Despite the disease, the book is fast-paced, so readers can devour it pretty quickly if they're so inclined. And because it's not a complex magic system, and the characters have a rather modern dialect for a fantasy world, it's an easy book to give to new readers and not bog them down in complexity. Oh, but speaking of world-building, I was super confused as to why an entire magic system rests on the shoulders of a small child when the father is still alive and should have had magic as well. Maybe I missed something about this in the story, but I found it extremely odd that rescuing a baby was key to the entire Leonodai existence.
All in all, The Endless Skies is simply an okay read for those who have devoured fantasy books for many years. While, to a newbie, it may be something super enjoyable. I think if I handed this book to a sixth grader, they'd have a pretty good time.
