Sana⁷'s Reviews > Skyward

Did I just found my best book of 2024?? ✨😌✨

Spensa's father was a pilot. She became one too. But Spensa's father was a coward. She is not and she will prove it to everyone.

"Claim the Stars, Spensa."


A short guide of my journey with Sanderson's books.

Holy cow, what did I just read?! It's a book I picked on a whim, when I didn't have anything urgent to read. It's not like I wasn't excited to read it, I was, I just had my worries about it. You see, when it comes to me and Brandon Sanderson's books, they are either a hit or a miss. I am a huge fan of Elantris, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, The Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England and The Reckoners series. I enjoyed reading both Warbreaker and Tress of the Emerald See. There is also The Way of Kings, the first book of The Stormlight Archives series, which I love, but I'm totally not a fan of the next books of this series. Mistborn series started nicely, but got downhill pretty quickly for me. Don't even get me started about The Sunlit Man. So please don't blame me for worrying about Skyward.

It turned out that I worried for nothing, because Skyward is EXCELLENT.

The plot.

Meet Spensa, a pugnacious teenage girl who's living in a planet called Detritus where humanity is lives underneath the surface and is at war with an unidentified race known as Krell. Spensa's father, who for most of the time was one of the most legendary pilots, is now called a coward after he tried to run away during a battle against the Krell (and got killed). Spensa, called "the coward's daughter", doesn't believe that her father could betray his friends like that, and despite the society wishes, she actively prepares for an upcoming exam. She dreams to become a pilot, like her father. But her plans and dreams shatter like glass when she finds out that she didn't got the permission to participate in the exam.

But Spensa might be called "a coward's daughter", but she's certainly not one. She decides to keep on fighting against the society's wishes and became a pilot anyway. One of her father's friends, a man named Cobb, gives her a helping hand. Spensa attends the school of her dreams. But she quickly realizes that her fight didn't end yet. It had just started.

The MC.

"That music that water makes," she said. "Isn't it the most wonderful sound ever?"
"The most wonderful sound ever is the lamentations of my enemies, screaming my name towards the heavens with ragged, dying voices."

The MC is one of the things I had been worried about before picking up Skyward. Believe or not, but (sometimes...) I'm doing my research before reading a book, and when it comes to Skyward I heard people complaining about the MC. For them, she didn't seem to be likeable and, because of that, they had trouble engaging themselves into the story and care about what was happening. I have to admit that Spensa has the type of character that I would normally dislike, but, surprisingly, in this case, she worked for me perfectly. I LOVE HER. Without any doubts, she lands into the list of my favorite female book characters of all time (and this list is really short - it's hard for me to fall in love with the female characters, I'm not sure why).

Spensa's fierce. She had to be fierce from the moment she had not only lost her father, but also lost the respect of everyone around her. She had to fight not only to protect herself, but to protect her family as well. She listened to her grandmother's fascinating stories about famous warriors and dreamed to become one, so no one would make fun of her anymore. So everyone would love her instead. She goes through life with a simple mindset - the good people are the brave ones and the cowards are the bad ones. There was nothing in between. She glorified war - just like everyone else did. But after joining the Flight School and getting through a lot while trying to become a pilot, she learned that the things she had always believed in, might not be as great and not even be true. Her practiced confidence and nonchalance started to shatter little by little. Through all the trials, she becomes a true pilot she always wanted to be, but not without a price.

Spensa's not an easy person to like, but, surprisingly, she grew on me pretty quickly. All her talking about the lamentations of her enemies and so on, probably should piss me off (normally it would), but it only made me laugh. I found Spensa not annoying, but funny and cute. I knew that she tried her best in the situation she found herself in. She made a ton of mistakes that she's not proud of, but she acknowledged that she was wrong and apologized for it, which is a nice surprise (characters like her usually don't do so, because, you know, they are all mighty and so on). I love her bond with Rig (her childhood best friend) and I love her dynamic with her team members (yes, all the team members). I love how she tried to be an individual in the beginning, trying to stay away and focusing on herself, but slowly got used to the presence of the others and became a valuable team member. She has a great eye when it comes to the abilities of the others. She knew what the strong points of everyone are and how to use them. I also love her persistence in trying to clear her father's name. She believed from the start that her father is innocent, that there had to be some sort of mistake, and she give her best to find out the truth, all while attending her lessons and fighting her enemies. She feels like a real human being.

The characters.

I love Spensa, but also love all of her team members. They all have very unique personalities and, just like Spensa, they all feel human. They have their strengths and have their weaknesses. Some of them show up only for a small amount of time, but they are written so well that you can't help, but care for them. They all are just kids trying to survive in the world ruled not only by a war, but also very sharp (often unfair) restrictions. Their backgrounds and their personalities might be different, so conflicts often arise (especially between Spensa and Jorgen), but through ups and downs, they became an amazing team. There are plenty of other characters that I also love very much like Cobb, Rig, M-Bot, Spensa's family and doctor Thior (who was only mentioned through the book!). Sanderson's writing is so good that you can't help, but feel for the not so good guys as well. By "the not so good guys" I mean Admiral Ironsides. She was a person who didn't directly torment Spensa, but actively tried to force her to quit the Flight School. She didn't like Spensa and make sure that she knew it. She judged Spensa harshly all because of the mistake her father once made, and she thought that she will become a coward one day, too. But she had her reasons to do all the awful things she had done. She tried her best in the situation she was in - just like Spensa. They both fought the way they thought will be the best, all for the sake of their planet and their people.

The worldbuilding.

Detritus is a planet where, when the debris falls, the Krell attack. Somehow they seem to know where to find a huddle of people and are attacking mercilessly, so humanity did their best to fight back. But after 10 years the Krell suddenly change their tactic and the casualties on the human side start to increase. It seems like the enemy will win the war.

It seems like Brandon Sanderson didn't forgot anything when it comes to worldbuilding. He's a true master of it. Skyward seems like it's just another story about humanity living somewhere else than Earth, fighting an enemy to survive, but it's not. Detritus is not a planet I have ever heard of before, not just because of the name. The way it looks like and the way the residents live, the social hierarchy, the way the war looks, the history, the mystery behind the Krell. Everything's gripping. The story starts with a bang and keeps the reader on tenterhooks. You can't help, but feel engrossed in the action and find out what had truly happened the day Zeen Nightshade (Spensa's dad) turned his back on his friends, and what the Krell really are and what their agenda is.

The romance (???).

"You are a fire, Spin. When everyone else is calm, you're burning bonfire. Beautiful, like a newly forged blade."

Tell me that you have read this quote and didn't think that it's straight up fit for a romantasy story! I LOVE the dynamic between Spensa and Jorgen, and I'm truly shocked, because they fit the enemies to lovers trope quite well and this is the trope that I'm not a big fan of. They bicker A LOT and I LOVE EVERY SINGLE SCENE. I cheer for them with all in me to end up together, but if not, I will not be upset. They could easily work for me as friends too. Just do not kill off Jorgen, please! That will certainly upset me!

The only thing I have an issue about.

I'm giving Skyward the well deserved five stars, but I have to admit that it's not a perfect book. I wish that Sanderson didn't kill of the characters of colour in this story (for real, both characters died pretty quickly, I wish I could say that I was shocked, but I wasn't and that's really sad). They weren't the only ones who died, true, but they were the first one to be killed off and I didn't like that at all. I understand that for both the story and the MC to go forward there had to be a loss, but the author could make a different choice.


Anyways, I am deeply, deeply in love with Skyward and I'm so incredibly excited to keep on going through this journey with Spensa and her friends. We found out what the Krell are and what was the mystery behind Zeen's betrayal, but the war is still ongoing. The humanity is still losing. What can Spensa do to make a change?




Skyward series - my rating:

1. Skyward: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
2. Starsight: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
2.1 Sunreach: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
2.2 ReDawn: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)
2.3 Evershore: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
3. Cytonic: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)
4. Defiant: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)