Skyward was like a breathe of fresh air for dystopian novels.

Title: Skyward

Author: Susan

Publisher: Acornpress

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Genre: YA fiction

Review:

Skyward was such a good novel oh my gosh.

Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The worldbuilding in itself was pretty good, I liked it and I enjoyed it. Out story starts in something called “The Establishing Compound” made up of a society of Elites and Less Thans. The Elites are the ones who live lavish lives and are raised as spoiled rich kids, and the Less Thans are the workers who support the Elites. The Less Thans are brainwashed from the start, and taught that Elites are above them in every way. Together both Elites and Less Thans live within the wall, and Emery, a Less Than, begins to think of what life must be like outside of the wall.

At first I thought the names were a bit off. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t be naming an entire class of people “Less Thans” because it sounds like a very drab name. But then I realized that it was kind of the point. Make them have a boring name because they’re all supposed to be boring people. Mindless zombies that just do whatever they’re told and trained not to question orders.

As for what lies outside of the wall, it’s just the normal world. People who have been “released” by the Establishing Compound and been allowed to live freely outside of the wall. However, there’s a period of time before the wall was established and their were older people who were living to see it happen. Within the wall these people are called the “Old Ones” and they are cared for until they die. However I really don’t understand why they were there in the first place?

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

You know that with most dystopian novels there’s always the main character who has to lead some sort of revolution to overthrow the government who’s oppressing everyone? Yeah, well that happens, but Emery Davidson (our main character) isn’t filling people full of arrows or calling herself the Mockingjay, or thinking she’s part of something other because she’s super aware of her surroundings. She’s just an ordinary girl who shuts down the system by pure determination and loyalty to the people that she loves. And she doesn’t have to flee off grid with 50 different types of weapons on a mission to assassinate the president. Y’know. She’s not like other girls (I’m sorry and I’m kidding lol). I thought dystopian novels weren’t good without everyone running around in black cargo pants and army uniforms shooting at each other but… here we are. This really showed me that you absolutely CAN make a non-violent dystopian novel that’s actually good. I think the thing is that this focuses on more emotional parts rather than physical. It’s super heartfelt and well written, and it’s very emotional. If you cry easily, then have some tissues ready.

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Emery, Augustus, Daisy, they’re all solid characters. Emery especially, since we’ve got the story from her POV, and she’s such a thoughtful character. I liked her. She’s not particularly rebellious, per se, just curious enough to find loopholes and ways to escape the world she lived in. These characters were all perfect to convey the strong emotions in this book. The cover says “sometimes love is the best resistance” and once you read this book the characters really make you understand that. I even felt for the characters that were already dead. Now that’s good writing.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book, and I really love what Susan White writes. I hope you get a chance at check out Skyward on the Acornpress catalouge!

Bye, and thank you so much for reading! 🤍