Skyward book review

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
Series: Skyward #1
Published by Delacorte Press on November 6, 2018
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 510
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Spensa's world has been under attack for decades.
Now pilots are the heroes of what's left of the human race, and becoming one has always been Spensa's dream. Since she was a little girl, she has imagined soaring skyward and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with that of her father's—a pilot himself who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his team, leaving Spensa the daughter of a coward, her chances of attending Flight School slim to none.
No one will let Spensa forget what her father did, yet fate works in mysterious ways. Flight school might be a long shot, but she is determined to fly. And an accidental discovery in a long-forgotten cavern might just provide her with a way to claim the stars.

I have heard rave reviews for Skyward and I was really excited to jump into the story and see whether it was going to be worth the hype and if it was going to be one of my new favourite series. I think I might be onto a winner, I do generally love books that have a great group of characters and deal with training or school. Skyward definitely has all of this and I loved all the different aspects of it, especially when you begin to learn about the different people in the flight squad and the back story for each of them. There were definitely people I connected with and others that seemed to be secondary and didn’t really make an impact with me. But overall this book was a win for me, and I really think this series might be a favourite.

The characters in Skyward was what made this book such a great read. I loved the fact that there were so many in the group and they all seemed to be a completely different people. I think this definitely set me up for a winner because I wasn’t a massive fan of Spin. I found the way she spoke to be highly irritating at times and it became a little overwhelming. I actually ended up loving the flight leader and Quirk, they were my favourite characters, I adored their interactions with everyone all the way through especially Quirk with the way she would say the Saint sayings and her outlook on life. It was fantastically done and I loved how they came together as a team and began to be a cohesive thought process, I really loved it as a whole and I really want to see more of them working more as a team and learning more. It was a great atmosphere and I think the training added a lot more tension to the story which I think made the characters really shine on their own terms. AHH and M-Bot is also my favourite, the audiobook was fantastic in that regards.

The best bits of Skyward for me was definitely the training aspects and learning about the way humans were living in space and the issues that they had gotten themselves in. I really think there were some really great reveals and twists and turns all the way through the book and I think I loved being kept on my toes. I really think this book shines through the school aspect without it becoming too cheesy.

The worst bits were the main character Spin’s reaction to the fighting and her constant need for validation over everything. It became tiresome and I really wanted to learn more about the other people in the series.

Yess! If you’re looking for a new space training book then this one would definitely be up your street. With a cast of great characters, Skyward has been a great read for me.

Have you read this one? What did you think? Let me know!