Sky in the Deep

By: Adrienne Young

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

In her highly-anticipated debut audiobook, Adrienne Young brings to life a lush, vivid world that will enchant listeners everywhere. Sky in the Deep is mythic in scope and speaks straight to the heart.  

Raised to be a warrior, 17-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: train to fight and fight to survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield - her brother, fighting with the enemy - the brother she watched die five years ago. 

Eelyn loses her focus and is captured. Now, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbor is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan settling in the valley, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family. 

She is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother's friend. They must do the impossible: unite the clans to fight together, or risk being slaughtered one by one. Driven by a love for her clan and her growing love for Fiske, Eelyn must confront her own definition of loyalty and family to find a way to forgive her brother while daring to put her faith in the people she's spent her life hating. 

This epic audiobook adventure will transport listeners to a distant time and place, but the characters themselves will seem like old familiar friends.

"Fearless in its exploration of family, forgiveness, loyalty, and love, Sky in the Deep is fierce, vivid, and violently beautiful. This book will wage a war with your heart as brutal and as bold as the battles inked in its pages." (Stephanie Garber, New York Times best-selling author of Caraval)

©2018 Adrienne Young (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic Reviews

"Young’s often poetic writing forms a stark juxtaposition with her vivid descriptions of battle and bloodshed, creating a clear picture of the brutality of war." (Publishers Weekly)

"Young’s staccato prose matches her fierce fighters, but the raw emotions and rapid pacing belie a well-honed voice and taut narrative. A rousing saga and moving coming-of-age tale, perfect for those who appreciate the wild and the wildlings, strong female protagonists, and cinematic battles." (Kirkus)

Raw and Brutal With A Lot of Texture and Depth

This. Is so much. Everything. I can’t. I just. I want to find the right words to explain why, or even how this grabbed me by the throat and squeezed until I forgot how to even breathe and no longer even cared that I couldn’t. But I can’t. I’ll try, but I already know I’m going to fail to do it justice.

This YA fantasy, reminiscent of a Viking culture, is one of my favorite reads of 2018 so far, and I’m already 171 books deep and have read some pretty amazing stuff. I currently can’t name any of those other titles, because I only have eyes for Sky in the Deep right now, and as a result, everything else has suddenly paled in comparison.

This is absolutely brutal and stark, but with so much texture and depth and richness of the world that I want to throw away my flip-flops and messy bun for battle armor and braids. The MC is pure wrath and solid conviction, and I love that her level of ferocity and concept of honor is paired with so much raw emotion.

On a worse note, this novel is so incredible that it has completely crippled me with self-doubt, and I’m now floundering with my current writing project. So I both love that it could destroy me like this, and I hate that I allow myself to be made small in comparison. Probably, in a few days, after I pick myself back up off the floor and stop reeling, I’ll try to resolve this crisis of writing faith. For now, I mostly just want to pick this story back up and bury myself deep inside the world again. And then again and again.

As an aside, if you can’t handle blood, gore, battle, and violence, then you will struggle with this book, but I suggest you find a way to handle those things, if at all possible, as there is so much heart you’ll be missing out on if you pass this one up.

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

A rich character-driven narrative, well performed

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. Sky in the Deep is definitely something unique in the YA Fantasy landscape. Intensely character-drive, stark, bleak, and yet the thread of hope is pulled taut throughout the entire narrative.

What other book might you compare Sky in the Deep to and why?

And I Darken by Kiersten White, but less dense and complex, quicker paced, with a touch of fantasy influence.

Which character – as performed by Khristine Hvam – was your favorite?

Eelyn, but she differentiated all the characters well. Never took me out of the story. Excellent performance.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

All the interactions between Eelyn and Halvard. Totally disarming.

Any additional comments?

Sky in the Deep hit me in the feels with its focus on family relationships, both blood family and found family, and in particular the close and complicated sibling relationships. Aaaaagh my favorite!

Lest you think Eelyn is yet another generic Strong Female Character Who Is Not Like Other Girls, please let me clarify: The beautiful thing about this book is its reflection of Viking culture and the role of women. Eelyn is not special because she's a woman warrior. There are lots of women warriors. It's just the way of things. And the men in this book are deeply emotional, too, and not at all afraid to show it. Eelyn is loyal to her core, fierce, proud, loving, and ultimately powerful in a way that has nothing to do with her physical strength.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Finally a book where the main character isn’t the chosen one!

I got this book on a whim. It was in every bookstagram post, booktube video, and subscription box. So it had to be good right?
It was so much better then just “good”. I didn’t know what this book would turn into. It always kept me guessing. And like the header said, the main character wasn’t the chosen one and that makes my heart soar.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Wow!

I really enjoyed this book! I wished there was more. The narrator really made this book come to life for me! I listen to a lot of audio books, and this one still has me deep into it days after I've finished.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Wow, what a story!

I originally chose this book based on the narrator Khristine Hvam. I didn’t take me long to fall under the spell of Adrienne Young’s talented world building. Strong, but flawed heroine who kicks butt and a heart wrenching journey makes this a 5 Star for me.

Not Perfect But Still A Stellar Debut

3.5 stars - this is heavily weighted to the critiquing side of things so I want to preface it by saying it is worth listening to! There are some very minor things I note, but it's a solid debut novel and feels like a fresh story with a setting in (I assume) an alt Scandinavia. I also SUPER appreciated the lack of a love triangle (a serious reprieve, thank you!), and while she was the protagonist, Eelyn wasn't an out of the ordinary, special case. Not even the "hero who doesn't want to be the hero" trope. She just does what she has to while it's her brother who is the charismatic one, liked by all despite not really being a focus (that will make more sense when you listen to it!). It just felt more real, esp when in most books the protagonists seem to fall into that "they're special, one of kind" category. I really appreciated that.

Overall, this book delivers a fresh voice and a new heroine to the surge of fierce female leads within YA that couple years. The story isn't perfect; there are a few snags in places such as how and where things are described. There were a handful of times I was very confused about where people were in relation to each other or in relation to landmarks being described. This was particularly noticeable in battle/fight scenes; I had trouble tracking where characters were moving to and proximity to landmarks and enemies, etc. It's fairly minor, but is scattered throughout enough to notice. There was also some pacing where we'd suddenly be doing something different such as, describing a conversation happening in the house to suddenly walking outside. This may have simply been the way the audio was edited and may not have actually been an issue in print (with paragraphs, etc to denote the shift).

The narrator was fine. I've listened to Khristine Hvam before and she was great! This wasn't her best, but she got the job done. There wasn't a ton of variation in her voices, which would have been helpful. I've been listening to a lot of YA recently and the female narrators are beginning to blend together, which is a little disheartening.

Overall, I'd recommend it!

Loved the narrator

For me, the saving grace of this book was Khristine Hvam. If I hadn't listened to it, I might never have finished this one. There was so much that left me questioning everything about this. For one, the brother. Five years he spent separated from his family. Which I could get, honestly. It wasn't like they had a mail service, cell phones, or even pigeons to send messages. What I never understood was the circumstances of how brother and sister had their fateful meet. That is what kept me from enjoying this book. It didn't make sense and it was never explained (and I can't explain without giving away spoilers).

I think this might have been better without the brother, Eery (Or is it Eerie? Eary? Ahhh! The only trouble I have with audiobooks!). If she were captured without the pretense of her brother being alive (by all rights, he should be dead), the story could have been so much more without him. I think the soul searching would have meant so much more.

Please tell me there’s a sequel

I need there to be a sequel or novella because I need to see these two happy. Loved the book and story so muchh

It has a strong heroine

writing a strong dynamic woman is hard to do, but Adrienne Young nails it. Eelyn is strong willed and conflicted, especially in the face of what she believes are her enemies. you actually feel the emotional torment. at least I did.

This is the Viking story you’ve been looking for!!

Sky in the Deep is an incredibly powerful story that will leave you riveted. The narration makes the story take on a whole new life. It is one of the best reads of 2018.