Review: Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Let the Sky Fall (Let the Sky Fall 1)

By: Shannon Messenger

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Release Date: March 5, 2013

Genre/Age: YA Paranormal

Pages:416

Source: ARC from Around the World ARC Tours

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who's swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She's also a guardian - Vane's guardian - and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra's forced to help Vane remember who is he. He has a power to claim - the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them - but the forbidden romance that's grown between them.

Let the Sky Fall has a wonderfully original paranormal twist. I’m a huge fan of paranormal stories, but after a while it kind of starts to feel like you’re reading the same thing over and over again, so I was delighted that Let the Sky Fall was something new. Everything from the setting to the ability to communicate with the wind felt like a breath of fresh air (har har… sorry, couldn’t help it! :P).

Shannon Messenger is an amazing storyteller, and I could really feel everything coming alive from the pages. Her descriptions were absolutely fantastic and if you’ve ever had even the tiniest desire to have the ability to fly (and haven’t we all!), this book will definitely make you long for sylphs to be real.

My one issue with the book is that it seemed overly long and it kind of felt like not that much happened, considering the length. That said, I’m definitely looking forward to the next book (I’m assuming this is the beginning of a series!).

If you’re looking for something a little different in your paranormal novels, you definitely don’t want 
to miss Let the Sky Fall!

Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu

Prodigy (Legend 2)

By: Marie Lu

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Release Date: January 29, 2013

Genre/Age: YA Dystopian

Pages: 384

Source: ARC from Around the World ARC Tours

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request - June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It's their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she's haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood - what if the Patriots are wrong?

In this highly-anticipated sequel, Lu delivers a breathtaking thriller with high stakes and cinematic action. 

I loved Marie Lu’s debut novel Legend, so I was thrilled to get the chance to read the sequel. I’ll admit that I didn’t remember everything from the first book (it’s been a while since I’ve read it!), but Prodigy picks up pretty much right where Legend ended and it wasn’t hard at all to get absorbed into the story again. There’s something about this world that just completely sucks you in.

Prodigy continues the dual narration, which I really love. It’s so interesting to get to see both June and Day’s perspectives, especially considering what different backgrounds they come from. We also get to see a lot more of the society that Marie Lu has created, which was something I was definitely hoping for from Prodigy after finishing Legend. I feel like I have a much better sense of how the society came to be and what’s really going on, rather than just the vague feeling we got from the first book.

We also see a lot of familiar faces in Prodigy, as well as several new characters, who I can’t wait to get to know more in the third book. And Metias! God, I don’t know what it is about Metias, considering how early he dies in Legend (not a spoiler!), but I’ve always felt such a connection to him and I mourned for him SO HARD, which just continues with Prodigy. I don’t know how Marie Lu has made me care about him so much, but I love it. There were tears, I’ll tell you now.

Prodigy is such a fantastic second novel. It’s packed with action and surprises and teasers of things to come. And oh my goodness, that ending! Ack, my heart. It’s both heartbreaking but also oh so perfect and I am SO excited for the next book. I cannot wait to see how this story ends!