Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 416pgs

The Story

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 even 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 he is. 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.

The Review

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! This is one of the most unique books I have ever come across and it's quite honestly one of my favourites coming from this year by far. A total standout. With so much going for it - including breath-taking mythology, power-driven characters, beautiful backdrops and always surprising twists and turns hidden underneath it all, I have to say LET THE SKY FALL does everything for me and it's exactly what I needed to read right now!

Having enjoyed Shannon Messenger's debut and her first installment of her middle-grade series, Keeper of the Lost Cities, there wasn't any doubt in my mind that this title too would blow me away and once again I was right. But I think it did more than that actually because to me this book was really, really special - one of a kind in fact - and it made its own little genre and stepped well away from the usual paranormal read that we see most days and for which gets a total two thumbs up from me. I just love something really different. I just . . . can't even express my EPIC love for this book. Really it was just . . . WOW!

I think one of the main reasons why I loved this book so much was simply because of the fact that the book was separated - chapter after chapter - by two main character perspectives and, if written right, you know how much I love dual perspectives. I love them A LOT if the author gets it right and this one definitely got it right for me. I mean for me personally, Vane and Audra were the perfect main characters and while they have their flaws but there was such power and depth in their own voices, and you couldn't help but feel for them both and the situations they were constantly put into. In a way I suppose, they kind of reminded me of Beautiful Creatures's Ethan and Lena, so I think if you loved those two main characters you're mostly certainly going to love this couple as well. I just . . . again . . . can't put them into words except that there's perfect chemistry, perfect personalities, perfect . . . well . . . just about everything and I loved them both immensely because of it! Especially Audra. Damn girl . . . I want to be best friends with you!

Concerning with what happened in the actual book, even though we still have a lot to learn about Sylphs (these new beings featured in the book) and what their powers exactly entail, and even why the bad guys are still after our main characters, but I still think Shannon Messenger wrote quite a bad-ass set-up for the first installment of the series and introducing to us with what these 'beings' actually are. But, from what I can see so far, I know there is still more epic things to come considering the cliffhanger we were left standing on. Just trust me you guys, after every little crazy thing that happens in this book, the cliffhanger - even the smallest one at that - will be totally worth waiting for and will definitely leave you wanting more and more from this author!

Overall, LET THE SKY FALL lived up to every single one of my (very high) expectations and let's just say when you combine mystery, mythology, romance and some gust of wind into the mix of it all, you're going to get a mind-blowing read and will be (literally) swept off your feet!

The Rating

5/5 stars

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Aladdin

Pages: 496pgs

The Story

Twelve-year-old Sophie Foster has a secret. She’s a Telepath—someone who hears the thoughts of everyone around her. It’s a talent she’s never known how to explain.

Everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a mysterious boy who appears out of nowhere and also reads minds. She discovers there’s a place she does belong, and that staying with her family will place her in grave danger. In the blink of an eye, Sophie is forced to leave behind everything and start a new life in a place that is vastly different from anything she has ever known.

Sophie has new rules to learn and new skills to master, and not everyone is thrilled that she has come “home.” There are secrets buried deep in Sophie’s memory—secrets about who she really is and why she was hidden among humans—that other people desperately want. Would even kill for.

The Review

I may not read a terrible lot of middle grade books - if not ever - but I just knew this one was going to be an exception for me. And it definitely was! It was adventurous, smart, witty, and just had this great combination of unforgettable (and unique) characters. In some ways, I kind of wished there were more books like this one back when I was a kid because I would have totally fell in love with it!

Now I'm not going to lie here. Like some readers have already pointed out in their book reviews, KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES shared many similarities with J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. It really did. So while I understand why those particular readers didn't like that similarity aspect since Harry Potter is pretty much the best fantasy series ever, but regardless of that, it still didn't affect my overall opinion of the book because it was very well-written and so, so good. Sure I may have wanted the book to be not as long as it was because at times it did drag and certain events that occurred just popped out of nowhere, but this is the kind of book that everyone should read and it's the kind of book pretty much anyone can read no matter the age gaps between you and the characters!

Sophie was absolutely a winner through my eyes as a main heroine and she is the perfect example for  readers, especially those of a younger audience. Sure, she maybe only twelve and pretty naive, but there's so much more to her character and so much depth in her too. She's smart, witty, protective, caring unlike any other young MC I've ever met, and she just had this great innocence about her which I think a lot of readers will come to love and relate to. I just loved her as a MC and I think you will too! Even her supporting cast were equally as great as she was - especially Dex who is kind of like Harry Potter's Ron Wesley mixed in with some good old Neville Longbottom. I kind of wished for more scenes with Finn, another boy Sophie meets at the beginning of the book, but Dex makes up for everything! He was a super fun character  and annoying in a typical boy way as well but on a whole he was still super fun! 

Overall, KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES is a fantastic start to a middle grade series and not to mention was a super fun book! I'm now very eager to pick up the sequel, Exile, which is coming out later this year in October!

The Rating

4 1/2 / 5 stars