Marie Lu creates an elaborate world in this new fantasy novel. I’ve read her other books and she somehow creates these worlds that suck you right in. This one is no different.

Talin is a striker. She’s in a specialized force of fighters. She’s had a rough life and wasn’t accepted because of where she is from and the fact that she doesn’t speak. She proved herself to be a great fighter and won her spot as a striker. They are trained to kill Ghosts (zombie like super creatures).

The story gets more detailed but I don’t want to give anything away. It was interesting to see the story progress and learn the backstory of some of the main characters, Jeran, Rooke, Aramain and Red.

Two characters had a very deep connection that really added a lot of interest to the plot.


Of course since this is a series it ends with you wanting more.

It was such a blast for me to be a part of the Street Team helping to promote the book! I received a digital arc in exchange for my honest review. Thank you netgalley, Marie Lu and Fierce reads.

I cannot wait for the next book.

Ah, Lu did it again! I’d heard this series is reminiscent of her Legend series and that is a favorite of mine.

What I loved about this one right from the start is that they live far in the future, but the Early Ones (aka: Us) have mysteriously died off but left technology and more. The leadership has turned it into a dystopian society and they’ve created mutant human monsters that are quite believable. Even their war machines are humans that have been experimented on and added to. The ideas behind these make it so much easier to grasp but also adds a level of creepy because, can that happen?

Talin is a fabulously flawed, loyal, tough, smart lead who is mute due to throat damage from poisonous gas. Lu incorporates her sign language beautifully into the novel and it flowed well. Not only that, but Talin and her mother are refugees that fought hard for their freedom and are continually looked down upon for it. All these elements combined make the novel feel so real because it is possible in many of our lives.

It’s full of action, adventure, intrigue and all the exciting descriptive words I can use. I highly recommend!

The content is high in violence for fighting. They are at war so they are fighting the enemy, there is blood and there is death. Intense themes was higher than most books due to the war and what has happened in the war. Check the content review here:

https://www.theopenbooks.net/2020/09/young-adult/skyhunter-skyhunter-1/

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley and Roaring Book Press for the copies in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Macmillan Children’s for the opportunity to be on the street team!

My first Marie Lu. And wow did she not disappoint. The story is dark, full of pain and suffering but also in a way hopeful.

The main character Talin, is mute - the only way she can communicate is through sign language. I really appreciated a character like that - that's capable but disfigured. We see the story from her perspective alone, and I feel like that was such a smart choice. She is the one that sees and hears everything around her, as speaking is not a distraction for her and she has to have other senses honed. I really appreciated Talin's skills too - her being a skilled killer in an elite army. The country she lives in is full of classism, racism, xenophobia but Talin moves through it with grace. She was just a favorite overall - a character you feel for, and understand as you read more of her story.

The story starts off as painful as can be. Showing how much pain and suffering Talin and her people are suffering. Killing the enemy on the daily, but also living every day as their last almost. Going to battle knowing they might not come back. Losing her best friend and partner right away, ripped my heart out, even though I still didn't know much about Talin herself. You could feel her pain jumping from the page.

And then we're introduced to Red. And we get a bigger picture of this cruel world. It is not just the Talin's side that suffers, but also the side they are fighting against. Their side might have even worse. (Like I said, this book was full of pain and darkness). I appreciated the growing friendship between Talin and Red, as well as other Strikers. It growed through trust and example, rather than instalove (which always makes me roll my eyes).

Overall I really appreciated this book. It didn't hold back. And I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next to these characters.

Very few authors build a world like Marie Lu and can make a reader like me sign up for space dystopia! A whammy of series introduction, Lu proves that she deserves to be on the list of reader favorites and an auto-buy for our library.

Another stellar book by Marie Lu! So why only 3 stars? To me, 3 stars means I'm glad I read it once but I'm not necessarily sure I'd see myself re-reading it. A few factors of the plot seemed awfully convenient to me, but I will definitely read the sequel and I have no doubt my students will be clamoring for this book like they do all of her others!

I adored this book, and if you enjoy sci-fi with fantasy elements, high stakes, and a slow burn romance, you will, too.

Marie Lu filled the Skyhunter world with believable, relatable characters that you want to cheer for. I love the way she handled Talin's muteness, the way she seamlessly incorporated sign language into the conversations between characters, and the way that she built a world that is both imaginative and uncomfortably familiar.

Talin is the kind of protagonist that I aspire to be like, and it's not because she's a strong fighter. It's because she makes choices based on her own values even when the world around her makes it difficult. Her story gives me hope and inspires me to keep fighting to make the world a more generous and inclusive place.

This book had me from the first chapter. Talin can no longer speak after being poisoned with gas when the Federation took over her county. She is a Striker for the country of Mara. Her partner Corin is her Shield. They are great team until Corin is bit by a ghost and Talin must do the unthinkable kill her shield. During that attack they found a person escaping the Federation and Talin feels something when they go to execute him and ends up saving him. As her punishment he is not her Shield.

This one started a bit slow for me and then picked up and I didn't stop reading until I was finished with the book. The ending.......oh, my!!! No spoilers here!! Another hit for Marie Lu.

Talin is a Striker. She fights for Mara, the last free territory, against a conquering empire called the Federation. The Federation turns people into Ghosts, beasts that know nothing but the hunger for blood and death.

This is a dystopian future, where we have somehow annihilated ourselves and our ancestors are left to build cities upon our remnants of our infrastructure, with little knowledge other than what we have left behind. Human nature has little changed, despite whatever lesson we were given in that destruction. We still feel the need to conquer and dominate. Those that escape as refugees are still treated poorly, our governments are toxic and power driven. Talin fights anyway, for her life and her future.

The battle scenes in this book are my favorite part. They are almost poetically drawn and pulse-pounding. I loved the moments with Talin and her mother. Marie Lu has put together my favorite story from her. There were parts that were a bit uneven for me, especially in the journey portion of the story. 3.5/5

Thank you to Fierce Reads for making me a part of their street team and providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Marie Lu has done it again! I received an ARC of Skyhunter as a member of the Street Team! Once I picked up the book I absolutely could not put it down. The world building was amazing and I fell in love with the characters from the moment I met them. Red and Talin were such a fun duo to read about. Their characters were so much more complex and different than I expected. The camaraderie between Talin and her Striker crew were also some of my favorite scenes to read. This book was full of action along with some heartfelt moments, lighthearted fun and classic Marie Lu twists. Skyhunter is an amazing addition to Marie Lu’s spectacular lineup of books. I had such a fun time reading Skyhunter and I cannot wait to see where Marie Lu takes us in the Skyhunter world in the future!

Skyhunter was my first experience with a Marie Lu book and now I want to go read them all!

This is the first book in a bit that gripped me and had me feelings things from the very start. Literally 5% into the book I was shocked and trying to figure out what was happening. From then on, I was completely invested with this story.

First off, a five star for me means I loved the characters, connected with them and was terrified for their lives. From the very start, I was drawn to our main character, Talin and her partner. As the story went on, I found myself being attached to all of the side characters and was so nervous for them every step of the way. Even though there were definitely some budding relationships in this book, they were completely out of the focus and didn’t take away from the story and Talin wasn’t made to fall head over heels for her main interest like most YA novels. That felt very refreshing to me, especially since I don’t enjoy insta-love!

Skyhunter definitely gave me dystopian vibes but felt very original even though I could predict certain elements coming up since I read a lot of YA. There also wasn’t any huge plot twists which was a bummer since I live for them BUT I loved the creativity with the creatures and monsters in this story and also the element of sign language and also a small bit of LGBTQ rep!

I adored the fast paced writing style of Marie Lu’s! This story never dragged for me and kept me interested from start to finish! I’m so excited to see where Lu takes our girl Talin next!

I was so excited to read this book for several reasons, one being that I love Marie Lu. The cover is beautiful and the summary sounded promising. I read an excerpt and was immediately hooked. The world is described in detail and I was drawn in by the events and characters. Speaking of characters, I really enjoyed all four of the main characters. They were well-written and each had their own distinct personality and arc. The only things that really bothered me about the story (and the reason that I cannot give it a solid 5 stars) are more related to the fact that the story is written to a young adult audience and therefore included things that just weren't believable to me. Otherwise, this was a great story and I would recommend it to anyone who previously enjoyed Marie Lu's books or YA fantasy in general.

I absolutely adored this book and if you're a fan of fantasy books you need to read this! I will be posting my review on my blog this week so feel free to keep an eye out for it. linktr.ee/AmaniSalahudeen.

Marie Lu has never disappointed me with any of her books and Skyhunter actually went above my expectations. I loved every single thing about this book, the world building was phenomenal as were the characters. It is sci-fi fantasy, but also post-apocalyptic and it was just incredible. I don’t know how Lu does it, but her writing is so beautiful and unique. Even though this reads like a dystopian novel, it was 100X better.

“It’s what I have trained my whole life to do. My name is Talin. I am a Striker for Mara, the last free nation on this side of the sea. We are legendary bringers of death, assassins of monsters. And the only thing standing between our home and annihilation.”

Talin, our main character, is a refugee in Maran the only free nation left. Her homeland got overtaken by the Federation and Maran is the only nation left standing. Talin is a striker who risks her life to protect Maran from Ghosts, the Federations monsters that they use in war. Even though fellow Maran’s think of Talin as trash because she comes from a fallen nation, she still puts her life on the line to protect them. I really love and felt for the main character. I liked her almost instantly and became attached, as I did with all the other characters.

“Rooke nods grimly. In her eyes is the reflection of her brother. “We will leave them with what they leave behind for the rest of us. Nothing”

I think what really made me love this book were the cast of characters and how well developed they were. We have a band of strikers who would do anything for each other and all have had some horrible life experiences, but they continue to fight. Talin, Rooke, Red, and Jeran are some of the best characters I have ever read about. I love each and every one of them and I was feeling all the feels reading this book. I just loved how even though Talin and Red are the main characters, the side characters really made this story what it is.

I don’t want to give out too many details of the plot because going in just knowing the synopsis made this book a wonderful experience. I am not one for sci-fi usually, but it’s Marie Lu so I knew it was going to be exceptional. Skyhunter has become one of my top ten favorite books of the year. If you haven’t read any Marie Lu yet, what have you been doing?

"𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒔, 𝒔𝒆𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅.

𝑻𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒖𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑨 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆...

𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕." 🌱

Yet another 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 dystopian series from the writing goddess of heroines, @marieluthewriter , has done it again with the start of her new series, Skyhunter, which will be available on September 29th!

All Talin knows is pain and loss: the loss of her father, her homeland, her freedom, and even her own voice.

Talin finds her chance to avenge it all by becoming a Striker for her refugee nation of Mara; the last stand against the tyrant nation called The Karensa Federation.

She knows the chances of overcoming the Goliath are slim. But meeting one of its projects gone awry, The Skyhunter, may prove to be their last chance at freedom.

I rate this first book of the series a ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5 for its gripping backstory of Talin, and her fight for freedom in a grim world. And for the belief that no one is too far past redemption. Here's to hoping my heart doesn't get broken to pieces at the end of this series too! 💔

I was quickly absorbed by the world of Skyhunter. Marie Lu writes incredible characters, and Talin in Skyhunter might just be my new favorite! A skilled fighter with a big heart, Talin is also a refugee; her mother lives in a shantytown outside the city walls and they face a lot of racism. Despite this, Talin fearlessly fights for Mara, the last free nation, against the Federation, and takes on a difficult mission. I loved Talin's friendships with Corian, Rooke, and Jeran, as well as her relationship with her mother, and they brought so many moments of warmth and joy to the story. Red is another major character in the book, and he reveals important details about the manipulative tactics of the Federation. After that ending, I can't wait for the sequel to find out what Talin and the Federation will do next!

Thanks to Macmillan and Net Galley for sending me an advanced copy of this to review! I love Marie Lu and not only does this have a gorgeous cover, but the story sounded right up my alley. Fast paced and set in a unique world, this one is sure to meet all your dystopian fiction desires.

One of the things I love about Marie Lu is the way she writes action sequences. They're on full display here, pulling you right in at the beginning and adding on as we learn more about this world. Mara is plagued by Ghosts, which are zombie-like creatures that spread by bites. They're the Federation's best weapon against Mara, and the sequences fighting them are really well written.

Lu also incorporates sign language throughout this book, adding another element I thoroughly enjoyed. Talin cannot speak, and the Strikers are required to keep silent when hunting Ghosts, so most of the population knows sign language. Not many action books incorporate sign language like this. Honestly, I thought it was so well done. It also added another element to the world building and made it all the more immersive.

Now, we haven't even gotten to the characters! Talin and Red are definitely my favorites, and their connection was apparent from the beginning. They have a lot of great chemistry, and the side characters were developed as well. You really come to care about the whole cast of characters, making the book all the more engaging.

Overall, if you're looking for a new world filled with great characters fighting to save their country, this one is for you!

I had the privilege of receiving an ARC of Ms. Marie Lu's Skyhunter and it was amazing (as her work always is)! I found it intriguing to delve into the mind of a mute character(Talin) who communicates with sign language. I also enjoyed Red, Rooke, Jeran, and Talin's mom as well as all the combat scenes. My only complaint would be that now I can't wait until next year for the sequel!

Marie Lu's storytelling hurts so good and Skyhunter is no exception. Any fan of Legend or Young Elites will love this story just as much as I did. Though the dystopian setting is nothing particularly unique, this books strengths lie in its characters and relationships.

Lu adds more to the typical tropes of the genre: along with being a skilled fighter and an outcast refugee, our protagonist Talin is also mute, which is a first for me as a reader. The use of sign language and other means of communication just goes to show that a rebellion doesn't need long-winded powerful speeches to make an impact and I was so happy to have that representation present.

The concepts of the Strikers and their Shields - their life-long battle partners - creates a relationship dynamic that makes my guilty pleasure found-family loving self just melt. There's just something about the way Marie Lu writes chemistry and yearning and trust and love and companionship that makes me immediately fall in love with every new relationship dynamic that she creates.

And of course, it's not a Marie Lu book without tragedy. But that's what I love best about it.

Overall, Skyhunter is an incredibly promising beginning to a new series and I can't wait for my heart to be shattered into a million little pieces over and over again as the story continues on.

I am a huge fan of Marie Lu’s prior works and was so excited when I got the email that I had been chosen to be part of SKYHUNTER’s Street Team. Helping promote the newest book by one of my favorite authors has been such an awesome opportunity, and to top it off, I got to read an electronic copy early!

I love Marie Lu’s style of worldbuilding and this book was no exception. Her writing immerses the reader into the world of her novels immediately, and the information given always feels natural, and not like info-dumping just to get the information to the reader. This creates a rich world and a book that is hard to put down because it is so immersive.

I loved the story of Talin, Red, Adena, Jeran, Aramin, and those who impacted their lives. That ending has me on the edge of my seat waiting for book two, and in my opinion, book two cannot come soon enough! I can’t wait to see the repercussions of that finale, and Talin’s choice at the close of the book. I found myself dragging out reading the last 20% of this book because I just wasn’t ready to leave this world, these characters, or their stories.

As a disabled reader, Marie Lu’s disability representation has always meant so much to me because her disabled characters are richly fleshed out, and allowed to be heroes and protagonists, and SKYHUNTER was no different. Talin’s disability being an advantage as a striker, and her stubborn refusal of the idea that she needed to be fixed or cured is so important for people to see. When so much representation reduces disabled characters to someone to pity, someone who is broken and needs to be “fixed” or “cured”, or a character to kill off to move the protagonist’s story or motivation forward, Lu’s dedication to making her disabled characters seem three dimensional and letting them be integral to her stories always catches me a little bit off guard because good representation is so hard to find. The fact that the other Strikers never look down on her for her muteness, her status as a refugee sometimes, but never her muteness also stood out to me.

Jeran and Aramin caught me by surprise. As secondary characters, I didn’t expect to fall in love with them and their relationship as hard as I did. There were multiple times where Aramin’s actions as they related to Jeran brought tears to my eyes. I also loved how Aramin slowly moves from being shown as an authority figure that despite being close in age to the main crew of characters is distinctly separate due to his role as the Firstblade, to being shown as the young man he is through his relationship with Jeran and his willingness to aid the main crew even when it could cause issues because he still remembers what standing in their places was like, and Jeran keeps him tethered to that experience which shines through toward the end of the novel.

I also loved Talin and Red’s dynamic as they went from enemies to reluctant allies to friends to potentially something more, which is one reason that I cannot wait for book two is to see where exactly their relationship progresses to because of the choices made at the end of the novel. Their relationship felt like a natural progression to me despite the short time frame due to their link allowing the process to be sped up a bit in getting to know each other.

Marie Lu did not disappoint with SKYHUNTER and I can’t wait to receive my finished copy in the mail!