Thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for this eArc!

Sometimes standalone novels make me nervous because if they don't wrap up well, I feel like I'm just left hanging.

I didn't feel that way here - there's a plot twist I didn't expect ( but isn't that the point ).

I love vikingesque style novels, novels with ANIMALS and magic - and I'm a sucker for anyone named Rowan.

I don't have any negative input for this novel - it's a perfect YA fantasy that's well written, well plotted, and well told. I wish I could continue in this world, but even still, I truly enjoyed it. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a 'pallet cleanser' fans of action-packed, a touch of romance fantasy world that doesn't feel completely out there.

Congrats on the release!

Going into this book I don’t know what I was expecting. But it definitely wasn’t the heart racing, action packed, page turner I read. This book is definitely going to be a good action read. It has a little bit of romance but it doesn’t take away from the pulse racing fantasy. I really really really hope you will give this book a read and open up a spot on your favorites! I know I had too

The synopsis was not wrong about this being for fans of Adrienne Young. This book was very reminiscent of Young’s Sky in the Deep. It had Viking-esque style to it, and maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy either of these novels too much. If Vikings are your thing, I suggest giving this a read.

The Leonodia of Heliana must venture into the human lands in order to find a cure for a bird-carrying disease that is affecting children in this standalone fantasy novel.

First and foremost, thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for providing me with a copy for review. Please note that this in no way affects my opinion. Also note that my opinions are based on the ARC, and things may be subject to change for the final copy.

While I wouldn't say my experience reading this was horrible, I thought that there was a lot of wasted space and potential in this. Whatever potential this had was bogged down by romance drama and a character arc I could have done without. Here are all the reasons why this just didn't work for me.


Writing:

I found the writing to be rather awkward. Maybe it was because it wasn't profound enough for me or the sentence structure was too short to make the words flow naturally. I also found that the way information was dispensed wasn't very effective as it was just characters going on a tangent in order to explain something about the world.

Another thing that didn't work for me was one of the perspectives. You get three perspectives in this book, one of which I didn't like (and it was the main perspective too). When you don't enjoy the main vehicle in which the story is told, your enjoyment level goes down quite a bit.


Plot:

The Leonodia of Heliana must venture into the human lands in order to find a cure for a bird-carrying disease that is affecting children. While not the most elaborate setup ever, this in and of itself is not a bad plot. What ruined it for me was the fact that this book felt more like a romance than a fantasy. The introduction of a love triangle within the first 30 pages was not a good sign for me, and the drama continued from there.

What also brought the experience down for me was the sense of urgency on the part of the characters. I get that things need to move quickly not only because it is a standalone and for the sake of the plot, but it does not seem feasible to enact a plan the next day. There was a lot of doing before thinking in this, and it doesn't really make sense that things aren't planned out carefully.

To make a bit of a dismal experience even worse, we arrive at the ending. I am not going to go into detail about it because of spoilers, but I felt like it was a completely unnecessary way to end the story. There was really no closure for it either which was frustrating.


World-Building:

This story follows the Leonodai, the shape-shifting people of Heliana who live up in the sky. Their land is run by a king and his council of 9 sentinels. Including the Leonodai, there are four races that occupy the land (not including a race that was wiped out).

While the world-building makes sense considering the length of the book and there were interesting elements, I felt like the addition of other races was wasted potential. They could have been an interesting addition to the story but, sadly, they were underused as they barely had a role.


Characters:

As said previously, the story is told from three perspectives: Rowan, Callan, and Shirene. Some perspectives I could have done without while others should have been focused on more.

Even though her perspective is the main one, I could have done without Rowan as a character completely. I found that she really didn't have her priorities straight and a lot of the decisions she makes were impulsive and mostly selfish. I also thought that she jumped to conclusions a lot and judged people. Not exactly the qualities I want in a main character.

I didn't mind Callan's point of view but felt like he was reduced to a love interest and he didn't have much of an arc besides that. I also would have preferred to have more of Shireen's POV as she was the most interesting character and because she was barely focused on, I felt like her character wasn't fleshed out enough.


Concluding Thoughts:

There just wasn't enough substance in this to make it a successful standalone. Fantasy standalones are hard to write in the first place because you have to establish an entire world, no matter how small or big, in a single book. If this was a bigger book it may have been a different story, but because this is only 350 pages, you can see that the world and story suffer because of it.

I would still say give this a shot if you are looking for a story that isn't overly complicated. If you are looking for something similar, I would recommend Under the Aegis, which is a fantasy webcomic that follows a group of people of different races (including one who flies and lives in the skies), who have to save the world.

Overall though, I would give this a 2.5-star rating.

My review will be available on my blog closer to the release date.

What a unique, fun adventure! Endless Skies is about people who can transform into flying lions, but when their children get sick with a human disease, a select group of warriors must brave the land of humans to find a cure.

The world building of the fantasy land was lush and vivid. I loved reading about an uncommon fantasy creature instead of the usual ones we see. The ease that the world and everything was executed made this a fast and fun read.

I do wish the human world had been described a little more. I think my biggest problem with that aspect was the modernization of it. I thought this was going to be a high fantasy novel, but the human world is more like ours, so it felt a little jarring when I read about planes and trains and such.

I liked the characters and seeing their relationships develop. Though the romance trope here isn’t my favorite, it was nice.

I think the ending is setting up for a sequel, but I think it would be better as a standalone. Nonetheless, this was a good book and I think fantasy lovers will enjoy it!

(I’ll say one more thing about the cover. It doesn’t really match the feel of the book. I think some art of winged lions maybe even flying over a fantastical city would be better and cooler.)

Thank you to Tor Teen and NetGalley for an e-arc to review!

You remember in the recent Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe movie they’re launching into the final battle against the White Witch, and the Gryphon does this epic screech and backflips/soars down onto the battlefield in a pretty fantastic piece of camera work and CGI?

That’s this book.

When a deadly disease strikes the Leonodai’s children, the shapeshifter lion warriors embark into enemy territory on a quest for a healing flower to save their young prince.

Skies is a refreshingly unique quest to find a magical flower guarded by the humans, the Leonodai’s mortal enemies. We get a delightful amount of insight into the shapeshifter’s world through the POV of the older sister, Shirene. There are delightful misconceptions from both the humans and the Leonodai races that make for tense interactions. The twists pleasantly took me by surprise, and Rowan and Callen’s relationship is sweet and refreshing. The final battle was, in a word, awesome.

The first couple of chapters were harder to get into—there was quite a bit of info-dumping, the characters seemed pretty generic, and the love-triangle was unnecessary. But as the story goes on, Price really does flesh out each character, and once we catch up with the world-building, the story is a thrilling adventure.

And can we talk about how striking that cover is?

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the ARC!

3.5 stars

-Ande

The Endless Skies is a standalone YA fantasy with an interesting premise. The main characters, all Leonodai, a race of shifters who can transform into winged lions, are desperate to find the cure for a deadly disease that’s claiming the lives of their people, especially the children. The only place where they know of a cure is with their enemies, the humans.

The world-building was also interesting, and the magic system was unique, which I appreciated. I love the idea of the floating city and the shapeshifters who inhabit it. The imagery was also strong and painted a vivid picture. However, it felt a bit like an info dump at the beginning with a lot of explanation and detail given at once. You learn so much about the setting, the history of the world, the magic system, the politics, relationships with others, and more. This made the beginning of the story feel much slower-paced than the rest of the book. However, once the story picked up, it was more interesting and had better pacing.

The story is told from three different points of view. Rowan is a warrior. Shirene is Rowan’s sister, and she sits on the council and acts as the King’s Voice, and Callen is Rowan’s best friend, who also has a crush on her. This provides a variety of perspectives on the story. However, some of the characters felt a bit one-dimensional to me. Rowan is a fierce and brave warrior, and I enjoyed her story. I wish the book remained focused on her because her journey was the most compelling. Callen and Shirene were interesting enough, but their perspectives took away from the real story, which was Rowan’s. I also didn’t love the love triangle and felt it was an unnecessary addition to the story. It didn’t enhance the character development or plot in any way, and it felt forced.

The story has a ton of action and some thought-provoking messages, which I did enjoy. It examines how far people are willing to go to help others. It also has interesting messages about duty, self-sacrifice, and staying true to one’s morals and beliefs. There’s also an unexpected plot twist that surprised me. I’m still not sure how I feel about it, but it was definitely surprising.

Overall, this was an ok read for me. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. I did like the sense of adventure, the quest-like action, and the messages and think that readers who like YA fantasy with unique worlds and a love triangle might enjoy this read. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Tor Teen for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Will post review and links closer to pub. date.

The Endless Skies by Shannon Price was an entertaining read. I loved the imagery, the unique setting, and the main character, Rowan, was extremely likable. I won't bother with the summary, since it's posted on the book page and in numerous other reviews, but after reading this, I will definitely check out other books by Shannon Price.

Action packed full of twists and turns with lots of detail, great characters. and a love triangle what's not to love.

From the lens of overall enjoyment, this book was a huge win for me. I have been in a reading slump and the fast-paced, high-action plot of this book was just what I wanted/needed to read. From a more critical lens, there were a few issues that I had with the world-building and character development.

I really loved the unique world of this story and the historical background that is woven in throughout giving insight into the different cultures of the various people groups. The premise of shapeshifting warriors and a floating island is so intriguing and I enjoyed both of those aspects. There were a few elements of the magic system that just didn't fully make sense to me and, unfortunately, those aspects ended up being a pretty big part of the plot. I was still able to enjoy the story, however I wished that some of those pieces were fleshed out a bit more thoroughly.

The pacing of this book is fairly quick which was excellent. Price did a great job at making me want to keep turning the pages. I loved how much action there was sprinkled throughout the entire book. A lot of quest-style books have middle sections that drag out as characters are traveling from one place to another and I did not feel that in the slightest with this book.

However, at some points, I felt like things were moving too quickly, particularly when it came to character relationships. This was the element that fell flat for me. I did not feel like I had enough time to get invested in the characters or the various relationships between them. The romance did not do a ton for me and was definitely not what kept me interested and wanting to read more. I also really wanted to get more of the sister relationship between Rowan and Shirene. The interactions that we did see between the two of them were pieces that I really loved and would have been pleased to see more of.

Overall, The Endless Skies was a really fun read for me but it's not a new favorite. If you are looking for a fast-paced, unique fantasy read, this one might be worth a shot for you!

I’m not going to lie, this one was a struggle for me to get through.

From the beginning I had a hard time connecting with the characters and this could be because there were multiple point-of-views. Usually I would be okay with them but for this standalone it felt too much and it made the characters lack development. Since this was the case for me, the plot twists had me feeling no sort of way when I should have been shocked.

The plot is easy to understand but I found myself not loving it as much as I had hoped. It’s cool to see shape shifters though which is one reason I requested this title in the first place. The world building is good but I do wish there was more information given about the surrounding kingdoms.

I think my biggest gripe is the love triangle that was pushed from the beginning. You already don’t know much about the characters and then this comes up. By the end its resolved but I also knew who Rowan would pick in the end. I am usually down for love triangles but this just had me wanting none of it.

Overall, this was okay. I’m just not the right reader for this particular book but I am sure others will enjoy this book.

I love the world building in the book. It’s descriptive and the author put a lot of time and effort into it. The multiple point of views are a bit confusing with them all being shared. It’s hard to keep track sometimes of what’s going on. Overall, it was a good book.

Rowans is such a great character! I love a good female warrior story, especially one that gives off Valkyrie vibes. The only downside I could see was the forced love triangle. It wasn't anywhere close to being as important or interesting as dealing with the disease, and there was no real suspense when Rowan's choice was fairly clear from the beginning.

Magical warriors from Heliana are on a mission to find a particular plant to cure their Prince and to save their land. The description of the illness impacting children has echoes of the COVID-19 pandemic. The story is told from 3 perspectives- Rowan, Callen, & Shirene. Adventurous read with lots of action and emotion.
Thanks to NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this one! If you're into badass female characters who visibly grow as a character, then The Endless Skies is for you! I got strong Valkyrie vibes through out and absolutely loved the backdrop of the setting

I read the first two chapters and never got into the story. I wanted to like this since I adored Sky in the Deep, but this wasn't similar to it at all. I am not big on fantasy and my mind couldn't wrap around the magical beings shape shifting into lions with wings. At that point my brain refused to process any more of the story.

3.5 stars

This was not as good as I expected, but I liked it all the same. There were some things that striked me as odd, though. First of all, the romance was completely unnecessary. It would have been a way better book if the whole love triangle situation was scrapped, because it was pretty obvious who the protagonist was choosing.

Speaking of the main character, I didn't like Rowan one bit. She made rash decisions and did not think even once and reflect on what was going to happen. I just didn't like the way she talked to any of her friends or family. And she spent too much time dwelling over her love interests even though she kept telling herself to not.

The plot was amazing. I loved the shapeshifting aspect and how the worldbuilding was done. There wasn't a lot of it, but it definitely could have been developed if it was a series. Anyway, I liked only two characters out of all them, and of course one of them had to die. I'm here shocked as heck and almost crying but everyonr around that character does what? Just screams 'No!' a couple of times and goes back to doing whatever they were doing. This didn't happen only once by the way.

There were so many places this book could have done better, but overall, it was a fast paced book that I breezed through and had a lot of fun reading.

*Review will be posted on my blog on 7/26/21
Likes:
*World Building ~ I found this kingdom of winged-lion shapeshifters quite unique. The Leonodai and humans are enemies but now the shapeshifters need their help but there is no help to be found. A group of warriors venture to the human side to find the cure for an illness affecting the young Leonodai.

*Characters ~ this is Rowan’s story. We have 3 POV’s between Rowan, Callen and Shirene but it really was mostly told through Rowan. I liked Rowan, she was a warrior in training and ready to do what it took to get the cure to save her people.

*Pace ~ This is a standalone novel and I think it moved along fairly quickly. We get right into the situation and then into the thick of things when the warriors need to get the cure. This was a quick read especially during the action parts.

Random Notes:
*Romance ~ I wasn’t into the romance triangle that Rowan was struggling through while there was an important mission taking place. Maybe if it was a duology or trilogy and we got to see more of Callen and Rowan’s history then I would have felt invested in it. In this standalone she has to make a choice so fast and I just didn’t care for it.

*I think this had the potential to be much more epic than it was if the story was continued. Everything seemed rushed, especially the ending and I wanted more world building.
I thought Shirene, Rowan’s sister, would have a bigger role in the story since she is introduced before Rowan and with a big task it seems but she fades off as Rowan takes the spotlight.

Final Thoughts:
Sometimes I wonder if I’m just not used to reading many standalone fantasy anymore since they always come packaged in a series. For a standalone, I thought this was okay. I didn’t care for the romance storyline and I wished some things weren’t rushed but for a light young adult fantasy, I think the world building is unique and that kept me interested in the story.

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review. This book will release August 17, 2021.

The history of the Leonodai is built on the names of lost warriors. I don’t want the next chapter to be built on the names of lost children.

I think The Endless Skies might end up being one of my favorite books I read this year, just on principle. What is that principle, you may ask? Nothing other than sharing a great deal in common with Balto, one of my favorite movies of all time. Not to worry—that’s not going to influence my review. There’s plenty in this book to love on its own merits.

The story follows Shirene, her sister Rowan, and Rowan’s best friend Callen, who are all Leonodai—winged lion shapeshifters—who are warriors serving their magically floating city, the Heliana. When the city’s children begin falling ill with a disease that kills within an extremely short period of time, teams of warriors are sent to the humans’ land to retrieve the cure before time runs out and the city falls—literally.

Remember when I said in my last review (for The Afterward) that I wanted more gentle fantasy, with personal stakes? I mean, that’s still true, but this book is very much the opposite of that. It’s a race against time, paced like a thriller—the chapters seem to get shorter the farther into the book you are—and while the character I would consider to be the main protagonist of three, Rowan, does have an emotional arc centered around her desire to be treated as a warrior, I didn’t feel very connected to the characters. But on the other hand… who really needs personal stakes when there is the threat of a city falling out of the sky, an entire generation of children falling deathIy ill, and unknown history twisting the knife? That’s enough to compel me onward.

Briefly, on a related note: The length? Overall, I like it. Some may say it’s too short to adequately expand on all elements of the story—and they would be right; I’d say characterization and emotion suffer here a bit—but in the end, I didn’t mind that too much because the plot gripped me so well. I feel like this book is proof that epic fantasy doesn’t need to be epically long. If this book helped start a trend of shorter YA fantasy, I wouldn’t be sad.

I am well aware that I’m in the minority when I say this, but I often feel like less is more when it comes to worldbuilding. I don’t need exceptionally detailed descriptions of settings, magical systems, or history. For the most part, I would say that The Endless Skies hit the sweet spot for me; it explained just enough that I wasn’t flailing as I tried to figure out how the world worked, but I wasn’t bogged down in it, either. I would have liked to know more about the magical people that populate this world and a bit more about the magic that the Leonodai use, and their culture. I think that could have been incorporated just a bit more without being overwhelming, since the author already did it so well! As a proponent of the need-to-know-with-a-few-hints school of worldbuilding, I’d say this certainly gets a passing grade!

But my absolute favorite element of this book were the secrets that ran through it. I don’t want to say too much here because I’d rather not ruin their reveal, but let’s just say that even though it barely scratches the surface, the stories, history, and truth of Leonodai life are not always as concrete as scholars would like. It’s something I’ve been interested in seeing in fantasy for a while. I love the way it plays into the epilogue, too!

I’d say that there are two twists in this book, and while I appreciated one of them—though it unfortunately didn’t garner quite the emotional reaction I’m sure the author hoped it would—I thought the other was completely unnecessary. Since it happens right at the end, it doesn’t have any impact on the plot, and doesn’t seem to have an emotional impact on the characters, either, which is… distressing? These two moments are really my least favorite part of the book, and since they’re both brief they feel like a blip in my experience; they’re the one area I would say did need to be expanded.

Despite its occasional pitfalls and a more tenuous emotional connection with the characters than I’d like ordinarily, I think I can honestly say I loved this. I was gripped by this book from page one and sat with my eyes glued to the screen until I had finished. This will definitely be on my shelf come August.

A perfect adventure story! I loved the descriptions of the Heliana and seeing a world where everyone looks out for one another. Highly recommend!