Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read Shina Reynolds's debut YA novel, A Light in the Sky, in exchange for an honest review. The heroine, seventeen year-old Aluma, discovers that loyalty is both more difficult and dangerous than she realized growing up on her father's farm with dreams of becoming an Empyrean rider like her father, a retired war hero. Long-kept secrets assign the heroine a unique role in a hidden struggle against corrupt leaders with unspeakably powerful relics in play. Aluma soon finds herself entangled in well-founded anxiety for her family, her close cadre of friends, and the future Eirelannia. Long-lost tech and magic blur together in a dystopian world with echoes of the Hunger Games. A beautiful cover and the promise of winged horses will be enough to secure the interest of the book's target audience. Add to that a daughter's love for her father, the angst of first love, high fantasy adventure and the horror of war and you have all the components to satisfy genre readers in a story that rates a solid 3.5 stars.

terrible.

the worldbuilding is weak and writing is amateur. the protagonist is the standard YA fantasy protagonist. she is boring, but she is especially stupid and naïve. the other characters are one-dimensional; there is absolutely no complexity or depth to them. the mustache-twirling villain was pitiful because there was no reason for the villainy (and it wasn't explained at all, even though he had his evil villain monologue).

the plot is simple, but the execution is so pathetic i almost feel bad. everything is so predictable and convenient, it's like the author didn't even try to make an effort. i could see how everything would unfold by 30% and yet our protagonist did not even though it's in 1st person (again, she's very dumb). unrefined storytelling.

overall, this is so corny and cheap and lame. the acknowledgements are cute though.

A captivating, charming and enchanting read mixing fantasy and mythology/folklore with some wonderful results.

Aluma Banks dreams of riding her very own winged steed. But that privilege is reserved for the king’s Empyrean Cavalry, who guard Eirelannia from the troublesome land of Laithlann. So Aluma resigns herself to a life on the ground and a future that doesn’t interest her. Moreover, she’s about to lose her close friend Thayer, who plans to compete in the Autumn Tournament for a chance to join the Cavalry.

Just when Aluma thinks she’s hit an emotional low, her father is tragically injured in the tournament. Suddenly thrust into the competition for a spot in the Cavalry, she now has a chance to pursue her dreams. But along the way she begins to realize that not everything is as it seems and Eirelannia’s king may be keeping a secret from his people.

The description and cover of this book intrigued me as, at the time, I hadn’t yet read a fantasy book involving winged horses. Similar to many stories, A Light in the Sky shares themes of coming of age, learning about and pushing oneself, and loyalty. A couple of characters reminded me a little bit of Peeta from The Hunger Games and Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter.

Shina Reynolds’s writing is clear, if not a little plain. There’s nothing wrong with that, though I prefer writing that evokes a little more emotion. I will always give kudos to authors whose grammar and punctuation are on point since I find continuous errors of this nature to be distracting. I was very happy to see that there were no errors of this kind worth mentioning.

It’s also evident in the descriptions of the horses’ movements that the author has equestrian experience. I looked the author up afterwards and found she used to ride horses when she was a child. One of the more vivid scenes in this book, to me, is when the horses compete in the tournament. Reynolds does a great job describing the course and how each horse navigates it.

However, the characters in this story are a bit one-dimensional. Their dialogue is elementary and stilting considering they’re all in their late teens. I also felt their dialogue was rather formal. I wasn’t sure if this was due to the author’s writing style, or because most of the characters had to become fast friends. And though there’s the beloved (or hated) love triangle trope, I found Aluma’s inner dialogue about it so awkward. It felt slightly misplaced with everything else going on in the story; I found myself wishing it hadn’t been included at all. Reynolds also recycled descriptors of physical appearances of the two boys in the love triangle, which I personally found annoying.

I also had a difficult time with how naïve Aluma is. Her character takes everything at face value. Despite someone close to Aluma betraying her, she allows herself to fall for it again. And, perhaps the most important critique in my mind, the plot is fairly predictable. Almost everything seems to go Aluma’s way even though she’s basically a newborn to how the world works outside of her family home.

The most interesting part of the story for me concerns two different types of powerful objects that are important to Eirelannia and Laithlinn. Keeping this spoiler-free, I found this concept intriguing. Though several characters use these objects in the book, I felt like I didn’t really understand the full concept of them. I’m happy to chalk that up to the fact that this book will be part of a series. But I also felt like we could have learned more about them from several characters if Aluma had chosen to push certain people for information.

Overall, if you’re looking for a complex storyline or well-developed characters, I would look elsewhere. If you’re up for a light, fast-paced read, then dive right in. This book ended up not being for me. But I’m sure there’s someone out there who will since we all enjoy different things.

I really wanted to love this book. The concept is whimsical, and well executed, but the writing style didn’t quite match the story’s fantastical nature. I had trouble relating to and caring about any of the characters, and found that it left something to be desired.
The beginning of the story read very slow, so I couldn’t really get into it. I wish that there was a better hook to keep the audience intrigued. The pacing also felt a little off to me. I wish it was faster in some places and slower in others.
I was torn between giving this 3 or 4 stars, but decided to round up because it’s very obvious that the author did a lot of research and put tons of effort into this book. I love that the ending is open enough to allow for future books but also concludes well enough to be read alone. I hope to see more from this author in the future.

For me, a YA fantasy/sci-fi dystopian novel with winged horses ticks All The Boxes but I can see also see the flaws that make me hesitant to unreservedly recommend it.

A lot of things about this book gave me strong Hunger Games vibes: Aluma comes from a poor farming district that sends most of its food to the capital, where people live in luxury. The arenas in each city, the flamboyant host of the Rider competitions, the love triangle- oh god, the love triangle. It all feels like it belongs to a very specific era of dystopian YA.

(Seriously imagine the Hunger Games but instead of a battle royale for your life it's a stadium eventing course for a a job in the army.)

The plot, however, is quite different. Aluma competes not for her life, but for a chance to join the Empyrean Riders, an elite sky cavalry that serves the king. Before she can even compete, though, her father is gravely injured and she is swept up in a conflict greater than she ever suspected.

I loved (almost) everything to do with the horses in this book. You could tell that the author had a thorough knowledge of horse care and riding, and her admiration for equine grace and beauty shone through.

(My two quibbles - some acknowledgement that the horses seem to understand human speech would be nice; and the last sequence seemed to involve an awful lot of hard flying with no recognition that the horses were probably exhausted.)

I think the amount of romance and the classic love triangle will put some people off (Aluma is torn between her sweet childhood friend and the handsome rebel who saves her from drowning). And I also have some hesitations about the world building and political motivations BUT as this is only the first book in a series I am open to more being explained in future books.

I would absolutely read the next book(s) in the series, and I commend the author for writing a YA fantasy with big #horsegirlenergy.

I like it a lot! The setting and world building, the whole bunch of pegasi (of course!), fast-paced storyline, and lovable characters! Aluma is a strong lead and felt "real" because she struggled a lot with self-worth and didn't become a heroine overnight. I especially love the found family, especially Cloveman! So far still #TeamAluma&Thayer (sorry, Gattacan, you are cute but Thayer is cuter).
Overall, a strong debut indeed. I enjoyed it!

Looking forward what will happen in book 2! :)))

DNF.

The premise was amazing. Two words: flying horses!!

This book is well-written. An interesting beginning, great pacing...
But I don't like love triangles. I dislike this trope so much that I stopped reading. Plus, apparently regular horses are "granted" wings and it's not what I expected. I wanted to read about pegasi--horses that are born with wings.

Maybe this book will become a New York Times betseller. It's not a bad book. Just not for me.

"How far would you fly for freedom?"
"When I was younger, I daydreamed about what existed outside of Eirelannia... I yearned to explore, just like the waves beneath me now"
Saying that I need the sequel of this book now would be an understatement... I needed it yesterday even before starting it.
Flaying Pegasus made for a special rider, a duty that goes deeper than even protecting the king, found friendship and conflicted love that inevitably ends with a love triangle... Aluma's life is not one we can call easy.
We follow her during a personal journey that deals with loss and doubts while the only thing keeping her anchored to her true self is the knowledge that she was born to fly ... she was born to be free...
"In the sky, I am free"
But while mysteries begin to unravel in front of her eyes, bringing down everything she believed in ... she is lost... all alone with the sensation that soon enough her entire world will change.
"The old will soon be made anew"
"Whatever they're up to, it has bad news written all over it"
I really liked the way the author decided to picture those characters: determined but insecure, full of virtues and of flaws. They are new heroes as much as they are just young people playing a game bigger than them.
The line between trust and blindness is blurred as well as the amount of questions over different feelings directed towards different people.
To be completely honest I liked some characters more than others and in more than one point I felt like I needed more time to explore not only their personalities but the reasons behind each of their actions.
But apart from this nothing bad can be said about the magical system the author built to make this plot working and the astonishing description of the landscapes and the different cities the story takes place in.
I wasn't expecting a book centred over the relationship between flying horses and their rider but, as a well respected fantasy story, I loved how it surprised me.
I can't wait for every reader to meet this people and wait for the sequel together ... hopefully as soon as possible.
"Balance must be restored"
"There's no one to save me but myself"
"You have the power to change the world around you. You only need to believe that you can"

**DNF**

I usually try and finish even books I don't like, but I honestly just couldn't bring myself to love this one.
Make no mistake, it's a well crafted book and I could understand someone even going as far as to call it their favourite book, but it just misses the mark a little with me.

The book, especially the opening chapter, feels very reliant on info dumping. It feels as though the author gave herself worldbuilders syndrome and really wanted to show off how cool her world is, and I have no doubt it is, but the vast majority of the opening chapter is historical exposition back to back to back and I just found myself... Not caring. Normally I'm quite fond of info dumps, but here it just didn't engage me, especially since it took me a long while to even get a proper grasp of the scene and character/s.

Furthermore there tended to be a bit more repetition than I'd like of certain sentences and actions, particularly regarding the MC and her animal companion. I totally get needing to show affection and all, but the amount it was shown here made it feel less naturally and more signposting of *this will be important*.

My last issue really comes down to our main character as I just couldn't get a feel of her voice at all.

Though when looking at these criticisms, I think it says much more about me than it does the author herself as, like I said, someone could totally have this as their favourite book make no mistakes. I even know people I'd gladly reccomend it to.
But all in all, with the above grievances stated and the fact I don't really gel well with the writers style, this isn't the book for me.

This is definitely a very solid and intriguing first book in a series. I loved the idea of flying horses and anything involving a tournament gets me excited. I also really liked the more political plot lines going on too, really added to keep the intensity of the book. The chapters were long enough to roll the story along and hook you in and make you question what will happen next.

Aluma is such a great character and I liked seeing her development throughout. The characters are great and the plot and world building were just so astrometric. I liked the fantasy, but also dystopian feel within this book. A great read. Would love to read more from this author or even more from these characters.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book.

I can say for sure this was a super interesting book in terms of setting, took a little time to get used to it (it’s quite busy)
But I liked how the plot mwould bed there wasn’t excessive time wasted on certain plot needs but I have to say the love triangle in this book needs work... they spend far too much time making each other jealous when the fate of the world (& your dad) is on the line! That felt very teenage and of course younger readers will probably love it but as a slightly more mature reader it got a little repetitive but overall I enjoyed the book and will definitely purchase a copy when it becomes available for my shelves!

I received a copy for an honest review via NetGalley.


I was drawn in by the cover. I love horses and the wings made it even more enticing.

You can tell the author was familiar and comfortable with horses which is also a plus when horses are in books. It bothers me when people don’t do research about horses or their subject matter.

This felt very hunger games meets divergent but in a fantasy world. It had a lot of YA tropes: "not like other girls" protagonist & love triangles. I predicated many of the plot points and wasn’t surprised when things turned out the way they did.

I would say similar things about the rest of the world-building and the plot points. It felt very seen that already.

This book is one for the horse lovers out there.

The first book in a new series finds a teenager, Aluma Banks, thrust into a fantasy adventure with flying horses and her struggle against a wicked Prince. To save a country she will have to depend on new friends. Keep reading and you will find an engaging story with characters to love cheer for and others to despise. story with characters you will want to love and cheer for, and others to despise.

A Light in the Sky is a warm, action-packed story that combines fantasy and magic with technology and dystopia, plus what really drew me to the book — flying horses! And that gorgeous cover.

There’s a lot I liked about this book: a brave heroine, Aluma, who makes real mistakes, a great supporting cast of friends, a strong father-daughter relationship, and a wonderful portrayal of the bond between humans and animals. The scenes with the horses really came alive.

I struggled a bit with the world-building, and understanding exactly what was happening in the wars between different countries, and what the general population actually knew and believed. The evil prince never clicked for me — he seemed a bit silly, as did a lot of the people and place names in the story. Aluma’s voice is fairly generic, which made it hard for me to get into the book at first.

There were aspects of the world that were very intriguing, though: I’m curious to know more about the relics and how the horses’ wings work, and what lies beyond the sea.

Overall I recommend this one to teen fantasy fans or anyone into younger fantasy novels, especially readers who love horses.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC for review.

I received a free eArc copy of this work in exchange for an honest review, thanks to NetGalley and Wink Road Press for the opportunity to read this story.

This is a semi-dystopic YA fantasy novel which follows a very naïve, horse-loving heroine on a journey of discovery, magic, and political revolution. This story reminded me a bit of Divergent, and was filled to the brim with YA and other fantasy tropes.

The worldbuilding stumbled a little bit on introduction. From the premise describing an aspirational soldier who wanted to be on a squad of elite flying horses I assumed more high fantasy historical-ish setting rather than what appeared to be post-magic/technology? setting. Having read other works like Mercedes Lackey's Hunter series or Kaylnn Bayron's Cinderella is Dead, I would have liked to see more layering of the history and a better explanation of how these ideas were more holistically integrated in to the world - ultimately as it was introduced it just seemed very jarring and at times I had trouble reconciling how the world should work. I would have liked to see a little bit more realism in terms of how she cared for her horses or other physical things in the story - there were too many times when a convenient servant analog would just show up and whisk away the horse, or person who needed care, or didn't account for actual things needed (which further emphasized the main character's demonstrated commitment to a lack of plan for anything ever, but more on that below).

The protagonist was rather a weak example of a female heroine - it followed the "chosen one" and "secret princess" tropes pretty closely, and I felt she lacked the backbone, charisma, and gumption needed to convincingly take power the way the plot did (all tell, no show). Her St. Crispin's Day speech was pretty lackluster and over the course of the book, she didn't really have to work hard, or strive, or develop very much as a character at all. And I strongly dislike when characters make bad, impulsive decisions which seem to only be for the sake of forced dramatic tension.

The relationships were the most challenging part of this story for me. The instalove cause of the love triangle was awful, and pointless, and really didn't help the plot except to add some very strange drama and maybe a setup or some nods to the Darkling situation in Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone'. I didn't like it. I also think that the instatrust between characters REALLY didn't feel at all earned and it would almost have been a relief to have some unexpected betrayals. The one actual betrayal that occurred was super obvious, but in a YA. I'll forgive it. I also feel like the villains weren't really all that villainous - sneering and moustache twirling and some kidnapping were about as bad as it got, so the stakes never really felt all that high for me.

Overall, the read felt like a bit of a slog, and while I can tell the author is full of heart and passion for her work, there were plot points that were SO sloppy and poorly written that I almost DNF'd this book several times. For example, 40% of the way through the book I started counting the number of times that "somehow" was literally and conveniently used to solve important plot problems and it was a VERY distressing amount. Things ended up being a bit too convenient and they felt unearned, so the conclusion was not actually very satisfying for me.

I wish the writer well with her future endeavors but I would not read any further with this particular story.

"𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭- 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲. 𝐌𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭..."

𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: ⭐⭐⭐⭐. 2/5

🇷 🇪 🇻 🇮 🇪 🇼:
[Pub Date 09 Nov 2021]

I got this for free fr Netgalley. The description got me; Red Queen meets The Scorpio Races. Intriguing isn'it? This is an epic YA fantasy books with PEGASUS. Its freaking adorable. I just fell in love with the creatures instantly especially CASHEL and DARWITH❤️

The world building here is AMAZING, and I enjoyed the storyline. This book has a lot of action packed scenes and of course politics in it. I absolutely adore politics in a fantasy. The politics in it felt relatable and also I love how the scenes being narrated. It doesn't feel force and it flows smoothly.

The book is very fast faced and the things that I am glad of are the scenes do not drag too much and I truly respect how the author made it so compelling, satisfying and short.

Our main characters Aluma, I adore her. I love how enthusiastic she is to become an Empyrean Rider. I love how she thinks through before she acts and her character is relatable and true. It means that she doesn't straight up become a badass character. Her character develops over time which is refreshing to see her development.

Besides, this book kinda give "THE HUNGER GAMES (THG)"vibe and there is minor love triangle going on which I don't particularly like. I think it was unnecessary. I love Thayer so much, he do remind me of Peeta. He's adorable, kind and he believes in Aluma from the very beginning. He is a her childhood sweetheart and best friend. He is very supportive. As for Gattacan, he's kind but his character is not really stands out yet so Thayer is in the lead. 😍

The side characters in this is so freaking adorable.I love how each of them have their own abilities and personality that make the story more interesting. The villain in here is real evil, OMG, you will hate them for sure.

So, If you are looking for a unique world building with adorable PEGASUS, fast paced political fantasy, full of action packed scenes, unexpected betrayal. This is for u❤️

I wanted to enjoy this book but I really struggled to get into it and it was a major slog to get through it. The ideas were good if a little clique but I just didn't like the female lead character, something about her or the writing style just majorly put me off.

An all round good YA story filled with flying horses, friendship, love and the fight for balance and light.

The nitty gritty:

Just to get a few things off my chest- I was unure about the relationship between the riders and their steeds. Don't get me wrong, I understood that the relationship had to be one of trust and understanding but I felt some background was lost as to how the steeds suddenly understood language and what their riders wanted them to do.

There is a love triangle somewhere in the background ... but it had no real significance in my opinion. Maybe it was trying to bring more feeling/emotion to the characters.


What I loved

I wish this had been around when I was in my "horse mad stage"... A book about horses that can fly? Pass it over here!

The cover is stunning and instantly drew me in.

The writing is solid, it moves at a good pace although I felt some background to characters was lost.

The world and its torrain was easy enough to picture and I felt like I knew where I was.

Tension building was good too. Using chapter endings to keep the reader motivated to read the next page.

All in all a great read.