So the white colonizer gets a deeper characterization than the brown people being colonized and subjugated? Excuse me while I go throw up

DNF'd at 30%. The premise was really cool, but I was not impressed with the pacing or the plot. I found myself wanting more exploration and a little bit more connection between plot points.

This book was a DNF for me I really wanted to like it and I think the premise was super interesting but I just really wasn’t able to get into it. I didn’t connect with the story and characters very much which is pretty rare so I set it aside. This is something I might pick up in the future but just not loving it right now.

And the Sky Bled by S. Hati is an ambitious debut, blending dystopian fantasy with an intricate mystery in a city on the brink of collapse. Set in the occupied city of Tejomaya, where magic is harvested from blood rains, the story follows three deeply entangled characters—Zain, a thief seeking freedom; Iravan, a slumlord-turned-revolutionary desperate to save his people; and Anastasia, an heiress wielding power with ruthless intent. As they race to uncover a hidden cache of magic that could shift the city's fate, their pasts and ambitions collide in explosive ways.

Hati crafts a compelling atmosphere with striking world-building and haunting imagery. The themes of colonialism, class struggle, and environmental decay are woven seamlessly into the narrative, adding layers of complexity. However, while the book excels in mood and concept, its execution falters at times. The pacing can be uneven, and the writing, though evocative, starts to become overly repetitive as we work our way towards the big reveal at the end.

As the debut title from one of Bindery’s new imprints, And the Sky Bled represents an exciting push for new voices in fantasy. However, the rise of influencer-led publishing raises questions about whether a strong online presence necessarily translates to storytelling expertise. While Hati shows promise as a writer, the novel’s flaws suggest that a more refined editorial process could have elevated it further. That said, fans of atmospheric, politically charged fantasy may still find much to appreciate in this brutal, thought-provoking tale.

This was a really great idea but not the best execution. I couldn't quite connect to the characters as much as I wanted to and it all felt a little unpolished. That said, I did enjoy the story and I can see S.Hati delivering some great work in the future!

This book’s world-building is definitely its biggest strength! The way it describes climate change and the terrifying, dangerous weather is super vivid and really pulls you in. Some of those moments were so cool! That said, I feel like the book tries to cram a bit too much into a short amount of time.

eARC provided by NetGalley and Bindery Books in exchange for an honest review

I really wanted to love this one, but unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me.

This is a climate fantasy with a diverse cast of characters and themes of colonialism and classism. I loved the idea of a world built around a limited resource that bleeds from the sky and the exploration of how this affects the different classes of society. While the plot and themes were interesting, the execution fell short.

A major thing that didn’t work for me here was the multiple POV format. In theory, I like that each POV character represented a different “class” of people. However, most of the POV characters were just simply not compelling enough for the format to be effective. I think the same themes could have been more effectively explored by committing to the one dynamic POV or, at the very least, by developing the two weaker POV characters.

One of the POVs was particularly melodramatic, constantly telling and not showing the reader how to feel. I just wasn’t feeling connected to this character enough to actually buy into it. In this sense, it reminded me of Throne of Glass—and I do think Aelin fans could potentially find a lot to love in this story and the writing style.

It took me a long time to get into the story of the book. It wasn't till about 3/4 of the way done with the book that it started to pick up for me. I didn't like the three different point of views for this story, I had to keep going back and forth to make sure that I didn't miss any information. Ultimately I did like how the author was able to get them all to come together and have the relationship grow.. It was defiantly showing two different side of society and how people will rebel to get a better outcome. It also is showing how one may think that someone is your family and they end up betraying you in the end. All and all the book was well written and I have friends that would love this book. It just ended up not being a book for me.

Thanks to bindery for the ARC. For transparency’s sake, I am very good friends with the bindery creator whose imprint this book falls under.

I genuinely And the Sky Bled a standalone cli-fi or climate science fiction fantasy title that follows a couple of different POV characters as they're dealing with this situation in a city in which the sky rains or bleeds this sort of like red substance and from the rain it creates this like energy source called Calor. The resource is rare and can produce amazing magical feats but because it only appears in one place and very infrequently, people scramble to collect and sell this resource. The stakes are immediately presented, and we follow characters in a world that is currently dying and the only sort of resource that can help is not renewable and constantly being fought over.

The book is well written, I think S. Hati is a good writer and does a fine job balancing the world and showing your important details about it without it feeling like a lot of info dumpy. The information in her writing is clear, it's concise, and I was very impressed in the 1st chapter how much information was presented to me without it feeling like I was reading a textbook—things were happening, characters were doing what they were doing and at the same time I was learning all about the world. The characters of the book are well crafted--the main character, though a bit trope-y protagonist at times is a good anchor of the story.
I actually found a lot of the supporting casts more interesting—Anastasia was probably my favorite, and I wish we had a bit more involvement from her.

Where the book sort of detracted stars from me, if we're going to put it that way, is in the pacing though if you've been here a long time you know that I'm quite picky about how fantasy books are paced. It is not as egregious as others I've read in 2024, but I do think the first half takes a bit of time to capture interest, but once you get to the 50% mark the interest in the story also picks up.

All in all, if this is a first title from bindery, I am really interested in the stories the are going to publish next.

4/5

And the Sky Bled
S. Hati

Amidst a dying city three rivals race to find a magic to save their city.
Finding magic might be the key to Zain’s freedom. The determined Iravan might be a slumlord but he is anticipating that the magic might save his people in the slums.
At the same time the heiress Anastasia guides the ruling class to an island close by seeking safety. With magic for herself she could finally rid her city of the slums once and for all. They all are searching for magic for their own gain and some will do anything for it.

I love fantasy books with multiple points of view. And all three of the characters were amazing. I loved this book, I would recommend it to anyone. I’m kind of bummed out that this is a standalone, I would have loved going father with the characters and story. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.


A big thank you to Bindery Books and NegGalley for this eARC in exchange for my review.

And The Sky Bled is a standalone climate-based South Asian influenced fantasy following three main characters as they navigate a dying world with. The rapid use of calor - a bloody liquid, that burns those who come into contact with it, (and a non-renewable resource), has led to an international shortage and the three characters are competing to find a rumored cache each for their own purpose. This book is great for those who love dystopian fiction, and series like Divergent and The Hunger Games, and looking at themes of power, oppression, class and race.

This book had a really strong plot/synopsis but I really struggled to get through the writing style. There's an important twist that I wish had been midway in the book instead of at the end

Thank you to Bindery Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. I chose to DNF this book at 30%.

This book is a dystopian climate-change centered fantasy set in a dying city and controlled by colonizers who are hungry for the resource, calor. A rumored cache of calor drives three distinct individuals, a theif, a slumlord, and an heiress, to race and find the precious resource.

I loved the synopsis of this book, the focus on climate change, and the nuanced characters. I felt like character (depicted from their pov) each had a distinct motivation for their actions. However, the world building was hard to grasp, even when I restarted the book. In my opinion, the pacing at the beginning was too slow and convoluted to make sense, even for a reader who regularly reads fantasy books. Overall, this book was not for me but I do think that readers who enjoy complex fantasy worlds with diverse characters may enjoy!

thank you to netgalley for an arc of this book!

I had a really good time with this, especially with the characters. I enjoyed the fact they were all adults and clearly had history that was explored throughout the book and continued to affect them. the concept of the book is very interesting and I liked the new way of portraying how exploitation of the earth is beneficial for no one involved. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get started with books that have strong political intrigue but also want a good amount of action and tension.

I have a love/hate relationship with standalone and that might have some influence over my opinion of this book.
I left desiring more of that makes any sense. I feel in order to answer all the questions that the story propose I think this should have been a duology

Solid novel about environmental exploitation, all the people in the city playing against each other for how they can try to come out on top for the magical resource. The big thing behind this publisher is that they're essentially publishing books chosen by book influencers, but I will be very honest, I had a lot of long pauses between reading this one and frequently had to read back to try and figure out where I was and what was happening. Ended up not being quite for me, but I'm sure someone else will like it!

This is so close to being seriously excellent: the premise is epic, the worldbuilding is great, and the prose is, mostly, pretty readable.

Another pass from a good editor, and I think this could have been stellar.

What stops it being perfect is the writing, which is, mostly, pretty readable – but it’s also often overwrought. The wording is often ‘fancified’, with rarer synonyms replacing common verbs just often enough to be jarring and grating; ‘strode’ does mean ‘walked’, but there’s a good, albeit difficult to articulate, reason we don’t say ‘she strode over there’. There’s unfortunately a lot of this in this book, along with occasional instances of awkward or odd sentence structure.

The characters are also underdeveloped. All of them are defined by one or two traits and have no personality beyond that; they’re extremely two-dimensional. Two of them, the 23yo and the middle aged man, behave as if they’re much younger, and Anastasia is cartoonish in her overt villainy.

This is all super fixable; it would not have taken much effort to polish away. Which makes it extra grating, to be honest. This isn’t the first time I’ve been frustrated with a book from Bindery Books – I’ve DNFed every book of theirs that I’ve tried – and it’s not convincing me that their ‘unique’ publishing process works. Or at least, I wish they’d get some better editors on board – Sky Bled has real potential, Bindery was right about that. But it reads like an early draft, not a fully-developed novel ready to be published. Alas.

thanks to netgalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for a review!

ohhhhh the found family, oh it was so good. 100% the standout part of this book. great characters, and the relationship between them is so so interesting.

what lost some points for me was the pacing/structure. as others have pointed out, the three main characters are connected by a shared event from their past which is referenced CONSTANTLY by all three of them. the reveal is fun, but they teased it too much for it to have the weight i think that it was intended to.

An incredible fantasy novel about a city under colonial oppression and threatening climate disaster reaching its boiling point. Tension builds steadily, though through twists and turns, to an inevitable conclusion.

This book was such an immersive read. from being with 3 POVs to going through an unexpected chaos and ending with a long anticipated chaos.

And the Sky Bled follows Zain, Iravan, and Anastasia as they struggle in their own ways while the world is literally collapsing. Some people are fighting for a normal life, others are fighting for their greed and a bunch think that nothing can touch them. But the climate has changed and the effects are killing people. Is there a way to stop it?

I have been savouring this book ❤️ it grabbed me from the first chapter and didn’t let me go until I finished it 👀 I want to know more about the world and its climate and what caused them to get there (I get the idea from the book, but I want it to be a spin off 🤭). oh and I want to know how other lands are surviving (and thriving?) without calor!!! I need so many spin offs 😄

Thanks to Zoranne together with Fantasy & Frens imprint of Bindery and the author S. Hati for providing me with the ebook ARC in exchange for an honest review. And thanks to NetGalley for facilitating it.